Friday, December 9, 2011

The Battle of Altenbruk...

...Or a "bad night of dice rolling".
With his back against the wall, Duke Sigmund of Zlobenia, made at stand at the hilltop town of Altenbruk. It's command of the only two crossings of the River Blut made it ideal for defense. With this in mind, the Duke Sigmund arrayed what was left of the Zlobenian army on the slopes of the town, waiting to find out which crossing Prince Adelbert and the Franistover army would take.
It was a particularly cold Spring morning, and fog covered the lowlands around the river for miles. Sigmund had placed his Horse, led by the remnants of the Ducal Horse Grenadiers, forward in hopes he could catch the Frannies at the bridges, holding them long enough for the Infantry to arrive.
Luck, and the weather was against the Duke. When the sun fiannly burned away the fog, it was to reveal the entire Franistover army crossing at one point, the northern bridge, the farthest from his Horse.
Zlobenia seized the initiative, and the Duke raced his Horse in a giant arc, north towards the bridge. His Foot, however either were tardy, or didn't budge. The brunt of the attack, would rely on his cavalry, which had preformed abyssmally at the last engagement.
Frainstover Horse range across the countryside, while the foot battle it out.
Meanwhile, Franistover had managed to get a few troops across the bridge. The Horse move quickly to swing wide and ride hard for a spot between two forests. Prince Adelbert was having a hard time getting his Guard units to move. They had stopped dead in their tracks on the road. Maybe they had seen the Zlob horse thundering down from the hilltop town, straight for them.
Indeed, the Duke's horse slammed into the still forming Franistover foot. They horse caught them in marching formation and cut them to pieces.
The Franistover Horse that had crossed the Blut, bypassed the fight and rode headlong towards the only road from Altenbruk to the capital. If they succeeded in holding it, Altenbruk would be cut off from the rest of Zlobenia.
The battle over the bridge was getting heavier. Rain started to fall. More troops were committed. Prince Adelbert left his carriage and trudged through the mud to his General of the Guard, the Count Zuffel. Prince Adelbert literal put his boot to the Count's backside. Finally, the Guard would move across the river.
The steady drizzle was turning a firefight into a slow grinding of bayonet and sword. A battle of attrition was something Duke Sigmund could not afford. Weakened by earlier battles, the Zlobenia army was giving way. Troops sent to drive off the enemy horse from the road to capital were slow to respond, and were proving ineffective at budging the horse.
As night fell, Duke Sigmund pulled his troops back, as Prince Adelbert encircled Altenbruk.
It would be a siege.
Horrible dice rolls ruled the night. Both sides had trouble moving troops, and command points were hard to come by. But, as always, Might and Reason proved a fun and period game.

7 comments:

Capt Bill said...

Reich Duke Wilhelm has been closely following the events in Unkerlant and was impressed with Prince Adelbert's actions at Altenbruk. As a result, The College of Honors has invested Prince Adelbert into the Military Order of the Golden Crown.

BaronVonJ said...

He proudly accepts.

J. Leeuwensteyn said...

Where's that black and white picture from :)

BaronVonJ said...

Just Googled "War of Spanish Succession" and photoshopped in the Franistover flag.-J

J. Leeuwensteyn said...

Ok :)

Just asked because of the woman in the middle picture. That's a girl isn't it?

BaronVonJ said...

Its the battle of Malpaquet (sp?). I don't think there were any chicks there.

Essjam said...

Prince Adelbert receives a medal. Excellent! It has been my privilege to play that character in the Baron's Unkerlant wars.