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Age of Musket
.
Tricorne and Musket 1740 1763
Wargame rules for battles in the Age of Reason
Peter Morffew
Copy right 2000
Edited 2010
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Troop types
Musketeer / Fusilier: These troop's were the line Infantry of the day . The Fusilier's had lost their role as
baggage guard's and were now front line troop's . Neither of these troop's were used as Light Infantry in
Europe and cannot be used in skirmish formation .
Grenadier's: These troop's were the assault troop's of the period . The Grenadier's were the taller men of aRegiment . They carried a musket and manoeuvred the same as other Infantry on the battle field . Also they
carried a axe and Grenades . Because of this ability to carry out an attack on troop's in or behind cover there is
no deduction on their melee factor against troop's in cover .
Light Infantry : These troop's were used in varying quantities by different armies . The Austrian's put great
stead on light Infantry and used them to great effect . Frederick loathed the tactic's of Light Infantry , being
able to retreat at will and were referred to as Infantry that desert . Light Infantry form up in extended order
only .
Light Cavalry: These troop's were chiefly Hussar's . Light Cavalry unit's were either regular , Militia ,
Freicorp or irregular such as the Bosniaks in Prussian service or Cossack's with the Russian army . The
irregular unit's tended to be unreliable in battle and were used for reconnaissance . There were very fewregular lancer unit's because of the skill needed to weald a lance in battle . The best lancer troop's were
irregular unit's but gave poor service in battle .
Medium Cavalry: These troop's were Dragoon's , Horse , some Guard Cavalry and Horse Grenadier's . The
Dragoon's had lost their role as mounted Infantry and were now classed as Cavalry .
Heavy Cavalry: Heavy Cavalry at the time were Cuirassiers , some being Guards such as the Garde du Korp
in the Prussian army . They had just a front plate for protection .
Battalion Gun's: Battalion Gun's were light Artillery piece's attached to a Battalion . In the case of the
Prussian army some battalion's had six pounder gun's , by the end of the Seven Year's War most Battalion's
had seven pounder howitzer's .
To represent a battalion gun one artillery crew figure will represent the gun and crew . The figure will keep
pace with the Battalion as it advance's . Infantry from the Battalion would assist with moving it on the
battlefield to ensure that it did not lag behind .
As a rule the Battalion gun would stay with the parent Battalion . Where a Regiment has two or three
Battalion's the other Battalion gun's can be attached to one particular Battalion of that Regiment .Battalion gun's will fire at the same target as the battalion they are with unless the range exceeds musket
range ,then the gun's can fire at any target within a 45 degree arc to the front . The Battalion's Infantry fire is
amalgamated to the fire from the Battalion guns or gun's and then the factor's are applied .
The Battalion gun crew adopt the same morale a the battalion they are with and will carry out the same morale
reaction's as the Battalion they are with . If a Battalion retires or retreat's the gun will move back regardless of
the distance and is unable to fire that bound . If the Battalion rout's the Battalion gun or gun's are abandonedand lost for the rest of the game .
Garrison troop's: Most armies had garrison Infantry that would act as the training Battalion . They rarely
would be used on the battle field . The exception being the Prussian Garrison Regiment's who were used by
Frederick later in the Seven Year's War to bolster his army . These troops were the invalid's or older troop'sand were unable to be of any great use on campaign's .
Militia: Prussia raised a number of militia unit's to deprive the invading armies of extra man power . Prussia
raised six militia Grenadier Battalion's , a number of Infantry Battalion's and some Hussar Regiment's .
Freikorp: Prussia found that it had to recruit more and more mercenary unit's as the Seven Year's War
progressed . Initially only Infantry Battalion's were used but Cavalry Regiment's were also formed . By the
end of the Seven Year's War Friekorp brigades had been formed with Infantry and cavalry combined . These
troop's varied in quality but very rarely were on par with the Prussian Unit's .
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Horse Artillery: Horse Artillery was still in it's infancy during this period . Russian Dragoon and Horse
Grenadier Regiment's had a Artillery battery attached to them . Frederick formed a horse battery which
suffered badly and was wiped out twice in battle . Other than these two countries no other country used horse
artillery .
Field Artillery: Field gun's varied in size , but because of their weight the maximum size tended to be twelve
pounder gun's and eighteen pounder howitzer's . The ammunition type was limited to canister and round shot
for long range fire . The canister would comprise of stone's and glass . Field Batteries consisted of six , eight ,
or twelve gun team's . Depending on the nationality .
For game purposes one artillery gun and crew represents a who battery. The base size is for two guns in the
battery. For more guns expand the size of the base.
Irregular troop's: Irregular unit's were used during the Seven Year's War , such as Cossack's ,Bosniak's and
Trenk's Pandoour's . These were used in either reconnaissance , raiding parties or on occasion actually on the
battle field where they tended to be of poor quality and not very reliable.
