A small Polish force rushing to stop a slightly larger Turkish force from crossing the river in numbers.
This is scenario 5 in the OHW (One Hour Wargames) book.
Bridgehead
Situation
The Turkish force has discovered a crossing into Polish territory and is aiming to secure it.
The Polish general is frantically attempting to mobilise every available unit to stop them.
I use one element to represent a unit instead of the two recommended by the book. The book has even forces but I thought that the attacking enemy would put more resources into securing the crossing. I have allowed 10 light cavalry to cross the river unopposed, in the book it is 1 unit. I justify this by the fact large scouting forces were employed by the Turks. The Polish will have heavier units to deal with these, as and when they appear.
Only one unit can cross the bridge each turn, nothing stipulated in the book. Again, I think there would be a delay in units crossing. This, I suspect, will help the Polish force to block the bridge before too many Turkish units can cross. Only time will tell.
Polish force
1 x General Cavalry unit 1 x Hussari
2 x Pancerni
2 x Drab Infantry
1 x Cossack Infantry (axe)
6 x Cossack Light Cavalry
Turkish force
1 x General (Feudal Sipahi)
2 x Fuedal Sipahi
12 x Light Cavalry
3 x Jannisaries
2 x Light Infantry (Azabs & similar)
The view from behind the Turkish lines |
The Polish went first as response to incursion of light cavalry
Cossack units flanking the Turkish light cavalry |
4 Turkish vs 2 Cossack units |
The Pancerni arrive, advancing through the village.
Polish village with orchard |
Another Turkish unit crossed the bridge and turns to flank the Cossacks.
The cossacks are not causing many casualties on the Turkish light horse. The Turks are only slowly whittling the Cossacks down.
The General and Hussari arrive to bolster the Cossack unit on the Turkish flank.
General and Hussari arrive Turkish light horse in the distance turn to flank the cossacks |
The Turkish light horse flank charges the Cossacks in combat but fail to achieve anything, as the Sipahi start to cross and move north. I gambled here on the oncoming infantry to be enough to hold the bridge if the cavalry lost the action. I only had light cavalry in advance so thought to support these.
The General and Hussari flank charge the Turkish light horse and are equally ineffective. (A huge surprise given their weight and armament advantage on top of flanking)
Another Turkish light horse joins the fray as the column grinds its way across the river.
Cossack units arrive to the right of the village in support of the Pancerni.
The first Cossack units are near to breaking having suffered many casualties but not inflicting many themselves. The Hussari are making little headway.
The Drab infantry arrive with a Cossack unit and some Cossack axe men on the Polish left flank as the Turkish and other Cossack units prepare to contest the rear of the village.Almost no casualties suffered by any unit this turn
Turkish horse moving north to counter the newly arrived infantry and cossacks. |
Cossack unit is finally eliminated leaving the General and Hussari under great pressure of numbers.
With the infantry crossing the bridge and the general almost eliminated I credited it to a Turkish win. It was nine periods/bounds in the game with 6 left to go. I felt the Polish would have to be extremely lucky to pull this back.
Summary
It was an interesting game with lots of points where it could have given a different outcome.
The Turkish steady progress over the bridge seemed to be a disadvantage early on but proved to be better than the Polish hotch, potch arrival. It could so easily have been disadvantageous though!
I had thought to give the Hussari a bonus in the first charge but played the rules as written.
I could have used the Polish infantry a little differently. Perhaps creating a 'front' line or more in support of the struggling Pancerni, who never made it out of the village.
If the Sipahi had not advanced the Polish would have had a free hand with the reinforcing units which could have changed everything.
All in all, a very good game with problems and surprises coming steadily.
I fought the game over two weeks so not much of the 1 hour wargame!
Never mind, there was no rush.
I think I will refight this sometime in the future with similar forces but with a charge bonus for the Hussari. Maybe other tweaks also.
I hope you enjoyed the AAR as much as I enjoyed the game.
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