The Battle of Fronkanstein: A MAURICE AAR

ABOVE: The Battlefield at Fronkanstien

BELOW: The Elector reviews his troops before battle.

Hi Guys
Yep, another MAURICE AAR!
Yet again I was the defender, and yet again I used my 1806 Prussians as substitutes for my 'yet to be completed' imagi-nation, Electorate of Clements Unt Edwarts.
Stan played with is victorious (see Battle of Stansburg) Free State of Northern Virginia.
My army consisted of 6 REGULAR Trained Infantry, 3 REGULAR Trained Cavalry, 4 Artillery Batteries and 2 Irregular Infantry.
National Characteristics were: ARTILLERY ACADEMY, LETHAL VOLLEYS, and MASS FORMATION.
Stan's Army consisted of 1 REGULAR ELITE Infantry,5 REGULAR Trained Infantry,  1 REGULAR Conscript Infantry, 1 ELITE CAVALRY, 2 REGULAR Trained Cavalry, 2 artillery and 1 IRREGULAR infantry  and a Mercenary unit of REGULAR Trained Infantry.
National Characteristics were LETHAL VOLLYS, and two other I just can't recal just now.

 ABOVE: My left flank. 3 units of Cavalry
BELOW: My right flank. 4 batteries of Artillery, 6 Infantry Regiments and two Irregular regiments, (one of Jagers garrisoning the town of Fronkanstien)

 BELOW: Stan's left flank, one lone Irregular regiment of rangers in the woods and the bulk of his infanty massed in 3 lines facing the town with his two batteries to their right.

 BELOW: Stan's right flank, 3 cavalry regiments and his Guard infantry supported by a trained Regiment of infantry. The Cavalry Regiment on chestnusts are his Elite Regiment of Dragoons.

 BELOW: Stan in miniature; the Govenor of the Viginian Free State.

BELOW: 'Baily's Jagers' garrison Fronkanstein. "None shall pass"!

The Elector rode along the long line of his infantry regiments. Their colours fluttered above them thanks to a strong southerly wind. It was another bitterly cold day, but things would soon heat up.

"Our last action saw these invaders snatch a victory out of your hands. the decision that day went against us, but through no fault of yours. Today we will avenge Stansburg! The fight shall be hard, but God is with us this day, even if our priests are not. Fear not mien kinder, for today we shall triumph"!

My first move. I swing my Artillery in to prepare to bombard the enemy, (see below). My plan was tonot complicated. try and win the firefight in the center. I was confident that my Cavalry would hold up any attack on that flank with the assistance of a Regiment of infantry on the hill.

 BELOW: Stan's first move wasto advance his cavalry. No surprising really. He had one regiment of ELITES and a Notable that added PLUS 1 in combat!

 ABOVE: Stan charged in with is Cavalry. Things looked grim for me, but I threw out an "ATTACK FALTERS" card which I hoped would take some of the sting out of his ELITE Regiments attack.

 Unfortunatly for me the ELITES still managed to break my Regiment of Cuirassiers! Fortunatly my blue Dragoons beat back their attackers and soon the infantry on the hill was coming to the cavalry's aid. (See Below)

 BELOW: With the cavalry battle on my right stalled, Stan now launched an attack in the center. His drums started beating and the Redcoats advanced.

 BELOW: At the bottom of the picture we can see Stan's Mercanaries approaching my lines. As usual, Stan was happy to use his mercanaries as a 'shield'. These 'Spanish' chaps must have been concerned with activity that was seen taking place on my gun Line. "Double shot and canister Lads,... let's give them a warn reception"!

 ABOVE and BELOW: My line prepares to greet the Redcoats with hot lead.

 Meanwhile on my left my sole infantry Regiment delivered a crashing volley that destroyed on of Stan's Cavalry regiments. We we now both down 3 moral points. This was to prove to be the consistant factor in the battle. I would lose a Regiment, then Stan would. This was going to be a very close battle,...
BELOW: A crashing volley, and one of Stan's Cavalry regiments is gone!

 ABOVE and BELOW: The Firefight erupts in the center. The first casualties are the Spanish mercenaries. In the photo above they can be seen blazing away. In the one below their position in the line is soon a gaping hole due to the combined fire of the Artillery and a Regiment of Infantry.

 The battle soon devolved into a series of running firefights in the center, with first stan losing a regiment, and then I. On my left we spent our time conducting cavalry melee's and then rallying of disruption

 When stan eventually advanced his small force of infantry, (two Regiments, one of which were his dreaded Hessian Guards), I tossed out a "That's Not On The Map"! card. (See Below). The boggy ground saw the Hessian's halt and settle down to blazing away at my infantry that was in turn trying to shoot down one more of Stan's cavalry regiments.  Eventually another cavalry regiment of Stan's broke, but then stan returned the favour and broke the infantry responsible.

 We were both down to only 2 Moral points each. I even managed to stael one point off him when one of his much loved heros wa killed by a stray shot.
Thigs were looking grim for us both. We had been through the ACTION CARD DECK once already and were now resuffling for a second time.
Suddenly his CONSCRIPTS had a 'Rush of Blood' (thanks to a niffty "Heat Of Battle" card I played), and they burst through on of their own regiments to charge into my infantry line. Stan trew a '2' and I threw a '6' and his conscripts (Militia) were soon fleeing to the rear. (SEE BELOW)

 BELOW: As the smoke clears the militia are nowhere to be seen. VICTORY!

 This was enough to break Stan's army, and my lads drew a collective sigh of relief.
My men slumped to the grown they had successfully defended amoungst their own dead and dying.
Those that had the strenght sang hymes of praise, but most remained silent. Some forever.
Their would be no pursuit. Stans Elite Dragoons were still on the battlefield, and my sole regiment of Dragoons were too blown and cautious to tempt fate.
BELOW: A grim face Elector grateful for his 'near run thing'.

ANOTHER CRACKING GOOD GAME.

The game lasted a little under 3 hours.

I tried MASS instead of CLERICS for this game. Not a wise choice. Mass is really only useful I think if you intend on being aggressive.

Considering the defensive posture I took in this game, CLERIC would have been far more useful. The extra unit of Irregulars I had didn't really help that much.

Comments welcomed.

Cheers