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Unit size
The following table's give the maximum size of Infantry Battalions and Cavalry Regiment's that are permissible
in these rules . The number of figures is arrived at by only accounting for the Musketeer's , Fusilier's or trooper's
in a unit . Staff are not accounted for . Where here are two figures in a cell the following applies . Sweden - The
smaller number was the size of a Hussar unit at the beginning of the Seven Years war , the musketeer unit size
for Sweden can be either .The Austrian Musketeer unit size is given for the War of Austrian Succession and the Seven Years War
respectively .
France Sweden Russia Bavaria Austria Saxony
Dragoon's 12 14 18 14 18 14
Cuirassier's 8 14 16 14 18 10
Horse
Grenadier's
16 8
Horse Guards 20Hussar's 10 16 16 20 8
Musketeer's 12 - 16 14 10
Fusilier's 12 12 14 / 16
Grenadier's 8 14 8 8 8
Guard
Infantry
20 12
Jager's 14
Britain Hanover Holland Prussia
Dragoon's 6 10 12 12
Cuirassier's 12
Hussar's 20
Guard Cavalry 6 4 12 8
Horse 6 6
Horse Grenadier's 2
Musketeer's 10 14 12 12
Fusilier's 12
Grenadier's 8 8 8 8/10
Guard Infantry 8 8 10 12
Jager's 12Garrison Infantry 12
Freicorp Infantry 12
Militia 12/10
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Formations
Line : Line is a formation of two rank's of figure's to indicate the unit in close formation in three rank's . The
exception being the Russian's who used four rank's . Factor's take into account the deeper formation .
Column of route: This formation is a column of figures two figures wide . This formation is to assist a unit to
move from A to B in an orderly manner and then to be able to deploy in line .
Skirmish line: This formation is used by Light Infantry only . It is a single line of Infantry double spaced
which charging Cavalry and Infantry will automatically break through .
Square: This is a formation that is used by Infantry in defence against Cavalry . The figures form a hollow
square with an even number on the four side's . The Infantry can fire , each figure counting that is facing the
Cavalry unit . Each face of the square has an arc of 45 degree's to it's front . Square's that have been formed in
the same bound whilst being charge can attempt to be broken through .
Unformed: This is a unit that has had it 's uniformity disrupted , this could be caused by a number of reason's .
Melee , breakthrough ,
routing , etc. . To signify that a unit is unformed each base / stand is turned diagonally to the next one .
Reforming: When a unit comes to reform the unit must be stationary . The unit changes it's formation from
that as above i.e. unformed and adopts the reforming formation . To signify a unit is reforming the stand's /
bases are formed up in staggered line with the corner's of each base touching .
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Definitions
Retire : A unit will move away from the direction of the charge , attack , fire or melee in good order towards
it's own base line for one bound. If attacked the unit will defend itself and only retire for half of a bound. If a
friendly unit is blocking the direction to be retired in the unit will halt in front of the friendly unit and turn to
face the enemy . If a friendly unit is directly behind blocking the route to retire in the unit retiring will pass
through the friendly unit's rank's leaving it unformed . After retiring the full bound the unit will turn to face theenemy . A unit retires at the normal line pace .
Retreat :A unit retreating will move away from the direction of charge , attack , fire or melee towards it's
own base line for one bound . If the unit is followed up and contact is made the retreat will become a rout . If
the unit is retreating in response to a charge and the charging unit can make contact the unit will then rout for
the remainder of the move . If no follow up is made or contact made the unit will retreat as normal . If the line
of retreat is blocked by a friendly unit the retreating unit will pass through the friendly unit's rank's thus
unforming it self and the friendly unit . At the end of the retreat the unit will remain facing away from the
enemy and will have to turn to face next bound . A retreating unit will move at column of rout pace .
Rout :A unit routing will move away from the direction of attack , fire , charge or melee towards it's own base
line for one bound . If followed up the unit will rout for a further bound , if the morale check dictates yet
another bound of rout this will be added to the number of bounds that have already been dictated . If the line
of rout is blocked by a friendly unit the unit will rout through it's rank's thus unforming it .
At the end of a rout the unit will be facing away from the enemy and will also be unformed . A unit that rout's
has to spend two bound's reforming . Artillery that rout's will abandon the gun's and will not return to them forthe rest of the game . A routing unit will move at column of rout charging pace .
Battalion :A unit of Infantry that can be joined with other Battalion's to form Regiment's .
Reform :An action carried out by a unit so that it can dress it's rank's . This is carried out after a rout
regardless of circumstance's . It can also be carried out after a melee , charge , breakthrough or being broken
through by another unit . In the later the reform is optional .
