Scourge of Princes: Blasts, Blowouts, and Cannons on the Frontline

Over the past few weeks, Max and I managed to play two more exciting games featuring our Thirty Years' War / Deluge armies. Once again, we used Sam Mustafa's Scourge of Princes rules. The setting for this game was towards the end of the Thirty Years' War.

Somewhere in the southern nowhere of the Empire, a small Swedish force stumbles upon an evenly matched Imperial contingent. The encounter catches both sides completely off guard; the vanguards seem to have ridden past each other, as it is the only explanation for the opponents standing directly at striking distance, hastily trying to form up their battle lines.

An overview of the battlefield - a typical rural countryside that seemingly had been spared from the horrors of war until today...

In this scenario, all ranked units and vehicles can also be deployed in the inner zones within 8" of each other. Normally, the forward zones are restricted to Loose Order units.

The opponents march up and toward each other, with the small village and its windmill forming the center and main focus of the battle. The Swedes hastily limber down four artillery batteries, setting them up side by side in position with infantry cover only on their right flank... whether that was such a good idea remains to be seen.

The Swedes anchor their right flank against the woods. This is a sound plan, if only because the Imperials hold a significant numerical advantage in cavalry.

An Imperial infantry regiment deployed opposite the batteries attempts to seize the moment and charge the exposed guns. However, they fail against the gunners, who defend their cannon with iron resolve... and with Fortuna on their side!

All along the front line, the rattle of musketry echoes and the battlefield sinks into black powder smoke.

After repelling the assault, the barrels are loaded with canister shot and the Imperial infantry regiment ceases to exist, even as one of the Swedish cannon explodes in the process.

Meanwhile, Imperial dragoons and musketeers on the right flank concentrate their fire on the Swedish dragoons, inflicting their first casualties.

The Imperials try to plug the gap created in the center with cavalry. At the same time, another Swedish battery suffers an ammunition explosion, and the relentless Imperial fire focused on the Guard infantry takes its toll - the regiment is on the brink of collapse.

Even though yet another Swedish battery explodes (something seems to have been seriously wrong with that black powder), the Guard continues to hold firm against enemy fire for now. The opposing batteries are destroyed, and the Imperial infantry also takes a severe beating.

On the right flank, the Swedish dragoons valiantly hold two enemy units at bay, allowing the infantry and the Commanded Shot of the Rytarre to concentrate their fire on the Imperial cuirassiers.

Too much is too much - the Guard dies, but it does not surrender! Merde! 😎

Instead, the resistance of the Imperial Guard Cuirassiers collapses in the hard-fought center!

Swedish dragoons and infantry prepare the charge of the Rytarre on the right flank...

...and thus the enemy cuirassier regiments collapse under the combined fire of the Swedes here as well!

Conclusion

An exciting and tight game where the pendulum of luck swung back and forth, and which could easily have ended quite differently. My greed in setting up four heavy field gun batteries right on the front line, within 8" of the enemy and thus in range of canister shot (2D6 instead of 1D6 shooting dice), hoping for a more than decent chance to eliminate the Imperial infantry regiment in Phase 1 (after all, four batteries yield 8 shooting dice), almost cost me the game! Unlike in other rule systems, artillery cannot react to an enemy charge with defensive fire; they simply fight using their 2 combat dice... and standing at 8" meant they were well within charging range of the Imperials.

Max promptly won the initiative and - attack being the best defense when staring down the muzzles of heavy guns - ordered a charge on the batteries. Against all odds, my first battery scored two hits, while the Imperial infantry seemed to stumble over their own pikes, matching only two hits and having to abort the charge. Standing completely exposed before the muzzles of my batteries and the muskets of the neighboring Swedish infantry, they breathed their last. Max was unable to close the resulting gap in his line, especially since the Commanded Shot of my Rytarre severely punished his helpless cuirassiers.

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The Road to Warsaw: Testing the "Scourge of Princes" Rules for Large-Scale 17th-Century Battles

After Max and I expanded our respective armies for By Fire and Sword well beyond the task force level—Max taking the Imperialists and myself the Swedes—we are now looking for a suitable rule set for larger battles.

