SYW : my first battle - Might and Reason

[Hertsblue]

Fascinating battle, Ronan. The rules obviously worked well.

[ronan]

Thank you 

Yes, these rules work well for us. ( Maurice didn't  )
I have to paint the fulll armies. ( and a friend of mine started the British army  )

[Leman]

Good photos. Have played Might and Reason once, as Austrians, and lost to the Prussians. Played Maurice a lot but found I could only win with Austrians if in defence. To be honest Black Powder, using the Age of Reason supplement, gives a really good game.

[FierceKitty]

A SYW ruleset where Prussians don't win a lot in competent hands is defective. The only really dangerous enemy should be the Russians. BTW, I was reading a bit about cavalry establishments the other day, and was dumbstruck to learn the cuirassier regiments usually outnumbered dragoon units. I'd always assumed that cuirassiers would have been more expensive elite units with the pick of men and horses, and thus a minority. I appear to have been mistaken.

[ronan]

I'm not sure the prussians were in competent hands this time 

Usually they win.
But from what I read, they also lost some battles in real life.

About the cuirassiers, could you tell me where you read that ? I'm interested.

[Hertsblue]

Christopher Duffy, the acknowledged authority on the SYW in English, lists 13 Cuirassier regiments versus 12 Dragoon regiments in his The Army of Frederick the Great. However, the Garde du Corps (cuirassiers) only had 3 squadrons instead of 5 and two of the dragoon regiments (nos 5 and 6) were 10 squadrons strong. The dragoons therefore actually had more squadrons than the cuirassiers. However, not all of them existed at the same time - at least one regiment of each arm was captured at Maxen.

And yes, Kolin, Zorndorf, Hochkirk, and Kunersdorf were, shall we say, less than successful for Frederick. And Maxen, where a small Prussian army was compelled to surrender, was a total disaster - although Frederick himself was not present.

[FierceKitty]

Must confess, I can't recall the site. Sorry.

[Leman]

If you look at Prussian orbats they often have more cuirassiers than dragoons present. The Austrians also had shed loads of cuirassiers.