GNW- Battle of Holowczyn: July 1708.

Finally a chance to get all my Swedes and Russians onto the table- very gratifying to see the project come together! 

A large game that represented Charles XII attempt to force the Russian positions along the Vabich river in 1708.

A bit of background:

After dealing with Poland, Saxony and Denmark, Charles XII of Sweden decided in 1708 on an invasion of Russia.  The Russians had created a solid defensive line along the River Vabich. Charles decided to force the river by launching a surprise attack through what was thought to be an impassable marsh. He selected a spot between the villages of Holowczyn and Novoje Selo. Struggling through the marshes the Swedes took the Russians by surprise. In a very tough, confusing battle, fought with little subtlety, the Swedes drove the numerically superior Russians off.

The game:

I had been working towards recreating this for a while as I think it's a fascinating battle. The table was set up with two Russian infantry brigades in the redoubt (8 Battalions with 4 stands of guns) and the Swedes just emerging from the swamp to their north.

The Swedes: Ralph, Richard M, Richard T.
The Russians: Ross, Paul and me!

The Russian redoubt!

The table setup for opening moves.

Swedes pushing their way thru the swamp.

The game started with the deployed Swedish guns firing on the the Russian redoubt. Ralph's  ( Swedish) counter-battery fire throughout the game was extraordinary- The Russian guns ( me!) couldn't hit a thing- The Swedes forced the Russian guns (mine) in the redoubts to withdraw.

Swedes pushing thru.

Charles urging his troops on- the elite of the Swedish infantry- In our fight Charles decided that the best spot for them was occupying the village- to keep all the Russian forces arriving from north and south separated. Historically they hit the north eastern edge of the redoubt.

Swedish cavalry swing north to cover the roads- to stop any Russian reinforcements. 

Southern end of the table.

Lead Swedish infantry heading to the village. The Swedish batteries on the western shore  (center right of photo) kept firing throughout the game and rendered sterling service.

The Russian defences- formidable- but rendered irrelevant by Charles' flanking manoeuvre.

View from the southern end of the battle field.

Swedes moving on.

The marshes slowed the Swedes down, but there were no Russians around initially to stop them.

View from the southern end of the battlefield.

Charles at the head of of his Infantry.

The Northern end of the table- most of the Russians would arrive through here. Swedes in the distance.

The Swedes pouring out of the marshy area and deploying onto the more solid ground to the east.

The Russians moving out of the redoubt  - as the elite Swedish infantry move into the village.

Russian dragoons arrive!

The Russian infantry in the redoubt turn about and move out to form a defensive line against the Swedes.

The last couple of battalions (both Raw) remain in the redoubt to cover the river crossing.

Swedish cavalry arriving - crossing the river- the yellow markers indicate 'disorder'.

Russian grenadiers arrive!

The View from the Russian positions in the North.

More Russians arrive from the North.

Russian cavalry deploy- Paul's command arrived very quickly (Turn 3- A roll of 5+ on a d6..he rolled 5)

The Russians in the redoubt redeploy facing north and the cavalry move to cover their eastern flank. The Swedes are clearly visible in the middle , spreading out.  See the same pic below with arrows.

              

Russian cavalry deploying.

Charles' elite infantry hold the village. In the end the Russians avoided this- and the Swedes were forced to come out to charge the Russian lines.

Russian infantry arriving from the North.

The second Swedish infantry brigade deploys ( Richard T). These boys would hold up two Russian dragoon brigades and an infantry brigade- a heroic effort!
But there wasn't too much left by game's end.

Russian Dragoons coming from the north- in front of them ( left of picture) a Swedish Regiment waiting patiently.

Swedish infantry vs Russian dragoons.

Russian Grenadiers using a farm for protection.

The Russian in the redoubt, now facing north rather than west.

Swedish cavalry heading south against the area behind the redoubt.

The Russian dragoons in the distance ...

Ross' Russian dragoons deploying on the northern edge of the battle field.

Swedish Horse waiting patiently.

Russian dragoons forming up- Swedish infantry in the distance.

