Small Kircholm – A Tillys Very Bad Day Battle Report 1

I’m still keen on playing with my brand new Polish-Lithuanian Army so when Chris came over I suggested we play Small Kircholm. The scenario was very draft and I expected to find that it favoured the Poles too much. In particular the experimental Hussar rules were probably a touch too punchy. In Tilly’s Very Bad Day terms this is a small game on a small table with small armies.

Summary: Poles rolled over the Swedes in three game turns. Scenario needs tweaking. The experimental Lancers were a super troop type – and we don’t need that kind of thing.


Kircholm-1475 Table
Kircholm-1475 Table


Phase 1: Game Set up

1.1. Agree game size

Small game, with small armies, on a small table.

1.2. Recruit armies

The scenario gives the armies. After this game I changed the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth’s order of battle. So I include the one I used here.

Polish-Lithuanian Order of Battle

  • Right Wing (4 Units; 18 Coins)
    • 1 x Commander (Sapieha)
    • 2 x Lancer Superior/Inferior [Hussars]2
    • 1 x Horse [Pancerni Cossacks]
  • Centre (6 Units; 24 Coins)
    • 1 x Commander (Jan Karol Chodkiewicz)
    • 2 x Lancer Superior/Inferior [Hussars]2
    • 1 x Horse [Kurlander Arquebusiers]
    • 1 x Shot
    • 1 x Unlimbered Cannon1
  • Left Wing (5 Units; 20 Coins2)
    • 1 x Commander (Dabrowa)
    • 2 x Lancer Superior/Inferior [Hussars]2
    • 1 x Horse or Light Horse [Cossacks, German Arquebusiers] – I took the Horse option
    • 1 x Light Horse [Tatars, Cossacks]
  • 15 Units; 62 Coins; 5 break point

Nominal unit size: 300 for Lancers; 1000 for Pike+Shot, Shot, and Rabble; 500 for Horse, Dragoons and Light Horse; 8 guns for Cannon.

Lancers

This scenario was intended to play test Lancers as there was a good chance they will unbalance the game.

One of the options in my Musing on Polish Winged Hussars in Tilly’s Very Bad Day, was to have a new trop type for Tilly’s Very Bad Day, Lancers. They have all the characteristics of Horse, except:

  • They roll 1d6 more when charging
  • They cannot shoot, ever.

The genuine Polish Hussars are also Superior, so have a starting Resolve of 4. The dummy hussars are inferior and so have a starting Resolve of 2.

1.3. Determine attacker

The scenario specifies the Swedish as the attacker.

1.4. Place Terrain

The scenario specifies the terrain.

Kircholm-1476 Table
Kircholm-1476 Table

1.5. Scouting

My Tatars/Cossacks (Light Horse) gave me 2d6 Scouting. I got one hit and delayed, so Chris had to deploy a command before me.

1.6. Deployment

Both armies formed in a chequerboard.

Kircholm-1477 Armies facing each other
Kircholm-1477 Armies facing each other

Essentially the Swedes formed with the infantry forward and the cavalry wings withdrawn.

Kircholm-1478 Swedish Deployment
Kircholm-1478 Swedish Deployment

The Swedish infantry were organised into two echelons. The first echelon had the Swedish recruits (inferior) and the 3rd echelon, behind them, had the German mercenaries. This division impacted their deployment. Each echelon deployed in a chequerboard.

Kircholm-1479 Swedish Infantry Centre
Kircholm-1479 Swedish Infantry Centre

The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth had cavalry in a long line. There was only one unit of shot in the centre.

Kircholm-1480 Polish Centre
Kircholm-1480 Polish Centre

1.7. Bombardment

The guns roared but nothing meaningful resulted.


Turn 1

The Poles roared forward. I figured the game was to test the Lancer special rule so the sooner I got to charge the better.

Kircholm-1481 Polish left and centre advance
Kircholm-1481 Polish left and centre advance
Kircholm-1482 Polish right advance
Kircholm-1482 Polish right advance

On the right we had equal numbers. But the difference in quality was notable. Particularly as I was using little 1 cm x 1 cm markers to show which units were Inferior and which were Superior. Admittedly the Hussars didn’t need the markers … they had feathers.

Kircholm-1483 On the right - Equal in numbers but not in quality
Kircholm-1483 On the right – Equal in numbers but not in quality

The centre was going to be the real test for both of us. Chris’s pike and shot. My Hussars. Who was going to win?

