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The Conclusion of The Battle of Doltz. . .

De Latte made the tough call to order his remaining infantry to face about and make an orderly withdrawal.

By 3pm that afternoon, and after a long lull in the battle, General de Latte could see how things were headed across the field.  His Ermland Garde had been reduced to only a few men remaining with the colors thanks to Stollenian musketry and numerous prisoners taken during a short, but sharp period of hand to hand combat.  His cavalry had been rendered largely ineffective, and his flank attack on the Stollenian left never quite managed to get off the ground.  That's not even mentioning the heavy casualties sustained by the leading platoons of the Flickenhoffer Fusiliers.  It was time to sue for peace.


An aide de camp, whose name has been lost to history, was sent toward the Stollenian line with white flag in hand.


General von Bacushschmerzen and staff received him in the most gentlemanly of ways and agreed to permit the remaining Zichenauer army to retreat unmolested with the proviso that. . .


 
They leave behind, in the words of the nearby Grand Duke Irwin-Amadeus II (a man who embodied the very concept of a schlachtenbummler), their "rather spiffing" Minden Swedish four-pounder cannon as trophies of war.


 Thirty minutes later, word had been conveyed to the various units comprising General de Latte's defeated army.  Here, at the western edge of the field, his hussars and baggage train begin their withdrawal from the field.


While at the eastern end of the valley, de Latte's remaining infantry too begin an orderly retreat.  His immediate subordinate Major di Biscotti exclaimed as their tired troops marched past, "I say!  Who's for a few scoops of mango gelato back at my tent?"


The Stollenian center, while battered, had managed to hold, preventing further inroads into the Mark of Schleiz, and fending off the latest Zichenauer invasion of Stollenian territory.  At least for the moment.  As the sun neared the horizon early that evening -- and witnesses could never be entirely sure given how the local Low German patois was butchered by a heavy French accent -- the following threat was heard from across the valley, "You may have won this time von Bauchschmerzen, but we'll be back!" The hard fought Battle of Doltz was at an end.



Thank you everyone for your patience and interest during the last month or so.  I hope that you have enjoyed the tabletop events presented here as The Battle o Doltz.  Thanks as well to my generals from afar Greg Horne, who starred as General de Latte, and also Ross MacFarlane, who starred as General von Bauchschmerzen.  While there might have been another turn or two left in the game, it seemed fairly clear that the Zichenauer attack had run out of steam, in particular given the heavy casualties suffered by General de Latte's Ermland Garde and his artillery's general inability to find its range and do much damage to the Stollenian center during the seven turns.  

We have also had a couple of minor incidents here recently in which a few odd soldiers have been handled without permission and kind of roughly at that.  Suffice to say, someone needs to learn to handle others' possessions with greater care and wait until he is supervised by Dad.  It therefore makes good sense to clear away the game and replace the soldiers in their plastic tubs in the closet for the time being to remove any future temptations for idle young hands.  

Fear not however.  A solo affair will follow in a few weeks, continuing the misadventures of our good generals as General de Latte attempts to carry out his standing orders from the conniving Princess Antonia III, that is to invade and establish a toehold in the Grand Duchy of Stollen, so the long-contested, and resource-rich, Mark of Schleiz will fall once again under Zichenauer control.

-- Stokes

Comments

Thanks for the chance to play. A satisfying experience all in all despite or including the initial difficulty in getting these Stollen troops to obey orders. Luckily my foe courteously waited for my troops to re-deploy.

I must say, for a few minutes there late in the game, I was worried that I might have to commit my reserve. An excellent unit who obeyed orders to a tee. Of course "don't move" might be a rather easy order to understand.

Salutations to Gen Latte and "Thanks for all the cannon"

Von B.

nobby said…
I've thoroughly enjoyed the series of posts and I'm not even keen on the period. I do, however, enjoy the imagination aspect :0)

Looking forward to the solo pieces.
tidders said…
A great game, I really enjoyed the posts. A well deserved victory for the Duchy of Stollen - hoorah !
Wellington Man said…
Well played! I sincerely hope the casualties recover. My two lads are thankfully past such themptations, but it wasn't always thus. WM
Gallia said…
Well done gentlemen and it was interesting for the mind and eye too.
Thank you very much.
Cheers, applause and bravos,
Bill P.
Unknown said…
Hurrah for Stollen and I look forward to the next game.
Best regards,
Simon
Conrad Kinch said…
Well done Stokes. It was great to see your troops on the table. Hard fought all down the line. Well done to Ross and Greg.
Lovely game Stokes, and only to be expected given your wargaming pedigree.
Bloggerator said…
Bah and indeed humbug, says de Latte. If only there'd been a bit more room on that flank!

And thanks to Ross and Stokes.

I'll host the next one. Something small from the ACW, I feel. Feathstonian rules.

Greg
Pierre le Poilu said…
Great game, thanks for sharing

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