Tipplebruder pictures

Later, Captions, and then to remove about three or four duplicated pictures ....
Meanwhile, the Stagonians are played by my Wiener figures and the Alliance is mostly Britischareworst and Hungover figures ....
:)
A

Above one sees the Vile Stagonians approaching from the South. On the right is the edge of the mountain and forests. On the left is the river upon the banks of which Tipplebruder stands. There's a small stream being forded in front of the cavalry, while the infantry and guns surround and prepare to assault the Convent of St. Mary Hildegaard Kunnegunde of the Holy Rose Water. To the north, one can see the Frank and Stein Inn and across the river, Tipplebruder.
The Same view from a more grounded altitude.
Skirmishing along the highway in the hills among the trees.
From the west, near Tipplebruder (just in the picture to the left) looking across the river to St. Mary's. The Stagonian brigades approach on the right. Across the muddy but frozen fields, one can see the inn on the left, and the tree covered hills in the distance.
The quaint town of Tipplebruder.

Looking behind the Alliance lines, as units scramble to reach the defensive works now threatened by the Stagonian offense.
Skirmishing ih the hills, the Stagonian Jaegers, though outnumbered, press the Freikorps Jaegers back. St. Mary's and the Inn can be seen through the trees and far away in the flood plain, little Tipplebruder.
The Alliance attempts to block the mountain highway and roads by cutting down trees across the roadways.

In the distance, Hesse Engleberg and militia form up near the artillery redoubt. Blurry in the foreground, the Freikorps mans part of the Inn Strongpoint. Behind them, a supply convoy is being sent to Tipplebruder.

Tragardland troops man the barricades at the inn!
From the north, behind the Alliance lines at the Inn, we can see the Alliance jaeges preparing to abandon St. Mary's. Count Turkenbold, with two strong allied battalions still approaching elects not to meet the Stagonians at St. Mary's.

St Mary's almost surrounded.
Seeing his infantry advancing against the main Allied line, Gen. Drednoz leads the Cuirassiers across the stream.


Gen. Drednoz contemplates the situation, with his cavalry formed to exploit any success as his infantry battalions struggle through the mud and lethal artillery to assault the Alliance lines.
While Gen. Drednoz absorbs the fact that Turkenbold has abnormally accurate artillery (60_% hits! And bounce!), a view from the North. The late Hesse Engleberg battalion is approaching the Inn, the Allied cavalry is deployed to either halt a breakthrough or to repulse the unknown horsemen coming down the mountain paths. The Highlanders are pressing forward to support the front, carefully paced by their Colonel, Stanley McLaurel who is whining, "now men, do not lose your order. Keep in step. Steady now!"
Bird's eye view of the previous, the infantry lines are engaged in a deadly firefight.
From Tipplebruder Tower; The defensive position is being penetrated in the middle (the lonely, soon to expire battalion to the right of the barrier beyond the redoubt). Brigadiers are rallying their men and pushing them forward. Two battalions can be seen reforming up by St. Mary's/

The Stagonian flags are in the works! The Stagonian cavalry begins to advance!
Stagonian Dragoons advance toward the battle line.
A brigadier drives his men towards the redoubt and the gap towards the stream (through thick, clingy, icy clay mud).

The Stagonians have broken through the line!
The crisis, the Tragardland grenadiers stand in the breach!

The Crisis: The Artillery redoubt is stormed! The Stagonian cavalry rushes forward to get through the Alliance lines!
Something is happening in the hills! Those horsemen approach.

The Crisis: the Princessin Garde stands in the breach while the Highlanders sweep forward to retake the artillery redoubt!

Climax, the Polish? infantry battalion can be seen rushing forward on the extreme left, the Tragardland battalion begins to deploy along the causeway.

The Inn Strongpoint holds, while the light troops engage in a fierce firefight in the foreground.

My lord Drednoz! Our jaegers are falling back on the flank. Frankzonian cavalry approaches the right wing! We must retire or be surrounded!