Shaken :A unit has become unsteady and need's to reform , the morale is affected and could have adetrimental affect on any future action's .
Breakthrough : A charging cavalry unit has impacted on another unit and the impetus of the charging unit
has caused it to penetrate the rank's and exit the opposite side/end of the charged unit . Any unit behind can beengaged during the same bound if contacted . The first engagement must be resolved first . Both unit's that
have been contacted must resolve the melee .
A stand :One stand is four figure's = 200 men . Referred to in the response to a charge , one stand may turn to
face .
Unformed: A unit that has lost it's cohesion and is unable to operate as normal i.e. it will lack impetus in a
charge . An unformed unit can charge but will have it's limitation's .
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Getting started
To run a game the player need's a measure , pencil , note paper and a six sided die .
Prior to setting out the figures and starting the game player's on each side must mark where they will set up
their figures . This can be done with a notation of each Battalion , Regiment or Brigade on a map of the game
area . Also the objectives of each Brigade must be either written out or marked on the map . The objective can
be to hold ground or a feature , hold the right or left flank /wing , attack the left or right flank or even capture acertain geographical feature on the table .
Having drawn up the starting position's the figures are laid out on the table .
Once set up both side's determine if either have the initiative ,i.e. the tactical advantage . Both player's role a
six sided die each . The player with the highest score has the initiative . The difference between the scores
indicates the number of bound's the player can move before the opponent . Where the score's are the same both
player's start in the same bound .
There are die role adjustment's to for certain player's for historical representation . For the War of Austrian
Succession and Seven Years War games the Prussian's have one added to their die role . The exception being a
game between the Swedes and Prussian's in a Seven Year's War game . For Russian's in Seven Year's War
games one is deducted from the die role .
In a game during the War of Austrian Succession the Anglo - Allies army have two added to their initiative die
role .
Sequence of play
1 )Declare charges - move charging unit up to maximum musket range of the intended target .
2 )Charged unit's need to check their response to the charge .
3 )Charged unit carries out it's response to the charge .
4 )Where contact is made carry out melee .
5)Charging unit check's to see if it's break's through .
6 )If the unit breaks through and contacts another unit carry out the same as above for charges , i.e. responseto charge , etc.
7 )If the charging unit breaks through and makes contact with another unit , again check charged unit's
response and then carry out action's and melee .8 )Other movement , those that moved in the morale reaction's from the previous bound or charge phase do
not move .9 )Other firing - unit's that fired in the charge response phase cannot fire .
10)Morale check's .
11 )Morale reaction's - retire , retreat , rout , follow up . These unit's cannot move in the next bound's
movement phase
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Charges
All charges are declared at the beginning of the bound cycle . The unit or unit's charging must be indicated as
well as the unit or unit's being charged .
The unit or unit's charged must check their response to being charged .
If a charged Infantry unit has a rout reaction and the charging unit is Cavalry which makes contact in thecharge phase the Infantry unit is considered to have been ridden down and will take no further part in the game
and will carry on routing for the rest of the game . This does not mean that the entire unit is destroyed . If the
game is part of a campaign the melee phase is resolved as normal to see what casualties are inflicted .
An Infantry unit formed up in square from a previous bound does not have to check it's response to being
charged .
If the Infantry unit has a obey order's reaction to being charged the Infantry unit may form square or it may
have a reaction to form square . When this is the case the Cavalry can still attempt to break through if it makes
contact as the square might not be fully formed . The Infantry form square , the Cavalry make contact , the
melee phase is resolved as normal and then the Cavalry try to break through . If unsuccessful it is consideredthe square is fully formed and there may be no further attempt to break through whilst that unit remain's in
square .
Whilst forming square the Infantry unit cannot fire .
If a charging unit is fired on and takes casualties . The casualties are removed before contact is made . If thecasualties amount to more than fifty percent of the front rank the charge has been broken and will halt at at the
next range bracket
i.e. if fired at from short range the Cavalry will halt at short range . If fired at from medium range the unit halts
half an inch short of contact . If the Cavalry unit has any movement left it may use that up , taking into
account the deduction for turning about . If there are any friendly troops behind the unit that has been stopped
who are also charging they will move up to base to base contact with the rear rank and halt there . When thishappens the front unit , the one that has had it's charge broken cannot elect to use up any movement that
remains and will stay where it is for the rest of the bound . The unit behind can if it wishes use up any
remaining movement and turn about .
In the event of a Cavalry unit breaking through that melee must be resolved first and the casualties taken off .
The breakthrough takes place and if a second unit is contacted that melee is then resolved .
Charging Infantry cannot fire regardless of the distance they have too move.
