The Battle of Vingt-Zwanzig

Whilst taking advantage of my better half being out on Saturday morning, Surjit and I got together via Zoom for a mid 18th century clash between Austrian and French forces.  This was entirely an entirely fictional engagement. 

I've been working on army lists to use with Koenig Krieg (Hex Version) based loosely on those in Age of Reason rules.  For this encounter, both Surjit and I constructed 20 point armies.

The armies deployed.

Surjit played the French, while I commanded the Austrians.

Both of us adopted fairly standard deployments with cavalry on the wings.  Each holding a cavalry brigade in reserve.

The Austrians quickly threw their cavalry wings forward.  Perhaps trusting in their superior weight and morale.

The southern flank saw the first big cavalry clash.  One of the Austrian cuirassiers had taken a lot of fire from French infantry and artillery.

Nonetheless, the French horsemen were forced to retire.  Unfortunately for the Austrian heavies, they had only inflicted light casualties on their Gallic counterparts and would be back.

Meanwhile, on the northern flank, the Austrian cavalry commander had been too impetuous and left an exposed flank which the French dragoons were all too happy to fall upon.

Sweeping away one cuirassier unit, the dragoons then ploughed into the next.

Within moments the cream of Austrian horsemanship had been dispersed.  However, the successes of the dragoons left them out of control in the pursuit. 

Just a photo to show the battle lines.
In the centre, Croats and Chasseurs a Pied contested the ground.  All the while both lines slowly crept forward while exchanging artillery fire.

The cavalry clashes made the flanks uncertain for both sides.
On the Austrian left, the cuirassier brigade swung in to threaten the French infantry line.
On the right, both sides started bringing reserves out to continue the contest on that flank.

On the Austrian left (southern flank), the French cavalry rallied and returned to the fray to challenge the Teutonic horse and protect the infantry. The centre continued to close and inflict artillery casualties on each other.

In the north (Austrian right), reserve cavalry from both sides swiftly crossed the field in a fierce charge.  

The Austrian reserve cavalry wrought great carnage on the French horse.  Following through quickly, they attempted to run down a grenadier unit, but were halted by their controlled and effective musketry.
Nonetheless, the French commander was now feeling some anxiety about his left flank.

However, the south flank saw a complete and catastrophic reversal for the Austrians.  With one cuirassier unit destroyed and the other retreating in disarray, the French proceeded to induce a similar anxiety in the Austrian commander.

Result
With both flanks in danger, we ran out of time and called a halt.  We were happy to call this a draw.

Afterthoughts
This was a thoroughly entertaining couple of hours. A lot of fun.  Koenig Krieg remains my personal "go to" rules. for the 18th century.

This was a narrower table than I would usually use.  However, it had the virtue of getting us into action from the start - no cautious manoeuvring for ages before any contact.

As for the army lists - so far, so good.