WSS: Battle of Münzkirchen - March 1703

 Yesterday (Thursday) I hosted this little-known action; a post from last week included some pictures of the initial set-up. My Zoom opponent was David, and we used my Corporal John rules, of which David has had some limited experience previously.

 

Scene-setting photo shows part of the Austrian left wing; General Backer (a Lorrainer) in command of his brigade, just outside the village of Sankt Roman

Background - Briefing Note and OOB

Following the defection of the Elector of Bavaria to the side of the French king, the Holy Roman Emperor orders that attacks be made on Bavaria right at the start of 1703, to inflict punitive damage and to make it clear what repercussions might be expected.

Feldmarschal Leopold Anton von Schlick has been sent to seize control of crossings over the Danube and the Inn in the area around Passau. The Bavarians know all about this expedition, and the Elector leads a strong force to contest the area. The two armies more or less blunder into each other near Schärding.

The two commanders are regarded as being competent, and the forces are roughly equal. In Corporal John terms, the commanders each have a hand of 5 Command Cards, and an initial allocation of 3 Combat Cards. Capture of either of the villages of Sankt Roman and Shießdorf will result in 1 temporary Victory Point [this means that an army entering a village which it does not already hold will gain 1VP, and will be regarded as holding that village until the enemy enters it – it is not necessary to leave a defending force in the village – if a village changes hands, the temporary VP will be transferred across]. 8 VPs wins the day.

The forces are of very similar make-up – the Bavarians have 1 extra unit of foot, the Imperialists 1 extra unit of horse. Neither army is trained in platoon fire. The Bavarians have two elite units (Leibgarde and Leibgrenadiere), and three of the Austrian foot units have attached battalion guns.

Position at 8am is shown on the map. David chose to be the Elector of Bavaria, which meant that I was Feldmarschal Von Schlick for the day, and a dice roll decreed that I would go first.

 

Bavarian Army (Elector of Bavaria)                                (7 horse; 12 foot; 2 art; 5 leaders)

Arco’s Brigade (Generalmajor Graf d’Arco)

Arco Kürassiere (3 Sqns)

Costa Kürassiere (3 Sqns)

Monasterol Dragoner (3 Sqns)

Santini Dragoner (3 Sqns)

Weichel’s Brigade (Generalmajor Weichel)

Leibgarde (3 Sqns)(elite)

Weichel Kürassiere (3 Sqns)

Wolframsdorf Kürassiere (3 Sqns)

Brinkelhof’s Brigade (Generalmajor Brinkelhof)

IR Bettendorf (2 Bns)

IR Haxthausen(2 Bns)

Boismorel Grenadiere (1 Bn)

Leib Grenadiere (1 Bn)(elite)

1 field battery

Maffei’s Brigade (Generalmajor Marquis de Maffei)

IR Lützelberg (1 Bn)

IR Kurprintz (1 Bn)

IR Maffei (1 Bn)

IR D’Octfort (1 Bn)

IR Spilberg (1 Bn)

IR Tattenbach (1 Bn)

1 field battery

 

Imperial Army (Feldmarschal Leopold von Schlick)       (8 horse; 11 foot; 2 art; 5 leaders)

Niederhammer’s Brigade (Generalmajor Niederhammer)

Alt-Hannover Kürassiere (3 Sqns)

Cusani Kürassiere (3 Sqns)

Gronsfeld Kürassiere (3 Sqns)

Aufseß Dragoner (3 Sqns)

Stoltz’s Brigade (Generalmajor Stolz)

Jung-Darmstadt Kürassiere (3 Sqns)

Lobkowitz Kürassiere (3 Sqns)

Leibregiment zu Pferd (Hessen-Kassel)(3 Sqns)

Spiegel Karabiniere (Hessen-Kassel)(3 Sqns)

Furneburg’s Brigade (Generalmajor Furst von Furneburg) [3 units have battalion guns]

IR Alt-Salm (1 Bn)

IR Gschwind (2 Bns)

IR Palffy (1 Bn)

IR Thürheim (2 Bns)

1 field battery

Backer’s Brigade (Generalmajor Von Backer)

IR Lothringen (3 Bns)

IR Scharfenstein (2 Bns)

1 field battery

 

A narrative of sorts should emerge from the pictures.  

