Assault on Hofheim...

Wittenberg forces make an improvised assault on the Walled town of Hofheim....

--oXo--

Positions

Hofheim, early in the morning just as the sun was rising ...

Out of the morning mist the Wittenberg assault force head for the east gate, with a petard team...

An assault force approaches the north gate, men with axes and scaling ladders...

and a smaller force approach the west gate, with rope & grappling hooks ...

Assault on the West gate 

First move was made on the West gate, men with grappling hooks moved up towards the wall..

Both rope teams got a good hold with the grapple, two men got up onto the wall on one side ...

But couldn't get into the gate tower, on the other side they were now opposed by the gate guards..

Eventually one man got up but couldn't make much progress to clear the wall of defenders..

the attempt on the West Gate had stalled ..

Assault on the North Gate

The teams with the ladders approached the gate and got the ladders up; the gate guard was on the walls...

One ladder was knocked down and broken, another ladder pushed back, one man got up onto the wall and got stuck into a fight with a guard...

as the men fought on the wall, some of the garrison reached the wall from the adjacent tower...

Although the second ladder was up, the attackers only had a toe hold on the wall, men went at the gate with axes but to little effect...

the attempt on the North Gate had stalled ..

Assault on the East Gate

Once the attacks were in on the other gates, the petard team and supporting troops moved up to the East Gate....the gate guard raised the alarm, men scrambled to get ready in the towers and one ran to alert the garrison... 

With covering fire, the petard was attached to the gate

The petard fuse was lit, but went off too quickly killing most of the petard team, but blowing the gate

After the dust settled, the attackers charged in un-opposed....

With half the garrison at the other two gates, the rest moved towards the East gate.....

More attacking troops moved up to the gate ....

The garrison charged into the attackers, if they only could hold them and push them back 

But no, they were pushed back down the main street, still there was a chance ...

There were too many attackers and the defenders were pushed back towards the church...

As they were pushed back into the square, some of the attacker moved to the North gate clearing defending troops away and pushing them back down the street...

The gates were opened and more attacking troops came in ...

The garrison fought on bravely in front of the church....

Beset on all side they surrendered.. 

Hofheim was now in Wittenberg hands.

--oXo--

Notes:

1.  The scenario is based on Wargaming in History Vol 11, SYW Small Actions - Hadik's Raid on Pirna; using the special game mechanics included in the scenario definition.

2.  Attacking walls with ladders and grappling hooks, can work if all goes well. But not in this case.

3.  The petard team did the job, if the gate had held then the whole attack would have failed.

Hoflandt -Campaign Map Movements (1)...

Saxe-Jarslberg (defending the Hoflandt). RED

• The garrison ejected by Wittenberg from Hof had retreated to Marienstadt.
• The Duke's army is mustering at Karlebach, along with allied troops from Hesse-Limburger.
• A small force has been sent to hold Montberg.
• All towns and garrisons had been notified to be on the alert.

Wittenberg (trying to seize the Hoflandt) GREEN

• While the town of Hof was secured a small force moved out to block the road to Marienstadt.
• After seizing the ferry crossing at Inglewitz, more troops were brought over the river Oudear.
• They moved up to Dreishof, then on to Applestrudel to block the border to Monrovia.
• Another small strike force moved quickly to Toppenhof and then made for Hofheim.

Setting up the table for 'Assault on Hofheim' Game ...

 Next game in the campaign will be Wittenberg forces making an attempt to take the Saxe-Jarlsberg walled town of Hofheim by storm ....

I've been setting up the table... basic layout...

Altered layout with better roads and some internal views of the town ...

Over the Oudear at Ingelwitz...

A job for the special talents of the Kings Musketeers (and some of the Kings Dragoons). The musketeers : Von Messing, Scharfe, Fischer, Hofler, & their servant Limburger have travelled to Inglewitz, their orders to sieze the settlement of Werthaus on the opposite back of the river Oudear to facilitate the Wittenberg army crossing into Saxe-Jarlsberg territory using the ferry.

---oXo---

At Werthaus on the Saxe-Jarlsberg side of the river Oudear, there is a small army outpost supervising the ferry trade; performing mainly customs duties.

On the opposite side of the river is the town of Inglewitz.  A man in a cloak talking in hushed tones, confirms that the men he is in conversation with have understood their orders.

The cloaked man and four men with a servant (Von Messing, Scharfe, Fischer, Hofler & their servant Limburger), plus a wagon board the ferry to cross the river ...

They arrive on the other side, as they reach the customs post the ferry has already left and is heading back to the other side...

In Inglewitz a small body of dragoons, some dismounted, are heading towards the ferry....

Meanwhile at the customs post on the other side of the river ...Limburger throws the sack he is carrying at the musket armed custom guard putting him off balance; Scharfe draws his sword and makes to attack him; Von Messing draws his sword and confronts the customs officer; Limburger gets muskets out from under the cart and hands them to Fischer and Hofler...

The small detachment of Saxe-Jarlsberg infantry get into position to intervene. Fischer goes up to support Scharfe while Von Messing crosses swords with the customs officer; Hofler and Limburger take position in cover behind the cart.

Muskets are fired but nobody is hit; the Saxe-Jarlsberg officer goes down badly wounded as a result of von Messing's superior skill with a sword.....

On the other side of the river in Inglewitz some dragoons start to board the ferry....

With no time to reload, its into hand-to-hand combat with swords and muskets wielded...

Another Saxe-Jarlsberg soldier goes down as the cart is pulled out of the way....

Meanwhile the ferry starts across the river with the dragoons on board ....

The soldiers and the musketeers are busy fighting ....

Approaching down the road to Werthaus is a unit of commanded shot ..(which had been sent to reinforce the border guard after Wittenberg seized Hof). 

The musketeers have the edge in the fighting in Werthaus....

The remaining Saxe-Jarlsberg soldiers fall back down the road as the Wittenberg dragoons disembark form the ferry ....

As the Wittenberg dragoons move up the road into Werthaus, more are on their way over in the ferry.....

The Saxe-Jarlsberg commandes shot have arrived and hold the road into the town; The dragoons are in position; the musketeers have moved out of the way and have taken cover behind a cart ...

The firing starts, the Saxe-Jarlsberg commanded shot fair badly ...

Another volley form the dragoons thins them out some more ....

The Saxe-Jarlsberg troops have had enough and retreat down the road.....

The ferry has arrived with more dragoons ...

The dragoon officer congratulates von Messing and his men on a job well done , the rest of the musketeers head toward the local inn to find some refreshment ...

---oXo---

Wittenberg now has control of the ferry crossing, over the next couple of days more troops will be ferried across ......