With the order to charge Infantry would do just that thus ensuring momentum and shock on impact
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Response to a charge
A unit being charged must check it's response to being charged . The only unit that does not have to check it's response to being
charged by Cavalry is a Infantry unit formed up in square . A unit that has checked it's response to being charged and chooses to
form square cannot fire and the square can still be broken through , the square would not have been formed properly and is still
vulnerable to a Cavalry charge .
If a friendly unit is in base to base contact with a charged unit this unit must check it's response to a charge as well .
A Cavalry unit that has a reaction to obey order's and is unformed can remain stationary and dress rank's . The unit will be form to
receive the charge .
If the Infantry or Artillery response to a charge is to fire and the target is closer than the range given then the unit does not fire as it
is construed that the unit is unable to respond quickly enough and is shaken . Infantry will stand and receive the charge . Artillery
crew's will abandon the gun's . Artillery crew's who abandon the gun's will seek cover with Infantry within six inches and when the
threat has receded can return to the guns . If the closest Infantry are further than six inches but less than twelve inches they willabandon the gun's and will need a morale check to return to the gun's unless an Infantry unit moves to within base to base contact
with the gun bases , physically recapturing the gun's . If the closest Infantry are more than twelve inches the Artillery crew's will
abandon the gun's and not return for the rest of the game . Where the Artillery crew's seek refuge with an Infantry unit they areeffectively part of that unit and will adopt the same charge and morale reaction's . Where the Infantry unit rout's the gun's are also
lost for the rest of the game .
To check a unit's response to being charge . Role a six sided die and compare the score against the unit 's present morale status on
the chart below .
Die role score Response to the charge
6 or more points under
present morale status
Infantry fire at 2'' , if charge is halted will counter charge . Artillery will fire at 3'' and stay with gun's .
Cavalry counter charge and use charge factor's
4 or 5 point's under
present morale status
Infantry fire at Cavalry at 2'' range , Infantry counter charge Infantry . Artillery fire at 3'' range and retire
to closest Infantry . Light Infantry fire at 3'' and retire . If attacked in the flank Cavalry and Infantry turn
to face .Cavalry counter charge but do not count the charging factor . Artillery crews of 8lb or less turn
the guns . Heavier gun's crew's abandon gun's and retire to nearest Infantry unit .Equal to the morale
status or 1,2 or 3
point's under present
morale status
Infantry charged by Cavalry fire at 3'' or can form square . Cavalry and Infantry against Infantry obey
order's . Light Infantry fire at 6'' and retire . If attacked in the flank or rear one stand my turn and face .Artillery fire at 6'' then retire to safety .
1 or 2 points over
present morale status
Infantry fire at 5'' , Artillery fire at 8'' , Light Infantry fire at 8'' and retire , Light Cavalry retire , Medium
and Heavy cavalry dress rank's and receive charge . If being charged in the flank rear will retreat .
3 or 4 point's over
present morale status .Infantry shaken , will not fire . Artillery fire at 10'' , Light Cavalry retreat , Medium and Heavy Cavalry
retire . Light Infantry retreat . If being charged in the flank or rear will rout .5 or 6 points over
present morale status
Infantry rout . Artillery fire at 15'' , Light Cavalry rout , Medium and Heavy Cavalry retreat . If being
charged in the flank or rear will rout for two bounds .More than 6 points
over present moralestatus
All rout for two bounds . If charged in the flank will rout off table .
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Melee
When a melee is carried out the first two rank's of a unit are counted . There is also an over lap of two figures at
each end .
Infantry in square can only count those figures facing the opposing figure's .
After one bound of melee all troop's become unformed unless in square . To reform the unit need's to be
stationary for one bound and carry out no other function , i.e. fire , move or come under fire .
A unit unformed can still charge , test for a break through and melee but with impediment's .
Unit's in skirmish line will avoid a melee . If charged they will fall back as indicated by the response to a charge
and will then reform in skirmish line at the end of the bound , unless in hard cover then the unit will stay where
it is .
If a Cavalry unit contact's with a unit in skirmish line it will automatically break through .
Artillery that is attacked will fall back to safety to the closest Infantry within 6'' . They will return to the gun's
once safe and will not be able to fire until next bound .
If a Cavalry unit has broken through a square that has been formed this bound then the factor for Cavalry
against Infantry in square does not apply .
The melee factor for the charging unit breaking through is applicable for both units whether they have brokenthrough or have been broken through .
Casualty calculation :Multiply the melee factor's by the number of figures . Add or subtract the tactical factor . Subtract the score of a
six sided die .
For each total score of six one figure or one gun is lost .
If the final score is less than six than the die is rolled . The score must be equal or be less than the remainingmelee factor .