Kircholm-1484 In the centre a battle of cavalry versus infantry
Kircholm-1484 In the centre a battle of cavalry versus infantry

The Swedish muskets roared, but I was unfazed. Particularly as one of his supporting units – the one with the commander – couldn’t fire because other Pike+Shot units were in the way.

Kircholm-1485 Swedish musketry
Kircholm-1485 Swedish musketry

Only part way through game turn 1 and already it looked like a proper battle.

Kircholm-1486 Battlefield
Kircholm-1486 Battlefield

And the Hussars went in. Both in the centre …

Kircholm-1488 Charges declaration in centre
Kircholm-1488 Charges declaration in centre
Kircholm-1489 Hussars charge Pike and Shot in centre
Kircholm-1489 Hussars charge Pike and Shot in centre

… and on the right.

Kircholm-1487 Charge declarations on right
Kircholm-1487 Charge declarations on right
Kircholm-1490 Hussars charge on right
Kircholm-1490 Hussars charge on right

In the centre I routed a unit of Swedish recruits and drove another back.

Kircholm-1494 In centre Hussars rout Swedish recruits (Grey)
Kircholm-1494 In centre Hussars rout Swedish recruits (Grey)
Kircholm-1495 In centre Hussars drive Swedish recruits back (Grey)
Kircholm-1495 In centre Hussars drive Swedish recruits back (Grey)

On the right I routed a unit of Swedish horse but bounced off another.

Kircholm-1491 On right Hussars rout Swedish horse
Kircholm-1491 On right Hussars rout Swedish horse
Kircholm-1493 On right Swedish horse bounce Hussars
Kircholm-1493 On right Swedish horse bounce Hussars

Turn 2

In turn 2 Chris moved his German mercenaries (Ordinary Pike+Shot) up to support his Swedish recruits (Inferior Pike+Shot). The historical order of battle had the recruits in front of the mercenaries. At that moment I had two Hussar units facing six Pike+Shot units.

Kircholm-1497 In centre German foot move up to support Swedish recruits
Kircholm-1497 In centre German foot move up to support Swedish recruits

On the Polish right, Chris tried to keep his horse out of range of the Hussars. This wasn’t always possible.

Kircholm-1498 On right Swedish withdraw in front of Hussars
Kircholm-1498 On right Swedish withdraw in front of Hussars

With both consolidated our lines before the next clash.

Kircholm-1499 Centre before the charges
Kircholm-1499 Centre before the charges
Kircholm-1501 Battlefield
Kircholm-1501 Battlefield

And then the muskets blazed away again.

Kircholm-1504 Swedish musketry
Kircholm-1504 Swedish musketry

And then the Hussars went in again. In the centre …

Kircholm-1506 Charge declarations in centre
Kircholm-1506 Charge declarations in centre
Kircholm-1508 Charges in centre
Kircholm-1508 Charges in centre

… and on the right.

Kircholm-1505 Charge declarations on right
Kircholm-1505 Charge declarations on right
Kircholm-1507 Charges on right
Kircholm-1507 Charges on right

In the centre the Hussars routed another unit of Swedish recruits.

Kircholm-1509 Hussars rout Swedish recruits (Green)
Kircholm-1509 Hussars rout Swedish recruits (Green)

They also routed their first unit of German mercenaries.

Kircholm-1510 Hussars rout German mercenaries (Yellow)
Kircholm-1510 Hussars rout German mercenaries (Yellow)

On the right the Hussars routed two units of Swedish horse.

Kircholm-1512 On right Hussars rout Swedish horse
Kircholm-1512 On right Hussars rout Swedish horse

In the other melee on the right, we got the odd result where a Swedish horse unit managed to bounce the Hussar unit it faced, but was destroyed in the process. They inflicted two hits and only receive one hit, but they also only had one resolve.

Kircholm-1511 On right Swedish horse bounce Hussars but are destroyed in the process
Kircholm-1511 On right Swedish horse bounce Hussars but are destroyed in the process

Turn 3

Turn 3 would see the finale of the battle.

Kircholm-1516 Battlefield
Kircholm-1516 Battlefield

The Poles started turn three is possession of the right flank. The Swedish horse had fled the field. Okay, the commander was still present, and the cannons. But that was it.

Kircholm-1514 Polish victorious on right
Kircholm-1514 Polish victorious on right

in the centre the Swedish infantry were still there but reduced. I had five cavalry units facing Chris’s five foot units. And quality was on my side.