The background is that we have chosen a joint project: the "Battle of Warsaw 1656." This three-day battle between Sweden and Brandenburg on one side, and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Crimean Tatars on the other, ended not only in a Swede-Brandenburg victory, but ultimately paved the way for Brandenburg's transition from an electorate to the Kingdom of Prussia, while also signaling the decline of Poland as a great power.

Max and me have shortlisted a few rule systems, which we will play at least 3–4 times each to gauge them properly before making a final choice.

We are kicking things off with Scourge of Princes by Sam Mustafa; the basic rules with an army size of 100 Ducats each seemed like a sensible starting point.

Engagement at Geroldshausen

The Thirty Years' War is in its death throes when advancing Imperialists encounter a roughly equal force of Swedes near Geroldshausen.

The Imperialists form a strong cavalry wing on their right flank, supporting their numerous horsemen with a unit of commanded shot and enjoying the advantage of fielding light cavalry there as well. Their two infantry regiments, together with two batteries, form the center, which is also assigned a cavalry unit in reserve. A unit of dragoons is tasked with securing the forest on their left flank.

The Swedes likewise form a strong left cavalry wing, assigned an infantry unit to serve as an anchor point onto which the horsemen can retreat if necessary. Two infantry regiments and two batteries also make up the center for the Swedes, but on the right flank, three dragoon regiments are ordered to advance decisively and use their numerical superiority to take control of the forest as quickly as possible, throw back the enemy dragoons, and threaten the Imperialists' flank and camp—forcing them to potentially pull units from their left flank or center. At least, that was my plan...

The initial deployment—Swedes advancing at the bottom, Imperialists at the top.

The extreme right flank of the Imperialists—light cavalry and commanded shot try to force the Swedes to wheel inward.

The center and left flank of the Imperialists, alongside the Swedish dragoon regiments advancing into the forest.

Well-aimed fire from the imperial artillery immediately takes its toll on my infantry.

The Imperialists wheel one of their infantry regiments inward and advance into the forest.

The left wing of the Swedes; the cavalry lines are closing in on one another.

The Imperial light cavalry attempts to outmaneuver the Swedes.

Inside the forest, progress has ground to a halt; the three Swedish dragoon units are bogged down, and orders are in short supply to effect any change here.

The Swedes are forced to deal with the light horsemen and launch an attack to clear some breathing room.

The Imperial cavalry seizes the moment: after one of their batteries punishes the Swedish infantry, they charge...

... while simultaneously, the resistance of one of my Swedish infantry regiments collapses in the center—the combined fire of artillery and imperial infantry eventually became too much.

The battery posted to the left of it seemed like easy prey for the cuirassiers, but they were stopped just in time by our own heavy cavalry...

... and instead of capturing the battery, they took to their heels themselves.

The last of my infantry regiments in the center desperately tries to hold firm and buy time, even though it is on the verge of breaking.

Made it, but just barely—the victorious horsemen from the left wing come storming up.

My infantry collapses indeed, but the imperial troops follow suit shortly after, as they have no answer left for the attack hitting their flank.

And on the left flank as well, after fierce melee combat, everything turns out well in the end for my Swedes, leaving the Imperialists forced to clear the field.

Conclusion:

Max and I liked the rules extraordinarily well—they are quickly learned, produce a fluid and coherent game, and the momentum points used to maneuver units are a scarce commodity that must be deployed thoughtfully. As in real life, a battle becomes very difficult to control once it has begun; keeping to as simple a plan and setting a clear main effort (Schwerpunkt) are, just like in history, the keys to success.

Fortunately for me, neither Max nor I had quite realized this, so we ended up getting bogged down, and only with more luck than sense was I able to turn the tide and win the engagement.

My dragoons on the right flank were completely wasted given how things played out—I should have either made this my main effort and committed my commander there to push forward forcefully while the infantry center held back and the cavalry wing waited; or acted as it happened, but held the forest with only one, maximum two dragoon regiments and positioned the remaining dragoons on the left flank to attack there.

You wouldn't believe how quickly you run out of momentum.

In any case, we are already looking forward to our next game, this time including the advanced rules.

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