Clash at Kutzdorf - our second HoW test game

I got very many pleasant comments on my first foray into playing with the Honours of War rules - St Ulrich scenario so thank you to all who visited and commented. Here is my take on the second scenario from the book, aided and abetted by fellow members of the A Military Gentleman (AMG) Forum- Ken and Guy, who travelled to the Cotswolds from Wiltshire and Windsor respectively, with me as organiser and umpire.

Here they are acting up a bit near the start of the game.

As with the first test I enlarged both the battlefield and the forces to make better use of the 8 ft x 6 ft playing area. In doing so I tried to keep to the spirit of the scenario but gave potential Victory Points for various bits of terrain and allowed free deployment within the same start lines as the original.

Here is my map with deployment areas marked.

And an edited version of the briefings for both sides:

FRENCH

The blue line shows your deployment limit and the map gives some idea of the size of standard units, please allow a bit more space for large units. 

Background and objective

The Chevalier de Neuvalee failed twice in his attempt to break across the border into Grunburg county of the Elektorate of Reikland (A vassal of the Empire). That was the two actions at St Ulrich. It is now a day later and Neuvalee has retreated to high ground overlooking the village of Kutzdorf. Some of the St Ulrich units are recovering but his army has been reinforced by more French, and a light infantry unit from Savoy. However, the Reikland forces and their Imperial backers have been emboldened by victory and are pressing on into this area of French influence. Your orders are  to nip this invasion in the bud before things get serious, so you are to take and hold Kutzdorf villlage (1 Army Point) and counter attack the Count of Grunburg's force and drive it away. In case of the need for further reinforcements it is vital you do not lose the high ground (1 Army point for each Hill) or the road North of Kutzdorf (1 Army Point).

Intelligence

Grunburg's force is slightly larger than yours and he has more artillery and more light infantry. Also the Elite units of the Erbprinz Grenadiers and the Grunburg Dragoon Regiment, which inflicted such damage at St Ulrich, are believed to be in the forefront of this invading force. They can be expected to be deployed up to the red line on the map.

IMPERIAL 

The red line shows your deployment limit ................ 

Background and objective

The Chevalier de Neuvalee failed twice in his attempt to break across the border into Grunburg county of the Elektorate of Reikland (A vassal of the Empire). That was the two actions at St Ulrich. It is now a day later and Neuvalee has evidently retreated to high ground overlooking the village of Kutzdorf.  However, the Reikland forces and your Imperial backers have been emboldened by victory and you have been ordered to press on into this area of French influence and cause further embarrassment for the French and Savoy army.  So your initial aim is to take and hold Kutzdorf village (1 Army Point) as a forward base and attack the Chevalier on the high ground to command the terrain beyond (1 Army point for each Hill). Obviously, in order to proceed once the French are beaten, you will need also to command the road North of Kutzdorf (1 Army Point).

Intelligence

Your Grunburg/Imperial force is slightly larger than your opponent and you have more artillery and more light infantry. You can expect most of the regiments that took part at St Ulrich to be recovering some way off by now, but reconnaissance suggests that they have been replaced by even more, and fresh, troops. They can be expected to be deployed up to the blue line on the map, and the presence of small skirmishing parties indicates that light infantry are now present too.  

And the Orders of Battle for each side giving the names of the units from my pseudo-historical Imagi-nation armies and their quality and size for the purposes of HoW.  We have found that, with diffrent figure and base sizes, the number of bases per unit is less important than the frontage falling into a common width (for us between 21 and 26 cm for a standard infantry battalion). For 3 units battalion gun models have been used within this concept.

FRENCH/SAVOY (Guy)

Unit Nr	Unit Name	Quality	Nr of bases	Size of unit	Comments
Commanding General	Chevalier de Neuvalee	Unrated	1
1st Infantry Brigade Commander	Baron Joubarbe	Dependable	1
1	1st Bn Languedoc Inf regiment	standard	4	standard
2	2nd Bn Languedoc Inf regiment	standard	4	standard
3	Battalion Infanterie de la Marine	standard	5	Large	inc Bn gun
4	1st Royal Artillery Battery	standard	1	standard	Medium
2nd Infantry Brigade Commander	General D’Ancolie	Dependable	1
5	1st Bn La Reine Inf regiment	standard	4	standard
6	2nd Bn La Reine Inf regiment	standard	4	standard
7	Grenadiers of Hainault	Superior	4	small
8	2nd Royal Artillery Battery	standard	1	standard	Medium
Independent Battalion	Arquebusiers d’Argentiere (Light Inf)	Inferior	5	standard
Cavalry Brigade Commander	Comte de Berard	Dashing	1
9	Royal Dragoon Regiment	Superior	7	Large
10	1st Apchon Dragoons	standard	6	standard
11	2nd Apchon Dragoons	standard	6	standard
	TOTAL		55
	Army Break Point	6

