Soor, 1745

 Charles of Lorraine has another dust up with Frederick of Prussia. This time the Austrians have parked themselves on a great big hill right on the Prussian supply lines. Another mid eighteent century Table Battles game put on by Tim.

Unlike the previous game, this is a stand up fight. Again, tons of stuff lined up and big (6-8SP) units and using the eighteenth century specific additions around linked units, oblique attack and the ability to shift SP between similar unit types.

The tactical wrinkle in this is that the Austrians have possession of the great big hill, faced off by Prussian Genadiers, with Frederick in reserve behind them. The Austrian left is covered by a massed battery and Cuirassiers, in turn faced by some scary Prussian Cuirassiers trying a wide outflanking manouvre. This side of the battlefield is almost independant of the rest. 

The Austrian right is more conventional - both sides have a thick infantry line with cavalry on the flank, although the Austrian Dragoons are singularly useless. The Austrians have a second line in reserve.

I took Charles for this one. The Prussians start with a morale advantage (4 MPs vs 2 MP for the Austrians), so I need to kill some stuff, fast. Fortunately this is easy as both my guns and the guys on the hill can tear huge holes in the Prussians.

John and Pete took the Prussians.

Hard pounding gentlemen! One thing I like in this variant is that there are few limits on how many command dice you can pile onto one unit, so you can mount devastating attacks. I left it a bit too late too withdraw my cavalry on the left though, and they are routed so I lose another morale point. Ouch! That was stupid. Meanwhile my guns are ripping huge bits out of the Prussian Grenadiers. I stupidly tied up two command dice (out of six) on the useless Dragoons, although I did get to play them eventually.

After a few turns, the field is littered with dead. Both sides discovered the use of the 'shift' option, and we frantically shuffled SP along the line to beef up shattered units. By this point I've lost my cavalry AND guns on the left, but have succeeded in routing both the Prussian Grenadiers and Frederick, which is a big morale boost. Most remaining units are down to a couple of SP, apart from the Prussian left wing cavalry. Oh dear.

The Prussians mass for one last huge effort. Along with breaking the enemy morale, the Austrians can win by killing 24 Prussian SP. At this point I've managed to kill 23 Prussian SP, and the Prussian suddenly realised that if they attack, the losses sustained will finish them off.

All I then have to do is make a single attack, which costs me an SP, but more important, tips the Prussians over their 24 SP break point. Another 'win' for Charles! I have precisely 5SP left...

Blimey, that was close, a real nail biter. I completely mismanaged my cavalry, but pulled it back later but moving reinforcements along the line to keep things shored up and prevent a total rout. The Prussians were a bit late to the 'shift' game and I finally managed to kill enough stuff to win.

We swapped sides the following evening and did it again. So this time I was Frederick, and Pete and John played Charles.

I decided to burn my right flank units early on. The Prussian Grenadiers are really good, but the Austrian hill has 8SP so will take repeated assaults to capture. The Austrians responded in kind as their left flank units are also really good.

Well that could have gone better. Although I've routed the Austrian Cuirassiers, I withdrew the Grenadiers before they routed but then the Austrians blew Frederick away in no time. The Austrians have also piled reinforcements into their front line, negating my attacks.

That is more like it, I finally overrun the Austrian artillery, but my centre is looking very shaky.

Bloody Hell! Where have all the Prussians gone? My strongest unit is now my left wing cavalry, who are beating up the Austrian Dragoons.

We both mass for one big final effort, but the Austrians beat me to it and manage to kill 24 SP, just as I'm about to take their last morale point. Another (narrow) win for Charles.

That was also a great game, and I think we are all becoming more familiar with this variant. We even nearly had an oblique attack, but other sectors of the battlefront were more pressing. I'm looking forward to playing more of these, although on current form in future centuries we will be talking about Charles the Great, not Frederick.