The Battle of Kunersdorf, 12AUG1759.
As suggested in a previous post showing the layout of the upcoming Kunersdorf battle (see Setting Up the Battle), the battle scenario has been in work. With references primarily from kronoskaf.com's Project SYW and Grant's Wargaming in History Vol 5, a working model is in place. The battlefield takes up a 12' x 6' table and the size of the armies are HUGE. Rules in use: Honours of War.
The battlefield is constricted with a number of choke points for the attacker. The ridge along which the Austro-Russian Army is deployed is protected by earthworks running the length of the ridge. Besides the defensive works, the Austro-Russian positions are protected by a series of ponds and marshes and a stream to the northeast of the Muhlberg. The village of Kunersdorf, itself, poses an obstacle to an attack since it is burning. The Muhlberg, upon which the Russian Observation Corps is deployed is a Geographical Objective worth three army points as is the Grosser Spitzberg in the center of the Russian held ridge. In addition to earthworks, the Muhlberg is protected by abatis.
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| Kunersdorf terrain features |
The Russians, under Saltykov, have taken up positions along the ridgeline with the Observation Corp positioned on the Muhlberg. The remainder of the Russian commands are strung out along the main ridge with the Austrians under Loudon at the foot of the ridge below Judenberg. The allied positions look formidable.
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| Kunersdorf Initial deployments |
To prevent the order of battle from running more than a page or two, the units have been grouped by type within each command rather than by regiment. The OB is:
PRUSSIAN ARMY (Army Break Point = 26)
| King Frederick | Dashing |
| RW: GL von Finck | Dithering |
| RW Cav: von Schorlemmer | Dashing |
| 1 x Carabinier | |
| 2 x Cuirassier | |
| 3 x Dragoon | |
| 2 x Hussar | |
| RW Inf: Klitzing | Dependable |
| 1 x Musketeer | |
| 3 x Fusilier | |
| 12 pound battery 1 | |
| 12 pound battery 2 | |
| Adv Guard Schenkendorff | Dashing |
| 3 x Grenadier | |
| 1 x Fusilier | |
| CR: 1st Line Hulsen | Dependable |
| 4 x Musketeer | |
| 1 x Fusilier | |
| CL: 1st Line Wedel | Dependable |
| 4 x Musketeer | |
| 1 x Fusilier | |
| CR: 2nd Line Itzenplitz | Dependable |
| 2 x Grenadier | |
| 1 x Fusilier | |
| CL: 2nd Line Kanitz | Dependable |
| 2 x Musketeer | |
| 2 x Fusilier | |
| 1 x Grenadier | |
| 12 pound battery 3 | |
| 12 pound battery 4 | |
| 12 pound battery 5 | |
| 12 pound battery 6 | |
| 12 pound battery 7 | |
| HOW battery 1 | |
| RW: GL Wurttemberg | Dependable |
| 3 x Cuirassier | |
| RW: GL Platen | Dashing |
| 3 x Dragoon | |
| 3 x Hussar |
AUSTRO-RUSSIAN ARMY (Army Break Point = 36):
| Saltykov | Dithering |
| RW: Demiku | Dependable |
| 3 x Cuirassier | |
| 3 x Hussar | |
| Center 1st Line: Fermor | Dithering |
| 8 x Musketeer | |
| 1 x Grenadier | |
| 12 pound battery 1 | |
| 12 pound battery 2 | |
| Shuvalov howitzer | |
| Center 2nd Line: Villebois | Dependable |
| 9 x Musketeer | |
| 1 x Grenadier | |
| 12 pound battery 1 | |
| 12 pound battery 2 | |
| Center 3rd Line: Rumiantsev | Dependable |
| 2 x Grenadier | |
| 7 x Musketeer | |
| 12 pound battery 1 | |
| 12 pound battery 2 | |
| LW: Galytsin | Dependable |
| 1 x Observation Corps Grenadier | |
| 6 x Observation Corps Musketeer | Fire as Inferior |
| 12 pound battery 1 | |
| 12 pound battery 2 | |
| Shuvalov howitzer | |
| LW Cav: MG Piotr Jeropkin | Dependable |
| 3 x Cuirassier | |
| 2 x Horse Grenadier | |
| 1 Dragoon | |
| Loudon (Austrian) | Dashing |
| 5 x Musketeer | |
| 1 x Grenadier | |