Tipplebruder, UPDATE

First of all, there were some errors in the Quick Comments post ... please check the corrected post ... examining the photos, I see that the Misthuafen Freikorps was NOT eliminated, but broke after sustaining very heavy casualties .... also I did not report the casualties to the Jaegers on both sides ...
Also. V. Bruin is injured and out of action for a while (I passed on a survival roll because I'd already declared he'd survived ....)

Also, the casualty rate to the Stagonians did not include the post crisis collapse notes ... but given that Stagonia had to leave anyway, it seemed inappropriate to hurt King Maurice any further. That would be just too vile!

Wait a minute, what am I saying?!?

Oh well ....

Now:
PICTURES!!!

While I will be bringing them to this blog eventually, I've posted the picture albums on the Koenig's Krieg Yahoo group (Hey, I'm a moderator there, after all, and I did use mostly K.K. rules). If you're too eager to wait, Edie did a very nice job.

Regards and all that ....

Tipplebruder, quick coments .... CORRECTED

Friday, February 15, 2008
Tipplebruder, quick coments ....

v. Gruber and v. Hirschbock need "survival rolls"
1-3, they are rallying their forces in the muddy ice of the road home. \
4 -5: They are being carried home to recover from their grievous wounds.
6: Coffin nails, sorry 'bout that, Chief.

CORRECTION: v. Bruin was seriously wounded while standing with the Grenadiers in the breach, but may survive ....

Casualties in the four "wiped out" battalions exceed 80% prior to whatever recovery system your own games use ... Since there was no pursuit, however, I'd suggest that Stagonian Jeff put an extra fudge factor into his recovery rolls.
CORRECTION: Misthaufen Freikorps only takes 60% casualties as do the Alliance Jaegers.

The Duchy of Fenwick and Tipplebruder militia only took about 50 casualties.
The Battery v. Schweeky took heavy casualties, but all guns were recovered.
The Prinzessin Garde lost 50, and the Saxe - Bearstein Grenadiers lost 150.
IR Lowenbrau lost about 100, but was never charged ... as the Stagonians, such as Duffy's regiment at the close of the battle, had been instructed to not attempt to storm barricades until the defenders had fallen back from them.
The composite Jaegers only took about 50% casualties while the Misthaufen Jaegers took a hundred ... the success of the Stagonian Jaegers, though outnumbered, in winkling the Misthaufen Jaegers out of their initial position is a clear battle honor, btw.

Count Trunkenbold will definitely be looking for somebody to recoup his losses!

On the Stagonian side, which actually did press forward into an almost victory, the casualties caused by having to advance in the open into fire across ground which slowed their movement suffered badly. Three of the four destroyed battalions were theirs!
Otherwise:
Du Lepps - 200
du Briez - 125
O'Duffy - 125
v. Krinkle - 150
St. Cyr - 100
CORRECTION: Jaegers suffer 100 casualties

Neither the Stagonian artillery nor any cavalry sustained noticeable casualties.
The Alliance Cavalry was sheltered behind the causeway and inn from Stagonian carry through ball shot.
On the other hand, the Alliance "off table" reinforcements suffered badly from straggling.

In retrospect, I probably should have kept to the 12 figure battalion scale, which would have made the option of driving between the inn and the mountains a much more plausible one for Stagonia. However, as an "all knowing" player, I was actually handicapped by knowing that the mysterious horsemen were alliance figures, and wanted to make the schwerpunkt of the battle more remote from their potential interference.

Now that the battle report itself has a solid draft form, I'll concentrate on lining up the pictures to fill out the details! (yep, the CD is in the drive now, but time presses today!)

Regards,
Arthur (who really is getting steadily better, in spite of the grief lately, thanks everyone for the kind words!)

Tipplebruder, the crisis!

The Crisis:.

After pressing forward and falling back a few times, the artillery under Brig Oppenkopf combined with the occasional volley of musketry, finally depletes the Misthaufen Freikorps.
IB V. Gruber, which is the current leading inside battalion has also managed to drive the Alliance Jaegers back to the causeway. Alas, v. Gruber’s enthusiastic advance to flank the barricades at the inn and to pursue the Jaegers brings into a position in which Schweeky can obliterate his battalion by massed fire in enfilade.

