A 1760 "What-If" - Battle of the Auden Hills near Torgau

 "Never......in the field of human wargaming........has so much.....been achieved.......in Turn One... .....by so few!......"

(Paraphrasing Sir Winston Churchill and Dillon Browne)

The Challenge

1. Come up with a day long game for four experienced players as a post lockdown release of wargaming energy. (this game was in mid June 2021)

2. Base it on a variation of the Brampton hills, rivers and roads terrain described here

3. Use as many of Paul B's beautiful Minden Austrians and Prussians as possible and make Austrian General Sincere in charge on one side and Prinz Heinrich on the other. Include figures from my own collection too especially my new lockdown-painted French infantry.

Paul was keen for his classic Stadden staff vignette to be C-in C

The Answer

I've got to admit that I had not come across FML Sincere before so had to flip through my reference books to find both him and some of the regiments that I knew Paul had painted but had never graced a wargames table before.  I found him at the battle of Torgau in November 1760, but as only one of many subordinate Generals, so I had to come up with an independent mixed command and role. Scouring the map of surrounding territory there was nothing that fitted my tasked configuration of rivers and hills so, with apologies to residents or those very familiar with the Torgau area, what resulted was more "Imagination" than "What-if", but please indulge me.

Historically the Austrian army had encamped on high ground West of Torgau fortress. Frederick II decided to take most of his army on a wide westerly outflanking march while a lesser force pinned the Austrians to their location without engaging till he was ready in position. Several columns of Prussians set out the day before and arrived in position; the Austrians turned to face and, to cut a long story short, the Prussians won the day but only just, and a bit by a fluke of the terrain.

This is the photo map of the terrain I cooked up for General Sincere to try his luck against Prinz Heinrich (Paul's other leader vignette)

Prussians are in position around the Auden Hugeln and the Austrians approach from the North

Battle of the Auden Hills

Background and Objectives

So I imagined that Prinz Heinrich was leading one of the Prussian columns and had camped overnight within the safety of the Auden Hills. Two hasty redoubts had been constructed one on each flanking height. Another brigade was camped in Mockrenna and there were units as piquets on outlying terrain features.

Heinrich has Victory Conditions which encourage him to take the Wildenburg, Ober Audenhain and the two road exits nearby, and also secure as many crossings of the Wildenbach as possible.

You can read the full briefs and orders of battle for Dillon and Martin as the Prussians and for Kevin and Paul B as the Austrians  in the Historical section of the Download sidebar

Here is a map showing the Prussian plan. It calls for a major left hook across the Wildenbach stream while the right wing marks time awaiting what the Austrians have to offer. Dismounted Uhlans defend Nieder Audenhain and a brigade of Kurassiers lurks nearby to lead a counter attack when necessary. Both flanks will be covered by medium artillery in the redoubts. Martin had control of the left flank up to the central blue line, and Dillon everything to the right of it.

Below is the Austrian plan. They would gain Victory Points for cutting off Prinz Heinrich's columns by taking the bridges at Mockrenna and Nieder Audenhain as well as inflicting serious losses on the Prussians. Contesting the three crossings of the Wildenbach is also vital and I did start them off with two small bridgeheads to get things going. Hence Kevin's plan calls for serious attacks all along the front with the weight of heavy cavalry at the centre right intending to converge with a quick advance by the troops on the extreme right. This was the Austrian trump card as the Prussians did not know the Austrians had Grenzers and Dragoons deployed in the woods at Zone B.  Paul B controlled everything from Wildenhain village to its right (West) and Kevin everything to the left (East). In my game the Austrians are trying to get the drop on the Prussian strategic aims so have the Initiative as the designated Attacker.

At this point I have to confess one of the reasons I've been so long in posting is how difficult this game is to present coherently. I deliberately allowed the armies to be close at the start and both having attacking objectives....and I got what I asked for!  It was full on from the first action and never really let up till going home time. So to go across the table move by move would be tedious and difficult to follow. Instead  I'll give a quick summary and then what I will try to do is present it by sections of battlefield in photos. Inevitably there will be omissions and overlaps but please bear with me and just enjoy the pictures!

Kevin and Paul look pretty happy after their
initial counsel of war

Overall conduct of the game

I will report this from the Austrian side of the table as they were the de facto attackers. Paul pushed forward St Ignon's Dragoons from the right flank woods and the Freikorps Hussars only narrowly escaped from the Grafenberg before they would have been boxed in by advancing Austrian infantry. Kleist brought all his Hussars and Dragoons out of Mockrenna town to rescue them and take on the Austrian infantry. While they were doing this Paul sped forward with his Grenzers up the other side of the Mockrenbach and occupied the woods and town. Eventually they got to the bridge and held it unchallenged for the rest of the battle.