IMPERIAL/REIKLAND (Ken)

Unit Nr	Unit Name	Quality	Size of unit	Nr of bases	Comments
Commanding General	General Count Von Grunburg	Unrated		1
Infantry Brigade Commander	General Von Reife	Dependable		1
14	1st Bn 3rd Grunburg Infantry Regiment	standard	standard	4
15	2nd Bn 3rd Grunburg Infantry Regiment	standard	standard	4
16	Erbprinz Infantry Regiment	Superior	large	6
17	Hessian Inf Bn Canitz	standard	standard	5	inc Bn gun
18	Hessian Inf Bn Prinz Ysenburg	standard	standard	5	inc Bn gun
19	1st Reikland Artillery Battery	standard	standard	1	Medium
Artillery Brigade Commander	Colonel von Kugel	Dependable
20	2nd Reikland Artillery Battery	standard	standard	1	Medium
21	3rd Reikland Artillery Battery	standard	standard	1	Medium
Cavalry Brigade Commander	General Von Kingsegg	Dependable		1
22	1st Finkenstein Dragoons	standard	standard	6
23	2nd Finkenstein Dragoons	standard	standard	6
Independent regiment
24	Grunburg Dragoon Regiment	Superior	large	7
Light Infantry Brigade Commander	General von Kotztoter	Dashing
25	Liccaner Grenz Light inf battalion	inferior	standard	5
26	Le Noble Jager Battalion	inferior	standard	5
	TOTAL			59
	Army Break Point	7

Although the Imperial side was designated the Attacker the original scenario did not make them very significantly larger so neither did I. I did, however, give the Reikland army two large and superior units. The objectives were intended to give both sides an incentive to attack, but the game got off to a hesitant start with both wargamers using up many of their "quota' of "1s" in the first two moves!

These two photos show the position at the end of Move 1, both gamers were, in my opinion, over influenced by the deployments shown in the book.

The Imperial Army at far end has the 5 battalion infantry brigade deployed in the centre with the Finkenstein Dragoons on the right and Grunburg Dragoons as central reserve. The two-gun battery started on the road and the two light infantry battalions started behind the large wood but a fortuitous double move got the Liccaner Grenzers to the far edge in one go.

This is the French right but see the photo above for the rest of the line. The Dragoons occupied the left, but half of the Apchon regiment was kept back under cover of the hill. Guy realised the penalty of this with his first "out of command" initiative so sent the Comte de Berard over to collect them, thus delaying his advance by a move. Baron Joubarbe's 1st Infantry brigade protected the left hand hill and General D'Ancolie's 2nd Brigade took the right hand hill. Using the logical crest line rules I allowed 5 of guy's units to be off table, out of sight (locations shown by the pale grey number chits). His light infantry battalion faced the big woods.

Ken split his infantry brigade with the 2 Reikland battalions "observing" Kutzdorf (had he read his orders?!) and the 3 Hessian battalions, including the large Erbprinz Grenadier battalion, making a bold advance on the near hill.

That had the desired effect as, when command rolls allowed, Guy brought his whole line forward towards the front slope to  meet the threat. Here are one battalion of La Reine and the small Hainault Grenadier battalion with General D'Ancolie and Le Chevalier de Neuvalee prominent.

Second Battalion of Lanquedoc mounted the crest too, led by Baron Joubarbe  

On the left the "dashing" Comte de Berard was biding his time and ensuring that the cavalry and the Infanterie de la Marine, kept pace. (Yes, I guess the battalion gunners should have blue waistcoats but repainting these was a casualty of my overall rebasing schedule!)

Count von Grunburg's view of the Hessian advance. General von Reife watches from the gun position so he can also keep tabs on the other half of his brigade. 

Le Noble Jager Battalion backs up the Grenzers and is now near enough to be visible.

A bit later this was the overall situation. On the left the Grenzers have suffered the first set back, being repulsed by the fire of the Arquebusiers d'Argentiere. All other eyes are on the Hessian advance since both commanders seem content to watch each other warily in the vicinity of Kutzdorf.  Long range cannon fire from both sides is inflicting steady, but not significant casualties, as yet.

Not committing himself but Guy wheels the Royal Dragoons to make any Imperial attack West of Kutzdorf very difficult

Ken is bravely attacking the hill.  Suffering volley fire and canister Canitz regiment has had to fall back, and has been passed through by the Erbprinz Grenadiers. In the distance Le Noble and the Arquebusiers engage in a light infantry exchange of musketry

Don't you just love the strange expressions pulled by wargamers contemplating a knotty tactical situation? :-)
This photo shows more clearly how the Imperial deployment has stretched itself leaving insufficient troops to bring overwhelming weight at any point. I had, only half jokingly, been urging Ken to charge through the centre with the Grunburg Dragoons. He most likely would have lost them but they would have taken the heat off his infantry assault.

