Introduction

I am mainly interested in wargaming the major battles and campaigns of the SYW but I have never been satisfied with the rule sets available. Most rule sets reflect a great deal of information on formations and firepower, which is important, but neglect the command and control aspect that is essential for representing large battles in any period.

Leopold Daun

I began to develop my own when by luck I was introduced to the Principle of War rules (POW). These rules were initially written for the late 19th century but were amended for the Napoleonic period and now for the 18th century. I was initially sceptical as they use dice pips like DBM to reflect a commander's ability to change orders and move units. However, I have found the system works very well and can be amended to represent a whole range of historical characters. In addition, the rules allow armies to be deployed in wings/divisions and with the movement boards that commanders initially use to deploy an army, accurately reflect the pre-battle maneuvers we have all seen on map illustrations, but seldom represent on the wargames table. With these rules you can perform a Leuthen or a Rossbach.

The rules can allow units to represent battalions or regiments, depending on the size of battle you wish to play. Each unit is given a strength between 1 and 18, which determines both its morale and its ability to shoot and melee. The higher the number, the stronger is the unit. There is no actual figure removal and the strengths of the units are recorded on a sheet. Morale is determined by a die 20 and as a unit takes casualties its ability to pass the tests is diminished. Firing and melee also use the same strength figure using a die 6 against a table of results. This is a neat system borrowed from a 19`h century set of rules, Warring Empires, which is very quick and easy to use with the result that units gradually decline as they are used during a battle.

Units are grouped together into wings or divisions under their own commanders. Wings and divisions are initially deployed on large movement bases, which disguises the number and types of units and allows for quicker movement of these formations. Commanders are rated good, average, or poor and each turn roll an average die, die 6, or die 4 respectively. The number they roll allows them that number of unit orders or actions for that turn. In addition, there is provision to rate the commanders rash, normal, or cautious (like in WRG) to allow for personal commander initiative.

I thought it would be a good illustration of these rules if I were to write up a recent re-fight of Kolin. I had initially tested these rules by fighting Mollwitz and this had demonstrated a very interesting and closely fought historical representation, but I had an opportunity with my club to put on a larger game and I felt Kolin would be a good close fought battle to further test these rules.

Rule Amandments

To tailor the rules to fit the specific circumstances of Kolin I made a number of amendments to the rules, which I will list below:

• All Prussian movement south of the Kaiserstrasse will roll for open cultivated terrain. On a roll of 6 an additional morale check will be taken. In close cultivated terrain a roll of 5 or 6 will require a morale check. This is to simulate the hordes of Croat skirmishers that continually sniped at the Prussians during the course of the battle and although they did not cause appreciable casualties, their main effect was to disrupt and delay the Prussian movement.
• All Prussian units enter the game at Planian and are ordered to advance on Novi Mesto deployed (no movement bases) in the following order: 1. Zieten, 2. Treskow, 3. Pennavaire, 4. Bevern. Frederick's reserve can enter in any order.
• Frederick can only start to spot Austrian units once he reaches Novi Mesto and can then reissue orders to his commanders. No other commander can attempt to spot.
• Daun can reissue orders to his commanders as soon as the game begins.
• Both Frederick and Daun can allocate units from their reserves to other commanders prior to the start of the game.
• During the game both C-in-C can send reserves to other commanders but must use their own command pips to move them until they are within 8""of their new commander, at which point they revert to his command. Reserve units being moved in this way do not require an extra pip for each 8" they move away from the C-in-C.
• Prussian infantry do not get High Fire Skills, but do get High Melee Skills. This is to simulate Frederick's insistance at this time that his troops close with the Austrians as quickly as possible.
• Austrian grenadiers get both High Fire and High Melee Skills. Their volleys in this battle were especially devastating.
• Both C-in-C can join units from other commands and take personal control.
• All slopes create dead ground for a minimum of 4 inches. Austrian units can move unspotted south of the ridge if there are no Prussian units at the top of the slopes. According to all the sources (including Phil Mackie's excellent photographs) the slopes could be quite steep and afforded some protection to the Prussians as they advanced.

Battle of Kolin

I used the orders of battle and maps from Osprey's excellent publication on Kolin with amendments, which I will outline at the end of the article. I expect that most of you are familiar with this battle but I will give a brief historical outline to set the scene. 

