I promised Russians today but on reflection, I’ll wait until I have them all completely finished and in action at the Wargames Holiday Centre. Austerlitz is this weekend, so there will be plenty of opportunity here.
Last weekend we re-fought one of the largest Marlburian battles here at the Wargames Holiday Centre, Malplaquet.
The combatants all arrived on the Friday afternoon and chose their sides. As the majority of the players were new to wargaming this would present some refreshing ideas on tactics and strategy, well let’s see.
The opening stages of the battle saw the two armies bombard each other in an attempt to soften up the enemy. The flanks of the Allied army advanced around the Sars Wood and the Lainieres Wood, just after this ended. The Franco Bavarians stayed behind their redoubts and began to use their artillery at range on the advancing troops from Orkneys and Lottum’s force in the centre. Schellenburg moved his troops toward the quiet of the Lainieres Wood. while The Prince of Orange moved his troops toward the centre skirting the Sars wood.
Prussian Infantry engage the French in Lainieres
The cotton wool denotes troops locked in “Firefight”, this means they need an officer and a class check to get moving forward again.
It wasn’t long before the advancing Prussians encountered the Abatis the French had built within the wood. The Prussians looked to rush the position immediately, however the disruption among the ranks and the staunch defence of the Frenchmen stopped them dead!
More Prussian infantry attack the positions.
The allies had a secret flanking force in General Withers, this force comprised of horse and infantry and hopefully would make any defence of the Lainieres Wood impossible.
Outside the woods the Swiss Mercenaries were quickly involved.
The Firefight test failure means the troops have to use their beneficial first volley at the given range where they fail their test. The smoke is just a nice aesthetic to indicate this.
Marlborough positioned himself in the centre, while opposite him Marshal Villars busied himself with the manoeuvre of his battalions to stop the largely British force.
More Swiss Mercenaries open fire to support their Swiss comrades.
The guns in the centre opened began to knock a few figures off but their disruption, despite the efforts of the Generals saw them lessen their fire over the coming turns!
On the far Allied right, the Cavalry of Woods force began to push beyond the Sars wood and saw a huge formation of French horse which had made it’s way over from Malplaquet, the British didn’t hesitate and charged headlong into the French Horse!
Heavy Guns firing on the advancing German troops in the centre.
I’ll bring you the rest of this after the Christmas holiday’s, so look for my post on the 27th December. So at this point I will wish you all a very Merry Christmas from all here at the Wargames Holiday Centre.