Battle of the White Mountain, 1620

[StuccoFresco]

Ok, proceeding with the campaign, this time I'm defending the White Mountain against the Imperials. My positions are good, so for a while I'm going to stay there and exchange cannon fire. My Hussars will be sent on the flanks, since the enemy Armored Cossacks will be there but are severely outnumbered and I'll try to get some nice charge bait to lure them out of position and send some Hussar to get the enemy artillery.



By turn 8 my Hussars manage to flank-charge the Cossacks on the right flank of the Imperials, making one flee. Other charges and shooting are exacting a good toll on the enemy units that are pooling around the Commanded Shots in the redoubts, routing one but exposing themselves to the fire of my units further up the hill. Enemy Kuirassiers are following the Imperial Tercios, so I have to be careful.






I'm appreciating my Hussars's mobility: I'm moving them around the Tercios and positioning myself to shoot them and the Kuirassiers, placing myself in spots where I can hope not to be charged. I managed to almost rout the enemy's left flank entirely and whittle down three Imperial Tercios. On the right flank, however, enemy cavalry is more numerous and has stopped my Hussars on their tracks, except for a couple units that I'm sending to get the enemy artillery. My right flank is less secure, even if I'm holding a strong position in the hillside villa; I hope I'll resist long enough to win the battle on the rest of the battlefield. I'm trying to distract the Tercios and the Kuirassiers long enough, placing my Arkebusiers around them to bait charges and shoot them down.






Turn 10: enemy Veteran and regular Tercios hit my defensive lines in the left: I hope they can hold the line long enough to get help from my superior numbers. The second wave of Imperial Tercios is still being engaged by my shooting cavalry and Later Tercios, and it's not in a good position so it can't help the two Tercios currently in melee. If only I could manage to rout them and then rear-charge the first line...

[StuccoFresco]

In Turn 13 I have more or less won the cavalry battle on my left flank, but two Tercios are still pushing against mines. A later Tercio is under attack and disrupted, another later Tercio is moving around and a classic Tercio is still maneuvering about, without having found a purpose yet.

In the center-right, a combination of sustained shooting and an abundance of Arkebusiers' charges have routed two Kuirassiers and two Imperial Tercios find themselves surrounded by my units. Another Tercio has tried to assault my position around the hillside villa but the shooting has whittled it down and an Arkebusiers' charge downhill has disrupted it. My Hussars on the right flank has eaten up enough Kurassier and Cossacks' charge and have fled. Two of them are still kicking and have moved out of the enemy cavalry's range, chasing and hunting down Imperial artillery. Anothe Hussar unit is still there trying to stall the enemy and bait it into charges that won't threaten my success in the middle of the battlefield.





Turn 15: the Imperial Tercios has broken through my lines on the center-left, but I still have enough units to keep them in check. My Arkebusiers and Hussars have surrounded another Tercio that was wandering around in the middle and are slowly tearing it down with their pistols. On the left flank three Tercios are wreaking havoc on my Later Tercios, but I'm trying to surround them.





In Turn 16, disaster strikes my army: the Imperial Tercios break right through my lines in the left flank routing five Later Tercios with ease. I push forward with my cavalry to pursue them and shoot them down before they can turn around and chase me off the battlefield entirely. Elsewhere my odds are better, as I have now the control of the battlefield on my right flank and the center. Imperial artilleries have been captured and now my Arkebusiers, Hussars and a few Kuirassiers are now coming back to help deal with the fearsome Imperial Tercios.

Despite their tremendous staying power and melee prowess, the Tercios, when surrounded by numerous shooting units, are prone to be cut down by sheer amount of firepower thanks to their closed rank formation. This proves true once again as my Arkebusiers and Hussars whittle down and ultimately force two of the Imperial Tercios to autobreak, and threaten the remaining two enough to make them stop their advance and try to not getting shredded. All around the battlefield, the Imperials try to regroup around the Tercios, but the Bohemian superior firepower forces another two to rout, and the battle is over when 67% of the Catholic troops are fleeing. It's a close victory, however: 47% of my own units are on the run.

[StuccoFresco]

The battle has been a bloody victory. Enemy Tercios proved to be formidable in staying power, melee power and the ability to regroup after being routed. Fortunetely, I had superior numbers in cavalry and a strong defensive position, so my shooting whittled down their numbers enough to score a victory. My Arkebusiers and Hussars proved to be invaluable in flexibility, with the Arkebusiers being better at scoring the occasional charge (even against disrupted Tercios) and the Hussars being more mobile and thus able to position themselves in the best spots.

My Later Tercios didn't prove as strong as I hoped: sure their shooting was fearsome, but they couldn't charge enemy cavalry and couldn't hope to win against the Imperial Tercios, even in a 3-vs-1 melee. As soon as the enemy managed to make contact, it was over unless the Imperials were at least fragmented. So, in fact my supposedly strong infantry had to be rescued by the cavalry.

[Athos1660]

Well done!

[SnuggleBunnies]

Yes, well done indeed, it is a very tough scenario.