I played a Later Imperial Austrian against a Later Imperial Spanish, Habsburg vs Habsburg! I fielded three superior kiels of 14 elements to withstand the superior fire of muskets, a superior spanish early tercio of 14 elements, a bg of light foot, a bg of light horse, one battery of artillery and two groups of bow armed cavalry which I intended to try for the first time. My oponent fielded four later tercios (one elite, one superior and two averages), two batteries of artillery (one in a hill with field fortificationes), two bgs of dragoons, two of cuirassiers, an average pike and shot brigade and carbine armed cavalry.
My plan was simple: assault the center with the keils and tercio as fast as I could and skirmish the flanks. If I could reach the enemy in good shape I should win the fights.
Deployment as follows:
1st PHASE OF THE BATTLE
Right flank: My artillery gets lucky and damages his carabine cavalry. My light horse skirmish the cuirassiers and my light foot advances in front of his artillery on the hill to absorb hits while my tercio advances unmolested.
Center: Enemy dragoons slow down my keils and fire with impunity. Fortunately the fire is not very accurate and my keils charge rolling high in persecution so the advance is not that slow. His infantry awaits.
Left Flank: Disaster! Bow fire turns innefective. One of the cavalry bgs is catched during a persecution by cuirassiers and is quickly broken. The other one charges valiantly in front of a wall of musket (an ad hoc bg of musketeers from two tercios) and artillery, hoping to be lucky and reach the musketeers... but it is annihilated by enemy fire.
2nd PHASE OF THE BATTLE
Right flank: Light foot keeps protecting the tercio from artillery fire without taking damage. His cuirassiers advance towards my artillery, who has destroyed his carbine cavalry.
Center: The keils take some casualties from dragoon fire but advance firmly. Just before charge, one of them gets disrupted. Well, it will have to charge anyway!
Left flank: With my cavalry destroyed, all his artillery, musketeer and elite tercio fire is directed upon my leftmost keil, which suffer casualties and gets disrupted. His cuirassiers run unopossed free of nearby enemies.
3rd PHASE OF THE BATTLE
Right flank: The brigade that was protecting his artillery charges downhill to remove my light foot, who had disrupted his artillery. And there came the early tercio, unscathed, charging uphill and fragmenting the brigade. Meanwhile his cuirassiers get very close to my artillery, ready to charge.
Center: The keils charge and, being superior with generals fighting along them and one POA up, are like steamrollers and fragment their enemies!
Left flank: The leftmost keil gets fragmented. It is doomed due to heavy enemy fire and being surrounded. Enemy cuirassiers head for my camp.
And then dusk came and the battle was halted. It had been a bloody affair. He had one cavalry bg broken and three infantry formations fragmented. His artillery on the hill and his camp behind a fragmented tercio were doomed. I had two cavalry bgs broken, a fragmented keil, and doomed camp and artillery. Habsburgs are though!
And now some eye candy
Austrian deployment
Spanish superior tercio
Spanish elite tercio!
Austrian advance (generals at the back represent the camp)
Austrian advance seen from Spanish lines
The moment of truth gets nearer
The mighty Spanish Early Tercio!
General view
Charge!