Dillon and Martin pose behind the
Prussian army at the start

The Freikorps Hussars pulled out successfully from the hilltop but were eventually seen off by infantry fire. Now on the Grafenberg St Ignon's Dragoons threatened the oncoming Prussian Hussars and Dragoons from on high and stopped them short. Then the Austrians took the initiative to charge down on the von Reusch Hussars and broke them, later taking on the Winkenstein Dragoons behind. Cavalry battles are rarely one sided so this hung in the balance for a while until the Prussians gave way and made room for Elmendorff's Austrian infantry to power on past the Grafendorf hamlet. The Austrian Dragoons were also pretty exhausted.

A general view of the table which you may care to compare with the two maps above

In the Austrian centre-right Paul had arranged a big attack by all of the "Dashing" Bettoni's four Kurassier units. Opposite, Martin moved first and advanced forward still in column of march but Paul got a double move and crashed into the leading two Prussian infantry battalions. They held for a while, long enough for the other battalions to either form line or get out of the way.  The outcome was that this totally wrecked any plans for a Prussian advance here and Bettonis's regiments fell back, reformed and attacked again when possible to keep all the Prussian infantry back beyond Wildenhain and Grafendorf. They even dragged some of Dillon's central infantry into the mix.  For his part Martin edged his somewhat battered battalions, under cover of the artillery in the redoubt, over the Mockrenberg with the ultimately vain aim to recapture Mockrenna bridge. By the end the Austrians had this entire flank wrapped up and both sides recoiled to heal their wounds or withdraw from the scene.

I was there too!

Kevin planned a thrust in the central part of the Austrian line across the Wildenbach stream past Wildenhain to create panic in the Prussian column. It did not quite work out that way. Combined Austrian infantry work swept the Freikorps battalion out of Wildenhain but they never made more progress as Dillon brought up a line regiment to occupy the woods opposite and kept up an effective fire all day from there. Instead Kevin pushed forward towards the Auden Hills redoubt backed up by his own artillery. It proved a bloody contest with several Austrian battalions repulsed leaving only the Bavarian regiment intact and on the flank of what remained of the Prussian line. It's probably fair to say this battalion did much on its own to prevent any further advance by the Prussians in this area.

Kevin's left flank infantry brigade, that of Brink, urged on by Sincere's staff vignette, got a double move and leaped into action against Nieder Audenhain. They swept away the Prussian Light battery and discovered the village defended by a regiment of dismounted lancers. At that point Dillon attacked with his Kurassier brigade. Brink's infantry were able to turn to face and this was the start of a battle of attrition as successive infantry battalions were engaged by successive waves of Kurassiers. Units on both sides got either shot up and repulsed or ridden down and scattered. Poor Sincere got killed in the confusion by artillery fire from the redoubt; rather than lose the lovely vignette model we relabelled it as "Dithering".  Eventually Kevin's reserve Hussar regiment came up from behind Oder Audenhain town and prevented the victorious Kurassiers sweeping away Brink's men. Although the Hussars were forced to retreat they did see off the last exhausted regiment of Aschersleben's Kurassiers. So on this extreme left flank it was a sort of draw but with the Austrians completely failing to gain their objective of the Nieder Audenhain river crossing and the Prussians not having got anywhere near the Wildenbach stream, let alone Oder Audenhain.

So for the Conclusion see the end of this report.

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The battle told in pictures

The Austrian Right Flank - gaining the Mockrenna Bridge

St Ignon's Austrian Dragoons can't quite make it to
attack the Freikorps Hussars in one move

Martin brings Kleist's Prussian cavalry out of Mockrenna
town towards the Grafenberg

St Ignon attacks the von Reusch Hussars downhill.......

....while a lucky initiative roll enables the Grenzers
 to sneak into Mockrenna wood

In the distance the displaced Freikorps Hussars front up to 
Austrian infantry fire.......

......but wish they hadn't

One wing of von Reusch Hussars on the run.....

...and the other crumbles too

Paul follows up with the attack by the Austrian Dragoons

Each side suffers a setback but still carries on with an intact unit

The Grenzers have consolidated by Mockrenna bridge
 and long range skirmish fire will dissuade
Martin's weakened Prussian infantry from getting any closer.

