3,2,1....Blasthof

The second battle Rob and I fought, which was perhaps only appropriate in this the 50th-anniversary year of the moon landing, was the Action at Blasthof Bridge.

As all good wargamers know, Blasthof was the first battle to be demonstrated in Charge!, the seminal work on the art of wargaming by Brigadier Peter Young and Lieutenant Colonel J.P. Lawford published in 1967. Blasthof featured the basic mechanisms of the Charge! wargame rules and it was with these same basic rules, with each side moving alternately, that Rob and I set out to recreate the famous action.

The situation

An Electorial rearguard, commanded by General Soubise (aka Rob), having been defeated in a previous engagement, is seeking to prevent the advancing Imperial army under Count von Kornberg (my good self) from seizing the bridge over the River Blast. Soubise's mission is to either destroy the bridge or hold it until nightfall -- a mere 15 moves away.

Soubise knew that victory depended on bringing the massive firepower of his Saxon Artillery battery and the 43-strong Saxon Infantry Regiment von Schönburg to bear. Eyeing the enemy cavalry horde, the Saxon Dragoon Regiment Prinz Karl, only 13 sabres all told, may have been forgiven for agreeing with him.

Soubise: Courage mes enfants, zat Imperial rabble look half starved. Let them eat lead!

Kornberg, on the other hand, knew that the bridge could be taken only by the deft use of the arme blanche. If a portion of the enemy infantry could somehow be drawn off and destroyed, there was a good chance that the 34-strong Swiss Infantry Regiment Diesbach von Signau, supported by the Bavarian artillery, would prevail. The 18 sabres of the elite French Gendarmerie de la Garde du Roi, pranced and chafed at the bit, eager for the charge.

Kornberg: Ve vill crush zose Saxon sissies like a vice!

Into Action

Having won the toss, Kornberg sent the Garde du Roi splashing across a ford in the Blasthof Stream, while the guns and infantry plodded forward towards the bridge.

Kornberg: You vill show zem no mercy!

Soubise stifled a yawn and surveyed the scene with his customary equanimity. 'Not that old manoeuvre', he thought. The Saxon dragoons and half the Schönburgs were swiftly dispatched to see off the French cavalry nuisance.

Soubise: Paf! Not zat corny old move! 'E's not called Kornberg for nutzing!

 A sharp rebuke from the Saxon guns found its mark and the first of the Garde du Roi fell.

Soubise: Ha Ha!, it's two nil to us.

Kornberg, now thoroughly annoyed, ordered his Bavarian gunners to return fire. 'That'll teach that Frenchified Fop!', he cried.

An artillery duel of increasing deadliness ensued....

Soubise: Let's show them a bit of Saxon Violence!

...with Kornberg's Swiss getting the worst of it.

Kornberg gritted his teeth. 'We can still win it', he said to himself. The ruse was working! Half of the Electoral lackeys appeared to have been distracted by the Garde du Roi.

The tension slowly rose as the Swiss approached Blasthof village and the Saxons mounted the Blasthofberg. Having run out of smokeless powder, the guns on both sides reverted to gunpowder.

Desperate to avoid the Saxon shot, the Swiss right sought shelter in the village.

Swiss: Hmmm, bit a doer upper, this!

Rounding the flank of the Blasthofberg, the Garde du Roi were supremely confident. 'Nous serons totally victorious, gentlemen!' declared their captain, the Comte de Jandalle, aka the Chevalier Philippe Felop (the inventor, as it happens, of a remarkable new form of footwear). The Count, however, was labouring under a fatal misconception, which was that it was not the done thing for officers to take part in vulgar brawls. The numerical superiority of the Garde in the coming fight was thus far from assured.

Nevertheless, the situation was beginning to look very bad for the Electorate as the Bavarian artillery finally found the range and knocked out one of the Saxon guns.

Soubise steadied his startled men: 'It's a total fluke, Saxons! Just you wait and see!'.

Meanwhile, On the far side of the Blasthofberg, a cavalry melee of the most murderous proportions was breaking out. Neither side was in the ascendant. The Schönburgs wheeled to deliver a volley against the impetuous Garde du Roi. The situation suddenly beginning to look a little less rosy for the Empire.

To be continued...…