Some explanation and commentary here for the battle of Pratplatkof. This is behind the scenes and Out of Character.
The In Character video report is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOni1nTXyk0
I made up a screen for the background of shots so folks don't see so much of my shed. The clouds are blu-tak'd on, so can move to show the passage of time - or fall off without me noticing to destroy any and all realism.
Houses and Trees are inherited from the old QMCG inc - Warhounds - I was there at the final division of the spoils, and took some things. The houses are too big for 15mm scale, but look okay in the distance.
The Maustrian right - you can see that some of the flags are on upside down - the Orange should be on the top. I need to pay more attention to this kind of thing...
In my test photos I had a flag bearer follow Stepka around so it would be easy to see where he was. I decided against it as it was too distracting in the photos.
The road is rice that has been "washed" with food colouring, and then dried. I've had it for years. It makes for a flexible road path, looks good from a distance, and is only slightly annoying to clean up at the end. 10/10, would recommend.
Opening Cannon fire. The orders were "focus on counter battery fire."
I added some arrows to show movement.
The Maustrians move into range - except against the Guards - the Infantry does not want to end up in grapeshot range of the Adoean Artillery.
On the left, the opening volley is less powerful.
Artillery can fire and move - unlike the infantry. In 2x2 once Infantry start firing they are "pinned" and cannot move in the next turn. The guns are field artillery, so can be "manhandled" or "prolonged" across the field (albeit slowly).
But during the Adoean fire (player one moves, player two fires), the Infantry with the upside down flag in front of the Guards become pinned (I said disrupted in the video - this was wrong).
The Infantry get to shoot, but are pinned, so don't get "opening volley". The Artillery fire in support, and scored a hit, but Stepka used one of his "Bravado" rerolls to push through. The Adoeans have two rerolls - one for having a higher quality fore (Guards and no Milita) and one for Stepka - charismatic leader that he is. They only used one Bravado reroll all game.
The Guard charge home. I think the figures are dismounted AWI Cavalry - probably Dragoons or something.
With an advantage for Guards in Melee, and General Attached, the Adoean gain +2 to the combat roll, and send the infantry running.
Since a unit broke near the Militia, they run as well. The other units don't care if Militia run - it is to be expected!
The second line of Infantry have a better chance of holding the guards - having already fought a round of combat the Guards get a net +1 to their roll (Guards+1, General+1, already fought -1).
They roll high enough to destroy the unit in front, but not enough to force them to pursue further. They had an optional "follow up", and I rolled to see if they would keep going, but the did not.
It's Maustria's move now, and the units turn to engage the guard - they could have charged I suppose, but Guards, General attached, etc. It would have been a close thing. Instead they just advanced...
And rather than shooting the Guards marched backwards, at half speed (3 inches at this scale).
The Guards move backwards out of the range of the pursuing Infantry
If the guards could have been pinned they would have been in a bad position and been shot to bits - but they just kept ignoring the cannon fire and retreating in good order.
After about six turns of shooting each other, the Militia finally become disordered, and will be vulnerable to an attack.
But to charge them the Infantry behind the fence will need to rally from shooting.
Cleared of their smoke, the regiment is ready to advance.
Meanwhile the Maustrian Militia rally on the left behind the lines,
And reform
But the Regular Infantry refuse to rally, even with Von Mauskopf present. They failed 3 rolls to rally on a 4+.
only the cannon are firing now...
Stepka orders the Charge, but does not accompany the assault - he has seen enough close hand melee this battle...
First round of combat is a draw. The red die is the Adoeans - they get +2 for their enemy being disrupted, and the Militia get -1 for being Militia. So reroll.
The Militia are beaten, but have forced the Adoeans to fight two rounds of combat, making them vulnerable.
With modifiers, the difference is 4, which means the Adoeans must pursue / advance, right into the waiting fresh unit - it's a trap!
Except it is not. The Adoeans are at 02 to their roll, having fought two rounds of melee already. But the Maustrian 1 is an awful result, and they...
Break and run.
Von Mauskopf calls it a day and retreats. 3 of 8 units lost takes the army to breaking point.
The three lost units - two with flags upside down! Perhaps they are in distress!
This result might seem strange, but it accords with the auto-resolve rules - for Campaign purposes, the Maustrians lose 3 units (2 Infantry, 1 Militia). The Adoeans lose 1 unit due to casualties from all that cannon fire and musket volleys.
Stay tuned for more battles!
