Battle Report: Hochkirch, 1758

Austrian heavy cavalry passing by the Prussian right flank.

This past Saturday's game was a refight of Hochkirch - the Austrian army under General Daun catches Frederick the Great's Prussians asleep in the pre-dawn hours. Kevin put the game together using the Seven Years War variant for Shako (first edition) and I for one was rather pleased with how quickly it played. As with most multi-player games, it did rather develop into two separate games, left and right flank, but it went swimmingly from an Austrian perspective.

I took on the Austrian right flank, commanding from right to left:

• Ahrenberg, attacking the village with 4 fusilier battalions, 2 grenadier battalions, a battery of heavy guns, and 2 squadrons each of dragoons and cuirassiers, 
• Buccow, on Reserve orders with 4 squadrons of heavy cavalry and 2 squadrons of hussars
• Nadasdy, on attack orders in the center with two squadrons of hussars and assorted Croatian light infantry (who, true to their strong suite, stayed in the woods where they deployed and took pot shots at any enemies who came near).

James took on the part of General Daun and some other Austrian commanders who, not being commanded by me, were obviously unimportant. Opposing us were Prussians - Victor on their right holding the church, Andy in the center with separate cavalry and infantry commands, and Ken on the left, in the village, with Frederick himself asleep in the best house of the village.

Austrian heavy artillery bombarding the village while the grenadiers advance.

The Prussians began on the back foot, roused from sleep by the thunder of Austrian cannon. Despite this, Ken made a valiant effort to hold the village and the forest adjoining it, and it's this action that consumed my attention for most of the game. In brief, Nadasdy's division did little - I was unwilling to offer up the Croats in the open ground ahead of them, so kept them back to capitalize on any opportunities that might arise. None did. Buccow's division was on Reserve, and so held its position until Daun gave orders to attack. Thus, it was Ahrenberg who led the assault.

With Frederick's infantry holed up in the village and the wood, my cavalry were useless for the frontal assault. Thus, they passed to the right of the wood in a long gambit to catch the guns and such from behind, while the two columns of infantry, led by grenadiers, made their way toward the wood. Over the course of the first four turns, Ken's MVP was clearly his artillery, which put hits on the assaulting column and my own artillery.

Bird's-eye-view of the Austrian flanking maneuver. Cuirassiers charging home against Prussian foot.

The grenadiers assault into the woods - and are pushed back by the valiant Prussian fusiliers!

As above, from General Ahrenberg's point of view.

 The initial assault was unsuccessful - the assaulting grenadiers were pushed back, and it took another turn or two to clear the wood, at the cost of a grenadier battalion. I lost another fusilier battalion to the Prussian counterattack, and found my remaining battalions out of position to quickly capitalize on the victory. Meanwhile, the cavalry found itself out of command, delaying my flanking action by a turn...

Buccow's cavalry receives the charge of the Prussian dragoons.

Buccow's cuirassiers charge into the Prussians defending the church,,

Over in the center, Buccow's cavalry finally got into the action, throwing back Andy's infantry before taking the charge of his own heavy cavalry - to good effect, as I was able to push them back and have four fresh squadrons remaining to hold the center of the table.

Austrian cuirassiers turn the flank and charge into Prussian infantry - who repulsed the charge and saved the guns for yet another turn!

Once in command, Ahrenberg's squadrons finally looped around the woods and charged into the Prussian foot that Ken had hastily brought round to defend - and were repulsed. Twice.

Ahrenberg's final position: Infantry holding the woods and threatening the guns, with two squadrons of heavy cavalry coming around to the Prussian rear.

Battle's end - Austrians hold the church and are about to sweep into the village.

But the hour was getting late, and we called the game an Austrian victory with the Prussians in retreat, much as happened historically. While Frederick still barely held the village, he was badly outnumbered, and in assaulting the village Nadasdy's Croats would come into their own. And the church was now held by at least three battalions of Austrian fusiliers...

Quite a good game, though perhaps a little less fun for the Prussians - Ken certainly took it in the shorts from the dice a couple times. Kevin says he's looking to play this again, and I'm certainly up for trying Shako again.