Very late in the game, you can observe General MacDuff's army converging on Sittangbad and the trapped remnants of General von Tschatschke's forces. Von Tschatschke seems adept at losing his guns!
Realized some days ago that I had yet to share how the final few turns of the recent Sittangbad E-Fight between General MacDuff and General von Tschatschke, and hosted by Greg Horne, shaped up. While, von Tschatschke was able to get about half of his army across the River Weser and out of direct harm's way, the relentless onslaught of General MacDuff's forces meant that a regiment of cuirassiers, two guns with most of their crews, and a regiment of infantry were sacrificed, either as casualties, or, in the case of the infantry, as surrendered prisoners.
Most frustrating of all, von Tschatsschke's two young engineer officers, who were detailed to blow the bridge spanning the River Weser, were never quite able to do so. Blame a wet fuse, damp powder, or probably just youthful ineptitude, but this was the bridge that would not blow before MacDUff's troops reached it and were able to prevent further attempts. As Greg so succinctly put it,
It is considered they were able to interfere sufficiently with the charges and that the demolition is now impossible.
So, the game concluded after nine hard fought turns, with General von Tschatschke riding off in the opposite direction back up the road toward the capital city of Krankenstadt to inform his monarch that his 'victory' was an easy one, and the Grand Duke had nothing to worry about after all. The Grand Duchy of Stollen is once again safe, and all is right with the world.
Greg had a number of interesting observations to make during the post-game discussion, and I thought I'd share them here:
Who needs fog of war rules when you've got players? And
someone who has to interpret their orders from afar? Hey Ross? Just thinking
about our issues getting the light infantry to do what you wanted at the start
of the game!
I was quite taken aback when Stokes decided on precipitate
retreat with a stop-gap defence right at the end. I expected there to be
fighting around Eisenberg and perhaps a cavalry encounter in the middle of the
table after Eisenberg had been overrun. Would you play it the same way again,
Stokes?
There was a moment around move 5-6 where The Cuirassiers had
fought fairly successfully against Ross's cavalry and it seemed to me that
another charge combined with the Esterhazy Hussars could well have decisively
beaten the von Preece Dragoons. Kibitzing as I occasionally do, it looked a
pretty good move at the time to me.
Ross, the game was pretty much won by your cavalry. Your
guns were about to come into action on Turn 10, Your infantry would have made
it in by turns 11-12. I think your light infantry performed well despite their
60% losses.
Duration. I think the game as played in the book was of 16
moves duration. Would we have made 16 moves? I think that would have been the
case if Stokes had chosen to fight a couple of delaying actions and then kept
enough infantry in the town to force Ross to fight his way in. As it was, I was
forced to improvise a rule allowing an early blowing of the bridge as it
appeared the game might be rather shorter.
Losses. A fairly bloody affair. Stokes had two units wiped
out, the Cuirassiers and the Light Infantry. His gunners were heavily effected
- 70% losses. Three of his units got clean away; his engineers, the Dillon
Regiment of Foot and the Esterhazy Hussars. The Lubomirsky Regiment is now
being marched to drab captivity in grim fortress of Rosenthal.
Ross had two regiments of Horse (Olley's Dragoons and
Asquith's Hussars) almost completely destroyed as well as the aforementioned
damage to his light infantry.
Still no-one was threatening to get close to the 50% rule
anytime soon so i was comfortable not performing an accounting.
Again, well played and
congratulations on a good game.
Indeed! A fun game, and we have begun another, hosted by Ross this time and set in the early 1830s somewhere along the border region between the U.S. and Canada. Things are just getting started really, but you can check in occasionally during the next week or so if you like at: The Battle of Rushville 1830.
-- Stokes
The Bridge on the River Weser. But von Tschatshke's men were unable to ignite the blasted fuse. Not just once, but TWICE! It was all over after that since MacDuff's cavalry reached the bridge and took the two young men prisoner. I've since heard tell that these two ne'er-do-wells have resigned their commissions and become assistant's to the seamstress of General MacDuff's wife.
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