Monday, February 25, 2008

News from Ober-Schweinsberg

Ober-Schweingau Herald (loyal to Asgar) - With mid-February snows still upon the ground, and armies retired to winter quarters as is common for the season, the town of Unter-Schweingau was chosen to be the meeting place for the great nobles loyal to our rightful Landgrave in a council to prepare for the coming spring. A peaceful town, Unter-Schweingau is well known as a favored in along the trade routes through the pass in which it lies, just across the river from our own fair city. However, that peace was shattered by invasion less than a fortnight ago, as the forces of Prince Arnold determined to disrupt and capture our honored Council, dispatching several brigades under the Polish immigrant Generalmajor Wlodzimierz Borowczyk, once a trusted officer of the Landgraviate.

We are pleased to report that Generalmajor Schweiger and his forces of Asgar were quick to respond and managed to extract the council members from the town to safety despite attack by a superior force. A valiant fighting withdrawal has brought the Council members to safety behind the firm wall of the Schweingau river, upon which our lines now rest. Though we celebrate this victory with joy, there yet remains a measure of sadness in our hearts, for the victory was not won except with great cost. A great many casualties and prisoners were left behind, particularly the loss of Brigadier Murnau and almost the entirety of his cavalry brigade, who are reported to have fallen in brave and furious charges to defend our noble Council. Shame, too, must fall upon some. The 8th Line regiment, having been shattered in two consecutive battles, has reportedly been taken out of the line in disgrace, having proven itself unworthy of the Prince it serves. More heinous than the failure of the 8th, however, is the defection of those blackguard foreigners of Shannon's regiment, who have deserted their rightful Prince and sullied the name of their once fine regiment. Let them return unto their original lands ere they meet us in battle, for we shall surely cut them down like the vile dogs they are for their treachery.

Vergoldeten Bulletin (loyal to Hesse-Engelburg) - Christmas passed quietly in Vergoldeten, a peaceful Christmas unmarred by war. After being so recently threatened with great bloodshed, we owe our thanks to the good rulers of Hesse-Engelburg for their kind dealings and the protection we enjoy with their troops wintering about our fair city. Trade continues to flow, and the new year looks bright with joy and increase. We of Vergoldeten extend our sincere condolences to those of our kindred who have lost loved ones in the recent fighting, and our hopes for a peaceful resolution to the civil war that has befallen the Landgraviate.

Saturday, February 2, 2008

Yet More Notes

The motto on Arnold's banners, Maior Natu, is (supposed to be at least) the Latin for "First Born". This is a reference to Arnold being the firstborn twin by a small margin, which makes his primary claim to the throne as eldest son.

The Margarethe and Franka Dragoon regiments are named after Prince Asgar's daughters. Thus, our aggressive Brigadier Murnau could find his career adversely affected were he to get them destroyed ingloriously. Glorious destruction is, of course, an entirely different matter. The dividing line between glorious and inglorious is, naturally, at the whims of Prince Asgar. :>

Note the presence of a Kinski Hussars in Asgar's forces, and a Brigadier Kinski in Arnold's forces. These two commanders are likely related. This is a common happening in civil wars.

Shannon's Irish Guards and the Von Trotta Horse Grenadiers from Asgar's force and the Schwarze Eber Fusiliers from Arnold's are all former Guards regiments under the deceased Landgrave.

Uniforms and flags for Battle of Unter-Schweingau

Rather than try to load them all into a post, I've put the uniforms and flags into an online gallery viewable at this link: http://www.musterthetroops.com/BattleofUnter-Schweingau/view.html.

Missing: Unter-Schweingau militia
Extra: Van Ackeren Cuirassiers, Asgar's army

The Van Ackeren unit will not be present at the battle, but I threw them into the gallery since I had an image for them.