| 3 x Hussar | |
| 4 x Dragoon | |
| 12 pound battery 1 | |
| 12 pound battery 2 |
Special Terrain Effects:
| - Earthworks are HEAVY COVER and block LOS |
| - Kunersdorf is burning and is impassable. Dorfsee is impassable. |
| - Ponds and marsh impassable to artillery and cavalry. Otherwise rough. |
| - Water Meadow is Rough. Impassable to artillery. |
| - Earthworks and abatis are rough. Impassable to artillery and cavalry. - Grund is rough. |
| - When Russians retreat/rout from earthworks, roll 1AVGD6. On ‘3’ abatis is burning. |
| - Abatis burns for two turns. Impassable during this time. Spreads to adjacent sector each turn. |
| - Firing from Muhlberg down into grund toward Walkberg, roll 1 AVG D6 |
| DR=3 fire at -1 |
| DR=4 fire at -2 |
| - Huhner Fliess – crossing takes one turn. |
| Objectives: |
| Muhlberg 3 points |
| Grosser Spitzberg 3 points |
| Battle begins at 11:30am with a preparatory bombardment. Kunersdorf looks like another tough fight for Frederick. |
....lovely and here I am painting SYW Austrians a marvellous bit of motivation, even now I can feel my fingering twitching to order some Russians but then I would need more Prussians ..........argh I wonder how big a table I would need for 10 mm ?
ReplyDeleteThanks, Matt! You may end up putting Russians into the painting queue at some point. The Russians proved a difficult foe for Frederick, in part, due to their ability to choose good ground AND outnumber him!
DeleteMy infantry BMUs have a frontage of 120mm. If your 10s have a frontage of 60mm then you could halve the length of the battlefield and get it on a 6' x 4'.
Looks mega!
ReplyDeleteIt is!
DeleteWonderful looking and large tabletop all setup, did you have to stand on a step ladder to get the overhead photo?
ReplyDeleteThank you, Peter! You have an observant eye. Yes, I was standing on a step ladder for the overhead shots.
DeleteLovely looking set up and nice to read the OOB plus the terrain effects.
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoy the presentation, Steve!
DeleteI too love the aerial shots Jonathan. Very effective.
ReplyDeleteThe overhead photo provides a good sense of the sweeping nature of the battlefield. Besides, with an overhead photo, I can avoid the issue of having to draw a map.
DeleteSo impressive, this is going to be an epic game! Merry Christmas!
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas, Markus!
DeleteWith such a big game, I imagine it will take time to play through this beast. Also with an effort this large, expect to see Kunersberg refought a couple of times.
Looks like it will be an epic (and not just in size). Nice that you were able to model the actual size of the ridges on the table.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Ed! The battlefield display turned out pleasing to my eye.
DeleteWonderful Jonathan! Can't wait to see the troops fighting on this field!
ReplyDeleteGlad you like the setup, Steve! The troops may be found fighting over this ground for some time.
DeleteA lovely recreation of the battlefield and O-o-B - this is going to be a belter. It will be really interesting by the end of play, to see how you felt Honours of War handled this.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Norm for your support. Kunersdorf is a tough fight for Frederick. Attacking entrenched positions WHILE outnumbered is a recipe for disaster as it was historically.
DeleteHoW handles these big games well and produces reasonable results. I think DartFrog (Jake) below would agree.
I imagine you will see Kunersdorf on the table for the foreseeable future.
It is a giant scenario, and a daunting presence in person. I am looking forward to continuing the match.