Following the Prussian victory at the battle of Prague on 6"' May 1757 most of the surviving Austrian army under Prince Charles was bottled up within the city walls of Prague. Frederick was determined to take Prague, which he hoped would force the Austrians to the peace table before he had to properly contend with the French and the Russians. However, Frederick was not a typical 18th century commander and, although his boldness and speed of action put him at an advantage on the battlefield, he was far too impatient and ill equipped to be successful with conventional siege warfare.

On 29th May he began a general bombardment of the city in the hope of demoralising the defenders, but by the 4th June Frederick realized that this was not having an effect and believed that the defenders were better provisioned than he first thought. In addition, the Austrians had created another army under Marshal von Daun, which had been ordered to relieve Prague. Frederick left his besieging forces on 13`h June and, with a small force, marched to meet up with Bevern who had been detailed to observe Daun. Frederick was determined to attack Daun and beat the Austrians in open combat for a second time, which would demoralize and force the surrender of Prince Charles's forces in Prague and would finally bring Austria to the negotiating table before Prussia was overwhelmed.

On 17th June, when Frederick joined with Bevern, the two armies were facing each other in an east/west direction in the area of Kaurzim. Frederick resolved, as in so many of his battles, to steal a march on Daun and place his army on Daun's right flank. Therefore, on the morning of 18th June Frederick was at Planian on the Kaiser Strasse and in a position to march in the direction of Kolin and pick a point at which to deploy southwards and roll up Daun's flank. However, Daud had already placed a division on this flank to guard against this eventuality and, as Frederick marched eastwards during the morning, his forces sniped at by Croats, Daun was able to move more of his army to extend this flank. By midday Frederick had stopped near Novi Mesto (see map) and decided to launch an attack before the Austrians were able to deploy their entire army.

In a sense the battle had now become a race to establish the strongest force upon the Przerovsky Hill and the adjoining ridgeline. Frederick initially ordered his left flank to take Krzeczor and the hill beyond which he thought would outflank the new Austrian line. He would then attack this Austrian right flank with the rest of his army from two directions securing a victory with his outnumbered Prussians. It was a plan that could have worked and reflects his thinking at Leuthen the following year. However, the Austrian right flank extended further than Frederick presumed, and eventually the whole of his battle line was sucked into a bloody frontal attack during the afternoon and early evening until the Austrian advantage in numbers and position gave them a closely fought victory.

This was Frederick's first defeat and the result was that the war would now continue. Prague was relieved and Frederick would have to face the growing strength of French, Russian, and Austrian armies all intent on the destruction of Prussia as a first rate military power.

The Map

The map is definitely not to scale but is an approximation of the most important terrain components I wanted to represent in the wargame. As outlined in the rule amendments, the Prussians roll for open cultivated for any movement south of the Kaiserstrasse. In addition, I did represent some of the other settlements that were on the battlefield as close cultivated land, but have not indicated them on my map. Again, on a six the Prussian will take a morale test. The terrain pieces I use allow for dead ground where there is a change of gradient, but I have not penalized further the Prussian movement.

The Prussians enter the table, spotted and formed at Planian, and the Austrians begin the game with their divisions unspotted on movement bases. Marschal is deployed with his left flank on Pobortz Hill facing north. Stampach is to his right with his flank resting on the wood. Colloredo is facing west with his left flank resting on Pobortz Hill, then Wied is to his left and then Serbelloni. Daun's command is situated to the rear of Colloredo. Nadasty is to the east of Krzeczor but has two hussar units on engage orders near Novi Mesto.

The Re-Fight

Our battle began at 5:00 am and would finish at 9:00 pin with one move equal to '' /2 an hour. I was to play Daun and Frank Reynolds took the part of Frederick.

At 5:00 am Daun reacts to the arrival of Frederick's forces near Planian and sends orders to Wied's division to advance on and hold Krzeczor Hill and orders Serbelloni to defend the area between Przerovsky and Krzeczor Hills. Within half an hour both commanders have begun to move their troops. Meanwhile, Zieten's command is pushing the Austrian Hussar outposts down the Kaiserstrasse. At 6:00 am Marschal also receives orders from Daun to march, and he begins to move onto and defend Przerovsky Hill.

