Der Schlacht Der Blasthofheide: A Post-Game Report. . .

Young General Paul von Stollen drafts orders for his units before the start of the game.

 

Turn One: Let the game begin!  Our initial dispositions astride the dried up River Blast.  It has been a dry summer in this small corner of Europe.

About two turns in, von Stollen contemplates his next move as the respective advance guards approach Blasthof Bridge and nearby farm.

Von Stollen rolls to see if he can hit anything with his lone cannon.  And a miss.  Ha!  Lucky for ol' General Phillipe de Latte, the D6 came up short.

About Turn Five, the game got interesting.  Here, the two commands close in on the bridge and farm beyond.  De Latte's squadron of Batthyanyi Dragoons manage to charge home after enduring a volley from part of von Stollen's Leib (Grand Duchess Sonja's Own) Grenadiers.  Thanks to saving throws, the musket volley inflicted no casualties.

The situation heats up as a firefight breaks out between von Stollen's company of jaegers and elements of de Latte's Flickehoffer Fusiliers (right) and Ernestine-Sachsen Regiment (left).

A Mona Lisa smile from the young Herr General von Stollen.

Things get hot as von Stollen's company of jaegers is wiped out (indicated by the black bingo chip) at close quarters.  I rolled very high dice, and Young Paul made no saving throws.

Turn Seven: The situation late in the game.  By this point, General de Latte's troops held the farm, one of the two objectives used to determine the victor in our game of shiny toy soldiers.

Young Master Paul and I managed to get ourselves to the wargaming table on Monday, July 5th, which was part of the long Independence Day holiday weekend here in the United States.  We agreed at the outset that control of the farm and bridge would win the game, and we would see how things stood at the end of eight turns.

For your edification and reading pleasure, the respective armies, advance guards really, looked like this:

 

Grand Duchy of Stollen -- Herr General Paul von Stollen

• Leib (Grand Duchess Sonja's Own) Grenadiers
• The Hanseatic Regiment
• Corps of Jaegers (one company)
• Von Trumbach's Dragoons (one squadron)
• Grand Ducal Regiment of Artillery (one cannon and crew)
  

Electorate of Zichenau -- The Dastardly General Phillipe de Latte

• Flickenhoffer Fusiliers
• Ernestine-Sachsen Regiment
• Croats (one company)
• Batthyanyi Dragoons (one squadron)
• 27th Battery (one cannon and crew)
  

 

Once the armies were decided and set out, the two of us next sat down at opposite ends of the 6'x10' table to draft our respective orders, using order and unit roster sheets based on those of Charles S. Grant and Howard Whitehouse.  Uncannily, both my son and I wrote strikingly similar orders, "Attack the enemy!  Seize the farm!  Seize the bridge!"  I provided a list of a dozen or so action verbs to help him formulate his orders (attack, support, advance, defend, and so forth).

The first five turns went by rather quickly and were spent moving our respective forces toward the two objectives at the center of the table.  The river bed was basically dry with a bit of mud here and there but nevertheless fordable along its entire length should any bodies of men need to cross.  The woods on either bank at the center were very light, so did not pose any significant challenge to infantry wishing to move through them.   

An early cannon shot in Turn Four by The Young Master, who unlimbered and fired at medium range at that point.  His crew missed wildly with the shot bouncing harmlessly over and beyond the Flickenhoffer Fusiliers on my right. 

Things became interesting in Turn 5 when our infantry lines came within range of each other and began to exchange fire, inflicting light but gradually mounting casualties on each other.  Oddly, I never thought to have my own gun fire on the approaching enemy.  It turned out to be an infantry battle with one notable exception.

At about this point, my squadron of Batthyanyi Dragoons charged home on Young Master Paul's right flank, occupied by the Leib (Grand Duchess Sonja's Own) Grenadiers, cutting down eight men and causing considerable chaos and consternation in the process.  True to their form, however, the grenadiers passed two subsequent morale tests (achieving hero status and requiring no further checks during the game) and managed to hold.  Obviously crack troops.

On my side, the Flickenhoffer Fusilers and Ernestine-Sachsen regiments managed to wipe out a company of enemy jaegers.  None of the latter managed to make their saving throws if you can believe it.  Not a one.  Usually, it is Young Master Paul who rolls high, but not this game! 

By the end of Turn 8, my troops were in firm control of both Blasthof Farm and the nearby bridge.  And there we ended our game after about 2.5 hours of play.  The Young Master was growing hungry for lunch with diverted attention, so that was a good stopping point.  While their casualties were heavier overall, my units controlled the objectives agreed upon before the start of play.  Young Herr General Paul von Stollen was beaten.  For now.

But he had a good time, and we are planning another tabletop encounter, probably a raid on a village where supplies and provisions are located.  Perfect for a few units of light troops on either side along with some of my supply wagons, which don't often see the light of day.  Kleinkrieg I think is the German word.

By the way, our developing morale rules are based on a few different sources and need refining, but the idea is to create confusion through the way units react to attrition and certain situations that arise.  The use of colored bingo chips owes much to Whitehouse and Foley (taking the baton from Young and Lawford perhaps?), who use the chips to denote activated and disordered units, and is a particular feature that Young Paul enjoyed, mentioning it several times after the fact.  

So, we'll keep developing the emerging system here, and hopefully it will become second nature at some point and not require much reference mid-game.  Huzzah!

-- Stokes