Melee factor :
In contact : melee from last bound Charging : first bound of contact
Infantry / Light Cavalry........1 Infantry / Light Cavalry .......1 . 5
Medium Cavalry ..............1 . 5 Medium Cavalry.........................2
Heavy Cavalry.......................2 Heavy Cavalry.......................2 . 5
Tactical factor adjustment :Being attacked in the rear or flank .........................................................................................Deduct 2Infantry meleeing against troop's behind hard cover .............................................................Deduct 2
Cavalry meleeing against Infantry in square *.......................................................................Deduct 2
Meleeing up hill .....................................................................................................................Deduct 1
Reforming , shaken , unformed, retreated last bound ...........................................................Deduct1
Unit routed last bound ...........................................................................................................Deduct 2
Grenadiers meleeing against troops in hard cover ................................................................Deduct 1
* Not applicable if Cavalry have broken through .
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Movement
Formation's :Line is a unit of figures formed up in two rank's . Skirmish line is a unit - battalion formed up in
single rank . Column of route is a unit formed up in a column , two figures wide.
Advancing and firing : Infantry may advance and fire . The distance they can advance and fire depend's on the
type of Infantry they are .Light Infantry can advance 5'' and fire , Prussian Infantry can advance 4'' and fire , other Infantry can advance 3''
and fire . Infantry cannot charge and then fire.
Formation changes :These are carried out with the unit stationary and will take one bound to complete .
A unit forming square can change formation whilst being charged . This can only be carried out during theresponse to the charge phase . Turning about , turning to the right or left only takes half a bound .
Reforming : Unit's take two bound's / cycles to reform after a rout and one bound to reform after any other
event i.e. melee ,
charge , breaking through another unit or being broken through . Unit's reforming must be stationary whilst
carrying out this action and cannot change formation .
If a unit need's to defend itself it cannot reform until it has finished firing or meleeing .Any troops routing off table will not return to the game . Any troops following up a routing unit off table will
need a morale check to return i.e. obey order's or better . Arriving on table they will be unformed .
Obstacles : Wood's , wall's , hedge's , uphill , moving in and out of building's , crossing stream's and ditches
reduces a unit's speed by half .Wood's , wall's , ditches , stream's building's and hedges nullify the charge
impetus of Infantry .
Wall's , wood's and building's nullify the charge impetus of Cavalry .
Artillery :Movement of Artillery is restricted by the weight of the cannon / howitzer .
Light Artillery :1lb , 2lb , 3lb cannon's and Howitzer's up to 7lb . These are considered to be light gun's for the
period . These move at line pace when unlimbered and at skirmish pace when limbered up , i.e. Battalion and
Regimental gun's . Battalion gun's alway's move at the same pace as the Battalion they are with .
Medium Artillery :6lb , 7lb , 8lb , 10lb , 12lb cannon's are considered to medium gun's for the period . These
can only be moved limbered up . When unlimbered they can be pivoted through 90 degree's per bound or 45
degree's and fired at half effect .
Heavy Artillery : 18lb , 24lb 30lb cannon's and howitzer's are considered to be heavy gun's for the period .
These can only be moved limbered up . Once unlimbered they cannot be pivoted but fire from the position they
are pointing in , with a 45 degree arc to the front .
InfantryLight
Infantry
Light
Cavalry
Medium
Cavalry
Heavy
CavalryLight Medium Heavy Horse
Line 8'' 14'' 12'' 10'' 6'' 4'' 3'' 10''Skirmish
line11''
Charge +3'' +3'' +6'' +5'' +4'' +5''
Column of
route10'' 12'' 18'' 16'' 14''
Limber up
unlimber
oneBound
TwoBounds
Halfbound
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Morale
Morale check's are carried out for the following reason's . Having taken casualties during a melee , casualties
from Artillery or musket fire , if a friendly routing unit passes through another unit's rank's - unless either are
Light Infantry or if when formed up in line the unit is in base to base contact with the next unit which rout's , if a
unit that follow's up a routing unit and goes off table , it will need to take a morale check to return .
Morale checks are carried out at Battalion level for Infantry , Regimental level for Cavalry and battery level for
Artillery .
Any morale check on an Infantry Battalion will also affect the Battalion gun's . This rule also applies to theRegimental gun's with Russian Dragoon and Grenadier-a-Cheval Regiment's .
To check the present morale status of a unit you add or subtract the morale factor's to the relevant unit morale
factor below . The resulting score is the present morale status . Role a six sided die and consult the morale
result's chart , the bold type refers to the die roll .
Unit morale factor :
Fortress troop's or
Irregular troop'sMilitia Musketeer's
or FreicorpArtillery , Cavalry ,
Militia Grenadiers
& Regular
Musketeer's/
Fusilier's
Regular
Grenadier'sGuard's
3 4 5 6 7
Morale factor's :General with unit - base to base contactUnit in hard cover
General within 3''
Prussian , British troop's , Swiss troop's , Irish in French service , Hanoverian troop'sEach casualty taken by a unit during game . Each bound Cavalry are in continuous melee
Battalion , Regiment shaken or retired this bound / Infantry rank's broken through by Cavalry
Being attacked in the flank or rearUnit retreated this bound .