 

Right at the start, Schlick was concerned about the artillery battery which was exposed on his right, so he ordered up Niederhammer's cavalry brigade to cover the flank - Arco's Bavarian cavalry responded, and brought on a desperate cavalry fight which swung back and forth throughout the day. View is from behind the Bavarian flank

 

Here you see it from nearer the ground - Arco with the cuirassiers in the foreground

 

General view of the centre, early in the day, from behind the Elector's lines

 

The Bavarian right flank, looking towards Schießdorf. Weichel Cuirassiers on the left of the picture, then the elite Leibgarde (in light blue)

 

Opposite them, the Austrian left surrounds the village of Sankt Roman

 

Counter-battery fire is rarely very effective in these games, but the Bavarians certainly had the edge on this day - here the Austrian No.2 battery is immediately getting lumps knocked out of it by the Bavarian guns across the valley

 

General view from behind the Austrian left, around 9:30 - things quiet apart from artillery fire at this end and the mad cavalry scrap in the distance

 

...as you see - Aufseß dragoons in the right foreground, helping out - it was a feature of the battle that the dragoon units in the cavalry performed pretty well

 

Bavarian centre, with central heating radiator

 

Backer still waiting for orders, a situation which lasted most of the day. Unit on the right of the picture is the 3-battalion IR Lothringen, also known as the Bishop of Osnabrück's Guard, which is always welcome on the miniature battlefield because their green uniforms provide a bit of welcome variety [these are ex Eric Knowles troops]

 

And still the cavalry battle between Arco and Niederhammer continues - red-coated Bavarian dragoons looking a bit exposed here, but they did quite well

 

Now some helpful cards present themselves, and the Austrian centre pushes forward

 

The Bavarian Bettendorf regiment has a moment to prepare itself for the onslaught...

 

...before the Austrian Gschwind lads arrive and punch a hole in the Bavarian line - this looks like a critical moment

 

[meanwhile] Maffei's Bavarian infantry are undisturbed by the drama to their left...

 

...and the situation is saved by the Bavarian Leibgrenadiere...

 

...(here in close-up)...

 

...and General Brinkelhof, with the Haxthausen regiment, which quickly routed both battalions of Gschwind. Situation stabilized, but some big gaps in the centre now

 

Still the cavalry on the flank are hard at it, and the Bavarians are showing a lot of damage

 

Some new spaces in the centre...

 

In the wood you can see Feldmarschal Schlick in person [please note] bringing forward the Imperial Regiment Thürheim to attack the Bavarian grenadiers

 

At this point the cavalry fight ended in the Austrians' favour, as Arco was seriously wounded, and the Costa cuirassiers were finally routed from the field. The Victory Points score was now 9-6 to the Austrians, 8 being required for overall victory

 

Here is a little study of the Bavarian Santini dragoons...

 

... and the Bavarian Red Grenadiers - the Boismorels - with Lt Col De La Colonie in command, thinking up a positive spin to put on his regiment's performance in his memoirs

 

The Elector (without hat) begins the job of organising a retreat

 

Final stand-off in the centre

 

Close-up of 1st Bn IR Thürheim, complete with their battalion gun. This is another ex-Eric unit, though I supplied the command figures

 

And the official scoreboard shows 9-6 to the Empire - tell the auditors

 

Since the scoreboard is not visible through the Zoom cameras, we also have an extra scoreboard on the table. The coloured counters are bonus VPs for holding the villages

My thanks to my worthy opponent - as ever, it was a close game - there were moments in the centre late on when either side could have suffered a major collapse. No problems with the rules, except that the Command Cards allowed us to leave the Bavarian right and the villages pretty much untouched. I forgot to drink my Lucozade, so I must have been busy.

 

 Time to get tidied up - General Backer finally gets the order, late in the evening, to tell his brigade to stand down. It seems that his side won...