A Wargamer's Journal: June 2021

Here is the scenario rules for Oldendorf 1633, along with a map for the battlefield.

Introduction:

This scenario presents the players with a defensive position battle, with each side deployed, but with a numerically inferior force having to attack a stronger defender.

Terrain:

The ridges all have steep slopes and so there is a reduction to movement on them, but not on the ridges themselves. The single buildings at D14 and E4 represent small villages; they can be occupied by one company of foot troops. There is no movement bonus on the roads.

General Situation:

The Protestant army under Duke George of Brunswick-Lüneburg has been besieging Hameln, the defenders of which have put up a gallant resistance, but who are now nearing the end of their supplies. The approach of a Catholic relief force has compelled the Protestant Army to abandon its siege and deploy to repulse the enemy.

The Catholic army under Field Marshal Lothar von Bonninghausen has been sent to drive off the Protestant besiegers of Hameln and to relieve the garrison, bringing in fresh supplies on its baggage train. However, the enemy has abandoned their siege and moved to block the Catholic army’s attempt. The latter has deployed to engage the enemy.

Orders:

The Catholic army must defeat the Protestant army in order to break the siege of the fortress and re-supply it.

The Protestant army must repulse the Catholic army’s attack decisively in order to continue its siege of the fortress.

Protestant Army:

Right Wing: F4 1 x German Dragoon Regiment (Trained)

1 x Swedish Horse Squadron (Veteran)

E4 1 x Swedish Horse Regiment (Veteran)

1 x General = Stalhansk

Centre: D4 1 x German Foot Regiment (Trained)

1 x Light Gun Battery (Trained)

C4 1 x Swedish Foot Regiment (Veteran)

1 x Medium Gun Battery (Trained)

1 x General = Kagge

Left Wing: A4 1 x German Dragoon Regiment (Trained)

1 x Swedish Horse Squadron (Veteran)

B4 1 x German Horse Regiment (Trained)

1 x German Horse Regiment (Trained)

1 x General = Knyphausen

Reserve: C4-D4 1 x German Foot Regiment (Trained)

D4 1 x German Horse Squadron (Trained)

1 x General = Duke George

Protestant Army Notes:

1 All foot and horse units deploy in line; the artillery batteries are deployed ready to fire. However, the Protestant army commander may choose to deploy his dragoon regiments mounted or dismounted at the start of the battle.

2 Generals begin the battle with their brigades, either attached to a unit or independent, at the choice of the Protestant army commander.

3 The general with the Reserve is the Protestant army commander.

Catholic Army:

Left Wing: F2 1 x Walloon Dragoon Regiment (Trained)

F1 1 x German Horse Regiment (Trained)

1 x German Horse Regiment (Trained)

1 x German Foot Regiment (Raw)

1 x General = Geleen

Centre: E1 1 x Walloon Foot Regiment (Trained)

D1 1 x German Foot Regiment (Trained)

1 x Medium Gun Battery (Trained)

1 x General = Merode-Waroux

Right Wing: C1 1 x German Horse Regiment (Trained)

1 x German Foot Regiment (Raw)

1 x General = Gronsfeld

Reserve: D1 1 x Walloon Foot Regiment (Trained)

1 x German Horse Regiment (Trained)

1 x General = Bonninghausen.

Catholic Army Notes:

1 The Catholic army foot and horse units deploy in line; the artillery battery is deployed ready to fire. However, the Catholic army commander may choose to deploy his dragoon unit mounted or dismounted at the start of the battle.

2 Generals begin the battle with their brigades, either attached to a unit or independent, at the choice of the Catholic army commander.