Unit routed this bound
Unit routed last bound
Add2
Add2
Add1
Add 1Deduct1
Deduct1
Deduct3
Deduct2
Deduct3
Deduct 2
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Morale results5 or more point's under the morale status : Cavalry in melee follow up routing , retreating or retiring unit's
for one bound . Infantry in melee follow up routing or retreating Infantry for half a bound , ( unless in square ) .
Artillery man gun's . Otherwise obey order's .
4 points under the morale status : Cavalry in melee follow up routing or retreating unit's for one bound .
Infantry in melee follow up routing Infantry for half a bound , ( unless in square ) . Artillery man gun's .
Otherwise obey order's .
3 point's under morale status : Cavalry in melee follow up routing unit's for one bound . Infantry in melee
follow up routing Infantry for half a bound . Artillery man gun's . Otherwise obey order's .
Equal or 1 or 2 point's under morale status : Obey order's .
1 point over morale status : Shaken , will not initiate a charge , halt for half a bound to dress rank's . Artillery
battery that is limbered up will unlimber to fire . If unlimbered will hold unless in melee will then abandon guns
.
2 point's over morale status : Shaken , will not initiate a charge , Infantry in melee will recoil 3'' , if followedup will retire . Infantry in square against Cavalry will hold . Cavalry will retire for one bound . Artillery battery
unlimbered will hold present position . Artillery limbered up will unlimber to fire . Artillery in melee will
abandon gun's .
3 point's over morale status : Shaken , will not initiate a charge , halt for one bound to dress rank's . Infantry
in melee will retire , if followed up and casualties received will become a retreat . Infantry in square against
Cavalry will hold . Cavalry will retire for one bound . Artillery unlimbered will hold present position for the rest
of the game unless it has a reaction to retire , retreat or rout . Artillery limbered up will retire for one bound and
unlimber - will not advance any further for the rest of the game . Artillery in melee will abandon gun's for two
bound's .
4 point's over morale status : Retire for one bound at line pace , if followed up and casualties received will
become a retreat . Infantry in square against Cavalry hold . Artillery unlimbered or limbered up will limber up
and retire for one bound and not advance for the rest of the game . Artillery in melee will abandon gun's .
5 point's over morale status : Retreat at line pace for one bound , if retreat is followed up the retreat becomes
a route .
Infantry in square against Cavalry can be broken through , Cavalry can role for the break through . If successful
square will break and rout for one bound . Artillery retreat for one bound whether unlimbered or limbered up , If
battery is attacked or fired upon whilst retreating it will become a rout .
6 points over morale status :Route for one bound at column of rout pace , Artillery will abandon gun's for the
rest of the game . Unit will take two bounds to reform .
More than 6 points over morale status : For each point the die roll exceeds 6 point's over the morale status
the unit will rout one extra bound . I.e. a unit has a morale status of minus one . A die roll is six . This is one
point above six and so the unit will route two bounds .
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Addenda
HistoryBetween 1740 and 1763 there were three major wars in Europe that shaped the national boundaries that were
to become familiar in the next century . This period was to be known as ' the Age of Reason ' where old
conflicts over religion gave way to war's over industrial resources .
Armies became more professional and were modelled on the Prussian style developed by Frederick the Great .
Between 1740 and 1763 Austria was at the centre of three wars . Firstly with Prussia under Frederick the Great
. In 1740 Frederick invaded the Austrian province of Silesia starting the First Silesian War . With Austria
occupied with Prussia in Silesia , Bavaria supported by France advance up the Danube valley attacking
Austria .
at the same time France advanced into Austrian - Nederlands . This attack was opposed by an allied army
composing of British , Hanoverian , Dutch , Hessen , and Austrian troops .
In southern Europe Spain and France attacked Italy ,a Austrian possession at the time . This war
( The War of Austrian succession ) lasted until 1748 . The Silesian War ended but Maria Teresa was
determined to take back Silesia and so Austrian troops advanced on Silesia , sparking the Second Silesian War. This second war lasted until 1748 in which Prussian maintained possession of Silesia .
There was a period of peace which was broken by Prussian in 1756 in a pre-emptive attack on Saxony , a
minor Austrian ally with the intention to also attack Austria . This was to prevent the Grande Alliance of
Russia , France , Sweden , Austria , Bavaria , a number of other smaller states and Principalities plus the Reich
Armee attacking Prussia . Frederick thought that by defeating Austria the other nation's would back down .
