Another Bloody Hill Line

The latest battle again featured a hill line defense. This saw Otherwhen attacking Nodd to open the central road and continue their campaign to seize the eastern province of South Riding. For a change I made this primarily an infantry battle, with the cavalry fight taking place unseen and off board. Otherwhen had a slight numerical infantry advantage, a few superior infantry units in their Queen’s Own Guard, and Zeebataillon (their elite Marines), and double the artillery. Both sides had a smattering of light horse to help guard against flanking attacks and plug the inevitable holes in the line. Each side expected additional infantry reinforcements. I made an error in my measuring and the central hill that was supposed to give Otherwhen’s artillery a useful supporting position, turned out to be just out of range against the main infantry line of Nodd.

The opposing forces. Otherwhen on the left, Nodd on the right.

The battle opened with Otherwhen launching a general advance across the entire line. This surprised me some as during the planning part of the game they had talked about starting with a bombardment before advancing. This was something I thought was a wise choice given the length of time they had to accomplish their goal, (ten turns and only needing about four turns to bring their infantry into contact against the enemy’s main line). Both sides artillery played a substantial roll in the outcome of the battle.

On Nodd’s left flank the Black Barron’s brigade was withdrawn behind the hill line while all their artillery concentrated on the advancing center units of Otherwhen. The casualties inflicted were moderate, but the outcome was substantial. Otherwhen’s Senior brigade had three of its four battalions panic, meaning they could take no offensive action for the rest of the day. This included both elite units. Substantial counter battery fire eventually drove off or destroyed Nodd’s artillery, but the damage had been done.

The Black Barron’s Brigade withdrawn behind the hill. Otherwhen’s Senior Brigade advancing in the top center.

View from the center of Nodd’s defensive line, The target of the attack.

On the flanks it was a different story. After a slow start, Otherwhen’s right flank began driving in the Black Barron’s brigade This was helped by a daring attack by the Barron’s cavalry against the battery of artillery and an advance off their hill line to support this. Rather than maneuver to the artilleries flank the cavalry launched a head on charge from maximum range. While the battery had been reduced to half, it was still a not well thought out assault. Covering such a long distance into a firing line had predictable poor results for the cavalry who were driven off repeatedly. Their supporting infantry came off the worst in the firefight and having come down off the hill were finding it hard to get back up against the pursuing infantry.

Otherwhen attacking the remains of the Black Barron’s Brigade on Nodd’s left flank after the hussars failed charge on the artillery.

On Otherwhen’s left flank their infantry line supported by highly effective artillery fire was making dynamic headway. When their reinforcements arrived in the way of a flanking attack the results became catastrophic for Nodd. The cavalry and infantry defending this flank stood their ground repeatedly while being virtually annihilated in the process. Otherwhen commanders had become so obsessed with this success that they had overlooked a serious problem. There was no attack being made on the central position that was the objective. With both flanks collapsing Nodd’s generals were using the command abilities to their fullest to delay Otherwhen’s progress until the sun had set and time had runout.

Nodd’s right flank under heavy pressure. Casualties are already mounting as the flanking attack through the forest begins to develop.

Otherwhen pressing in on the right flank while Nodd’s forces stubbornly holdout.

Nodd forces holding on until the end.

It was a costly victory for Nodd, but they had finally stemmed the tide of Otherwhen’s success. The keys to this victory was the unusual result of three infantry battalion’s morale collapsing with so few casualties, especial for elite units, and the failure of the attackers to switch any forces over to the center to capture the objective. Overall this was a very well-played game by all parties.

Nodd infantry holding strong. This central hill was never attacked.

Otherwhen’s Senior Brigade seen at the end of the battle where it had stalled early on.