Fleurus once....

In 1622 as Imperial troops besieged Heidelberg and ravaged the Palatinate, Frederick V, the Elector Palatine decided to disband his army.  The German mercenaries of Mansfeld and Christian of Brunswick were immediately hired by the Dutch and summoned to march north to help relieve the siege of Bergen-op-Zoom being prosecuted by the Spanish army in the Low Countries.  To try to stop this move, Spinola, the Spanish commander, summoned the troops of Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba who had been supporting Tilly in the Palatinate to march north as well.  On 27th August, the Protestant generals found Córdoba's army blocking their path at Fleurus - near the site of the future battle of Ligny - and on 29th August they launched a frontal assault to try to break their way through.  A five hour battle ended in failure for the Protestants.   They pulled back and found a way to march around instead!  

On 13th February 2024, the battle was refought twice in a single day using the Twilight of Divine Right rules - the battle being one of the two introductory scenarios provided therein.  The first affray will be described below, the second in a subsequent post.

The playing area is 4' by 4', equal to 20 base widths by 20 base widths, the standard measure used in the rules.  As each infantry or cavalry unit has a frontage of 2 base widths, 10 would fill the width of the table.  However, the scenario requires both sides to set up with a frontage of only 16 base widths, leaving some room on either flank.  

The terrain is fairly simple compared with the Cheriton battle fought last week.  The Protestant army starts at the mouth of a U shaped valley formed by two low spurs that run down each side of the table from a slightly higher ridge that runs across the Spanish side of the table.  On the left of the Spanish position is a large wood that extends about 7 base widths in from the side and 3 base widths in from the rear.  Another small wood with a walled convent in front of it  (having no wall pieces I marked this with hedge) lies to the right of the Spanish position about 3 base widths in from the side and 3 base widths forward of the rear edge, extending about 3 base widths in length and 2 wide.  

Birds Eye view of the table before deployments, looking from the Spanish right/Protestant left.  A Road runs up the wide valley, marking the direction of Protestant advance.  Another runs behind the ridge on which the Spanish deploy before turning to pass in front of the convent.

The slightly diagonal line from the corner of the large wood on their left to the convent on their right gave the Spanish a gap of 9 base widths in which to form up their centre.  However, the map in the rule book also shows two small settlements, one just in front of the wood, the other at the junction of the two roads.  They have no effect on movement or combat, simply being decorative.  Placing buildings to mark them did have the effect of reducing the Spanish deployment area further and complicating positioning of units for support and command purposes.  In future I will not put decorative features on the table unless they are out of the way of the main areas of conflict.

The scenario requires both sides to deploy their cavalry on each wing in two lines.  This is easy for the Protestants with the open fields they deploy in but adds complication for the Spanish as they have to contend with the woods and the fact that they have to deploy forward of the base line.

The composition of the two armies is very different.  The Spanish are strong in Infantry, having four tercios and a small musketeer unit that is deployed in the convent grounds.  One of the Tercios is rated Elite, giving +1 on morale tests, two others are small, giving -1.  They have an artillery battery to support them.  On the cavalry side, the Spaniards have only 4 regiments, 2 on each wing, comprising a small Harquebusier regiment (good firing, no charge bonus) backed by a standard Cuirassier Regiment.  Córdoba, the Spanish commander, has a skill rating of 2.  He is going to need this as manoeuvring the Tercios, Harquebusiers and Cuirassiers is more difficult than the standard regiments that make up the Protestant army.

Ponderous Spanish Tercios have a higher morale rating but are hard to manoeuvre on the battlefield

Mansfeld also has five Infantry regiments but only one of these is large, giving a morale rating similar to a Tercio, the other four being standard size.  None are elite.  In cavalry he is far superior.  His right wing has a Cuirassier Regiment and two further Regiments trained in Dutch style (good shooting but only get a charge bonus if they are able to close with an enemy they have prevented from charging on them by their firepower).  The left wing has a small Cuirassier Regiment and three further Dutch style Regiments.  The scenario makes it optional as to whether Mansfeld's army has an artillery battery.  For the first game we gave them one.  Mansfeld is the only commander for the Protestant army and has a skill rating of 1.

Chris Doran arrived at 2.15.  We drew for sides and he got Mansfeld while I took Córdoba's part. 

Starting positions and lines of advance for Game 1.

