The Fate of Vienna

With some time on my hands, I decided to replay the 1683 Battle of Vienna.

Set Up

I acquired an order of battle from Wargames Illustrated # 204. It has a Vienna scenario for De Bellis Renationis. I reduced the number of units and converted them to Dominion of Pike and Shot troop types.

The battle is large but actually divides easily into 3 sections. I created a Dominion scenario for each section. Best of 3 wins the battle.

The Left

Charles of Lorraine leads the left flank of the allied force sent to relieve the siege of Vienna. Ibrahim commands the Turks on that flank.

The opposing forces (Turks on top):

• Ibrahim - Front (L to R): Artillery (D) on the Nussberg, Janissaries (missile infantry), light horse. Reserve: 2 light horse, Janissaries.
• Charles - Front (L to R): musketeers, artillery, cuirassiers. Reserve: musketeers, Polish cavalry, cuirassiers

The Imperial cuirassiers kick off the battle with a charge that scatters the light horse.

But more light horse engage and rout the cuirassiers.

There is a seesaw battle on the right. Both sides lose a unit.

The Janissaries overrun the Imperial artillery.

But are routed in turn.

The Polish cavalry charges but the Turkish light horse cuts them down.

This leaves the Imperial flank open. The light horse charge into the musketeers, routing them.

The Turks have defended the left flank.

The Center

Meanwhile, von Waldeck leads a German contingent against Mustafa Bekri's Turks in the center of the battlefield.

The opposing forces:

• Mustafa Bekri - Advance: Skirmishers. Front (L to R): Janissaries and artillery in a redoubt, cavalry. Reserves: Janissaries.
• von Waldeck - Front (L to R): 2 musketeers, cuirassiers. Reserve: 2 musketeers, cuirassiers

The Turkish skirmishers disrupt the musketeers then fall back.

To simulate the advance line of skirmishers, I did one round of combat. If the skirmishers survive (which they did), they would retire to the reserve.

The cuirassiers charge. In a bloody battle, they rout the Sipahis but are blown. 

The reserve cuirassiers also charge and are routed. Meanwhile, the musketeers try to storm the redoubt but the Janissaries see them off.

von Waldeck pushes forth his musketeers on the right. The Janissaries sacrifice themselves to stop the advance.

This leaves the allied center too weak to continue. The Turks also hold the center.

The Right

With the rest of the allied army in disarray, King John Sobieski of Poland tries to shield the retreat. He runs into Turkish cavalry under Sary Abaza.

The opposing forces:

• Sary Abaza - Front (L to R): light horse, Sipahis, light horse. Reserve: 2 light horse, Sipahis.
• Sobieski - Front (L to R): 2 winged hussars (armored elite), Pacerni. Reserve: Cossack dragoons

The center winged hussars charge, and get routed.

The left has more success. But the Turkish Sipahis rout the Cossacks that plug the center.

This leaves the winged hussars vulnerable to a flanking attack. They rout and the battle is lost.

Aftermath

The allied forces are in total disarray (losing 3-0). They must retreat, and the siege continues. It is only a matter of time before Vienna falls.

GAME NOTES

Well, that did not go the way I hoped, or the way history went. That's what makes gaming so much fun.

The scenario worked fine. I will have to rerun it some day.

Overall, the 3 scenarios lasted about half an hour in total. I spent more time writing up the battle reports!

I FORGOT AGAIN! I keep forgetting about the rally rule. Perhaps I'll make a token to remind me.

WHAT NEXT?

I haven't done much with the Pike & Shot rules so it was fun to bring them out. It's got me interested in doing some more Turks vs. Imperials - stay tuned.

I'm a little short of counters for the Imperial forces. As a result, I had to reduce some of the forces from my initial conversion. I'll have to prep and print some more whitecoats out.

1922 National League Championship Series

The Cinderella Brooklyn Robins (6th seed) face the Cincinnati Reds (2nd seed)

Game 1

• Brooklyn: 7 runs, 12 hits, 0 errors.
• Cincinnati: 4 runs, 11 hits, 3 errors.

The Robins leap out to a 4-0 lead early. The Reds get 2 in the 3rd inning. Then the pitchers settle down, blanking the opposition until the 9th. George Burns gets a key hit as the Reds tie the score in the bottom of the 9th. But Brooklyn storms back with 3 runs in the 10th to win.

Game 2

• Brooklyn: 2 runs, 5 hits, 1 error.
• Cincinnati: 6 runs, 10 hits, 1 error.

Another tie game going into the 9th inning. Then the Reds' Sam Bohne homers and 4 runs score in the inning.

Game 3

• Cincinnati: 5 runs, 5 hits, 3 errors. WP - Dolf Luque
• Brooklyn: 2 runs, 4 hits, 2 errors. LP - Dazzy Vance

George Burns breaks a 2-2 tie in the 4th with a key hit that scores a run. The Reds add 2 more on errors to cruise to victory.