A closer view of the Prinz Ysenburg battalion's engagement with the Hainault Grenadiers; the battalion gun enables "infantry" fire at 30cm instead of 20cm.

A close up of the Reikland guns (painted as Austrians) with the two battalions of the 3rd Regiment of Reikland Foot beyond.(painted as British Royal regiment). The second line of these infantry was by now suffering occasionally from the "grazing fire" rule when fired at by Guy's hill top battery. By the way that is Willz' AMG 16 casualty marker figure gift getting shot in the back!

The Liccaner Grenz battalion, being inferior light infantry in accordance with the rules, had to keep retreating to more than 60cm from the enemy before it could start to recover lost hits.

This was the point we decided to repair to "The Butcher's Arms" for a well deserved lunch and a pint. (Alison's vegetarian club sandwich made to my recommended ingredients was a-maz-ing! - thank you)

This proved to be the high point of the game. Ysenburg contains the Hainault Grenadiers while the large battalion of Erbprinz Grenadiers attacks one of the La Reine battalions with the bayonet, supported by the now-recovered Canitz battalion.

Despite being a "superior" status target the volley fire and canister raised its 2 hits to 5 and it was "Done For", routing through Canitz and not able to recover, so lost to this game. Sadly for Ken, Ysenburg also suffered badly and ran. One bright spot was that Le Noble Jagers won their skirmishing contest and had sent the Savoy light infantry battalion retreating two moves. It was difficult for the "dashing" von Kotztoter to leave the Jagers though, to bring back the Grenzers.

So this was the situation during Move 5:

Ken had little choice but to pull back the exposed Canitz battalion, but the Jagers were prevented from pressing further by being attacked by Guy who got a double move that time and was able to complete the manoeuvres. Around Kutzdorf there was bit of a stand-off with neither side feeling strong enough to press an attack yet. Ken's "grand battery" was off putting even to Guy's infantry superiority.

View from the French right hand hill

More thoughtful expressions. Ken has to retreat Canitz even further to rally off their hits and meanwhile he has lost the Jager battalion "Done for" in the fight against the Hainault Grenadiers who themselves have to retreat from losses. Guy is now worried about reforming his right flank in case those Grunburg Dragoons try something desperate. His Marine battalion on the left flank kept suffering hits from the artillery battery but the distance from the enemy enabled the unit to recover quickly.

Close up of the Canitz Regiment just because they and Ysenburg are my new Fife and Drum Miniatures Hessians, obtained from the charming Graham Cummings at Crann Tara Miniatures. The pile of equipment on the casualty base was one of several just nicked for the day from my Waterloo armies to indicate the unit with 4 hits could not advance till it reformed.

The situation during Move 7:

Lots of action this Move as Guy had decided his French would go on the offensive and he got useful command rolls to help.
The left flank Dragoons move on Kutzdorf to cover the advance of the Marine infantry up the road. Royal Dragoons canter along the line of Languedoc to occupy a threatening position in the centre. Both battalions of La Reine now advance to keep the Imperial refused left flank on edge. For the moment their exposed flank to the wood is ignored while the Arquebusiers are gathering strength again on the extreme right.

View from the French left hand hill

At this point Ken had his first stroke of luck. Up to now all dice rolls for casualties among leaders had been negative for both sides but as General D'Ancolie led La Reine forward he was severely injured by a round from a Reikland battery and his place taken by a "Dithering" subordinate. Luckily for Guy Neuvalee was within 15cm so was able to mitigate the ditherer's uncertainty somewhat!

A closer view of the Marine column about to approach Kutzdorf............

...............But fast forward to Move 10! They occupied the village and started to fire at the Finkenstein Dragoons but Colonel von Kugel found that his Reikland battery was within angle and range to play canister on the sturdy buildings of Kutzdorf and it only took two moves of that treatment to get the Infanterie de la Marine on the run. Just to add to Guy's discomfiture a blast of canister cut down Baron Joubarbe as he was urging the Marines to hold their ground. So both French infantry brigade commanders were now "Dithering".

As the French right wing advanced the Light infantry of both sides had recovered and began a fire fight in the large woods

Ken had to redeploy his three remaining infantry battalions to cover the gap across to Kutzdorf, but the Apchon Dragoons were now emboldened to advance on the other side of the village - outside the angle of canister at the moment.