At 6:30 am Frederick arrives at Novi Mesto and quickly surveys the battlefield. He can make out the general Austrian dispositions (movement bases) but cannot discern the specific troop types and numbers. He cannot see what their ultimate position will be. He decides to push Zieten down the Kaiserstrasse, swing right before Krzeczor village, and then take Krzeczor Hill. Meanwhile, Pennavaire's entire cavalry wing would push on down the Kaiserstrasse beyond Krzeczor village, sweep around the village and oak wood, and get in a position to threaten the Austrian right flank. Meanwhile Bevern and Treskow would deploy their infantry along the Kaiserstrasse in position to attack respectively (when Frederick gave the order) the Krzeczor/Przerovsky saddle and the Przerovsky Hill. At the same time Frederick would take personal command of his grenadiers and artillery and outflank the Przerovsky Hill from the west, which he hoped would ensure the success of his eventual attack in the center. That was the plan, and at 7:30 am, Zieten received his orders and moved off on the attack.

However, at 8:30 am, as the Prussian army was generally moving into position, Treskow decided he had had enough of Croat sniping (he rolled high on his command die) and would attack Przerovsky Hill to his front. Frederick does not interfere with Treskow's order, as he believes it will slow down the general Austrian move of troops to their right. It takes two hours for him to crest the ridgeline in front of the hill as continual sniping by Croats disorders and slows down his attack. At 10:30 am, the medium batteries of Marschal's command, now in position in front of Treskow, open fire on the Prussian infantry. However, as Treskow advances, Marschal begins a retirement of his division (he's rolled low on his command die) and it takes an hour for Daun to reverse this order.

At the same time Colloredo is ordered to support Marschal, and Wied's command arrives at Krzeczor Hill. Zieten's Hussars, desperate to take the hill before Wied can properly consolidate, launch attack after attack against the Austrian infantry. Meanwhile, Nadasty has received orders from Daun to engage and delay the Prussian moves along the Kaiserstrasse, and he advances his force of light cavalry upon Zieten's left flank and Pennavaire's advancing cavalry. The Austrian hussars charge the Prussian cuirassiers just north of Bristivi while they are still deploying, shaking one regiment and forcing a second to retire. By midday Zieten's hussars have been dashed against Wied's infantry and Nadasty's attack routes them from the battlefield. Zieten retires his remaining infantry back down the slope near Bristivi and awaits developments between Pennavaire and Nadasty.

On the Austrian left flank the artillery has shattered Treskow's infantry before they can properly come to grips with the Austrians. By noon he too is forced to retire the remnants of his command back into dead ground. The Austrians have been able to hold their new line with little loss. Frederick awaits developments with Pennavaire's attack before ordering any further advance by his remaining infantry. However, he does order Zieten to clear Krzeczor of Croats in support of Pennavaire and Treskow attacks the Croats in Chotzemitz, who have been a nuisance firing into his flank.

At 12:30 pm, Stampach's cavalry are ordered to move from their position behind Wied on the right flank as Daun realizes that Pennavaire is attempting to outflank him. By this time, Pennavaire's superior forces are pushing Nadasty back, routing a regiment of Saxon Chevauzleger. By 1:30 pin, Nadasty is effecting a retirement back to the south of the oak wood. Daun has been worried that Stampach is taking too long to redeploy his cavalry and he is concerned that Nadasty needs to conserve his force, which is protecting his right flank. Zieten's infantry have stormed the Swedish Redoubt and taken Krzeczor village routing the Croat defenders and Pennavaire now begins a slow reorganization of his cavalry before resuming his advance.

At 2:00 pm Frederick orders Bevem to move from the Kaiserstrasse and deploy in the dead ground opposite the Przerovsky/Krzeczor saddle. Frederick wants to add some pressure on the Austrian center without committing more of his infantry, while Pennavaire moves on Daun's right flank. Daun is worried, as this area is the weak link in his line between Marschal and Wied. Serbelloni's cavalry is at hand, but he is unsure whether Stampach will get to his right flank before Pennavaire or even whether Stampach will be strong enough on his own to hold him. Daun has placed himself near the saddle in readiness to quickly reorder his nearby commands as developments unfurl and orders Colloredo to continue his advance from behind Marschal and plug the gap in the center. Treskow succeeds in routing the Croats from Chotzemitz by 2:30 pm.