Kircholm-1515 Swedish centre much reduced
Kircholm-1515 Swedish centre much reduced

Chris brought up his right wing cavalry to support his infantry in the centre.

Kircholm-1518 Swedish musketry as reserve cavalry fill gaps
Kircholm-1518 Swedish musketry as reserve cavalry fill gaps

And then the Hussars went in again.

Kircholm-1519 Charge declaraitions in the centre
Kircholm-1519 Charge declaraitions in the centre
Kircholm-1521 Charges in centre
Kircholm-1521 Charges in centre

Two units of Swedish recruits (Green and Grey) drove their attackers back.

Kircholm-1523 In centre Swedish recruits (Green) bounce Hussars
Kircholm-1523 In centre Swedish recruits (Green) bounce Hussars
Kircholm-1524 In centre Swedish recruits (Grey) bounce Hussars
Kircholm-1524 In centre Swedish recruits (Grey) bounce Hussars

But the reserve German horse that Chris had brought into the line were not as tough as the recruits, and crumbled in front of the Hussars charge. And their commander fled with them.

Kircholm-1525 On left Hussars rout German horse and attached Commander
Kircholm-1525 On left Hussars rout German horse and attached Commander

And that was the end of the game.

Kircholm-1526 End game
Kircholm-1526 End game

Conclusions and Observations

A very quick game both in turns (3) and time (30-40 minutes).

Hussars

The result was historical, with a resounding Polish victory. But the scenario needs tweaking to make it a fairer game. The Hussars were too powerful.

I was experimenting with an early alternative Hussar rule, as a new Lancer troop type. Chris was the guinea pig. It turns out guinea pigs are ineffective speed bumps. The Hussars were not victorious everywhere but they packed far more punch than anything else on the field. Particularly with attached commanders. So the Swedish horse couldn’t stand up to them at all and the infantry only barely longer. I don’t think Hussars needed that extra punch of the Lancer troop type. I will revert to the standard rules for Hussars, as we played in the first/last Polish outing, i.e. I’ll make them Superior Horse.

I used a Nominal unit size of 300 for the Hussars/Lancers so there were six units of them (including dummy lancers). I might go for 400 next time, so only five units. I could go hard core and use the normal horse unit size of 500, but that would give the Polish only four units of Hussars. And that might be going too far the other way.

Historically the Polish-Lithuanians deployed dummy hussars, camp followers on horses with lances. I quite like having these on table as a bit of additional flavour. I had assumed, because these were horseboys and grooms, they are competent horsemen, just not the quality of Hussars. So I made the Lancer Inferior in the draft scenario. I’m now tempted to make them Rabble instead, but perhaps they can move the same speed as Horse. This would nudge the scenario ever so slightly in favour of the Swedes.

Swedish Order of Battle

Having the vast majority of the Swedish army inferior is terrifying for the player, particularly against Hussars, but is both accurate and poses an intersting tactical challenge. A wargamer would not pick this army by choice, but having been given it, they must do what they can. I’ll definitely stick to inferior for the Swedish recruits and Swedish horse. The German foot provide the only solid element of the army and are good as ordinary. They also add to the challenge, given they deploy behind the recruits. I’ll leave the German horse as inferior for the moment but this is something to look at in future.

Swedish Deployment

The scenario deliberately disadvantages the Swedes in deployment. The battle starts as they move out of their defensive position onto the flat. So their deployment is awkward, with the Swedish recruits (inferior) ahead of the better quality German mercenaries (ordinary). Chris didn’t realise this until he had deployed his army, so it was a bit of a shock. It meant that the Hussars got access to the weaker Swedish units first and they had the resulting success.

I like the awkward Swedish deployment in this scenarioio. The tactical challenge for the Swedes is to shake into a battle field formation that can stand up to the Polish. The challenge for the Poles is to exploit any weakness before the Swedes manage to do that. I’ll leave this aspect in the scenario – after all it is historical.

Petr’s games

Petr shared his experience of playing this scenario in the comments of the Small Kircholm Scenario. Our play test of the scenario was similar to Petr’s first attempt, i.e. a rapid Polish victory.

Petr’s second game was more interesting, with a more careful Swedish deployment resulting in very close battle. I wonder what outcome a different Swedish deployment would have for us.

Summary

All in all, a good play test but not a great scenario / game. I will downgrade the Hussars for next time (troop type and numbers). And I’m pretty sure if Chris plays the Swedes again, he’ll be more careful about deployment.


Where to get Tilly’s Very Bad Day

Tilly’s Very Bad Day is available for Download (PDF).

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