3 The general with the Reserve is the Catholic army commander.

4 The foot regiment in F1 is a musket-armed unit only and has no pikes.

5 The horse regiment in D1 should be cuirassiers.

Victory Points:

Protestant Army:

Control the hills A2-A3 10 VP

Capture the Farm D1 50 VP

Per Enemy Unit Destroyed 5 VP

Catholic Army:

Control the road exits and hills A2-A4 50 VP

Capture the Farm E4 20 VP

Control the hills E4-F4 20 VP

Per unit exited unit off the south edge of F4 50 VP

Per Enemy Unit Destroyed 5 VP

Map:

Historical Notes:

After the death of Gustavus Adolfus, the King of Sweden at the Battle of Lützen, leadership of the Protestant forces in Westphalia passed to George, Duke of Brunswick-Luneburg. Reinforced by Swedish troops and with the Catholic forces in the region in disarray, he rather uncharacteristically took the offensive, laying siege to Hameln (held by 2,000 men), establishing his headquarters in Oldendorf. The Catholics under Count von Gronsfeld regrouped their forces at Minden and were there reinforced by troops under Count Jean de Merode-Waroux and Field Marshal Lothar von Bonninghausen. They then set out to relieve Hameln. The Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg decided to block their approach, taking up a defensive position near Oldendorf. The two sides each numbered about 14,000 to 15,000 men: the Catholics – troops from Spanish Flanders, the Catholic League and the Imperial army - had over 9,000 infantry, nearly 4,000 cavalry, 1,000 dragoons and a dozen field pieces; the Protestants – troops from Sweden, Lüneburg and Hesse-Kassel - had almost 7,000 infantry, about 1,300 dragoons, over 6,000 cavalry and 17 field guns, along with some 20 regimental guns. Although there was little numerical difference between the two sides, the Protestants had a clear advantage in cavalry and their troops were of a better quality, particularly the Swedes. Having drawn up his army along a ridge to the east of Oldenburg, his left resting on the town and the River Weser, his right on high ground covered with woods, the Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg just waited for the Catholic army to arrive. The Catholics deployed for action after three hours of acrimonious debate between their commanders, the result of which was that Bonninghausen, back by Merode-Waroux, overruled Gronsfeld’s doubts about a battle. However, after some skirmishes all along the front which turned out favourably for the Protestants, the Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg launched his army into an attack. Both the Catholic cavalry wings collapsed and fled; the infantry held out until Merode-Waroux was killed, then broke in turn. Catholic losses were perhaps 3000 killed and wounded and 1000 captured, along with their artillery. Hameln surrendered soon after the battle. The Protestants may have suffered little more than 700 casualties.

Designer’s Notes:

The terrain for the battle was reasonably straightforward to reproduce: two main ridges opposite to one another and a third located on the west side of the table. Several small streams ran across the battlefield along the foot of the ridges from east to west: I do not possess suitable scenery for these, so I made the slopes of the ridges steep to represent the delay crossing the streams would have caused. They do not seem to have influenced in a significant way the progress of the battle. Other than that, I dotted a few trees around the table to break up the bare expanse, with a few extra in the south-west corner, where at least one map suggested a more wooded area, and along the east edge of the table, where the lowest slopes of the Mittelburg ridge would have been. The north farm represents the village of Segelhorst; the south farm represents the village of Barksen. Neither place was fought over in the battle, but they were notable reference points for the opposing sides.

For the two armies, I tried to keep to a ratio of foot, horse and artillery between them that reflected the strengths suggested by various sources. The Protestants had an edge numerically in cavalry and artillery, the Catholics in infantry. The Protestants certainly had more veteran troops in the shape of the Swedes, although there is some suggestion they were discontent with the leadership of Duke George, while the Catholics had a lot of ex-garrison and only musket-armed foot. All the horse regiments have 12 figures, all the horse squadrons 6 figures, all the foot regiments have 24 figures, all the dragoon regiments have 12 figures, and the artillery batteries are single pieces and their gunners. Garrison troops I have classed as Raw, the best troops as Veteran, all the rest as Trained. Although there were deep divisions between the Catholic commanders, I chose not to represent this in the game as it was clear that, in spite of their differences, they all worked together in the end to fight the Protestant army.

Opposing Forces:

Here is a list of the opposing forces which I have drawn from several sources, but mainly W.P. Guthrie, Battles of the Thirty Years War: From White Mountain to Nordlingen 1618-1635, London 2002, which has its good and bad points, but is a handy starting place. It should not be considered a definitive list and is open to correction! I have listed the unit and its type, which faction it belonged to, and its strength, where known, although these are often approximations. Light Horse and Arquebusiers were standard cavalry types by this date; foot were mixed units mostly, with a ratio of 1 pikeman to 2-6 musketeers by this date. Some of the large foot units, i.e. 1000+ men, may have been split into two or more battalions for tactical purposes. Commanded Foot were musket-armed companies deployed to support the cavalry. Catholic League means the units were from those German states that formed that union; Imperial means the units were from the lands ruled by the Austrian Emperor. Some of the Swedish cavalry units seem to have been formed by combining detachments from several different regiments.

