18th century battle between Russians and Austrians.

Imperial Austrians and the Czarina's Russians battle it out in Eastern Europe.

Russ, Mark and myself had decided to give the 18th century a visit and dust down the PoW rules, which I don't think we have played for some time.  We rolled for sides and I ended up on my own! I have several armies for the period but Russ and Mark opted for the mighty Russian army with its stalwart infantry and heavy artillery.  They intended to use its power in defence as the cavalry component is light and under strength.  They chose to fight the Austrian army, a good all round force with the option of a Croat light infantry division.

The battlefield at the end of the day.  The two hills in the far corner were my defensive objective points along with the road exit to the south of the hills.  The Russians were defending the town , road exit and large hill on the near side of the table.

The great aspect of this game is the initial set up of the battlefield.  The Russians were defending and so moved the terrain to suit them.  As attacker I had choice of which table edge to move on from.  Mark had rolled for a densely terrained table so I gave the Russians the side with the least objective points in the hope of spreading their defensive forces.

My main focus for my attack was the town.  I was worried that if I did not press Russ here he would be free to move against my objective points.  I did not expect to fully take the town but dispute it and win on points.  Russ put up a stout defence and used the wood to delay my full deployment keeping my forces away from the town for the whole battle.

Both sides struggled to spot each others deployment for a considerable time and with only 14 turns I was in a rush to get my infantry across the left flank of the Russians and dispute the town before Mark could attack my base line or aid Russ.  The Russians inability to spot all my commands kept them guessing where my main attack would be until half way through the game.

My right wing cavalry occupies the Russian line of supply at the end of the game.  Croats use the marsh to harass Russ' right flank and Marks observation corp.  Off shot to the top my reserve left flank cavalry is poised to attack the hill if Mark risks moving his infantry to retake the road.

My left wing cavalry had been screening the town as my infantry advanced and had taken some casualties from Russ' artillery.  Mark had decided to re-position his supporting cavalry towards the Russian centre and I thought it opportune to attack this force in case it was used to hit my flank.  The fight in the centre was touch and go but ended in a decisive win for the Austrians as the Russian cavalry was routed and I was able to take their line of supply.

Russ was busy withstanding my main assault and Mark was unwilling to counter attack my cavalry and risk losing the hill to my fresh right wing cavalry.  As a result I was lucky to secure a victory with an opportune attack!

A great game, well played by everyone and now leaving me wanting to play more!  Ottomans, French, the Prussians of Frederick the Great, a British Allied army and even the much maligned and slightly incompetent Reichs Army are ready to take the field.