Square Dancing in Hof ...

With an eye to controlling the trade on the River Oudear, Wittenberg has decided to take control of the Hoflandt from Saxe-Jarlsberg. Wittenberg, troops had been mustered in the south of the country in Vander ready to cross the river. Their first target was to seize the town of Hof, just across the river from Vander.

---oXo---

Wittenberg cavalry cross the river from Vander into Hof and move down Bridge Street...

forewarned of the attack by a merchant returning from Vander, the commander of the Hof garrison had quickly mustered his forces and was in the process of positioning his troops in the town square

The Wittenberg troops enter the town square ...

The town garrison is nearly finished deploying...

The Wittenberg cavalry charges quickly catching one Saxe-Jarslberg unit in the flank....

The Wittenberg cavalry fairs well but holds back ... not wanting to get too drawn in ..

The Witteberg cavalry in the centre of the square falls back, as a fresh unit arrives... the Saxe-Jarlsberg cavalry have reformed and are ready ..

to charge ......

it looks like they may be able to push the opposition back down Bridge Street...

The Wittenberg dragoons dodge out of the way of the cavalry and seek refuge in an alley way and into the buildings. The cavalry melee is in full swing ....

At the back of the square, the Wittenberg cavalry unit falls back, but a fresh unit has just arrived to support them; the Saxe-Jarlsberg cavalry lose the other two melee's and fall back ....

With casualties mounting and fresh cavalry arriving, leaving them outnumbered; the Saxe-Jarlsberg commander decides to withdraw ...

The Saxe-Jarlsberg musketeers fire an ineffective volley before they withdraw ....

The Wittenberg forces now command the square and more are on their way down Bridge Street...

Wittenberg forces take possession of the town of Hof, as the Saxe-Jarlsberg forces withdraw ...

Adding to the Library ...

I've been adding to  my library of suitable reference material, scenarios and rules ... I had the ECW siege scenario booklet and I got the other ones; lots of scenario ideas for planning future games.

A while back I obtained the Fire & Sword rule book and other publications..

very handy reference background material and information on army compositions. The rule book is handy, but my own rules seem to cover everything, so I'll stay with mine.

Also I've been perusing ...

a great read, lots of info on armies of the The Deluge and some nice illustrations.

 

Polish V Ottomans: A Cavalry Engagement

 I thought I ought to get the tweaked Polish cavalry form the previous couple of posts onto the the table this year; so for the last game before Xmas, in a scenario loosely adapted from one of the 'Fire and Sword' books - forces from Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth will have to defeat an Ottoman Turkish force.

I used a cut down version of my 17C home-baked rules for a sort of 'fast play', to give a simpler game with this cavalry encounter; routed units and casualties removed as the game moved on...

---oXo---

The two armies initial deployment,  the Ottoman force ...

The Polish: Winged Hussars, Pancerni, Light Cav and Lithuanian Tartars

The light cavalry units on both side move forward....

they clash ......

in the centre the green unit of polish Light cavalry defeats and routes two units of Ottoman cavalry and is then met by another Ottoman light cavalry unit; the blue unit of Polish light cavalry are beaten and rout their place taken by a supporting unit of Pancerni...

The Ottoman cavalry move forward on their right and are met by some Tartars

And then receive a flank attack for a unit of Pancerni

The elite Ottoman cavalry join the fray, attacking the Pancerni

The elite Ottoman cavalry defeat the Pancerni

The Ottomans seem to getting the upper hand  .....

The Winged Hussars charge into the elite Ottoman cavalry... while the Tartars push on and into the next Ottoman unit...

The Winged Hussars practically wipe out the elite Ottoman cavalry unit and kill the Ottoman commander as well; then they move on into the next block of Ottoman cavalry, who hold the charge just ...

The Winged hussars regroup and are about to plough through the remaining Ottoman cavalry with the Tartars hitting them in the flank...

a bad day for the Ottomans

a win for the Polish

Polish 17C Cavalry - Adding bows and quivers (2) ... all done ..

 Finished tinkering with the Polish Pancerni and Light Cavalry, two or three figures of each unit are now carry bow-case and quiver.  

I've reduced the number of Pancerni holdiing lance, so now have a mix of sword, lance and war hammer; (also a couple of other weapons found in the spares box).

Deployed ready for action....

with the light cavalry on one flank ...

Polish 17C Cavalry - Adding bows and quivers ...

 With gaming restarted after the lockdown rules easing, starting to prepare some ideas for games and also to tinker with a few things to improve some items.

 I have decided to add bow cases and arrow quivers to some of the 17C Polish cavalry - to improve the mixed look of the light horse. Also the Pancerni are all lance armed which is nice but should really be a mix - so some of them will be swapping lances for swords or war hammer - also some will get bow cases and quivers instead of muskets.

Work started on the light cavalry....

The Saxe-Jarlsberg Army...

 Saxe-Jarlsberg is an ally of Monrovia.  They have raised their army to attempt to take the Hoflandt from Wittenberg ( a small campaign that I am currently in the process of setting up)., they may be assisted by Monrovia troops.

For games I use cards to select which order units move.. a set has been made for Saxe-Jarlsberg..

I cast some figures last year to paint up some new command stands - the army commander , infantry commander and two alternate command stands for a couple of existing infantry units to give them a new identity.

the army commander, with infantry regiment in the background

the commander of the infantry ..

a newly raised regiment of foot - Scottish mercenaries (home-cast figures with some Sash & Sabre Scots heads)

Artillery and the dragoons will be other items from the collection as needed. The Saxe-Jarlsber cavalry will be three units I completed last year....

WGA 2021 - Polish Army Project article

I had an article on my Polish Army project in the Wargamers Annual 2021; the article has summary of the project, plus scenarios based on the battles of Wallhof and Honigfelde