Right, I don't think I've done a Thirty Years War thread on there yet. So just as a quick background info - I got into historical wargaming in 2012, having chosen the Thirty Years War as my period of choice, simply because I've been fascinated with the conflict for many years. It's this insane mix of enlightenment and utter barbarism, a war that starts out as a supposed war of religion, which, as they always do, turn out to be about entirely mundane motifs, a war dragged out and pushed on by 'war entrepreneurs', it shows the devastation stemming from raising whole armies of mercenaries and from when war becomes the status quo, and, much further than that, weirdly an entity in itself. Warhammer 40,000 could only dream of being as grimdark as that period, which ultimately reshuffled the balance of power in Europe and led to one of the most important peace treaties in modern history.
Then there's the whole thing about revolutionary developments in military and warfare, starting out with basically fully armoured cuirassiers and leaving us with ...well, much, much less armour. The development of firearms used en masse in armies and all of that.
Also: big hats, good beards, big pants.
Anyway, a few weeks ago I received the Twilight of Divine Right rules, published by the Pike and Shot Society. The following game was played solo, as I usually do with test games. In between I have to look things up, which usually takes ages and I wouldn't want to put another person through that. :D
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These are a derivate of the Twilight of the Sun King rules, released a few years ago, and aim to cover a timespan of 1618 to 1660. There aren't that many rules sets being released for the TYW, and if anybody knows about how to put the period on the table it should be the P&S Society, right? So I went for it, along with the scenario book for the Thirty Years War. There's also a scenario book for the ECW.
After having read through the rules a few times I thought it was time for a test game, using the first introductory scenario from the rulebook.
Battle of Fleurus, 1622
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Victory at Fleurus, Vicente Carducho 1634
Since the impending defeat of Friedrich V. of the Palatinate against the troops of the Emperor and the catholic league was forseeable Ernst von Mansfeld and his mercenary army were out of a job. No worries though, because they pretty much instantly got picked up by the Dutch who had money, but also a leviathan of an enemy named Spain in the 80 years war.
So Mansfeld and his trusty sidekick Christian von Braunschweig, along with a few thousand other dudes set off to the Netherlands. From Sedan 25,000 of them marched through Spanish Flanders to relief the siege of Bergen-op-Zoom. On their way they got attacked and harassed by peasants, especially so the infantry. On the day of the battle the army had shrunk from 25,00 to roughly 14,000. Morale was low, and while the men were trained according to the revolutionary writings of Maurice of Orange-Nassau, but they were inexperienced.
Spanish commander Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba was sent to stop the protestant army with a significantly smaller army of 8,000 to 8,500. Cordoba got in the way of Mansfeld, and he had to make ready for battle. So it came to the battle of Fleurus.
The Scenario
The protestant army under Mansfeld and Christian von Braunschweig has a numerical advantage, but is largely untested and has to fight uphill. The Spanish army (the soldiers themselves of course in large parts were Gemans, Burgundians, Italians, etc.) under Cordoba are in a better position and consist of experienced troops. As long as the Spanish don't lose the game it's a victory for them.
Armies
Spanish
Right Wing:
1x small Musketeers regiment (in defensive positions in the church yard)
1x Cuirassiers
1x small Harquebusiers regiment
Centre:
1x Elite-Tercio
2x small Tercios
1x Tercio
1x Guns
Left Wing:
1x Cuirassiers
1x small Harquebusiers regiment
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Protestants
Right Wing:
2x Cuirassiers
4x Cavalry
Centre:
1x large Infantry Regiment
4x Infantry Regiment
1x Guns
Left Wing:
1x small Cuirassiers regiment
3x Cavalry
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The Game
Below you can see the deployment of the forces. The rulebook suggests a table size of 4'x4' at a base width of 60mm. I played on a table sized roughly 3.5'x5', at a base width of 50mm. That's easier to calculate and it happens to fit the frontage of my infantry units. Distances in Twilight of Divine Right, sensibly, are measured in base widths (BW), with unit frontages being 2 BW in line and 1BW in column.
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Way up North on the Spanish lines you can see the churchyard being defended by the musketeers regiment to anchor the flank. I placed the artillery on each side right at the centre and in the front.
The game starts with the defending player's artillery phase. As you can see they start by bombarding the cuirassiers on the Protestant right wing to hinder their advance. Cuirassiers are more sluggish to act than lighter cavalry, so it makes sense to make it even harder for them. This is followed by a full move of the attacker, then it's the defender's move and so on. So basically an I-go-U-go system.
A player's turn is basically activating units (or groups thereof) to move. A unit (or group) may move straight ahead once per turn for free, any more complex or additional maneuvers or moves have to be rolled for. In theory a unit or group of units may act as often as they like, until they fail an action test to carry out a maneuver/move. This information is important, and for the life of me I couldn't find it in the rulebook. Luckily the author was around on Facebook and clarified that for me.
The actual game rules are a mere 15 pages, which is great. In some placed I would have liked to see some additional clarifying words here and there, but maybe I'm just a bit daft, which is a possibility. :D
Anyway, on paper the potential infinite number of moves is a bit surprising, but in practice it works really well. Especially so since larger or less flexible formations such as Tercios or large cavalry formations get a malus on these rolls. On top of that units which make more than one move per turn can not cause enemy units to take morale tests, meaning they may not fight in mêlée or fire.
After the initial bombardment the Protestant army gets to move, starting with the right wing. The cuirassiers, hindered by the bombardment, fall back a little.
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At the centre Mansfeld himself oversees the cannons being limbered up to get them closer to the enemy. His infantry regiments advance.
An overview of the first turn:
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In the bottom of the photo you can see half of the Protestant cavalry wing having taken off halfway down the flank. That's part of the scenario. Since morale is so down among the Protestant right wing I had to roll on the first turn to see how many regiments just mutiny and go home or elsewhere. Exactly three out of the six regiments decided to do so.
This doesn't majorly impress the rest of the wing, and they storm up the slope towards the Spanish cannons.
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Instead of standing, loading canister, or stuff like that the cannoneers run away and seek shelter among the ranks of the pikemen who are waiting right behind them for this very purpose.
Just one of the rules in Twilight of Divine Right which I really like and which fits the period.
Slightly bamboozled, the cavalry stop and look down the Tercio's musket.
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To their right their comrade regiment is met by the Spanish left cavalry wing. A firefight emerges.
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