The Alliance line is pierced! Drednoz orders a new general advance. Duffy’s battalion continues to press the forces near the inn to pin them into position while his jaegers follow up the retreating Alliance light forces in the hills. The battalions St. Cyr and du Lepps drive into the gap, while V. Hirshbock returns his battered grenadiers to the assault of the Hesse Engleburg battalion which is not covered by barricades

Seeing the approaching Stagonians across the causeway, the Saxe-Urquhart 86th Highlanders push forward, carrying the whimpering McLaurel at their head. The Prinzessin Garde push foward on side of the battery v. Shweeky to confront du Lepps, while the Saxe-Bearstein grenadiers attempt to stop St. Cyr. Count v. Trunkenbold anxiously tries to get the IR v. Urquell to move onto the causeway between the inn and the fleche. As this would mean that they would be separated from their own line, the colonel hesitates until loudly ordered by v. Bruin to comply!

Meanwhile, the Stagonian guns under v, Kroll have managed to disrupt the battery v. Schweeky, and since the battery had not fired on their advancing line, the whole brigade charges forward!
For a moment, as IR-6 De Marmier swarms into the fleche among Schweeky’s guns and IR-2 du Breiz pushes into the gap between V. Kroll and Offenbach’s brigades, it seems that G. Drednoz’s plan has been victorious! Though battered by the punishing Alliance artillery during their advance, these battalions still outnumber their foes. Eagerly, the Stagonian cavalry begins to move forward!

The Wounded Bear Rises:

Even as the Stagonian leaders excitedly press forward into the smoke, they are suddenly shocked to see bands of disorganized Stagonian infantry reeling back towards them!

V. Hirschbock, who had high hopes of overrunning the amalgam of militia and plain Fenwickian line has encountered a corps which had spent the last month under the tutelage of a master marksman ... the battalion recieves such intense musketry that its men fall in line like unplanted fence posts! The Highlanders deliver their own volley and crash into de Marmier who is already weakened by twice advancing into v. Schweeky’s guns. Swarming over the first Stagonians, they then crash into the flank of du Lepps, who has failed to force the outnumbered Garde back from their stand. Further east, while St. Cyr has managed to drive the also outnumbered Saxe - Bearsteon grenadiers back into the inn, they are rallied there by v. Bruin. Meanwhile, the small Tipplebruder artillery and Alliance Jaegers behind a barricade have stalled du Breiz.
Even as the Stagonian v. Kroll brigade crumbles, I.R. Urquell finally deploys along the causeway, clearly present in strength enough to hold the now exhausted Stagonians in I.B. St. Cyr.

Offenbach tries to bring his last battalion forward to support St. Cyr, but delays on hearing loud shouts, cheering, and fanfares from the Allied line. The Wojskowo Piechota leading files have been spotted rushing towards the smoke and thunder of battle.

At the same moment, runners from the hills reach Count Trunkenbold and Gen. Drednoz ... yes, there are cavalry working their way down off the mountain massif to the east ... flying Frankzonian colors!!

(Yes, fellow players, Stagonian Jeff was warned that Frankszonia could attempt to force march a cavalry unit to the battle, the distance is not impossible from southern Frankszonia ... and the snow etc. delays provided a decent chance ... but notice that neither force appeared till after turn six ... which is the longest Koenig Krieg game I’ve played to date! Also, given the premature exhaustion of the Stagonian infantry, I really don’t think they made all that much difference! Edie’s rolls usually get me on initiative rolls, this time her artillery and musketry were absolutely lethal! But I had enough initiative rolls to keep rearranging and sustaining the advance. )

Angrily, Gen Drednoz orders his musicians to sound “rally” and “retreat.” The artillery is sent off the field first, then the remnants of the infantry columns are painfully gathered together and sent trudging after. As the Frankszonian cavalry is still in the hills, and clearly disordered by its ordeal in crossing snow sludge and mud in the mountains, Count Trunkenbold does not attempt to challenge the still superior numbers of Stagonian Cavalry, which under the gallant Yves d'Amours and an angry Drednoz could still be a formidable threat. After his narrow escape, Trunkenbold is content to watch the Stagonian forces fade into the drizzle and sleet of another January storm.

