The Battle of Unterglau Part two

As promised here is the second half of the Battle of Unterglau. We left the action with the Franco-Bavarian army stalemated on both flanks (and throwing shocking dice!). I had just launched the Bavarians in the centre and Graham had aimed his cavalry at the English centre battery. So what happened? Well a picture paints a thousand words, so here is the action. On the right my Irish are forced back to the stream and their supports.

The Bavarians attack in the centre.

John and Paul counter Grahams cavalry attack with English dragoons while the Foot Guards maintain a heavy fire!

The attack on the left flank grinds on. Notice the steepness of the ridge. Here the casualties were beginning to tell on the Dutch and Pauls usually phenomenal dice throwing began to let him down.

Another view of the left flank attack. Grahams first line has been repulsed but his second line is fresh and includes a regiment of French Guards.

The cavalry clash in the centre. The English dragoons have repulsed a regiment of Bavarian cuirassiers but are then hit while disordered by French/Spanish cavalry (in green).

On the right my Irish are in disorder but so are Johns infantry and I push a regiment of cavalry across the stream to drive them off (in yellow).

John counters with his Austrian cuirassiers.

The Bavarians assault the village as the Irish reform.

Regiment Clare advance over the bridge to support the attack.

A general view of the left wing.

The Spanish Almanza Cavalry have driven off the English dragoons but are about to be charged by Dutch cavalry.

The battle rages for the village after the first assualt by the Bavarians has been defeated. The Irish will launch the next attack.

Inside the village just before the Irish attack. To the left can be seen the cavalry outflanking the Allied left after disposing of the Austrian cuirassiers.

The Dutch cavalry hit the Almanza regiment in this view of the battle in the centre.

The Irish storm the village and push the Austrians and Walloons back (hooray!). Eugene arrives to rally the troops.

The Irish push on through the village.



The (victorious?) French sweep round the village and the Allied left flank.

At this stage we called it a day having completed 17 moves! Then the debate followed (ha ha).

Who had won? The Allied right flank was shattered but their centre (the English) was unbroken and strong. The left around the village hung in the balance. I had forced my way in but could I hold it? I thought I could but at the same time John was poised to counter-attack with a fresh unit of Walloons (but they had low morale). In the end I think we agreed it was a narrow French victory . . . . . didn't we guys? ha ha.

And yes the Wloframmsdorf cuirassiers didn't take a single hit! Thats a victory in my eyes!

Hope you have enjoyed and will continue to do so! As usual any comments or questions are very welcome and all will be answered.

Featured figures in Prince August Web site

Ancients features on Prince August Website

John has pointed out that he has had an article published on the Prince August web pages featuring his mighty Roman legions and barbarian war bands.

They have some great pictures and close ups.

You can find the article via the link

http://www.princeaugust.ie/    

Go into useful links on the toolbar and click on the Collectors Galleries.

The item is under:

"Roman War Legions battling Barbarians by John Coutts NEW"

Hope this is of use

Regards  Paul

Still gaming after decades ha ! ha !

Our local paper published an old article from its back issues and we'd like to share it with you.

John was interviewed many moons ago and the flattering photograph shows the young man we can nearly remember  .................

Without his innovation and flare for inventive scenarios and set ups (as most games seem to be!), we wouldn't be the group of people we are now.

Oh dear this sounds like a eulogy .......  he's really still alive, kicking and still cannot throw a good dice score for toffee ........

The article is self explanatory and I hope you enjoy the read.

The figures are Seven Years War semi flats by Prince August. These figures have been regularly gamed and still look as great now as they did when first cast. We have taken these figures to many shows in the past to universal praise. Mostly along the lines of  ".........they look like proper toy soldiers".

There are in excess of 1000 of these fantastic figures,

Russian, French, British, Austrian and Prussians all

complete armies including their own artillery

and cavalry, both light and horse.

And here are the same figures today ..........  definitely a great investment well done Prince August!

Prussian infantry storm a defended position

Red coated British advance

All of these pictures were from the same game.

The Battle of Unterglau - The Action

The Franco/Bavarian plan (yes we had a plan!) was for the left wing to attack the ridge to its front and draw in as many of the enemy reserves as possible. We did not expect this attack to break through given the strength of the Dutch position but we hoped a vigorous attack would tie up enemy reserves. Meanwhile on the right I would attack the village with the Irish brigade again hoping that this would draw reserves from the Allied centre. The massed ranks of Bavarians in our own centre would then sweep forward break the enemy centre and isolate both wings. A simple plan (always the best type), what could possibly go wrong?!

Graham launches his attack against the Dutch on the ridge.

The Lyons regiment take casualties. This shows our dead bases. Paul spent the evening happily passing them out "bring out your dead!"

Toulouse engage the Dutch Guards

2 Bns of Bavarians supported the attack and engaged the English Foot Guards.
Dutch infantry await the French advance atop the ridge.

