This scenario has been developed by Martin Soilleux-Cardwell.
Background
The Danish army during the Second Schleswig War, falling back on the fortified town of Flensburg, left a small rearguard on the road from Obersee (Overso). An Austrian brigade, advancing along the line of the road and over the Treene brook, attempted to throw it aside and push through.
This small battle is fought at the Wing scale (as defined by Frank and Jeff Glasco in May) with each SP representing 80 men or 1 gun, each turn is 15 minutes and each inch on the map is 25 yards. The Danish guns being at the Wing scale will fire all shots for saving throws, whether stationary or moving.
Order of Battle
Danes - Colonel Max Muller (AC)
'Corps' Troops
- Section of Field Artillery, rifled 4pdr guns M5 [ ][ ] rml-f
1st Infantry Regt, Lt Col #1 DC, Ex=10
- 1st Btn, left wing M5 [ ][ ][ ][ ][s]
- 1st Btn, right wing M5 [ ][ ][ ][ ][s]
- 2nd Btn, left wing M5 [ ][ ][ ][ ][s]
- 2nd Btn, right wing M5 [ ][ ][ ][ ][s]
11th Infantry Regt, Lt Col #2 DC, Ex=10
- 1st Btn, left wing M5 [ ][ ][ ][ ][s]
- 1st Btn, right wing M5 [ ][ ][ ][ ][s]
- 2nd Btn, left wing M4 [ ][ ][ ][ ][s]
- 2nd Btn, right wing M4 [ ][ ][ ][ ][s]
Notes to the Danes:
- Part of the Danish infantry in this war comprised newly called up reservists. I have handicapped the Danes with two M4 units to represent the reservists.
- The [s] represents a Flanquer company.
- All infantry are armed with a rifle musket (0"/16").
- The artillery rml range is 20"/60".
Austrians - GM Nostitz (AC)
Third Infantry Brigade, Col #1 CC
'Corps' Troops
- 9th Jagers (1 Btn) M6 [ss][ss][ss][ss][ss]
14th Grand Duke of Hesse Infantry, Col #2 DC, Ex=10
- 1st Btn, left wing M5 [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ] *
- 1st Btn, right wing M5 [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ] *
- 2nd Btn, left wing M5 [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]
- 2nd Btn, right wing M5 [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]
27th King of Belgium Infantry, Col #3 DC, Ex=10
- 1st Btn, left wing M5 [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ] *
- 1st Btn, right wing M5 [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ] *
- 2nd Btn, left wing M5 [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]
- 2nd Btn, right wing M5 [ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]
9th Lichtenstein Hussars, Col #4 DC, Ex=3
- Hussars, 1st and 2nd Sqns M5 [s][s][s] lt
- Hussars, 3rd, 4th and 5th Sqns M5 [s][s][s] lt
Austrian Notes:
- To represent the newly introduced shock doctrine, half the infantry is shock (1st btns), half is not.
- All infantry carry the Lorenz rifle musket (0"/16").
- The Jagers are sharpshooters.
- The Hussars may break down into skirmishers.
Scenario Details
Setup:
The Danes deploy north of the Treene stream. They must prevent the Austrians from exiting the north map edge for 18 turns (4 1/2 hours). The Austrians enter anywhere along the south board edge, within 18" of the road, on turn 1. They may be deployed or in march column. The Austrians must exit the north board edge by the end of turn 18 to win.
Game Length:
18 turns, beginning with the Austrian 12:00noon turn and ending at dusk, the end of the Danes 16:30 turn, when night falls (note this is February in the northern latitudes). The Austrians are the attackers.
Terrain:
There is about 18" of fresh snow on the ground. The higher area (marked green) on the northern portion of the map is covered with woods, which due to drifting snow among the trees is treated as dense woods. The drifts of snow here were over 6 feet in places, which is enough to hide men behind. The lake and stream are frozen. They normally have low lying areas adjacent to them, marshy in summer and the ice covering them may be treacherously thin. Treat the lake as marsh, except that on a roll of 6 an artillery unit takes a hit from men or vehicles falling through the ice, the stream as marshy banked. The road has been used by the retreating Danes and the snow on it is trodden down and hard packed so normal road bonus applies for units in march column. The portion of the road which passes through the woods runs inside a considerable firebreak so has clear terrain of 2 inches (50 yards) to either side along which a LoS may be drawn. The road itself should be 1" wide. The little stream to the west is a minor watercourse and counts as a normal stream.
Scale:
Due to the Wing ground scale, 1" wide roads and 1" wide streams will be exactly to scale, so no confusion about where the marshy banks of the stream really begin and end, the 1" model will be the true obstacle. Important note - the 1" visibility in dense woods becomes 4" (100yards). The map is huge due to the large scale, feel free to knock a foot off the west and south edges if you wish.
Tactical Note:
Col Muller expertly defended the edge of the woods then withdrew very intelligently through them, alternating his two regiments in bounds. This tactic is best represented by following the original LoS in woods rule (i.e. Muller used the drop back 1" and punt rule to perfect effect - this is a scenario designed for Joe Collin's friends!). He managed to delay the Austrians until dark.
Game Balance:
There was a brigade battery of 8 4pdr rml guns on the road at the back of the Austrian column. Due to the speed of the advance and the poor terrain these guns never came up. If the scenario proves unbalanced, allow the following command to enter on the road on the southern map edge on any turn after the first, when the Austrian player rolls a 6 on a die. It will arrive anyway by turn 10 at the latest.
Austrian Brigade Battery, Col #5 DC
- #1 Section, Field Battery, rifled 4pdr guns M6 [ ][ ] rml-f
- #2 Section, Field Battery, rifled 4pdr guns M6 [ ][ ] rml-f
- #3 Section, Field Battery, rifled 4pdr guns M6 [ ][ ] rml-f
- #4 Section, Field Battery, rifled 4pdr guns M6 [ ][ ] rml-f
These guns count as 'Corps' troops and have range of 20"/60". Note - the Wing game scale means all artillery stands are treated as batteries: 1 die with a save when moving, one die without a save when stationary.