Game 4

• Cincinnati: 13 runs, 15 hits, 3 errors. WP - Eppa Rixey
• Brooklyn: 11 runs, 10 hits, 2 errors. LP - Dutch Ruether

The Robins' Hi Myers puts on an offensive clinic, driving in runs in a 4-run 4th and 3-run 7th. But George Burns of the Reds trumps Myers with a key hit in a 6-run 8th, putting the Reds up 12-10. Both teams get a run off errors in the 9th. Brooklyn can't get anymore and their comeback attempt falls short.

George Burns

The Reds win 3 in a row to take the series 3-1. On to the World Series vs. the Yankees.

1922 American League Championship Series

The St. Louis Browns face the New York Yankees

Game 1

• St Louis: 1 run, 6 hits, 1 error. LP - Urban Shocker
• New York: 7 runs, 8 hits, 0 errors. WP - Bob Shawkey

Babe Ruth hits 2 home runs to power the Yanks past the Browns. The Yanks led from the 2nd inning on.

Created in Chat GPT

Game 2

• St Louis: 5 runs, 7 hits, 2 errors. WP - Elam Vangilder, S - Hub Pruett
• New York: 4 runs, 5 hits, 1 error. LP - Waite Hoyt

The Browns jump to an early lead in the 1st inning on Baby Doll Jacobson's clutch hit. St Louis leads 4-1 in the 6th but the Yanks begin to claw back, scoring a run in the 6th. Then Wally Pipp adds a solo homer in the 7th. George Sisler hits a homer in the 9th to extend the Browns' lead to 5-3. The Yanks score a run on an error in the 9th but they cannot complete the comeback.

Game 3

• New York: 4 runs, 6 hits, 0 errors. LP - Sad Sam Jones
• St Louis: 5 runs, 9 hits, 0 errors. WP - Dixie Davis

The Yankees jumped out to a 2-0 lead on a Babe Ruth home run. Then in the 5th inning, George Sisler sparked a 5-run inning. New York scratched out runs in the 7th and 8th innings but the St. Louis bullpen shuts down the Yanks in the 9th to preserve the win.

The Yankees are now just 1 game away from elimination (down 2-1)

Game 4

• New York: 5 runs, 10 hits, 0 errors. WP - Bob Shawkey
• St Louis: 4 runs, 7 hits, 1 errors. LP - Hub Pruett

Babe Ruth knocks a solo homer in the 3rd then St Louis ties it up on an error. The Yankees go back up with 2 runs on a clutch hit by Aaron Ward. Then in the 7th, the Browns get 3 runs, powered by Baby Doll Jacobson's hit. In the 9th, Hub Pruett comes to the mound for the Browns. Babe Ruth drills a double that scores 2 runs. Shawkey finishes the Browns in the bottom of the 9th to win the game.

The Yankees have now tied it up (2 games each)

Game 5

• St Louis: 6 runs, 12 hits, 2 errors. LP - Elam Vangilder
• New York: 8 runs, 10 hits, 0 errors. WP - Waite Hoyt

Babe Ruth homers again, sparking a 4 run 3rd inning. Ken Williams then hits two home runs to tie the game. In the 7th inning, Wally Schang gets a key hit to score 2 runs. The Yankees bullpen then holds onto the lead for the win.

The Yankees complete the comeback, winning the series 3-2. They head to the World Series.

The Final Battles

The last two battles using 36 Ancient Battles for Dominion of the Spear

These battles feature Mongols.

Summary

Here are the results for the battles. Battle reports below.

• Ain Jalut (1260) - Mamluks 3, Ilkhanids 1
• Kulikovo (1380) - Muscovites 3, Golden Horde 1

Battle Reports

Ain Jalut

While the horse archers on the right cancel each other out, the center Mamluks (blue) rout their opponent.

Then the Bedouins (left) rout the Ilkhanid cavalry for the victory.

Oops, the Ilkhanid cavalry was supposed to be armored. Oh well, guess they forgot to put it on.

Kulikovo

Both sides suffered losses, then the Muscovite nobles (red) launched an attack on the left. They routed some horse archers but then get routed in return.

Some more losses, then the Muscovite infantry slaughters the Mongol horde.

NEXT UP

Hurray! I finished all 36 battles! I'm not doing that for the other books.

Others have mentioned and I agree that Dominion of really shines with campaigns. I'm trying to decide what campaign to do. 

As I mentioned, I'm leaning towards 1683 - Austrians (and Germans and Poles) vs. Turks. However, I may revive a campaign from my old blog - Hans Neiman and 1666. This campaign, inspired by the Silver Bayonet and Pikeman's Lament, featured a young Austrian officer contending against hordes of monsters. I have some ideas on how to convert it to Dominion of.

And I will also use Dominion of for some Revolutionary War battles.

