Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Turks v. Poles on the River Vlad

The Poles have crossed the River Vlad inside a great bend.  The Turks have formed up on a ring of hills around the flood plain to stop their advance into Transylvania.

The Turks (Jim & Mark) have 1 Janissary Div of 4, 2 Medium Levy Inf Divs of 4, 1 Light Levy Inf Div of 4, 2 cavalry Divs of 3 light & 3 heavy & 4 guns.  The Turks deploy first but can hide the Divs that are out of sight behind the ridges & woods. Command Rating 8.

The Poles (Chris & James) have 2 Inf Divs of 3 pike & 3 shot, a Cuirassier Div of 4 and a Polish Hussar Div of 4.  They deploy within 18" of the table edge between the rivers.  Command Rating 9.
The Turks only show Medium Inf & artillery on the centre ridge with Janissaries on their left.  The Poles deploy all their cavalry on their left.
 The Poles advance slowly holding their right back as their cuirassiers scout the ridge at the far end. The Janissaries rush forward and both Turkish cavalry Divs gallop over the ridge on the near side.
The Janissaries & horse archers form a firing line in front of James' Infantry.  Polish cavalry are galloping to the right to assist the Polish right.  The rest of teh Turking infnatry has advanced into view on the far flank.
The Turkish guns cause the Cuirassiers in the centre to recoil back but the Hussars charge hom eon the Janissaries supported by pikes on their right..
My newly painted Janissaries might have looked magnificent but the whole Division was broken in one turn by the Polish charge.   
The Hussars have charged on into the Turkish horse but the circle of horse archers is wearing the Hussars down.  On the far flank the Cuirassiers have pushed back some Turlish foot, but not broken through.
The circle of horse archers had broken the Hussars who were in the middle of it.
The Hussars have now broken.  The Turkish heavy cav have fallen back to rally while the horse archers keep on shooting.  The Cuirassiers have regrouped for another attack on the far flank..  
The Cuirassiers have again made inroads, but not broken through.  Chris had put his pikes on his right to face the Turkish cavalry so charged up the hill at the guns with musketeers.  They failed to break through & were themselves broken leaving their pikes at the mercy of the Turkish guns.  Chris' Infantry Div soon broke.  With that, the Polish Army Broke and the Turks have won.  (The break point was half divs lost including at least 1 infantry).

With two very different armies, it was most interesting battle to fight.  Things looked grim for the Turks when their attack on the left went belly up as their best Div evaporated under the counterattack of hussars & pikes.  But the Turkish advance had disordered the Polish army and given them space to use their fire power to wear the Poles down.

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