The start of the swirling cavalry melee that took place in the centre of the battle field.

Russian dragoons vs Swedish Guard Horse and Guard Dragoons. Richard M was having a bad day- being Swedish shock cavalry they had to hit on 3+ with four dice ( +1 more die if charging). Paul had dragoons that had to hit on 4+ with three dice. Paul won several times in a row- Richard was not happy!

Paul's 'hand of God' moves his dragoons forward- his six squadrons fighting the four Swedish Guard squadrons. He rolled very well!

Russian Dragoons ( Ross) against Swedish Horse ( Ralph) . The Swedes were forced back!

Ross' dragoons deploying with difficulty in the woods to the north- Richard T's Swedish infantry to the right- The Dragoon's were loathe to charge the Swedes frontally without infantry support.

First infantry clash. The Swedish veterans charge the Butyrski Regt- the Russian volley drove the Swedes back. We couldn't believe it!

Swedes on interior lines- in an arc holding the Russians. Northern part of battlefield.

The height of the action- view from the north.
The Swedes in a huge arc fighting on all fronts.
The early randomised arrival of all the Russians  (good die rolling) caused the Swedes some problems!

                                              

Same pic with no arrows!

Two Swedish Squadrons hold off a Russian Dragoon brigade.

View from the south.
The final Swedish reinforcements are arriving en masse thru the swamp...just a tad late.

FINALLY! The last of the Swedes arrive.

The Swedes breathed a sigh of relief - finally the rest of the army arrives- but is it too late?

Clash to the south- these Swedish regiments ( Uppland and Dal) hit the Russian line to the south- the Russians from the redoubt..

Richard T's Swedish infantry brigade to the north being swamped: the last Regt (with Red flag and white flag). Russian Dragoons and infantry pushing forward and swamping the Swedes. One of the crucial factors in the outcome was that randomised arrival of the Russian, lucky die rolls meant there was no delay- they all arrived basically straight away- The Russians rolled superbly and every brigade arrived on the first opportunity!!
Very unhistorical as the Russian arrived piecemeal- in our game 5+ was rolled every time and by turn 6 all the Russians were on the table- but the Swedes were still waiting for their forces.

In the end, the arriving Swedish troops pushed their way to the edge of the swamp and there we ended the game.  A tough fight with the Russian holding on- the Swedes hitting hard, causing considerable damage but unable to break the Russians.

The Swedes could have pushed on- and held a bridgehead, but it would have been a Pyrrhic victory.
So we called it a day.

The crucial factors that led to the result:

A) The decision by the Swedes to occupy the village rather than slam into the Russian troops early ( as Charles did historically) gave the Russians in the redoubt time to organise and redeploy facing north. This Swedish decision was of course predicated on the reasonable timely arrival of the last of the Swedes...see below.

B) Regardless of anything else the arrival of ALL the Russians way too early!!
WTF!!????? Years of gaming with randomised arrival...and never has one side been so lucky.
This was undoubtedly the main factor...four brigades all arriving within three turns and hitting the Swedes en masse.  Because of the shambolic nature of the Russian command, historically,  commanders just sent troops at different times and from different points. The game called for the Russians to have some chance to arrive at any time if at all from turn 3 onwards ( increasing probability etc).....but the dice gods favoured the Russians in our refight....and every brigade came on with its first die roll!

C) Some poor combat rolls by the Swedes in the first few turns of melee- against the odds!!  If you have 5 dice and have to get 3+ to hit - but roll three or four '1s' and  '2s' ...not once but three times!...... *&^$%^&*!!!!...randomised probability can be so unfair!!  Especially when your opponent has only 3 or 4 dice and hits on a 4+...and he rolls hits every time....with every dice.

D) The 'late' arrival of the remainder of the Swedes. This was the corollary to the early arrival of the Russians. The Swedes were on a timetable that reflected the historical movement. The Russians were totally randomised. If a couple of the Russian brigades had been a turn or two later it would have made a HUGE difference! ( See point B!) 

A very enjoyable refight!!  I might do it again sometime.