OHW Scenario 21: Twin Objectives - An Honours of War AAR

Having really enjoyed my recent HoW game, I left the games room set up as I decided to have another game, once again using an OHW scenario on a 3' x 2' table. 

A view of the games room with the table set up, just to show how easy it is to set up a game when using a small table size.

Oodles of space to be able to wander around and view the action. No back ache here from stretching across the table;)!

Scenario Details

The scenario is based upon the Battle of Lobositz, with the Prussians needing to be in control of a hill and the town for a victory. It was only after I'd set everything up that I remembered that the rulebook has a bath tubbed version of the battle! Something for another day methinks.

The Prussians have 3 Brigades to the Austrians 2, so keeping the ratio as per the OHW scenario. I decided to try out the pre-game bombardment rules and the counter-battery fire ones too. The Prussians were using the pre-1760 list and rolled two Dashing commanders, so with the C-in-C attached, the Dependeable one would act as a Dashing one too! The Austrians, true to form, had one Ditherer, so probably not an issue on the defensive, but would require the C-in-C to be nearby just in case...

The Game

As is the norm, the photos will tell the story.

The Prussians on the left, the Austrians the right, with a unit of Jaegers on the hill (top left)

The Austrian positions.

The Prussian centre and right wing.

The Prussian left wing and the Austrian Jaegers on the hill.

The end of Turn 1. The preliminary bombardments did little damage, but units did accrue some hits. The Prussians pushed forward and the Austrian Jaegers traded space for time. There was some shooting, but to little effect due to being at long range.

The Prussians push forward towards the town.

The end of Turn 2. The Prussians continued to advance, but lost a Line Infantry unit as they closed in on the town.

The Prussian right flank could do with moving a tad quicker than the centre.

A whiff of grapeshot sees the demise of the Prussian infantry.

A view from the Prussian left flank.

The end of Turn 3. As the Prussians closed and the gun ranges reduced, the effects of the firing began to tell, with both sides losing a Line Infantry unit. The Austrians are holding on well in the face of the massed Prussian infantry.

The Prussian infantry come under sustained fire and are in a slightly worse position than the Austrians.

The action really hots up in front of Lobositz, with both sides losing infantry.

The end of Turn 4. The action intensifies as the Prussian infantry charge forward at the Austrian right, only to be repulsed by closing fire! Elsewhere the Prussians suffer too, but the Austrians are not immune to losses either.

The Prussian right flank loses an infantry unit and another if forced back to reform.

But the Austrians lose their C-in-C as they hold onto their positions!

Having repulsed the Prussian charge, the Austrian infantry break in the face of concentrated fire.

The Prussian left flank and part of the centre are not in a good position either.

The Prussian light infantry are forced back to reform.

The view of the situation at the end of Turn 4 after units have had to fall back to reform etc.

The end of Turn 5. The Austrians are just managing to hold on, but the Prussians are not in a great position to be honest.

On the Prussian right, they come under sustained fire that sees their C-in-C (Frederick 'he might have been great') fall from his horse dead!

The Austrian artillery bravely fight on but will be forced to fall back and reform.

Seizing an opportunity, the Austrian Jaegers moved down from the hill and fire into the rear of the Prussian infantry, routing them in the process!

The end of Turn 5 after all Rally moves have been made.

Despite having plenty of artillery left, the Prussian right is very weakened and will take time to reform before they can move forward to the attack.

Ditto the Prussian centre and left flank.

A view from the Austrian positions, where they still hold out and can move some infantry into Lobositz if the so wish.

End Of The Game

So by the end of Turn 5, it was obvious that the Prussians would take a couple of Turns more before they would be in a position to threaten the Austrian lines and, given their losses already, it seemed prudent for them to call off the attacks.

The Butcher's Bill, which was high for the Prussians, with both sides losing their C-inC's.

Post Game Thoughts

Having had this game set up for a good few days, my last minute decision to give it a go paid dividends, as that was a really enjoyable and rather eventful game! Lots to think about, so I'll try and summarise things in the usual manner:

• The commanding general's ability to rally off one hit even when close to the enemy, certainly helped out in this game, especially for the Austrians, which kept one unit very much in the game on the left flank at a critical point. It's not often I get to use this rule, but must make more use of it going forward.
• With lots of action right across the board, I struggled to remember which units had activated when shooting, so ended up put some markers down to help out. One of the few down sides of solo gaming for sure!
• Having planned to use the counter-battery rules, in the end they did not get used at all, as both sides artillery focussed on hitting the infantry, especially for the Austrians as they faced the wall of blue troops closing in on them. I can see it being very useful in larger games and if I'd had more time, I'd probably have made more use of it.
• In this game the shooting was particularly deadly, with both sides rolling 4's and 5's for much of the game, leading to some rather quick and bloody outcomes.
• Both sides losing their C-in-C's within a turn of each other was rather comical and not something I've seen before! Given the volume of fire and the amount of times both sides brigadier generals had to roll, I'm surprised that there weren't more casualties if I'm honest.
• The game certainly highlighted the need for me to get or make some heavy guns and howitzers, as well as some infantry that stand out as Grenadiers, to give more options for games and scenarios. In the short term some simple markers will suffice, but I need to dig through my MDF pile to see what I have as well as units that are already primed.
• I think total game time was about 1 1/2 hours, including taking notes, so just about perfect for an early evening game. These days anything approaching 3 hours and my attention span is flagging somewhat, as well as the old back and legs. At least I can break play up as I see fit, but often I find it hard to get back into the swing of things if I do this.
• Finally that was a really fun game and I hardly had to refer to the rulebook, which just made things flow, which certainly helped out on the enjoyment front.

What Next?

Well I would like to give the Lobositz scenario a run out from the HoW book, but with a rather busy week or so ahead, plus some forecast lovely weather, I doubt this will happen for a while. I do know I need to sort through my painted German AFVs and store them safely, rather than leaving them out on the top of the storage units. As mentioned above, some additions to the MDF armies would be nice to do, so I might try to find some time to make a start on these, which would be nice.

So thanks for reading and as always any comments greatly appreciated!

TTFN.