This did not happen and the war dragged on for the next seven years . The Seven Years War was a world wide
conflict where Britain , Prussia , Hanover and other German states were pitted against The Grande Alliance , (
Spain joined in 1762 ) .
The Anglo allied army fought in the west whilst Prussian fought the Russians and Austrian's in the east . The
Anglo allied army under the Duke of Cumberland was defeated by France and capitulated .
Prussia wa forced to fight on all fronts by itself . A Russian army marched into East Prussia , Austrian troops
marched into Silesia , the Franco allied army advanced from the west and the Swedes attacked from the north .
Frederick prevented his Kingdom from being over whelmed with an outstanding victory at Rossbach , where20,000 Prussian's defeated 60,000 French . At Leuthen Frederick defeated the Austrian army .
The Anglo allied army reformed and supported by some Prussian troops defended the west flank for the rest of
the war .
The commander was the Duke of Brunswick , who was put forward by Frederick the Great . The Allies
inflicted a serious of defeat's on the French over the next few years in campaign's that involved considerable
manoeuvring .
During the next four years Frederick won some masterful victories against the poorly organised Grande
Alliance .
Costly victories at Zorndorf in 1758 and at Leignitz in 1760 as well as Frederick's worst defeat at Kunnersdorf
drained the Prussian army .
At the end of 1761 the Austrian's advanced into Saxony and Silesia and the Russians held Pomerania . Prussiawas stretched to the limit . The Prussian army now composed of a large contingent of Frei Korp units .
Peter the III succeeded the Russian throne and withdrew Russia from the War . Austria was unable to defeatPrussia alone and withdrew from Silesia leaving it in Prussian hands
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Tactic's of the period
Tactic's of the period covered by these rules tended to be slow and ponderous .
Armies would manoeuvre onto the battlefield in column of route and deploy for battle in line
( linear formation ) .Smaller Armies such as the Prussians managed to out manoeuvre their enemies and gain the upper hand by
deploying to the flank . Which was perfected by Frederick the Great .
Once deployed for battle Battalion's would advance on their objective at a slow pace ensuring that the rank's
remained closed up . Where gap's appeared they would be closed quickly as possibly with the cohersion of the
Ensign's and Sergent's .
Infantry were considered to be the taker's and holder's of ground . The Infantrymen were drilled to fire fiveround's per minute . In battle this proved difficult for several reason's . The musket barrel getting hot , the
priming pan getting clogged up with carbon from the gun powder , ram rod's breaking - a number of armies
still employed wooden ram rod's , breakages i.e. the trigger mechanism , flint's breaking and even ram rod's
being fired by mistake .
The Infantry marched literally shoulder to shoulder at about 65 pace's a minute , similar to to the modern slow
march and as previously mentioned in line .Column during this period had died out of fashion during the previous century after Adolphus Gustaph had
used line to maximum effect to inflict casualties in his enemies . Line was three rank's deep , the Russian's
changed back to a four rank formation after a period of experimentation . battalion's would march to within
200- 100 yards and then fire a number of volleys before charging or would advance closer and fire again and
then charge . The Prussian's fired from the hip whilst marching at ranges of 300 - 400 yard's . This tactic wasused well to effect at Chotusitz .
If Infantry were charged by Cavalry they would ideally form square but what happened on a number of
occasion's the Infantry would stand and wait until the Cavalry got close and then let loose a murderous volley
such as that fired by the British Infantry at Minden . If the Cavalry were not stopped and carried on charging
the Infantry would lay down a let the Cavalry run over them saving them from the sabre slashing . Some
veteran unit's even stood up after the cavalry had passed and fired a volley into the back of the Cavalry.Grenadier's were the assault troops of the period . They were armed with a musket as other Infantry but also
an axe and a pouch of grenade's made of porcelain or wood . Grenadier battalion's were formed bywithdrawing the Grenadier company's from the Infantry Battalion's and amalgamating them into unit's of
about 400 men .
Some Armies formed ad hoc Grenadier Battalion's for the duration of the battle or campaign . Other armies ,
such as the Prussian's and Russia's formed regular Grenadier battalion's .Cavalry would form up in line , threerank's deep almost boot to boot . When advancing they stopped every so often to redress the rank's to ensure
the squadron's were in good order . The initial pace was the trot , this would build to a canter as they closed to
the enemy . In the last 100 yard's the Cavalry would gallop at the enemy .
The Prussian Cavalry were expected by Frederick to charge before the enemy , adding to the shock effect .
Austrian Cavalry would fire a volley with their pistol's as they rode in . This reduced the impact effect of the
full charge , plus it proved difficult to put the pistol away and then use the sword .Cavalry melee's tended to be short , especially if it was light or irregular Cavalry .Artillery fire was slow and
not very accurate outside canister range . Artillerist's would fire without running up the gun or even fire
without aiming the shot . Some Infantry commanders knew this and used tactic's to evade artillery fire , suchas marching diagonally .