Battle of Lake Pontchartrain

A naval game based on this "battle."

While Governor Galvez was marching on Baton Rouge, a naval skirmish occurred on Lake Pontchartrain.

Under cloudy skies, the USS Morris (green flag), a schooner, approaches a British brigantine, the HMS West Florida. Captain Pickles of the Morris commands the West Florida to surrender. Instead, it unleashes a broadside. The Morris replies. Both are ineffective.

The clouds part and the sun shines as the Morris maneuvers behind the West Florida. 

Note: This is somewhat literal. I think the first pic is so dark because there was some cloud cover that darkened my room but the flash did not go off, The other pics are so bright because the flash went off.

Its raking shot damages the British vessel.

The Morris moves in for the kill, boarding the other ship. There is a protracted struggle.

Note: No damage for the first round of combat.

Ultimately, though, the Morris's superior numbers prevail. The West Florida strikes its colors.

GAME NOTES

I'm still in search of some good naval rules. For big battles, I'm thinking of a variant of the Dominion of series. It worked for galleys.

For single ship actions, it dawned on me that I could use the maneuver rules from my aerial dogfight / gladiator games (as seen here). I wanted some simple combat rules so I turned to Galleys and Galleons. It's a rules set I've had for years but never played. At the time, I wanted something where I could handle several ships a side solo. G&G seemed a bit fiddly for that. But I essentially used it for the above battle and it worked fine. For simplicity, I assumed that a ship struck at 3 damage.

You may ask: Why not just use G&G? The answer is that I don't really have the room. I'm playing games on a board that measures about 5 by 7 inches. Relative movement, like I've used successfully for dogfights and gladiators, just makes sense.

The big issue I have with G&G combat is that I'm not doing activation rolls, which means I'm not going to the All at Sea table. That's why I made 3 damage an automatic strike. If I play more small actions, I'll need to figure out how to incorporate that table.

Independence Day Battles

On my old blog, it was something of a tradition to play a Revolutionary War battle on July 4th. I decided to follow that tradition here, but using Dominion of Patriots and Redcoats.

Previously, I played a semi-fictional invasion of East Florida that saw the new United States annex the British colony. For my latest campaign, I decided to play Galvez's invasion of West Florida.

Using Dominion of, I was able to complete a couple of battles in just minutes.

Background

It is 1779 and the Spanish have just allied themselves with the American rebels. The governor of Spanish New Orleans, Bernardo de Galvez, decides to take action against British forces in West Florida (at the time, Florida stretched all the way to the Mississippi River).

Fort Bute

Galvez gathers his forces and marches on Fort New Richmond (Baton Rouge). On the way, he must deal with a British garrison at Fort Bute.

Notes: 

• This is a fictional take on the battle. In reality, only 23 Waldeck grenadiers garrisoned the fort. To make the scenario more interesting, I gave them some reinforcements.
• Point are not equal. Too bad

Fort Bute (top) is garrisoned by some Waldeck grenadiers (elite line) and British artillery in defenses. Native allies (tomahawks) operate outside the fort.

Galvez has 2 battalions each of militia (skirmishers) and line infantry. An artillery battery and some native allies round out the army.

As Galvez begins preparing for a siege, the British artillery fires. Galvez's artillery responds, and knocks out its counterpart. Meanwhile, the British native allies charge the militia, which blasts them with a volley.

The grenadiers take up positions on the fort's walls. Their volley disperses the artillery. However, the militia flanks the grenadiers. A hot fire forces the grenadiers to surrender.

The remaining native allies flee. Galvez has taken Fort Bute.

Fort New Richmond (Baton Rouge)

Galvez (bottom) approached Fort New Richmond with the same force as at Fort Bute: 2 battalions each of militia (skirmishers) and line infantry, an artillery battery, and some native allies.

The British fort is much stronger than Bute. Behind the bulwarks are 2 line infantry battalions, an artillery battery, and some militia.

Once again, the Spanish artillery wipes out its counterpart. Meanwhile, the Spanish native allies charge, only to be routed by the militia.

A British line infantry battalion reinforces the walls. The British unleash a devastating volley that disperses some militia and artillery.

The opposing militias clash, rendering each other hors de combat.

The same thing occurs with the line infantry in the center. The battle comes down to the left wing. The Spanish charge but the British line pours fire into the enemy. The Spanish break.

Fort New Richmond holds. Galvez must regroup for a new attack.

Note

As I write this, I just realized that I did not use the rally rule. I keep forgetting!

What's Next?

I plan to reserve Galvez's campaign to July 4th games, but I'm tempted to try again soon. We'll see.

There is also another scenario from this part of the campaign. There was a small naval battle (just 2 ships) on Lake Pontchartrain. Sounds like a fun scenario. I don't really have rules for small naval skirmishes, but I have some ideas. I may try them out soon.

Happy Birthday USA!

May God bless our nation.