Tipplebruder, phase 2, the Stagonian Push

Tipplebruder: Phase 2

The Fog Lifts!

After a while, a stiff, chilly breeze sweeps down the valley and, with the cold sun glaring down, drives the fog away. The composite Jaegers holding the convent of St. Mary Hildegaard Kunnegunde of the Holy Rose Water see themselves about to be surrounded and find many cannons almost touching the enclave’s walls! Without further ado, they sprint back to the main lines, where Brigadier v. Bruin rallies them on the flank of the Misthaufen musketeers, hoping to strengthen the gaping hole in the middle of the scattered Alliance forces.

With the annoyance of the Alliance Jaegers removed from the strong point, the Stagonian brigades quickly advance. Von Kroll eagerly sweeps west of the convent towards the river and the Tipplebruder bridge while Oppenkopf carefully reforms his brigade towards the Frank und Stein Inn.
(Tipplebruder and Alliance Forces xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Highlanders 11 Cavalry x
Bridge ========== G. Prinzessen == == 11 Turkenbold =x======= into the hills
Brigade Maurice: gun 11 Inn v. Bruin x
battery Schweeky xxxxx Grenadiers x
Jaegers Misthaufen /guns. / Lowenbrau x
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
11
11
IR-2 du Breiz IR-1 von Hirschbock IR-7 von Gruber IR-5 O'Duffy
Brigadier Heinrich von Kroll (ST. MARY’S) Brigadier Lothar Oppenkopf
IR-6 De Marmier IR-4 du Lepps IR-10 St. Cyr IR-9 von Krinkle

Brigadier Yves d'Amours Major General Karl von Drednoz
Stagonian DR-9 Dragoons CR-1 von Kirschstein Kuirassier
Stagonian DR-10 Dragoons (Crossing bridge)

Meanwhile the Stagonian Jaegers open a lively firefight in the hills against the Misthaufen Jaegers.
As the Stagonians press forward,,, the Alliance batteries begin to fire shells (considering the ground possibly too muddy to bounce the roundshot) and with some long range musketry inflict some casualties on the Stagonian front lines.

Warned already by his Jaegers, Count Hans Trunkenbold von Misthaufen strives to prepare his lines for the approaching onslaught. Brigade Maurice, the Fenwickians and Tipplebruder forces, hold a fleche and barricade guarding the Tipplebruder bridge. V. Bruin holds the strong point at the inn with the Freikorps and IR Lowenbrau on the barrricades, his artillery in his center, and the grenadiers in reserve. The retreating Jaegers attach themselves to his command providing a thin screen in the gap between the two strong points. At the same time, the supply column which had supported the camps on the east bank of the river is ordered to return to Tipplebruder.
At this point, however, Trunkenbold encounters a problem. He orders the cavalry under Pferdschnauzen to deploy behind the causeway in the center of his position, but its response is too sluggish. The language difficulties basically create two separate commands, and the Hussars do not respond. Pferschnauzen, happily, reports that the Saxe-Bearstein / IR v. Urquell can be seen marching rapidly down the valley to the battle site. When Col. Laurel is ordered to move his forces into the center gap, however, he responds by mustering his troops into an assault column and keeps them near their tents.

The Firefight

Now the battle enters a new phase, the Stagonian artillery pounds the Friekorps on the east and the battery under v. Schweeky. The Alliance artillery continues firing into the advancing Stagonian battalions. The effects of the Stagonian fire have convinced them, however, that ball shot is effective, and thus many of their shots carry into the second line of infantrry which the Stagonian brigadiers are pressing aggressively forward.

