Monday 1 June 2015

Battle of the River Ems 1760.

Last night Paul,Brian(who is much better now!) and I had a fantastic 7YW battle,involving Hanoverians,Austrians,  Prussians,and Russians.
The scenario was that the Prussians,awaiting their rearguard of Hanoverians,were guarding two fords over the river Ems,as well as a bridge,and had to hold them against an attack by the Austrians and Russians(commanded by Paul and Brian respectively)

The opening moves involved a fair bit of manoeuvering,I was trying to get my Hanoverians into a position between the woods and the bridge,and my right/centre into a position between the same woods and the "redoubt" guarding the right ford.
Brian came on in grand style,attacking immediately-it was going to be touch and go if I could get into position in time!!
Meanwhile,Paul was holding steady with his troops,watching to see if I moved forward on my left-no chance!!


I'm in position and the fighting has begun,but........look at the body language of these two-clenched fists!!!-steady on lads it's only a game!!!


While Paul and I opened up with volley fire and artillery in the centre,Brian,who had put his best troops on his left,attacked the "redoubt" position,and,despite being cannistered and losing his Colonel,took the position at the point of the bayonet-the swine!!!


A lull in the centre gave Brian the opportunity to start singing the American National Anthem!(at least I think that's what he's doing-but with Brian you never can tell!!)


My fierce counter-attack has driven the Russians away from the redoubt,and is giving Brian some grief(or is that wind?-with Brian you can never tell!)


The centre is now ablaze,and Paul is moving his reserves to his left-a cavalry battle is also developing between my centre cavalry and Brian's in the foreground-this was to prove crucial!!


Paul's combination of artillery and volley fire has taken it's toll on my centre troops,and I am having to fall back-Brian has knocked out my other gun,leaving only one to stem Paul's inevitable thrust against me(now,now, no silly jokes!!)


Having spotted an open flank,I have launched my Cuirassiers against Brian's infantry-I thought that this might be a winning move-and I did take out one regiment,but things were not going too well in the central cavalry battle!!

Paul put in a magnificent charge with his Austrian cavalry,and after a good "tussle" he won the battle-damn!! Things are not looking too good for the Prussians!

The winning move-Brian has won the central cavalry battle and has penetrated my rear(I said no silly jokes!!)-this put ,my whole line in trouble,forced my Hanoverians to retreat,and foced me to capitulate!!
This was a great game,played with tremendous spirit,great banter,fast flowing and tactically correct-what more could you want from a wargame?

Roll on Thursday,probably an Ancients game.


































2 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Cheers Paul-we try!!-this was a good game-our house rules allow for common sense and historical knowledge to prevail,which,looking at the recent batch of card-led rules etc. is a breath of fresh air-keep the comments coming,and thanks for reading our blog.
      johnc(william)

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