The final situation on this flank sees Martin's troops in disarray.
Some Prussian Dragoons recover in the woods but erroneously are lined up with the Grenzers!
Elmendorff's infantry have come past Grafendorf and look like the new owners of
Mockrenna town and bridge, but they still have a Prussian-occupied village on their left flank.

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The Austrian Right Centre - Attacks by the Kurassier Brigade

Martin's 6 battalions of the von Kanitz brigade move forward
in column thinking they are safe enough.......

......but are hit by Bettoni's double move charge and don't have enough time or initiative dice to change formation

A gratuitous photo, just because I love it, of von Elmendorff's brigade moving up behind the Kurassiers.
Minden figures beautifully presented by Paul B

Another view of the initial clash

The two pinned columns are surprisingly fighting on and giving time for 3 of the other battalions
to move out to their left over the Mockrenberg

The largest Kurassier regiment breaks another Prussian battalion
  killing von Kanitz in the process, but is itself forced to withdraw

Another Kurassier regiment has drawn in a fusilier battalion from
 the neighbouring brigade of Colonel Roebel

But Martin had done a good job of getting the rest of the
 Kanitz brigade out of the way and thus preserving its dignity

The Fusiliers rout their opponents but they are also exhausted
 in the process

The wider pictures show two Kurassier regiments have
reformed and are ready for the fray again

The view from within the Austrian ranks

As Paul surveys his achievement it becomes evident that any forward attempt here by the Prussians has been completely thwarted.......

.....so following success the Kurassiers advance again,
initially forcing the Freikorps light infantry to evade......

.....and making it difficult for the Prussians to reform

The big regiment had retreated right back to reform and recover Hit Points

But those Prussian infantry still had a sting and both the weak cavalry regiments were "Done For" by close range musketry

Nevertheless the successive attacks had cleared the front of Prussians and they had got nowhere near achieving any objectives

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The Austrian Centre Left - Exhibitions of reckless bravery!

Kevin tried at once to improve his small bridgehead by advancing General Migazzi's infantry, but the Prussians were coming forward to meet  him in the confined space between Wildenhain wood and the redoubt hill. In the face of the cannon fire it was a brave act by both sides

Migazzi's lead battalion was repulsed leaving the
Bavarian Holnstein regiment looking isolated

A wider view shows the complex configuration that had developed. What would you do? Migazzi's flank looks secure with the capture of Wildenhain....but is it?

No! A Hessian battalion has occupied the woods opposite
 and would stay there for the rest of the game.

Nothing daunted the Bavarians right wheel under canister fire into the flank of Hessian musketeers and fusiliers; they have covering fire from an Austrian battery across the stream

What it looks like for the Hessians on the receiving end and
already weakened by artillery fire

The musketeers were put to flight and passing through the
fusiliers they went too! But a large battalion of Grenadiers
 is coming up.....

With this unexpected setback Dillon considers his options 

A counter attack in line frightens off the Bavarians who have done a great job

The view from behind the Auden Hill redoubt. Grenadiers at left distance. Prinz Heinrich at right and the ammunition train guard at left foreground.

Overview of the musketry battle going on in Wildenhain

Artillery fire and Grenadier musketry pushes the Austrian infantry back where it came from. Though note how the Austrian Kurassiers have isolated what remains of this active portion of Roebel's brigade.

A nice overview of the whole proceedings at about this point

The Grenadiers and the other Hessian battalion in the woods
are appearing to bottle up any further Austrian advance.....
or is it vice versa?

The ever-dynamic Kevin is renewing his attack

Too good to omit this photo - Austrian figures in PB's collection at the other end of Kevin's tape measure

Above and below: two views of more Austrian heroics in
front of that redoubt!

After this salvo the Prussian ammo supply is finished and they
may need that ammunition train

The last photo on this part of the table shows that the Austrians are content they have fulfilled their objective to disrupt the Prussian advance and it's not worth losing more men.

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The Austrian Left Flank - Prussian Kurassiers blunt the attack

Apologies to the purists  - we had to a make up numbers for this game to balance out. You've already seen we used my Hessians instead of more Prussian infantry, and on this flank those 'Austrians" are my new Minden and Crann Tara French infantry battalions. Half the "Prussian" Kurassiers are in fact my very old RSM Austrian Cuirassiers.

A double move and General Sincere's support help Major-General Brink get close to Nieder Audenhain.
The Hainault Grenadiers are angled back en potence to protect this flank from the cavalry.
Note the Austrian medium artillery is well placed to give "crossing fire" if those Kurassiers attack

They do! 