Catholic-Imperial Army – Field Marshal von Bonninghausen

Right Wing – Gronsfeld.

Ohr Light Horse Regt (Catholic League) 3 squadrons 450 men

Gronsfeld Arquebusier Regt (Imperial) 2 squadrons 600 men

Horst Arquebusier Regt (Catholic League) 2 squadrons 270 men

Gronsfeld Foot Regt (Catholic League) 2 battalions 1400 men

(ex-garrison troops)

Commanded Foot 2 companies 200 men

(musketeers only)

Centre – Merode-Waroux.

Quadt Light Horse Regt (Catholic League) 1 squadron 100 men

Merode Foot Regt (Imperial-Walloon) 1 battalion 700 men

Barry Foot Regt (Imperial Irish-Walloon) 1 battalion 700 men

Waldeck Foot Regt (Catholic League) 1 battalion 1200 men

Westfalen Foot Regt (Catholic League) 1 battalion 1200 men

Westerhold Foot Regiment (Imperial) 1 battalion 1400 men

Artillery 12 guns

Left Wing – Geleen.

Mansfeld Cuirassier Regt (Imperial) 1 squadron 200 men

Westfalen Cuirassier Regt (Imperial) 2 squadrons 500 men

Pallant Arquebusier Regt (Imperial-Walloon) 1 squadron 200 men

Rittberg Arquebusier Regt (Imperial) 1 squadron 200 men

Wartenburg Light Horse Regt (Catholic League) 2 squadrons 300 men

Quadt Light Horse Regt (Catholic League) 1 squadron 100 men

Merode Dragoon Regt (Imperial-Walloon) 1 battalion 500 men

Geleen Battalion 1 battalion 700 men

(musketeers only; ex-garrison troops)

Commanded Foot 6 companies 600 men

(musketeers only)

Reserve – Bonninghausen.

Bonninghausen Cuirassier Regt (Imperial) 1 squadron 100 men

Asti Cuirassier Regt (Imperial-Walloon) 1 squadron 300 men

Mansfeld Cuirassier Regt (Imperial) 2 squadrons 450 men

Bonninghausen Dragoon Regt (Imperial) 1 battalion 500 men

Flamorsin Foot Regt (Imperial-Walloon) 1 battalion 700 men

Reinach Foot Regt (Catholic League) 1 battalion 700 men

Commanded Foot 2 companies 200 men

(ex-garrison troops)

Protestant Army – Duke George of Brunswick-Lüneburg.

Right Wing – Stalhansk.

Stenbock Light Horse Regt (Swedish) 4 squadrons 300 men

Silversparre Light Horse Regt (Swedish) 4 squadrons 400 men

Sack Light Horse Regt (Swedish) 2 squadrons 250 men

Soop Light Horse Regt (Swedish) 4 squadrons 400 men

Stalhansk Light Horse Regt (Swedish) 1 squadron 100 men

Kagge Dragoon Regt (German) 1 battalion 500 men

Lumsden Foot Regt (Scots) 1 battalion 100 men

Aston Foot Regt (English) 1 battalion 200 men

Eller Foot Regt (Scots) 1 battalion 200 men

Detachment from Yellow Foot Regt (Swedish) 250 men

Centre – Kagge.