The two forces combined at this point total 10 brigades, with 17 battalions of infantry, 25 squadrons of cavalry, and 8 guns on the field. Here's the order of battle for the troops, including commander initiative/command radius as rolled by Jeff:

Arnold’s Forces
=======================
C-in-C: Generalmajor Wlodzimierz Borowczyk (Polish immigrant) – Steady, Initiative 2, Command 11”

Jagers: Schlöndorff Jagers – 420 men, Trained

Black Brigade - Brigadier Max Färberböck – Steady, Initiative 1, Command 9”/6”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Schwarze Eber Fusiliers – 510 men (90 gren), Veteran
Emmerich Musketeers – 510 men (90 gren), Trained
Potente Musketeers – 510 men (90 gren), Trained

Kinski Brigade - Brigadier Werner Kinski – Political, Initiative 1, Command 8”/5”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Riefenstahl Musketeers – 510 men (90 gren), Veteran
Tykwer Musketeers – 510 men (90 gren), Trained
Belgischer Musketeers – 510 men (90 gren), Raw (Belgian raw recruits, ex-POWs)

French Brigade - Brigadier Jean-Louis d'Civeyrac – Aggressive, Initiative 1, Command 11”/7”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Grenadiers d’Civeyrac – 480 men, Veteran
Leterrier Musketeers – 600 men, Veteran

Muldowney Heavy Cavalry Brigade - Brigadier Sean Muldowney – Aggressive, Initiative 2, Command 8”/5” (Irish immigrant)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Von Praunheim Cuirassiers – 3 sqdns, 360 men, Elite
Lubitsch Dragoons – 2 sqdns, 240 men, Trained
Lamarr Dragoons – 3 sqdns, 360 men, Raw

Light Cavalry Brigade - Brigadier Hans Andress – Political, Initiative 1, Command 15”/10”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bandauer Hussars – 3 sqdns, 360 men, Veteran
Puchalski Lancers – 2 sqdns, 240 men, Trained (Polish immigrants)

Artillery
-------------
1 x 12pdr
3 x 3pdr

Asgar’s Forces
==================
C-in-C: Generalmajor Peter Schweiger – Aggressive, Initiative 2, Command 10”

Town Garrison/Council Escort – Brigadier Wolfgang Storch – Cautious, Initiative 1, Command 10”/5”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unter-Schweingau Militia – 360 men, Raw
Dieterlestadt Grenadiers – 420 men, Veteran

3rd Infantry Brigade - Brigadier Wim Gronenborn – Veteran, Initiative 1, Command 12”/7”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shannon’s Irish Guard – 660 men, Elite (Guards unit, Irishmen)
7th Line – 600 men (60 gren), Trained
8th Line – 600 men (60 gren), Raw

2nd Infantry Brigade – Brigadier Roland Kruger – Political, Initiative 2, Command 11”/7”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2nd Line – 600 men (60 gren), Veteran
5th Line – 600 men (60 gren), Trained
6th Line – 600 men (60 gren), Trained

Murnau Heavy Cavalry Brigade - Brigadier Klaus Murnau – Aggressive, Initiative 1, Command 11”/7”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Von Trotta Horse Grenadiers – 3 sqdns, 360 men, Elite (Guards unit)
Margarethe Dragoons – 2 sqdns, 240 men, Veteran
Franka Dragoons – 2 sqdns, 240 men, Veteran

Light Cavalry Brigade - Brigadier Sebastian Boll – Aggressive, Initiative 1, Command 10”/7”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kinski Hussars – 2 sqdns, 240 men, Trained
Hippler Hussars – 3 sqdns, 360 men, Trained

Artillery
----------------
1 x 6pdr
3 x 3pdr

Friday, February 1, 2008

Some more thoughts on Unter-Schweingau

Those not in the habit of reading comments should read the ones on the sketch map post beneath this one. Lots of exchange of information going on there.

While I didn't start out that way, I've found some story growing as I've been making up the forces for these. The majority of the best cavalry seem to have followed Asgar, while the majority of the better infantry seem to have gone with Arnold. This theory is based on the concentration of high-grade heavy cavalry in Asgar's army, and the possibility that the numbering of some of the line regiments represents hasty recruiting to fil in gaps as much of the senior infantry units went to Arnold.

Eventually, these theories will probably spawn more storyline.