Honours of War; Game 2

Sunday saw the second run-out of our refurbished Seven Years War armies, and Osprey’s “Honours of War” game. Although a fictitious scenario the battle was set the day after the battle of Leuthen in December 1757 where Frederick of Prussia has decisively defeated the Austrians commanded by the Archduke Charles. The action saw the Austrian rearguard trying to hold off the Prussians to allow the remains of the field army to escape intact to Breslau.

The Austrians set up holding a line between the villages of Rathen and Sahra.

The Prussian mission was simple, break the line. The armies set up with the two lines of infantry facing each other and the cavalry also facing off.

The Prussians as attackers set off at a smart pace but were soon under artillery fire, and had no reply. They just had to take the casualties.

The Prussian cavalry attack saw one regiment retire as the combination of Austrian cavalry and artillery fire took its toll.

The Prussian infantry marched stoically forward as Tony tried in vain to relocate his artillery on the flank.

Back with the cavalry the Prussians secured a decisive advantage as they broke two Austrian regiments in quick succession aided by the harassing fire of a Freikorps regiment who had taken the village of Sahra. The fourth Austrian cavalry regiment retired badly battered but just about still in the fight.

The infantry battle however went badly for the Prussians. The charge of the left flank Brigade into the Austrians went disastrously wrong as the infantry fire took its toll and then the melee saw them break.

At that point we called it a day. The Prussian cavalry on the right were victorious and the centre “superior” infantry Brigade largely intact. The Austrians still had two infantry Brigades largely intact albeit one was “inferior”. We decided it was an honourable draw.

So, what did we think of the rules? Fairly simple but with some nice touches of “national characteristics” and added “friction”. I have written my own QRS which translates everything into inches and distances for 15mm figures, and some more work is needed on this. I think the key will be in setting challenging scenarios for the period. All armies are pretty similar despite “national characteristics”, so just setting up equal points armies across the table will be a less-than-satisfying experience. However, if this means our twenty-five year old armies finally see some action I for one will be more than happy.

Simon