Seeing his infantry advance, Gen. Drednoz orders the cavalry to cross the stream behind him and deploy just out of the bounce range of the Alliance shot. He himself leads the von Kirschstein Kuirassier across the main bridge. While his attention is on this matter, though, the Alliance artillery proves deadly. Every volley inflicts casualties on both infantry lines. IR .v Gruber is the first to break, but Oppenkopf is able to rally it on IF St. Cyr while pushing v. Krinkle forward in its place.

Trunkenbold, however, has no sense of victory from the fluttering advance of the Stagonian line. McLaurel’s Highlanders seem to be moving forward sluggishly (McLaurel commands his pipers to play some tunes to rally them before throwing them into the fray). IR v. Urquell appears to have a bit of a straggling problem (they’ve been force marched for days). Then Hauptman Streiker, rushing to rejoin his command, delivers horrible news. The Croats have definitely seen a force of strang Hussars advancing down the valley opening onto the Alliance’s east flank!

Trunkenbold orders the Hit Man to hold his hussars in an ambush position covering the flank of the Inn position, and to send riders to rush the Wojskowo Piechota along. The Freikorps Jaegers and Croat are concentrated behind barriers of felled trees where the highway intersects with the mountain paths coming out of the valley.

Minding my Mindens, again

As promised, here are the photos of the awful job I did on the lovely sample Frank sent me ... the bayonet, alas, was broken off during my clumsy painting. I'm not kidding when I say it was done by a half blind, palsied old fart ...
:)
Anyway, he's in the colors of the Frankzonian Sage Guard brigade.

The battle begins .at Tipplebruder ....

yes, this is text ... and just the moment of the beginning of the shooting phase of the game ...
I've got the pictures on disk, but I've got to get them on my confuser and then load them up here so that's going to take a week or so .... and so I'm going to start with these text files and then make a photo-journalism type report when the pictures are ready to upload ....


TIPPLE BRUDER BATTLE REPORT

Orders of Battle:

Alliance Forces:

Count Hans Trunkenbold von Misthaufen (2) commanding:

Brigade Maurice: (Dchy Grand Fenwick / Wittenburg)

IB Oberst v.Feldmouse: 24 @ (5) (red) (includes Tipplebruder militia)
Batttery V. Schweeky: 3 x 4 lb (Includes Tipplebruder guns)
-----
Hauptman Willhelm Streiker (1) (Hesse-Engleburg)
Garde du Corps Prinzessin Gertrude: 10 @ (7) + 1 marksmanship (pink)

Brigade v.Bruin
Brig. Ernst v. Bruin (0) (Saxe - Bearstein)
IR Lowenbrau : 24 @ (4) (red)
Grenadiers : 16 @ (6)
Battery : 1 x 9 lbr ; 2 x 3 lbr.
Freikorps Misthaufen: 24 @ (5) (blue)

Brigade Pferdschnauzen (0): (Actually led by the Hit Man)
Hussars composite: 18 @ (7)
Wstrasowo Dragoons : 24 @ (6)

Ranger Brigade:
Hauptman Sontag (1)
Composite Jagers: 12 @ (6) Skirmish, Rifle
Croats Misthaufen : 12 @ (4) Skirmish
Jagers Misthaufen: 16 @ (6) Skirmish, Rifle

Reserves:
Hit Man (Mieczyslaw ) (?)
from Soweiter League -- (Stanley McLaurel (1) )
-- Saxe-Urquhart 86th Highlanders : --24 figs, (6)
– Saxe-Bearstein / IR v. Urquell : 30 (-stragglers = 24) @ (5) (red)
– Wojskowo Piechota : 30 @ (7) (Late die, after deployment moves) (blue)







STAGONIAN FORCES: (white)

Major General Karl von Drednoz (1)

CR-1 von Kirschstein Kuirassier (500 x elite) – 20 figs, (8)

-- Brigadier Yves d'Amours (2)
Stagonian DR-9 Dragoons -- (4 x 125) = 500
Stagonian DR-10 Dragoons -- (2 x 125) = 250
30 figs, (6)
Icelauf Jagers (raw)
Blut Jagers (raw) --
12 figs, (5)

