Pre-Game Information

Freshly varnished, here they are -- Company A of the Wolmar-Bock Regiment, currently in the pay of Zichenau, but hailing from the neighboring Principality of Pillau-Zerbst.

Ok, we need some orders for the respective commanders and their units before the battle can commence.

General de Latté has fairly straightforward, though strict, orders from his monarch, Princess Antonia III. Basically, he must capture Pelznikkel and wrest control of the postal road from General von Drosselmaier in ten turns or less (before nightfall), clearing the way toard the capital city of Stollen. . . Krankenstadt. Von Drosselmaier is under equally strict orders from the Stollenian War Ministry to act in a purely defensive role, retaining control of Pelznikkel and stopping the advance of the Zichenauer army.

More specifically, the orders issued by both generals to their respective units look like this:

Orders for the Army of Zichenau

De Latté has ordered Colonel Augustus von Finknottle to lead his white-coated “Newts” forward and seize Pelznikkel, supported by O’Malley’s red-coated Grenzers. The artillery is to provide cover for The Newts and keep the Stollenian trrops at bay. Frieherr Willhelm’s Pioneers and the independent company of the Wolmar-Bock Regiment are to act as reserves while the cavalry will protect De Latté’s vulnerable southern flank.

Orders for the Stollenian Army

Von Drosselmaier has ordered the Von Laurenz Musketeers to occupy and defend Pelznikkel itself, supported by the battery of artillery. The Corps of Stollenian Jäger and 4^th (Trakehnen) Dragoons are to defend the northern and southern flanks of the small Stollenian Army, while the Leib (Grand Duchess Sonja’s Own) Grenadiers are the reserve troops of the army.

Note! A “Tactical Chance Card” will be drawn for each commanding general at the beginning of every other turn (second, fourth, sixth, and so forth) and acted on to the best of each commander’s ability.

The Scene

Late in the morning on Sunday, 10 August 1768, the armies of Stollen and Zichenau draw up into formation with the town of Pelznikkel and the postal road from the Stollenian frontier to Krankenstadt between them. Although it is a lovely, cool morning in the late summer, the air is eerily quiet as the two armies wheel into line facing each other. A Major von Gherkin, one of General de Latté’s aides, rides forward from the Zichenauer lines. He stops within earshot of General von Drosselmaier and invites him to fire first. . .