George Nafziger's orders of battle for Dettingen list the entire French army of Marshal Noailles, but do not break the list down into Grammont's and Noailles corps. We do know that approximately half of the French army participated in the battle and the other half was either on the south bank of the Main or at Aschaffenburg. If one divides the French battalions and squadrons (listed by Nafziger) by a factor of two, and adds back the Gardes Francaises and the Maison du Roi, then an approximation of Grammont's force can be deduced. This projects out to 28 battalions of line infantry, 6 battalions of Gardes, 28 squadrons of line cavalry, and 10 squadrons of elites (Maison du Roi, Gendarmes, and Carabiniers). As for the allies, we know from Fortescue that the British and Hanoverian Guards were protecting the baggage train and that most of the Hanoverian cavalry formed the rear guard. Also, only four Hanoverian battalions were on the battle line, so we can eliminate the other seven Hanoverian battalions from the wargame, along with the Guards Brigade and the rear guard. This leaves us with a battle force of British: 12 battalions and 30 squadrons; Hanoverians: 4 battalions; Austrians: 13 battalions and 10 squadrons. For wargaming purposes, I recommend dividing the number of units on both sides by 50%, but retaining the correct proportion of infantry and cavalry units. This gives us the following army list for wargaming the Battle of Dettingen: French Army Line Infantry 10 - 15 btns. Gardes Francaises 3 btns. Elite Cavalry 10 sqds. Line Cavalry 14 sqds. Pragmatic Army British Infantry 6 btns. Hanoverians 2 btns. Austrians 6 btns. British Cavalry 25 sqds. Austrian Cavalry 10 sqds. Suggested Morale Ratings FRENCH All infantry, including the Gardes should be rated as average as should the line cavalry. This would be the equivalent of Class 2 in Age of Reason (AOR) rules or 3rd Rate in Rusty's Rules (RR). The elite cavalry contingent should be rated Class 3 or 4 in AOR and 1st or 2nd Rate in RR. Artillery should be rated as average in both rules sets. ALLIES The British infantry should be rated above average, or Class 3 in AOR and 2nd Rate in RR. All other allied units, except for Bland's Dragoons should be rated as average. Given the heroics of Bland's Dragoons at Dettingen, you might consider conferring them with "Guard" status for the game (Class 4 in AOR and 1st Rate in RR). Wargame Terrain The battle could be played length-wise with 15mm figures on a 6Ft by IOFt table. One table edge would represent the Main River, and the other, the Spessart Hills. The narrow table will convey a sense of the constricted plain along the banks of the Main. The allied objective is to exit units off the long end off the table, or if using Age of Reason rules, force the French army to fail their army withdrawal check. If you prefer to use 25mm figures, I recommend fighting the battle across the width of the table and represent the terrain south of the Forchbach Stream and the town of Dettingen. To simulate the effect of the French artillery batteries on the south bank of the Main, roll one six-sided die (D6) each turn to represent the number of casualties inflicted by the enfilading fire. These casualties may be randomly distributed amongst any unit within 12" of the table edge.  Battle of Dettingen: June 27, 1743 Historical Background Battlefield Terrain and Deployment The Battle of Dettingen Wargaming Dettingen Back to Seven Years War Asso. Journal Vol. VI No. 3 Table of Contents Back to Seven Years War Asso. Journal List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 1993 by James E. Purky This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com