By 4:00 pm, Nadasty is in position south of the oak wood. Pennavaire is slowly (low rolls on the command die) advancing but Croat snipers amongst the cereal fields disrupt his regiment's progress. Meanwhile, Bevern has become impatient awaiting Pennavaire's attack (he rolls high on his command die) and launches an attack against the Austrian center. Frederick is aghast, but does not want to issue a counter order, which could disrupt Bevern's command in the middle of an attack. He decides to launch a supporting attack with his artillery and grenadiers on the Austrian left flank west of Przerovsky Hill and prays that Pennavaire hurries with his attack.

Bevern's infantry is raked by artillery fire from both Marschal and Wied and suffers continual sniping from Croats. By 6:00 pm, Bevern's leading grenadier regiment has marched into the center of the Austrian line and Daun orders his nearby reserve cuirassier regiment to charge. However, the grenadiers repel the cuirassiers and they are forced to retire through Serbelloni's cavalry wing, shaking the entire command. At the same time Stampach finally reaches the area south of the oak wood just before Pennavaire arrives. Stampach and Nadasty launch an attack on the leading Prussian cavalry before Pennavaire can deploy superior numbers. The Austrian cavalry have some initial success forcing a cuirassier unit to retire, but as more of the Prussian cavalry are able to counterattack, their superior numbers and training begin to tell. Zieten's infantry advance from Krzeczor to threaten Wied's flank in support of Bevern and Pennavaire. Frederick is aware that as dusk is approaching this is his final chance to break the Austrians.

In the meantime, Bevern desperately pushes all available units into the gap created by the grenadiers. Daun moves his final reserve of grenadiers, the best troops in his army, to hold the Prussians while Colloredo deploys his division behind them. However, the Prussian grenadiers fire a devastating volley into the Austrians and they retire back into Colloredo's command, which are all in column of march. Bevern looks about for any spare units he can throw against Colloredo at this critical moment when the Austrians find themselves in a similar position to the French at Rossbach. However, Bevern has no more troops. Most of his units are retiring or routing in the face of the overwhelming fire from Marschal and Wied on the flanks, and Daun has rallied his reserve cuirassiers for one more charge, which they launch against Bevern's last units, routing them from the battlefield. Free from the threat in his in his center, at 8:00 pm Daun orders Serbelloni to move onto the right flank and attack Pennavaire.

With dusk approaching and Bevern's command retiring in the center, Frederick realizes that his last chance of victory has failed. Pennavaire is slowly gaining the upper hand over the Austrian cavalry, but without an effective infantry attack in support the battle is lost.

In Hindsight, the Prussian attacks were uncoordinated and piecemeal. Rash commanders launching their own attacks (which reflected the historical battle) did not help, but where there was success, as with Bevern's attack, there were no reserves available to exploit a battle winning situation (again, reflecting the actual battle). Pennavaire's flank attack was too slow to develop (a combination of Poor command rolls and Croat sniping), but if it had arrived earlier to support Bevern, then the entire Austrian right flank would have been in grave danger. Frank had tried to create a variety of openings during the battle with which he could develop a general attack, but as each was countered, time and available reserves ran out.

As the Austrian commander, things were somewhat easier. The limitations on the Prussian ability to maneuver by the Croats blunted one of their key advantages and it was simply a matter of moving my divisions as quickly as possible to defend the ridgeline and rely on my superior numbers. I resolved early on not to defend Chotzemitz and Krzeczor villages, but use them as breakwaters to delay the Prussian infantry. However the flank attack by the Prussian cavalry was a real danger with its qualitative superiority over my own forces, and I was forced to rely on Naciasty's light forces and the onset of dusk to offset this threat. I think Frank was unlucky here and it would have been interesting to see developments if they had arrived in coordination with Zieten's or Bevern's attack.

The battle was fought over two days and was very enjoyable. Looking back on my notes and comparing them with the historical battle, I was pleased to think that I had created many of the real issues faced on that day. Frederick's superior troop quality and generalship had been nullified by greater Austrian numbers and their advantageous use of terrain. However, I still think he can win it and I'm looking forward to playing it again one day.

Bibliography

Carlyle, Thomas. History of Friedrich II of Prussia, called Frederick the Great.
Duffy, Christopher. The Army of Frederick the Great.
Duffy, Christopher. The Army of Maria Theresa.
Millar, Simon. Kolin 1757.
Showalter, Dennis. The Wars of Frederick the Great.

Kolin: Order of Battle

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