FoG:R Renaissance in Britcon 2012
Thirty Years' War French, Dutch and German vs Early TYW Swedish
Game 1 Thirty Years' War French, Dutch and German vs Thirty Years' War French
Game 2 Thirty Years' War French, Dutch and German vs Early TYW Swedish
Game 3 Thirty Years' War French, Dutch and German vs TYW German Catholic
Game 4 Thirty Years' War French, Dutch and German vs Later Swedish
Game 5 Thirty Years' War French, Dutch and German vs Early TYW Swedish
Game 6 Thirty Years' War French, Dutch and German vs Imperial Spanish
After clawing itsef back from the edge of defeat (admittedly to achieve a result which technically was still categorised as, well, still a defeat), in game 1, the following morning arrived a little too soon, as the previous nights clawing back session had taken until after 11pm - so the 8:15am start was harsh. Even more frightening was the way the day had dawned bright and warm. The luxurious scent of Eau de Wargamer would surely be a popular choice of fragrance in the non-air-conditioned facility into which over 200 svelt highly toned athletes would be cramming themselves that day
The lists for the Thirty Years' War French, Dutch and German and Early TYW Swedish from this game, as well as all the other lists from the games at Britcon can be seen here in the FoGR Wiki.
FoG:R hint - Locking 200 wargamers in a room on a sunny day goes a long way to recreating the accurate historical smells of several of the Catholic armies during the Thirty Years War after a long summer campaigning in which it would be normal for the soldiers to never wash nor change clothes. This is taken as an implicit factor in the FoG:R rules, as it disadvantages both players equally.
The table was fairly open, apart from one flank closed off with uneven and broken ground - although the Swedes did have one flank protected by a steep hill on which someone appeared to have drawn something akin to a schoolboy-esque knob gag
The French opted to try and recreate the tactics that had failed so spectacularly in the first game and pushed large numbers of Dragoons through the rough, supported by a unit of German Cuirassiers. The Swedes had two lots of three Dragoons opposing them, but no general - the advantage was definately with the French (just like the first game)
On the other flank, the Dutch Cuirassiers had deployed wide, expecting the Swedes to deploy some half decent horse on that flank. But the Swedes had opted for an ultra defensive combination of Carabins and Commanded Shot, so the first move of the Danish horse was to redeploy to the middle, where they could support the line of French Pike and Shotte who were facing a massive number of Average units of Swedish Formation foote
In the middle, the French plan was simple - wait for the Swedes to come, and hope the French artillery had their rangefinders dialled up to "accurate" so the Swedes devastatingly good at impact formations would be eroded by the time they arrived.
The initial exchange of Dragoon fire was damaging to both sides, with two different styles of DISR markers vying for tabletop supremacy
Emboldened by their General and the support of the German Horse and German Dragoons the French Dragoons closed in. They were DISR, but so were their opponents - and with additional bases shooting, and their own General, and also Rear Support to ensure they passed any tests they might need to make, the risk looked worth taking to gain an immediate and decisive advantage on this flank. With all this going for them the French Dragoons surely had the wherewithal to bully the Swedish Dragoons away?
With the Swedish defensive formation on their right still firmly in place, the Dutch infantry advanced cautiously as their Cuirassiers drifted into the middle. If only the Dutch had thought to cheat and bring more than one General for their command!
The assault on the Dragoons had caused the Swedes to bring one of their three (only THREE!) Generals over - and his appearance somehow seemed to inspire their shooting as they ranged in on the French Dragoons - knocking them down to FRAGGED, even with the help of Generals and rear support !
FoG:R hint - Clearly that supposedly "clever" plan to attack with a 2-strong DISR unit was utter bollocks.
Another round of shooting and the over eager, over ambitious and finally "Roger, Over and Out" French Dragoons were in rout!