Hessian Foot Brigade (Hesse-Kassel)

- Eberstein, Uslar & Geis’s Foot Regts 3 battalions 1600 men

Knyphausen Foot Brigade (German)

- Knyphasuen, Kriegbaum & Heyden’s Foot Regts 3 battalions 1250 men

Kagge Foot Brigade (Swedish)

- Yellow, Blue and Adams’ Foot Regts 3 battalions 1650 men

Artillery 17 guns and 15 regimental guns

Left Wing – Knyphausen

Mercier Light Horse Regt (Hessian Guard) 2 squadrons 300 men

Melander Light Horse Regt (Hessian) 2 squadrons 300 men

Seekirch Light Horse Regt (Hessian) 2 squadrons 300 men

Dalwigk Light Horse Regt (Hessian) 2 squadrons 300 men

Rostein Light Horse Regt (Hessian) 2 squadrons 300 men

Bruneck Light Horse Regt (German) 2 squadrons 280 men

Karberg Light Horse Regt (German) 2 squadrons 500 men

Lewe Light Horse Regt (Swedish) 2 squadrons 400 men

Stalhansk Light Horse Regt (Swedish) 3 squadrons 600 men

St. Andreas Dragoon Regt (German) 1 battalion 400 men

Kongsmark Dragoon Regt (German) 1 battalion 350 men

Reserve – Uslar.

Duke George’s Light Horse Regt (Brunswick) 2 squadrons 500 men

Merode-Waroux Light Horse Regt (Brunswick) 2 squadrons 250 men

Duke George’s Foot Regt (Brunswick) 1 battalion 750 men

Saxe-Lauenburg Foot Regt (German) 1 battalion 350 men

My latest attempt at a 17th Century battle is Oldendorf, 1633: a Thirty Years' War engagement between Catholic and Protestant armies, but played with French (as the Catholics) and Allied (as the Protestants) armies from the 1670s. I played it solo and it resulted in an enjoyable game lasting twelve turns. The Allies won, but mainly because of the number of French units they destroyed, rather than the successful completion of objectives. Here are some photographs with comments where relevant. Figures are almost all North Star 28mm metal from their Sun King 1672 range (ex-Copplestone Castings), with some Warfare Miniatures generals and cannon. For the scenario rules, see my 17th Century Wargame Scenarios section.

The battlefield laid out ready to begin; French on the left, Allies on the right.

The Allied left wing and centre.

The Dutch Marwitz Dragoon Regiment.

The Spanish Alcantara Light Horse Regiment with

the Dutch Shellaert Light Horse Regiment in support.

The Allied centre, Anhalt-Bernburg Foot Regiment (Hesse-Kassel), Aylva Foot Regiment and Beaumont Foot Regiment (both Dutch), along with artillery and a squadron of the Ginkel Light Horse Regiment (Dutch).

The Allied right wing: Kurland Light Horse Regiment (Dutch), Erbprinz Dragoon Regiment (Hesse-Kassel) and a squadron of Nassau-Friesland Light Horse Regiment in support.

The French left wing and centre.

The French left wing: Fusiliers du Roi Foot Regiment with Mélac Light Horse Regiment, then Royal Cravattes Light Horse Regiment, and finally Asfeld Dragoon Regiment at the front.

The French centre: Cuirassiers du Roi Light Horse Regiment and Normandie Foot Regiment to the left, Grancey and Douglas (Scots) Foot Regiments to the right, with artillery to the front.

The French right wing: Dauphin Light Horse Regiment and La Fere Foot Regiment.

The French centre.

Asfeld Dragoon Regiment.

The battle starts, this shows the end of Turn One.

The French right wing advances.

The Allied left wing advances.

The Erbprinz Dragoon Regiment deploys for dismounted action.

The Allied right wing advances.

The French left wing advances.

The French Normandie Foot Regiment, one of the "Vieux Corps" - the six senior regiments of the line in the French Army.

The Cuirassiers du Roi Light Horse Regiment - the only cavalry regiment in the French army under Louis XIV to wear cuirasses. All cavalry officers were meant to wear a cuirass as well, but this seems to have been a rule rarely followed.

The French Douglas Foot Regiment. This was an old Scottish unit in the service of France. It eventually returned to England in 1679 and became the 1st Foot, i.e. the Royal Scots. I have not found any evidence for its flags in the 1670s, so I did a cross of St. Andrew on a blue field for the regimental colour and a cross of St. Andrew on a white field, paralleling the tradition in French units at that time.

The French artillery - I classify guns as Light, Medium, Heavy and Siege in my rules,

this is a Heavy Gun.

An Allied Medium Gun battery. There were no official uniforms for artillerymen at this time and guns were painted according to taste rather than regulations.