Slitherine

I thought I should start a new thread to record the results of the first round of the 17th Century event, the battle of Dettingen 1743

Although, it's unlikely our French compatriots will succeed against the English King George and his over sized proboscis we have reserved seats at the Chapelle royale de Versailles for any of our esteemed commanders who manage to return from Dettingen with their evening-wear attire in tact for a recital by none other than Marguerite-Louise Couperin and her harpsichord.

The French have been vanquished; Inspired by King George, the Brits and their German allies broke through the French lines before reinforcements could arrive. Allied Germans swept through the woods and broke the French left allowing cavalry to charge through and roll the French line. The French had some moderate success on their right flank but lacked the reserves to exploit it.

snooky51 wrote: ↑Sat Mar 13, 2021 12:56 am The French have been vanquished; Inspired by King George...

Tomoegozen, commiserations from the King. Not much you could do against that English despot. Goodness nose why we deployed so many of our troops on the wrong side of the river. George usually gets a whiff of our mistake and runs for the far right of the field, away from the running river. We would have needed a miracle.

Your commiserations are appreciated your majesty

It will be interesting to see how the other games go but it sure felt like the Allies had way too much firepower...!
The Allies did indeed turn my left

Monsieur le Roi,
the englishmen are put to rout. Les français sont victorieux!
... althrough our army suffered heavy casualities too.

De Gramont did not wait for reinforcements as supposed to and ordered bold attack at enemy before they could take proper battle formations. With fire support from the south bank of the river we were able to push enemy off and protect our rear with water, but this would not be possible if not for bravery of men holding left flank against allied ruthless cavalry charges, even when their formations were fragmented and surrounded!

It was brutal brawl led mainly by bayonets rather than musket fire. But in the end Maison du Roi proved their supperiority and broke english spirit, right at the time when the first regiments of relief crossed the bridge.

Marl_Boroman: 56%
smjohnso77: 62%

Marl_Boroman wrote: ↑Wed Mar 17, 2021 8:11 am Monsieur le Roi,
the englishmen are put to rout. Les français sont victorieux!

Your reserved seat awaits you at the Chapelle royale de Versailles Monsieur Boroman. Congratulations The King has not only awarded you the Royal and Military Order of Saint Hewey, Dewey and Louie for outstanding service to France but has invited you to attend him in the Royal box including a private (wink wink) audience with Marguerite-Louise Couperin with or without her harpsichord.

So, results so far are:

Allied Wins

Snooky51

French Wins

Marl_Boroman

Not yet decided

Awesum4 (Allies) v Gdod (French)
Dang (Allies) v Cromlechi (French)

Unfortunately comrades the battle is lost. As it happens, many actions in our battle closely resembled the historical version as...

Despite being ordered three times by Noailles to hold their position, around midday the elite Maison du Roi cavalry charged the Allied lines.[17] Who initiated it is disputed, de Gramont being the most common choice; French historian De Périni suggests the Maison de Roi, who not seen action since Malplaquet in 1709, saw an opportunity to win the battle on their own. They were followed by the Gardes Françaises infantry, in a disjointed and piecemeal attack.

A "piecemeal defense" on the French left resulted in the left being turned despite a general advance on the near and far right. This made good progress with several headlong pursuits into the second rank of the enemy. However, isolated, they succumbed to the incessant fire from musket and guns. Meanwhile the Maison du Roi held on bravely against a fierce flank and frontal attack by the enemy cavalry for most of the battle and the French artillery saw off supporting British cavalry. But alas, without the support of reserves hurrying from on the far bank the surviving French infantry and cavalry were swamped and cut to bits.

However, as F Scott Fitzgerald states :

Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat.

What follows is King George posing for his portrait during the battle. (Notice his big nose!)

How is the Dang v Cromlechi game going? Can we move to Round Two?

Allied Wins

Snooky51
Awesum4
Dang

French Wins

Marl_Boroman


So, a bloody nose for the French and on to Round Two.