Both Dragoon regiments were evenly matched, being 24 figure units in my old scale which I broke down into two wings for use with HoW, each wing might represent 3 or 4 squadrons (what is the correct word for half a cavalry regiment?). The only difference was that the French cavalry commander was "Dashing" and that his rear wing was getting casualties from one of Ken's guns, now turned to face. 

Despite the losses to the supporting wing the forward wing of Apchon pushed
back the first wing of Finkenstein..........

......but then they in turn were attacked by Finkenstein 2 and failed the counter charge roll. Apchon 2 suffered more from canister and decided to retreat while it could, leaving their colleagues unsupported in the melee.
This wider photo also shows a lot more action: One battalion of Languedoc is now in column approaching Kutzdorf; the Royal Dragoons are teasing the remaining battalion of 3rd Reikland whose sister battalion has fled from artillery pounding (that cursed grazing fire!). However Ken had given as good as he got by seeing off one of the La Reine battalions with artillery. The Liccaner Grenzers have been ejected from the big wood.

At this stage  (Move 11) it felt, visually, like Guy's French had only a slight upper hand, as, except for cavalry, Ken had been constantly giving ground and losing units. I was keeping a private check on Army Points lost and at this time it was French 2.5 and Imperial 4.5, with two French generals now dithering and no one having any terrain points.

As the cavalry melee resolved Apchon 1 broke and were caught up by Finkenstein 2 and slaughtered!

It was now around 6pm and we'd played 12 Moves. Coincidentally that was the amount I had written in my notebook at the start as an aim and it coincided with the time my visitors had to go.  The following two photos give a general view at the end (with the exception of the Canitz battalion which Ken had taken out of line to have a play with frontages compared to his own figures!)  To be honest it was a bit scrappy for both sides. Army Points lost were now - French 3.5 and Imperial 4.5, and neither had anything for terrain since the French were in possession of their hills and road at the start and no longer had Kutzdorf.  Ken claimed that if we had played one more move he could have evened up the points, and no one disputed that so both "Military Gentlemen of the 18th century" called it an honourable draw.

Some more thoughts on "Honours of War"

As a balanced wargame this scenario is a bit strange but as a rules learning game for us all it was great. The deployment used by both sides gave plenty of room for manoeuvre and that's just what they did all day. The command structure rules kept discipline most of the time and each commander had some tough decisions about how to keep the action going with diverse brigades on a wide front. To me it felt like an 18th century battle should, and with two 18th century enthusiasts in charge we had no silly situations or gamesmanship to worry about, they were both in learning mode but both very astute wargamers. Overall a huge plus and I'm loving the games played so far with HoW.

This scenario introduced Light Infantry and past experience in other rules had made me very wary so I gave the French one as well as the two Imperial battalions of the original scenario. However, I was pleasantly surprised that, as long as you make them "inferior" they are far from the super units that reading the rules makes them appear. They cannot easily take on line units, and I'm happy with the balance.

On the down side I'm having a few issues. I don't like that any unit with 5 hits is automatically out of the game; I'd prefer to see some dice chance and/or rallying by a general and then a longer recovery time. Even the "large" and "superior" Erbprinz Grenadiers could not withstand a volley added to a canister salvo. Ken had no chance to withdraw them at 3 hits as the rules suggest. A bit like Black Powder I think these rules are best for really big games where you can afford to lose units quickly as long as you can back them up with successive waves. In this medium sized engagement poor Ken had really run out of winning options once his infantry attack failed.  Guy thought that in reality his army would have stayed on the defensive after that, holding the high ground, but he wanted to make a game of it by counter attacking. That went on to prove what we have seen in other HoW games that he who can stay stationary to shoot before a melee usually comes out on top. That may need fixing somehow as there is little incentive for infantry to attack with cold steel - maybe that is deliberate and it's our tactics at fault? (Think of the French at Quebec!).

I'm not happy that wounded or killed leaders are replaced immediately always with some lower capability replacement. I'd prefer, say, a D/Average number of turns at lower level then dice for the quality of a replacement from the C-in-C's staff pool.

Grazing fire makes it very detrimental to arrange your battle array as historically realistic successive lines. We reduced the effectiveness against third lines but I think we need to do that for second lines too.

Sorry to winge, I love you really HoW!  Any readers thoughts welcome and apologies if these issues have been dealt with on the HoW Forum but I've never made time to peruse it.

Thanks to Ken and Guy for making the journey and giving up a working day to keep this old pensioner entertained!  I really enjoyed it, and this is what wargaming is about to me - a leisurely day playing a historically serious game but in an Imagi-nations context allowing the occasional moment of hilarity. HoW has a basic structure on which layers of imagination can be applied, or pure history if you wish.