During this period all Infantry Battalion's had Battalion gun's . These were mostly two or three pounder's . In
the case of the Prussian Army some Battalion's had six pounders and towards the end of the Seven Year's War
most Battalion's had seven pounder howitzer's .
Because of the weight of the field gun's their movement was very restricted . Once set up the gun's would not
be moved and stay in the same position through out the battle . This was due to the limber train was all staffed
by civilian's .
Horse artillery was just coming into use . First with the Russian Dragoon's and Horse Grenadier's and then
Frederick formed a Horse Artillery unit which was ruthlessly used . It was wiped out twice but rebuilt and
survived to the end of the Seven Year's War .
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Battles of the Seven Year's War , 1756 - 1763
Lobositz : October , 1756 - Prussian's 28,000 , vicotor's / Austrian's 33,350
Prague: 6th May , 1757 - Prussian's 67,000 , victor's / Austrian's 60,000
Kolin : 18th June ,1757 - Prussian's 32,000 / Austrian's 40,000 , victor's
Hastenbeck: 26th July , 1757 - Anglo-allies 36,000 / French 60,000 , victor's
Gross Jagersdorf: 19th August , 1757 - Prussian's 24,700 / Russian's 54,800 , victor's
Rossbach: 5th November , 1757 - Prussian's 22,000 , victor's / Franco - allies
Leuthen: 5th December , 1757 - Prussian's 35,000 , victor's / Austrian's 60,000
Crefeld: 23rd June, 1758 - Anglo - Allies 30,500 , victor's / French 47,000
Zorndorf : 14th August ,1758 - Prussian's 25,000 / Russian's 40,000
Hochirch: 14th October , 1758 - Prussian's 30,000 / Austrian's 78,000 , victor's
Bergen: 13th April , 1759 - Allies under Duke of Brunswick 27,000 , victor's / French
30,000
Zullichau: 12th July , 1759 - Prussian's / Russian's
Kay: 23rd July , 1759 - Prussian's 27,000 / Russian's 52,000
Minden : 1st August , 1759 - Anglo - Allies 42,500 , victor's / French 54,000
Kunnersdorf: 28th August , 1759 - Prussian's 40,000 / Austro - Russian army 90,000 ,
victor's
Maxen: 20th November , 1759 - Prussian's 15,000 / Austrian's 32,000 , victor's
Warburg : 31st July , 1760 - Allies under Duke of Brunswick 24,000 , victor's / French
21,500
Leignitz: 15th August , 1760 - Prussian's 26,700 / Austrian's 100,000
Torgau: 3rd November , 1760 - Prussian's 44,000 , victor's / Austrian's 64,000
Belle Isle: 7th - 8th April , 1761 - British 8,000 , victor's / French 3,000
Bruzenitz: August , 1761 - Austro -Russian's / Prussian's
Burkersdorf: 21st July , 1762 - Prussian's 55,000 , victor's / Austrian's 75,000
Freidburg: 29th October , 1762 - Prussian's , victor's / Austrian's
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Bibliography
Warfare in the Age of Reason: :..........................................................................................................Wordsworth
Frederick the Great :................................................................David Fraser :.................................Penguin Press
Dictionary of Battles :..........................................................................................................................Hutchinson
Guide to the Battles of Europe :............................................ Peter Chandler :...... .............................Wordsworth
Dictionary of Military Biography :......................................................................................................Wordsworth
Eighteenth Century Europe , 1700- 1789 :..............................Jeremy Beach :.....................................Macmillan
Frederick the Great :..............................................................Giles MacDough :...........................Pheonix Press
Famous British Battles :.........................................................Geofffrey Regan :............Michael O'Mara book's
Great Battles of the British army :.........................................David Chandler :...........................Bramley book's
Art of warfare in the age of Marlborough :..............................David Chandler :.......................................London
History of warfare :................................................................H. W. Koch :........................................W. H. Smith
Firer power , weapon effectiveness
effectiveness on the battlefield :..............................................Major General B.P. Hughes.....Arms and Armour
Russian uniform's & flags of the Seven Years War :.................................................... R.D. Pengel , G.R. Hurt
Russian Infantry of the Seven Year's War :....................................................................R.D. Pengel , G.R. Hurt
Swedish Army in Pomerania 1756 - 1763 :....................................................................R.D. PengelPrussian Infantry uniform's of the Seven Years War :...................................................R.D. Pengel , G.R. HurtAustro-Hungarian infantry regiment's :..........................................................................R.D. Pengel , G.R. Hurt
Basic guide to Armies & uniform's of the Seven Years War :................................................Active service
uniform's
AustriaFrance
British
Saxon's
Hanoverians
Prussia