The French and allied infantry in the middle were relatively unpeturbed by this poor development however, and as the Swedes pushed forward the French and Germans started to form the cauldron of fire that would meet the Swedes once they closed to musket range
It was a stately procession everywhere across the park, as neither side was bothering to prevent the other from teeing themselves up exactly as they wished
The wings of the French reception party start to close in on the arrowhead attack of the Swedes. Yet again it appeared for all the world that the French had "a Plan"
But the Swedish guns have started to find their range at last - the lead Dutch infantry formation has suddenlly suffered two base losses, putting it at the bring of breaking. That may well encourage the Defensive formation of the Swedes to come forward...
The Dragoon battle is swinging ever more into the hands of the Swedes - another French Dragoon unit goes FRAGGED. The theoretically powerful attack on that wing is now in shreds and the Swedes have units in their favour on the casulaty count, and the run of the board on the French right
However this is all a lot tidier. The French have assembled a mixed line of Pike and Shotte together with Cuirassiers, which will make it difficult for the Swedes to close to combat as their powerful charge risks being neutralised by the French/Dutch horsemen's countercharges
The French have no choice but to drag all of their surviving Dragoons out of the line, as one of their two Generals tries to recover the broken Dragoon unit with no success
The two lines stare at each other, just out of musket range. It is hard to see why the Swedes are hanging back - other than because they are winning on one flank already
The Swedes explain why they are delaying, as the second line of infantry wheels out to create a much more coherent formation which matches the French across their whole line
The German infantry sneak forward, getting into range and start taking pot-shots at the outermost Swedish unit and knocking off a base
Things are going from bad to worse for the Dutch, as the Swedes move up and start blasting away with carbines, muskets and artillery
Everyone moves into shooting range...
The Dutch, after losing bases and cohesion easily, suddenly find a spine and start passing tests in the most unlikley fashion. The Swedish Carabiniers facing them immediately lose their nerve, and as they come under heavy fire from the second line of Dutch foot the 4-strong average Horse unit loses bases and cohesion. The odds are evening out...
Oh, I spoke too soon...
The exchange of shooting is not really favouring the French, as cohesion markers sprout behind their lines, and bases are removed. The Swedes take some damage, but nowhere near as much
All the French units bar one have suffered losses, but the Swedes have only lost 2 bases in the exchange of shooting. The French surely now cannot stand against the Swedes as the "shoot them up" plan appears to have worked perfe ctly... for the Swedes.
Whilst we are on the topic of damage, the once powerful attack on the French right is reduced to an embarassing shambles as the German Cuirassiers are mobbed and battered by the Swedish Dragoons... 50% losses and a cohesion loss marker is not a great recipie for victory
The shambles is completed .... The German Cuirassiers complete their embarassing morning and decide to rout...highly efficiently of course
Three fragmented units, one at half strength... the French line is basically waiting to be swept away, and chances are the Swedish will not need to even get into close combat - simply charging forward and shouting "BOO!!!" loudly will be enough to sweep the French away for sure
The right flank is also struggling badly for the French. The average French Horse really should never be that close to the enemy, but FRAGGED and a base down is very definately not part of their master strategy. With the game almost lost the French start to contemplate some desparate measures and consider a charge on the Swedish Carabins..
Before the end however, the Cuirassiers spot an almost unique opportunity. Embedded in middle of the Swedish line is a lone 2-pak of Salvo commanded shot with a gun - and it makes a fantastic target for a Cuirassiers who launch an attack on what is unsupported, unprotected Medium Foot in the open. Nice!
Whilst things are going well, the surviving unit of Dutch infantry launch their own attack on the Carabins... evens at impact but lots of bases against only three, and with the Carabins breaking with just one more base loss - maybe there is hope!
The Cuirassiers drive a hole through the enemy lines as they sweep away the Commanded shot in one turn.... the Cuirassiers are pursuing through the middle of the Swedish army!
The Carabins are destroyed! Overly confident, the Dutch charge onwards (failing a test to stop) and attempt to mug the Salvo foot who were once hoping to support the Carabins, but who are now badly exposed!
