Thursday, 1 January 2026

Saxony 1745 Campaign - Closing moves

I totted up the troops remaining to Leopold and Rutowski after the battle and came up with the following numbers of bases (2 bases making up a brigade):

Rutowski

Cuirassier 4

Dragoon 3

Hussar 3

Uhlan 2

Grenadier/guard 4

Musketeer 7

Grenzer 2

Heavy Artillery 0

Leopold

Cuirassier 8

Dragoon 6

Hussar 4

Grenadier 1

Musketeer 11

Fusilier 2

Heavy Artillery 3

With Frederick's arrival on 14th the Prussian totals are:


Total

Observation Corps

Field Army

Cuirassiers

12

0

12

Dragoons

10

2

8

Hussars

8

2

6

Grenadiers

5

1

4

Musketeers

18

8

10

Fusiliers

2

2

0

Artillery

5

2

3

The Observation Corps under Leopold* remained before Dresden whilst Frederick took the field army to tackle Charles. 

*Frederick decided the old boy need a rest, though cynics said the King was jealous of his old Field Marshall's success.

Against Frederick Charles could only muster:


Charles

Cuirassiers

4

Dragoons

2

Hussars

2

Uhlans

0

Grenadiers

2

Musketeers

12

Grenzers

0

Heavy artillery

2


Fairly even in infantry but massively outnumbered in cavalry. Charles opted to remain within the environs of the Königstein fortress. However, by the 16th heavy snows began to threaten to block the passes. Fearing the icing up of the Elber, Charles elected to retire into Bohemia before his supply lines were cut. He would tell the court he had done everything he could on behalf of his sister-in-law, the Empress-Queen, to succour the Elector-King (the Elector of Saxony was also King of Poland).

The Saxons were left to negotiate a peace with the Prussians.

12 comments:

  1. Very interesting campaign, Chris. I am amazed at how quickly you can churn one of your campaigns out and play to conclusion.

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    Replies
    1. It’s quite straightforward really, as decisions are governed by dice rolls. Having done all that work in advance on tables of events and key decision points could be, and generally being organised helped. Also having uninterrupted time due to Mrs P being at work whilst I was off helped!
      Chris

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  2. A nice way to round off the campaign and rather believable too, with forces being forced into Winter Quarters far earlier than we might expect, due to the reliance upon horses and fodder to feed them etc, but not forgetting the PBI of course!

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    Replies
    1. Cheers Steve. It seemed more realistic to end it without another battle. The Austrians under Charles wouldn’t stand a chance given the disparity in strength. If he lost an army that would make for a very uncomfortable family Christmas!
      Even then I let the dice decide. I gave low odds for Charles to accept battle.
      Chris

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  3. I think that was a sensible way to round things off actually Chris, so kudos for keeping it real so to speak. The campaign certainly flowed well, so all that hard work pre game was obviously well worth it, and it probably helped that as a solo affair you weren’t waiting on others. Top stuff.

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    Replies
    1. Cheers Mark. Yes, having total control certainly helped.
      It also helped that I’d chosen a historical campaign of such limited duration in the first place.
      Chris

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  4. Replies
    1. It was diverting while it lasted. Maybe too few decision points as a player on reflection though.
      Chris

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  5. Great work at ending a campaign without a final, bloody but almost useless battle. One of the advantages of solo gaming is the malleability of time and space to solve intractable problems.

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  6. Well done for running the campaign through to completion, not always easy to maintain the motivation, I would certainly struggle.

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    Replies
    1. Cheers Matt. Having such a limited scope/duration certainly helped. Actual play only extended from Monday to Thursday (with very little done on the Thursday). So not having it drag on avoided it going stale.
      Chris

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