The result is that one wing of the regiment is broken
but the Grenadiers have suffered 4 Hits and must retreat

That looming hand is just above where the plucky Prussian
 Light battery met its demise in the face of overwhelming numbers

Dillon inspects with interest as Kevin withdraws the battalion which had attacked the village and been repulsed with Kurassiers also on its flank

A close up as Prinz Heinrich (at right) tries not to notice that one of his Kurassier squadrons is fleeing!

Now the surviving squadron of the Friedrich von Brandenburg
 Kurassiers hits the next Austrian battalion in flank.
Two down and three to go!

Feeling a bit out-horsed on this flank Kevin brings the Nadasdy Hussars out from behind Ober Audenhain

.....as another battalion scurries back and the Kurassiers
 follow up, hitting the next one frontally

A wider view which shows elements of Brink's brigade
streaming back to reform

Somewhere in all this the General Sincere vignette
got too near a unit suffering Hits and Dillon's double six
then counted him as a casualty

It's all good natured fun and the protagonists still have a laugh

The Nadasdy Hussars, (a large unit) takes on the standard size
 Kurassier regiment which has been weakened by
 artillery fire.........

.....beats it and follows on to the next one

The recovering regiment awaits the outcome

The Hussars had overreached themselves, as is often the way with cavalry charges, and their opponents followed up their countercharge onto the infantry. But with 3 Hits already it did not bode well for them

Sensibly withdrawing back to Prinz Heinrich's acclaim........

........as they had left the Austrian battalion broken, and the entire Brink's brigade now trying to reform
further back than they started

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Conclusion

I hope it comes across from this disjointed account that in pure attritional terms the Austrians were successful along their entire right wing from Wildenhain westwards, and it is fair to say their forces had been pushed back everywhere from Wildenhain eastwards. But that did not matter. What mattered was that between them Kevin and Paul had kept the Prussians back completely from even starting to gain the territorial objectives they needed, and inflicted a very decisive tally of units destroyed.  The Progress chart says it all - Unit points "Done For" is my 0.5 to 5 point scale depending on size and quality - 24 to 12, but add/subtract objective points (see the Briefs) and it becomes Austrians 34 and Prussians 9.5.

My brief observations for what they are worth, starting on the Austrian left.

At Nieder Audenhain it is difficult to know what either Kevin or Dillon could have done better. Without the Cuirassiers Kevin would have pushed through the dismounted uhlans eventually to gain the bridge.

Kevin's attack on the Auden Hills was not necessary to his objectives and probably would have been better by moving and shooting rather than a charge. Even so it caught Dillon off guard and was useful.

Gaining control of Wildenhain early was a useful move and denied the Prussians 2.5 Terrain points in the end. 

The biggest game winner proved to be Paul's double move at the start with the Kurassier brigade. I don't think any of us could see that coming and I'm very sorry for Martin that his day was rather blighted by being on the back foot all day because of that. Martin took it very well but wasn't left with enough infantry or terrain space to recover properly. Crossing the ridge to the next valley was a smart move though, well executed.

Paul never put a foot wrong all day and his surprise Dragoon attack on the hill had the unexpected consequence of drawing out both Martin's Hussars and Dragoons which left the hidden Grenzer unit free to occupy Mockrenna. The unit marker for the Grenzers was on the table in the wood from the start  so theoretically the Prussians were aware that something was there. Pity the Hussars did not head down river to meet them instead.

Ah well, at least we got a decisive result but I feel it should have been closer if it had not been for a few  key dice rolls at certain times.  They all took their misfortunes in good spirit.

As stated at the beginning, in our bit of alternative history General Sincere was leading this column to head off a part of Fred the Average's flank march round the Torgau position. Prince Heinrich's force was trying to press on through Ober Auderhain to join other outflanking forces. So a defeat of this nature. (about a third of  Prussian unit points Done For) probably would have been enough to make Frederick think again.......

Personally I think it was fantastic.  I wanted plenty of action and boy, did I get it. Honours of War, with a few minor tweaks, came good as usual - well done Keith.  Most players only had about 2 or 3 games of HoW under their belts but managed superbly and we got 6 all-action moves done. Thoroughly drained we went off to the Butcher's Arms for a well-earned drink and a meal and to relive the highlights........

Thank you to all four.

Lots more photos I couldn't find room for but here are a couple more of the players in action. I always love to see the thoughtful moments, the banter and candid inter-actions when I can snap them.

Just looked at these two wondering about a caption and realised it could apply to either side!
 "Now he's fallen into my trap!"