On the right I began my advance with the Irish but I have to admit I was having an off day! As my lead regiments crossed the stream John sallied out with his Austrians and Walloon troops (Walloonese?). My attack stalled but I pushed my last infantry regiment over the bridge into the rear of Johns Walloons and his position was precarious!

But then I fumbled it! As you can see from the photo I had outflanked his right and was poised to cross the river with 2 cavalry regiments in support. What I should have done now was to push my outflanking infantry into the village and wheeled my squadrons into his flank. . . . but I didn't . . no I halted my infantry and wheeled them right and the opportunity was lost. . . Doh!!
John rushed a reserve regiment of Walloons into the village and secured it.
The situation now was that both the right wing and Left wing attacks had stalled. What could we do?
Graham decide to move his cavalry against the vunerable English battery in the centre of the Allied line and Paul countered with an advance by Hays dragoons.

Grahams cavalry aim for the guns.

And Pauls cavalry move to counter them.

As the wing attacks went in I thought I had spotted an opportunity to hit the Allied left centre held by an Austrian Battalion and a battery of guns in position between the village and a small open wood.

The Bavarians advance against the Austrian battalion and John moves his dragoons through the wood to threaten them.Bavarian cuirassiers support the advance (being careful not to get shot at!)

Meanwhile on the Allied right the first wave of French attacks have been driven off.

So at the mid-point of the battle (coffee time) the Franco-Bavarian plan had become rather unhinged. Both wings halted and one (the right wing) in some disorder, and the central reserve committed earlier than planned. The Allied commanders had rather big smiles on their faces and Paul was still dishing out dead figures to us! On top of this our dice throwing had been appalling. We use average dice for firing and melee (more like below average dice!) and all we seemed to throw were twos and the occasional three. It probably wasn't as bad as that but it seemed so at the time! Surely the second half (after coffee and biscuits) would see a resurgence in the French fortunes? I will reveal all next time. Hope you enjoyed so far!

The Battle of Untergalu 1704

On Sunday we had a very interesting Marlburian battle, a ficticious encounter set in 1704 ( it is not the Unterglau near Blenheim!). This was an attack/defence game with the French commanded by myself and Graham and the Allies by John and Paul. We had John to thank for coming up with the scenario, in fact he comes up with about 95% of our games, and as usual it provided some interesting tactical problems. Below is the scenario presented to us by John.

Basically the Allies held a line running the length of the table and were ensconced in a village and behind numerous hedges and stone walls. They were slightly inferior in numbers, having 13Bns to the French 16 Bns and 4 Cavalry Rgts to the French (and Bavarian) 5 Rgts. What Graham and I did not know was that John had also downgraded the morale of his Walloon Bns. This would have been useful knowledge to have as events turned out. Below are some pics of the initial set up (its a set up!)

The Allied centre held by the English with the 1st Foot Guards on the right by the bridge.

The Franco-Bavarian centre 6Bns of Bavarians plus 2Rgts of Bavarian Curassiers. My new unit of Wolframmsdorf curassiers are between the 1st and 2nd infantry lines (I managed to avoid them taking any casualties at all!)

The French right wing consisted of 4Bns of the Irish brigade and 2 Rgts of cavalry (I commanded this wing)

The French left commanded by Graham - 6Bns of French infantry and a Regt of cavalry.

So much for the initial dispositions, I will describe the battle next time. Thanks for looking!

Bavarian Cuirassiers

On Sunday we had a very interesting Marlburian battle and I will be writing a (unbiased!) report in the next day or two, time permitting. Until then I have posted a couple of pics of my now completed Bavarian cuirassiers. I have just started to paint my own figures after 25 years in the hobby, apart from a dabble or two in the dark distant past. Surprisingly I have quite enjoyed it and I am reasonably pleased with the results. They may not win any painting awards but I can say I wont be ashamed to field them in a battle! The figures are Front Rank and represent the Wolframmsdorf cuirassiers.

Napoleonic Game

 

Hope these pictures give a taste of some of the other games we have recently played.

These feature some of my Russians and John's French figures.  They may be old but they have provided many years of "Toy soldier" gaming.

Hope you enjoy...... 

                          Looks chilly!

Thankfully the heaters work well when the snow backdrop is deployed....  must be psychological?







You may be able to make out our dice and measuring sticks......   John had these made decades ago after many chips in paint work exasperated him next thing we were removing all tape measures from the box.  Very simple as seen by the sales of bits of wood at shows everywhere with felt tip pen marked on it! We may not have been first but we like them. The dice are soft hence no damage to figures from the casino rollers...  don't we all enjoy trying to get an officer kill that way ... be honest!

View from the Russian battery position under serious assault from a French Brigade

Thank you for your kind comments

Paul

                                                                                                                                                            

Random photos

John has recently painted some

terrain items which no doubt

will have Roman, Napoleonic

 or Sudanese battling for their control!

Both sides of an Egyptian gateway.