Mad Swedes

It is July 1702. King Charles XII of Sweden has advanced into Poland aiming to crush the army of Augustus, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland. Battle is joined near Kliszów — cunningly disguised as the 'Battle of Kokot' by our kindly umpire to avoid too much historical hindsight.

The Saxons have a strong defensive position on high ground, behind some streams. Their position is anchored on two fortified villages. They also have lots of artillery including some heavy guns.

Although outnumbered, King Charles is disdainful of his Saxon and Polish opponents and confident in the training and aggression of his professional soldiers. He decides to hold back on his right and in the centre...

... and personally lead his best troops against Hieronim Lubomirski’s Poles and Cossacks on the relatively open Saxon right.

The initial cavalry clash drives back much of the Polish wing although the winged hussars stand firm and one of the Swedish cavalry units is driven back by the Poles.

Although the Polish cavalry has been decimated they hold up the Swedes long enough to allow the Saxons to begin transferring troops from their left wing to reinforce their beleaguered right.

Realising that in order to prevent the Saxons further reinforcing their right, the Swedes decide that they have no option other than to advance on the strong defences in the centre and on the Saxon left.

The Swedish advance against the Saxon left suffers heavily from artillery fire. As their cavalry move forward they also fall into disorder from crossing the steams. It seems hopeless but their blood is up and so the mad Swedes charge the Saxons à outrance even though the odds are against them. With four dice to roll and needing a 5 or 6 to hit they roll a perfect score with the Saxons failing to gain a single hit.

Having driven back the first line of Saxon cavalry the mad Swedes push on in pursuit to throw back the second line — punching a hole between the Saxon left and centre.

Meanwhile on the other flank the Polish cavalry have been routed. Lubomirski joins the Cossacks and leads them in a successful flank attack on the advancing Swedish cavalry.

The battle sways back and forth. The Swedish foot in the centre are decimated by a combination of artillery canister and musketry as they close on the Saxons. Heedless of casualties, the mad Swedes fire a volley, drop their muskets and charge home with pikes and swords to eventually break through.

With the Poles routed on the Saxon right and breakthroughs in their centre and left, the Saxons have no choice but to pull back and leave the field to the Swedes.

It was an exciting, hard fought game. At one point, although the Swedes were winning on their left, their attack was running out of steam and it seemed as if they would not be able to break the Saxon defence. Then at the last minute they achieved two signifiant break-throughs to turn the tide.

The game was played using Close Fire and European Order rules which are available from my website here.