-- Brigadier Heinrich von Kroll (1)

IR-1 von Hirschbock (elite) -- Grenadiers : 24 figs, (7)
IR-2 du Breiz (veteran) -- 24 figs, (5)
IR-4 du Lepps (veteran) – 20 figs, (5)
IR-6 De Marmier (raw) -- 24 figs, (4)

-- Brigadier Lothar Oppenkopf (0)

IR-5 O'Duffy (veteran) -- 24 figs, (5)
IR-7 von Gruber (raw) -- 16 figs, (4)
IR-9 von Krinkle (raw) -- 20 figs, (4)
IR-10 St. Cyr (veteran) -- 20 figs, (5)

ARTILLERY (all veteran) --

Stagonia – 2 x 9 lb medium guns
Stagonia – 2 x 3 lb

(Item: due to available models, Alliance batteries are rolling 4 dice per stand while Stagonia is rolling 6 dice per stand) {Didn’t help much, though. Edie still out rolled my batteries every turn!}





Situation report, 10 AM

Stagonian forces driven in the picquets and skirmishers of the grungy Alliance back almost two miles, when they rallied on the Convent of St. Mary Hildegaard Kunnagunde of the Holy Rose Water. Even though Gen. Drednoz tried to enthuse his men with accounts of the plunder and virgins contained inside its stout stone walls, it proved impossible to bring enough force to bear through the bogs around the convent which were under continuous shell fire from the Tipplebruder forces. In the middle of January, however, an ice storm and hard freeze enabled the Stagonian artillery to be brought forward at night and placed close to the convent walls. Meanwhile Stagonian engineers braved the frigid waters of a minor stream to throw more bridges across the small stream between the Stagonian main force and the convent.

Gen. Drednoz had noticed that the Alliance forces were split .... a large force was guarding the egress of the highway from the forested hills (the Misthaufen Jaegers and Croats), and had formed a strong point around a country inn at the crossroads of the country path (Brigade v. Bruin) that Drednoz was using to advance in the flat lands and the highway. Another strong point had been established covering the bridgehead at Tipplebruder (Brigade Maurice), while the Alliance cavalry seemed to be held back in reserve.. The center of the Alliance line, however, appeared but weakly held, though the standard of Count Trunkenbold could be seen there.

Stagonian plans:
Drednoz thus ordered his Jaegers to make a demonstration on the highway approach in the hills in order to fix as many forces on that flank as possible. These small battalions were combined and performed outstanding service, holding almost twice their numbers in the hills during most f the battle. Their efforts were aided by the rumors of strange cavalry in the mountains which had been slyly planted in his foe’s army Meanwhile, he directed Brigadiers v Kroll and Oppenkopf to first clear the convent and then use their first line to pin the forces in either stronghold while their second line was to advance and seize the road between those two points. After this, Gen. Drednoz hoped to bring his superior cavalry force to bear to drive off the Alliance cavalry and force the isolated strong points to yield.

Tipplebruder plans:
Count Trunkenbold hoped to draw the Stagonians onto his barriers, where his infantry could decimate them with musketry. He anticipated the Stagonian drive into the middle but felt that with most of the enemy forces tied up on the strong points, his cavalry would be sufficient to drive them back across the highway. Furthermore, the Count was aware that while there was mysterious cavalry in the mountains, two more infantry battalions of high repute were rushing to the field to aid him. Thus he counted on his own light troops to hold the junction of the mountain path long enough that the inn strong point could redeploy to prevent the strangers from overrunning his lines. Further, on the shoulders of the gap, he had posted two small but elite battalions, and had ordered McLaurel to bring his highlanders into position there.
The only ticklish point was how long the composite jaegers could hold the convent, and thus buy time for the reinforcements to arrive on the field. Meanwhile, the Count dispatched Hauptman Streiker to the roadblock held by his own light infantry to see if any further intelligence on the strange cavalry could be gathered.