ReplyDeleteThis is a giant battle, for sure. As a two-player battle, we got some exercise walking up, down, and around the perimeter of the 12' x 6' table. We muddled through the first part of the battle without much concern. It did take a turn or two to regain my HoW "legs." It has been good fun!
DeleteGreat looking set up,epic sounding game!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Thank you, Iain!
DeleteSounds like the Prussians have almost a 1-dimensional route of attack on the Austrian-Russian defenses. Many brave Germans are going to fall to whithering defensive fire as they attempt to take those emplacements.
ReplyDeleteStill tho, this is going to be a good'n for sure!
The avenues of attack are limited, for sure. The only viable option seems to be a direct attack against the Muhlberg. Historically after the Muhlberg fell, the Prussians made little headway against the main Russian positions. This will be a good one for gaining some insight into the battle.
DeleteLooking really great Jonathan!
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteLooks like it's going to be an epic game Jonathan!
ReplyDeleteChristopher
I think so too! Frederick may have bitten on more than he can chew.
DeleteLooks epic in all regards, Jon. What do the toothpicks ion front of the works on the Muhlberg denote?
ReplyDeleteShouldn't the stream be the Huhner fluss (river/stream), rather than fleiss ( industriousness)?
There must have been some strategic imperative for Frederick to attack such a formidable position. If he could see what we can (which of course, he couldn't), it would seems that marching away to fight another day would have been the better choice!
Merry Christmas, Peter!
DeleteThe toothpicks represent the abatis surrounding the Muhlberg. As for the fluss vs fleiss, you could very well be correct! My eyes are not what they used to be and I may have mis-transcribed from the map. I just rechecked my sources. Grant shows "fliess" as do my other maps. I guess 'fliess" means "running water" too.
Frederick's pre-battle recon was lacking and he attacked this difficult position. He was urged to call off the attack after the Muhlberg fell but, being stubborn, he pressed on and was defeated.
We see this in a number of Frederick's battle refought on the table. Kolin, Zorndorf, and now Kunersdorf come to mind.
OK, "fliess" or fließ can be flow or a shortened version of "stream", but fleiss is altogether different; probably just a typo making your excellent map.
DeleteMuch the same as the classic English boo-boo making the Leib ("Life") Kurassiere into the Lieb ("Love") regiment! :-)
Germanic nitpicking aside, I can wait to see the battle reports to come!
'ie' vs 'ei' give me fits in German. If I could hear the word pronounced, I would give myself better than 50-50 chance of getting the spelling correct. My surname spelling gives people fits too but at least I get that correct 100% of the time!
DeleteThat's a fine looking set-up Jonathan. I don't need to tell you it's a very tall order for the Prussians this one. I admire you for taking on this battle. Not only is it big in terms of numbers of troops, it has miles of earthworks and a lot of significant terrain that needs to be shown.
ReplyDeleteI stopped my SYW collection when I got enough to do Torgau (still haven't done it yet) and Kunersdorf is bigger overall.
Can't wait to see the write-p of the game.
Thanks! The Prussians have a very difficult time of it in this one, no doubt. I did not realize just how difficult until the battle was laid out and OB drawn up.
DeleteAs for earthworks, I needed to create miles of earthworks for this battle. Hopefully, the effort in creating all of these earthworks can be used in other battles. These defenses should come in handy in many a 10mm ACW battle recreation.
Indeed. I just measured the amount of earthworks from the map in Russia’s Military Way to the West and it came to over 5 miles! For my 6mm SYW homemade rules that’s over 180cm. I’ve got nearly 3/4 of that - I’ll have to get basing the gabions I made out of 6mm thick dowels!
DeleteAs you can see from my game photo, I have about 12 linear feet of earthworks. My God, that is a lot!
DeleteYou have completed almost all of the defenses needed for this battle. Next up is fielding the armies. We thought Zorndorf large. Kunersdorf is even larger.
Appreciate your continued comments on this battle.
What a most interesting source for all SYW-Gamers.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
Delete