Sandershausen 1758

 A weekend bracketed by trips to Elgin for Mrs I meant a stay in Lossiemouth which also meant a chance to catch up with Graham C.

There was much to discuss and plot, some of which will be revealed in another post. But we also managed to have a game, a relight of the battle of Sandershausen which Graham visited on his travels to Germany last year.

Graham's French started the game at the bottom of the hill, while over its crest stood a few regiments of Hessian regulars, jager, dragoons and some rather nervous militia. There was only one way this fight was going to go really, it was just a question of how long it would take and how many men would be lost.




As they trudged up the hill the French masked their own covering artillery and exposed themselves to the Hessian guns, which had some effect in wearing down the targets, as did the jäger positioned in the woods on either flank.

Eventually the leading french units came through the canister into musket range. On the Hessian right the volley crashed into a disordered french unit and this was followed up with a spirited bayonet change which broke them and sent them fleeing back down the hill. Undaunted Graham sent his french cavalry forward but these too were repelled.

In the centre the militia unit managed a ragged volley but recoiled in the subsequent melee and fell back disordered to the very lip of the table.

On the left a Swiss unit and Hessian unit traded blows for a couple of turns with the Swiss finally gaining the upper hand. Behind them however the Hessian dragoons charged from cover into the exposed flank of a French regiment. Their first attack was unsuccessful but they reformed and hit it again and this time broke it and sent it streaming back. This action left the dragoons exposed in turn and they were charged and routed by more french cavalry.







By now it was clear that despite destroying 2 French to 1 Hessian infantry there was no holding the position and the battle was lost.....not a million miles from the result of the real encounter.

Hope you like the pix. Graham's 40mm figs really stood out on this terrain and we got some good shots. A great game and only half the story of the afternoon!  More on that later though!!