Summer battle 1: Kesselsdorf in Saxony

Good old Prince August Grenadiers make the opening of this post: The Saxon Leibgrenadiere cover an artillery position against the coming Prussian Avantgarde attack....

Yesterday we opened our summer campaign 2015 with a fast game of a Kesselsdorf scenario. which took place in 1745 and was the beginning of the Prussian invasion in Saxony.
Believing the Bavarian weather, we build the tabletop in the garden and placed the Saxons in a defense position and the Prussians in a march column from south-east with a cavalry vanguard on the south-west. The target was to break the Saxon fortifications and to expel them of the 2 villages they kept.
The result in advance: a heavy rain brought the battle to an end without a victory....

deployment

Matthias (right) and me as Prussian generals....

...and my son Levent as Saxon Maréchal!

First, we were testing our own rules, which are related to the Yahoo-group discussion of "Honours-of-War". After long preparatory discussions with Matthias, who is an expert in 18. century warfare, we simplified the rules, but gave 2 new aspects into this game:

First aspect: The role of an attacking cavalry is - in none of the known rule-books - adequately fixed: The power of the contemporary cavalry was the mass effect of the galloping horses, which thundered like a steam roller into the infantry. 

This we introduced to our rules: when a cavalry  advance in gallop into an infantry unit, it will be a break-in effect: infantry moves back 2 moves and get immediately 2 casualty points. 

This rule took great effect.

Second aspect: Artillery fires with 2 points (6pdr) and 1 point (3pdr). We took just one D6 dice for having 1-2: hit on the left side, 3-4: hit in the target, 5-6 hit on the right side. No morale values counted, no chance of defense. Conclusion: artillery was very effective, especially the battalion guns.

Prussian main army in the south-east...

Prussians advance on the right wing with heavy cavalry...

... and with infantry and artillery in the right center. In the background the Saxon positions.

Saxon Cuirassiers "Koeniglicher Prinz" move against the Prussians 

First skirmish between Prussian Cuirassiers "Von Kyau" against the Saxon "Koeniglicher Prinz"

Saxon Chevauxlegers "Prinz Carl" attacks the Prussian infantry vanguard...

Prussian cuirassiers on the left side prepare to a counterattack, but were not allowed because of too many casualties... (fire marker)

So, the Langermann dragoons swung into the gap and stopped the "Prinz Carl"

Saxon infantry passes the retiring cavalry. The ones go to the frontline, the others move back to the base camp - too many hits for continuing the battle...

Saxon "Von Minckwitz" advance to support the "Prinz Carl"

In the meanwhile, the Prussian left wing wasn´t inactive: First 2 ranks of hussars galloped forward...

...just in order to swing to the right and attacking the vulnerable part of the Saxon infantry... They were lucky: too close for getting under Saxon artillery fire..

Same scene; the view from the Saxon defense position. 

The reserve unit: Prussian "Markgraf von Brandenburg" Cuirassiers, ready for duty.....

They attack the village, where the Saxon Cuirassiers "Von Arnim" lurked... 

... followed by Polish Ulans and the Leibgrenadiergarde...

No move in the center at all... and then, the rain came...

Prussia: Oberkommando

Prussias´ Commanders got new staff personnel: This 2 Generals are out of the marvelous range of Frontrank in UK and indeed a great joy to paint. Wonderfully done with details, you can choose between 3 heads for each figure - what a service! They are now in Fredericks duty and  hopefully successful in battles...

This is the full ordonnance with Frederick himself in the centre, assisted by officers and standard bearers (Manske Zinnfiguren).  To give such a vignette with 5 figures a higher importance, I placed two standards on it and gave them a Prussian "national" flag. Unsure if even such a flag was used, the pattern is based on some sources showing the Kurfurstliche Preussische Wappen from the beginning 18. century. The Prussian eagle, crowned and in the center, marks the flag as particular and different from regimental flags. It uses white background and black, little decorations.

Prussian flag, rebuild following several sources.

Polish Lancers

A squad of Polish lancers in Saxon duty. Planned as skirmishing light cavalry, they should fight against the Prussian Jaegers, protecting the flanks of the own army and also marauding in Prussian trains and supply depots. Historically, they did not participate on the Seven Years War, because they had the luck be stationed in Poland. Graf Rudnicki was their commander.
The figures are of Manske Zinnfiguren and placed on round vignettes.