FoG:R hint - a mistake by both of us - infantry do not have to pursue broken mounted opponents, and in fact need to pass a test to be allowed to pursue. This was a straight mistake. However, there is some logic in trying to hit the Salvo guys with 6 bases - weight of numbers should count eventually.
The initiative cannot sit with the French for this long however, and the 2 base Swedish Salvo Foot unit massacre the Dutch, FRAGGING them at impact. Ouch!
FoG:R hint - As the Carabins broke in impact, the "pursuit" move and combat takes place in the same phase.
The Dutch break in melee.... disaster !
That immediately triggers another rout, and the French line is being rolled up by it's own incompetence - the Swedes barely need to fight.
Two more French units break from shooting losses... there are only the Guard left in the main French line
The average French Horse decide they cannot be the last to rout, and break and flee when charged by the Swedish
With amost nothing left to fight, the Swedes actually find some targets - badly eroded, disrupted French infantry are not exactly worth fighting but in this mood, they will take anything they can find!
Everything French loses. The battle is over.
The Result is a massive 21-4 defeat
Click here for the report of the next game in this competition, or read on for the post match summaries from the Generals involved, as well as another episode of legendary expert analysis from Hannibal
Post Match Summary from the Thirty Years' War French, Dutch and German Commander
Ooops, that appears to have been a touch careless of me. What a shame, but at least my nice new uniform didn't get too mucky throughout that rather brief and brutal affair.
Even though we ended up getting swept from the field and putting up barely token resistance to the dratted Swedes, I still believed that my plan was actually very good indeed, but was only let down by the weak execution of my normally brave men
The alternative would have been racing towards the Swedes, and getting the game over with even sooner, which given the catering options at the venue are far from what is normally expected by a member of the Frennch Nobility, would not really be much of an advantage really, so in many ways it is a case of a better result through prolonging defeat
At least we are now down in the weeds of the draw and hopefully we can submarine from here to a glorious victory
Hannibal's Post Match Analysis
Thou waggish hell-hated fustilarian! Frankly this is just embarassing - how many times do you need to repeat the same mistake before you realise that it is not just the dice that hate you, it is your own shameful lack of self worth that is subconsciously damning you to defeat .... although for that to be true, you would need a conscious mind to sit atop of your subconscious motivations and desires, and given how you sleepwalk to such stupidity, I cannot see for the life of me how you can have either a mind, or a conscious waking state of any recognisable status.
I will not even dwell on the debacle of the Dragoons, suffice to say that this time your compounded your tactical ineptitude by taking risks to fritter away units (and Generals time in attempting to rally them) in a game where your main plan was to attempt to survive a bloodbath with your main battle troops - so any small inconsequential units lost in advance f the decisive clash were merely adding to your challenges in a most unhelprul manner
Likewise, charging Salvo Shotte once you had boldly despatched the carbines. Idiocy! Stand and shoote, with 4 dice to 1. Thou must be a mangled lean-witted dewberry not to realise that this route will give an inevitable victory, rather than the most shameful defeat to which you plunged.
And yet again the French Horse were near combat - and lost! Thou truly art a fobbing pottle-deep gull-catcher not to work out that their only role in battle was to sit behind your line of foote and ensure that they provided rear support at all times for the decisive clash you were seeking to engineer! Yet again I lose hope.....in fact, my only hope is now that this is soon all over!
Click here for the report of the next game in this competition
That's the end - so why not go back to the Match Reports Index and read some more reports?
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Game 1 Thirty Years' War French, Dutch and German vs Thirty Years' War French
Game 2 Thirty Years' War French, Dutch and German vs Early TYW Swedish
Game 3 Thirty Years' War French, Dutch and German vs TYW German Catholic
Game 4 Thirty Years' War French, Dutch and German vs Later Swedish
Game 5 Thirty Years' War French, Dutch and German vs Early TYW Swedish
Game 6 Thirty Years' War French, Dutch and German vs Imperial Spanish
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