General, but the village is yours, Sir!
Mar 30th, 2008 by Ioannis
A tactical wargame set with 28mm miniatures in the era of the Seven Years War
This was another simple, yet extremely fun game. We played a what-if scenario where the Russians, aided by some Prussian cavalry, came into grips with the Austrians, as it almost happened in 1762, if not for the Russian recall back to
Struggle for the Village
The first few turns were spent thrusting light infantry into the village. The Russians quickly overrun almost all the village, but the Austrians managed to clear them up after being reinforced by a battalion of grenadiers, which was acting as their support. Once all available units were fed into the village, a stalemate ensued with 2/3 of the village in Austrian hands. Charges to clear the rest of the village by both sides were repulsed and a desultory musketry followed almost until the end of the game. What a fun we had in the village, and how nicely the ’small war’ was handled by SLAW!
Infantry Fight
Most of the line infantry was located on the left side of the village (as seen from the Austrian player’s position). There, both sides quickly came into musketry range and although the Russians died in scores they did not break! The continuous attrition finally forced the Austrians to withdraw their infantry. Sadly (or happily for the Russians), a nearby Austrian Cuirassier unit did not manage to support the infantry assault and the opportunity to outflank the Russians was lost. This was an event dictated by the events of the game and it was beyond the control of the Austrian player.
Cavalry Charges
On the other side of the village, and ignoring the few infantry battalions there that mainly guarded the respective flanks of the village, the cavalry of both sides spent their time eyeing each other. The Austrians outnumbered the Prussians, but their previous experience have shown them clearly that it is best not to mess around with them. It was obvious both players had all their stakes in the infantry fight. Well, what do you know! A Prussian attempt by some hussars to clear an Austrian artillery battery triggered a full scale charge as regiment by regiment was fed into the melee. Despite a heroic resistance, the Austrians eventually broke and fled.
Exposed
Now, the Austrians had lost both wings and despite having a firm grip on the village, they were forced to retreat as their own line of communications was exposed. At this time, the Austrian CinC gave the order to sound the retreat. A young and quite inexperienced aide-de-camp (OK, it was me!) tried to argue: ‘General, but the village is yours, Sir!’ Ah, the folly of youth! Such was the end of our game!
The Players
Ioannis (Umpire), Fernando (Russians and Prussians), and Antonio (Austrians)
(December 2007)
The Meckel Campaign, in which SYW Prussian and Austrian detachments are facing each other, has started! The 
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