I placed my left wing cavalry (A) in front of the large wood, Harquebusiers to the fore, Cuirassiers behind, intending to act defensively against the smaller Protestant cavalry wing.  The Right wing cavalry (B) were behind the small wood, ready to move out onto the flank but intending to hold position there with support from the musketeers in the convent.  In the centre (C) I had three Tercios in the front line with the artillery at the left end and the fourth Tercio behind the guns.  It did not have enough space to come into line with the rest.

Chris - Mansfeld - had a cunning plan.  Most of his army advanced slowly but the leading two Cavalry Regiments on the left (B) moved quickly, turning to move across the centre to join the right wing cavalry and bring overwhelming force against my left wing.  As this was going on, the artillery would bombard my left wing cavalry to try to disrupt any movement they might make in response.

Early movement.  Mansfeld's right wing cavalry move out wide and are threatening to move onto the flank of the Spanish left wing cavalry while two more Protestant cavalry regiments move across the centre of his army to join the build up against the Spanish left.  Under the influence of artillery bombardment and bad activation rolls, the Spanish cavalry remain inert.  Córdoba fails to help. 

On the Spanish right, their cavalry are also very slow in moving round into position, failing several activation tests.

The Spanish left finally manages to turn somewhat, but now have Protestant horse on their flank and to the front!

Mansfeld's men hit the Harquebusiers from two sides....

...causing the Harquebusiers to rout from the field after failing their morale test badly

... but Mansfield's men fail their pursuit test and ride on in disorder into the Spanish Cuirassiers...

...and in turn the Protestant Regiment is routed by the Spaniards...

...but it is then the Spaniards turn to fail a pursuit test and their cuirassiers sweep forward into the next line of Protestant horse.

Mansfeld's horse close in on the Cuirassiers from the rear, cheered on by Mansfeld himself.

Curtains for the cuirassiers, with the Protestant horse pursuing them up to the wood.

Flush with success and continuing to roll well on activation tests, the Protestant horse formed column and moved into the wood, aiming to move onto the flank of the Spanish infantry line.

The leading Protestant cavalry Regiment starts to move into the wood while the rest of the wing starts to reorganise itself after the furious melée exchange with the Spanish horse.  The rear Spanish Tercio starts to turn to face the flank threat but this will leave the Tercio in front exposed and the Protestant infantry is now starting to move up.

Keeping up the pressure, Protestant Cuirassiers charge the Spanish guns, whose crews seek safety with the adjacent Tercio.

The rear Tercio continues its turning movement but cannot cover the whole of the flank, leaving room for the Protestant horse to get round behind them!!

On the Spanish right, their remaining cavalry finally gets up into line but their opponents hold back, content to let the action develop at the other end of the line.

Protestant cavalry swarm in on the exposed flanks of the Spanish Tercios

The fire from the forward Tercio routs the Protestant Cuirassiers

But a fresh Regiment of cavalry charges into the flank of the leading Tercio while the regiment that moved through the wood has reformed into line ready to charge the flank of the other Tercio, which has failed an action test.

As their cavalry engage the Tercios on the Spanish left, the Protestant infantry advances uphill towards the remaining two Tercios, keeping clear of enfilading fire from the Spanish musketeers in the convent.

Disaster for the Spanish.  The small Tercio 'Fugger' routs on its first morale test.  Córdoba is away to the left helping the Tercios there, so cannot intervene to allow a re-roll.

Attacked from the flank by cavalry and in front by infantry, the 'Capua' Tercio is losing morale points steadily, as is the Tercio to the rear, despite Córdoba's interventions.

Out on the right, the Protestant horse finally advance and manage to rout the Spanish Harquebusiers!  Although the Protestant Cuirassiers then fail their pursuit test and hit the Spanish Cuirassiers the Spaniards gain nothing from this as the seemingly invincible Protestants pass their next morale test easily.

The end is swift.  The rear Tercio on the left routs first, allowing the cavalry attacking it to fall on the rear of the 'Capua' Tercio still holding out in front.  That promptly loses its last morale point and departs, carrying Córdoba with it, leaving only three Spanish units on the field.  They fail their army morale test.  Total victory for Mansfeld.

The game lasted 15 turns, which we got through between about 3 pm and 5.30 pm.  The Spanish were not helped by poor activation rolls but did not help themselves by making poor use of Córdoba early on to reorganise their position on the left in the face of the build up of Protestant cavalry in that sector.  Once the blow fell, Mansfeld kept up the pressure, never giving the Spanish a chance to get off the back foot.  Chris - Mansfeld - left at just after 6 pm.  The next team to take up command of the armies arrived at 6.20 and by 7 pm the second contest was underway.  Would the Spanish be fated to lose again or could they redress the balance?  Click here to find out.