War of Spanish Succession Game

Today we fought a War of Spanish Succession game.

The Anglo-Dutch army consisted of four Dutch battalions, two Austrian battalions, six English battlions, two regiments of Danish cuirassiers, one of Austrian cuirassiers,  one of Austrian dragoons, three of English horse, three of English dragoons, one regiment of Austrian hussars and four field guns. Each of the English and two of the Dutch battalions were accompanied by battalion guns.

The Franco-Bavarian army consisted of nine Bavarian battalions, three Spanish battalions, six French battalions, two regiments of Bavarian cuirassier, one of Bavarian Lieb cavalry, one of Bavarian dragoons, one of Spanish Cuirassiers, one of Spanish dragoons, one of French cuirassiers, three of French horse, two of dragoons and four field guns.

Both sides deployed in a fairly similar way, with cavalry on either flanks and the artillery in the centre. On the Franco-Bavarians side the Bavarians, supported by the Spanish cavalry took the left, while the French, with the Spanish infantry, too the right. The Dutch, supported by the Danish and Austrian cavalry were posted opposite the Bavarians, while the English faced off against the French and Spanish. Two Austrian battalions formed the link between the Dutch and the English.

From the start the Bavarian foot moved to strike the Dutch, while on the opposite flank the English cavalry look to dominate that part of the field by taking the high ground. The Bavarian and Danish cavalry commenced a cat and mouse game that would last all day.

On the French right flank the French cavalry initiated a fight with the English cavalry and came off the worse, being forced to retire. But the French second line struck back and drove back the first line of the English cavalry. The fight here would seesaw all day.

The Bavarian infantry advanced boldly but were struck by the Dutch musketry. The Lieb battalion was forced back while the Lieb Grenadiers staggered to a halt. A second attempt by the Bavarian foot to press the advance was similarly halted and their line looked decidedly shaky. 

The Dutch, however, also struggled to make headway, but held their ground doggedly. 

In a last ditch effort two Bavarian battalions stormed forward and drove back the first Dutch line. Here the Bavarian effort ended, with all of their battalions disrupted or shaken. 

Fortunately for them the Dutch were not in any better shape, although four Dutch battalions had held off nine Bavarians. Then in one disastrous turn four shaken Bavarian battalions decided they had had enough and quit the field. The next turn they were joined by another three battalions, leaving only two to face the Dutch.

Shortly afterward the Bavarian cavalry finally attacked the Danish troopers, but were driven from the field.

In the French front the French infantry survive the initial fire of the English and then pushed forward, driving off the first English battalion. The English infantry then counter attacked, only to be driven off, when a third English battalion was driven off, the English broke off the fight. Three of their battalions never managed to make it into the fight, trapped on the wrong side of a wood, and all but one of their cavalry regiments were destroyed.

Here the battle ended. The French were strong enough to claim the day, even though the Bavarians were effectively driven from the field.