Averland war of Succession part 4 - Ambush on the road to Bieswang - pike and shotte

Having defeated Kastor at the Battle of Pfungzig, Pietr gave over command of the marines to Vyshnevtsky, prince regent of Hardenburg, while he rode south to take command of the grand army in its assault on Grenzsdadt. However at the Battle of Grenzsdadt Ferdinand Leitdorf fought off the grand army, pushing Pietr north. In the wake of this crucial defeat in the south the Marines' advance on Bieswang became even more imperative. So Vyshnevtsky advanced along the road to Bieswang, however Kastor was waiting for them...

 

 For this battle we used Pike and Shotte rules, using the Pavia armylists the represent our Imperial armies. The armylists were as follows


The Hardenburg Marines
- Vyshnevtsky, prince regent and general of Hardenburg on griffon - CinC & chevaulegers

Knights' Brigade - Don Quixote - Brigadier
- Knights of the Black Bear - gendarmes
- Knights of the Black Bear - gendarmes
- Knights of the Black Bear - gendarmes

Household Brigade - Captain Karayagin the Kislevite - Brigadier
- Greatswords - gallowglass
- Greatswords - gallowglass
- Outriders - mounted arquebusiers
- Outriders - mounted arquebusiers
- Hellblaster volley gun - heavy artillery

 Infantry Brigade - Warrior priest Yann the Bold - Brigadier
- City spearmen - pikemen
- Kasotian spearmen - Swiss pikemen
- Kasotian great cannon - heavy artillery


Averlanders under Baron Kastor Leitdorf

- Baron Kastor Leitdorf on Griffon - CinC & mounted men at arms

Knights Brigade - mounted captain - Brigadier
- Knights of the Blazing Sun - gendarmes
- Knights of the Blazing Sun - gendarmes
- Knights of the Blazing Sun - gendarmes

Heavy Brigade - Raimund Leitdorf (Kastor's Nephew) - Brigadier
- Greatswords - gallowglass
- Knights of the Everlasting Quest - men at arms
- Knights of the Everlasting Quest - men at arms
- Hellblaster volley gun - heavy artillery

 Infantry Brigade - Leitdorf (Kastor's brother and Raimund's father) - Brigadier
- Averlander halbediers - pikemen
- Tilean spearmen - Swiss pikemen
- Tilean spearmen - Swiss pikemen
- Tilean handgunners - Swiss arquebusiers
 - Battle wizard - medium artillery
 - Great Cannon - medium artillery

The army of Hardenburg advances along the road to Bieswang, Vyshnevtsky and the Knights of the Black Bear leading the way, with the baggage following.

 

 Suddenly Kastor's forces emerged, his infantry and artillery to the south, while he led the knights of the Blazing Sun from the north.

 Vyshnevtsky quickly brought his forces into action, turning his knights to face their counterparts in the north, and his infantry to the south. He himself tried to charge forwards to duel Kastor, but his griffon disturbed by the sudden action continued its flight along the road.
With the Hardenburgers having turned to face them, Kastor engaged. Engaging Vyshnevtsky in a mid air duel, while one unit of Blazing suns and Everlasting Quests charged forwards, the Suns charging their counterparts and the quests taking on a unit of outriders,  who closing fired them.

 The knights and griffons disengaged from their combat, both sides battered, while the knights of the Everlasting Quests knocked back the outriders, shaken, before voluntarily retiring themselves. The Averlander artillery also opened fire knocking the greatswords and spearmen.

Vysnevtsky charged into  the other Everlasting Quests unit, but both sides took damage and disengaged.

Now the Hardenburgers hit back. Their artillery opened fire on the advancing spearmen, while the unshaken outriders advanced. The Sparmen battalia however misinterpreted their orders and retired instead of advancing, while the knights stayed put. To counter this however the princes greatswords charged the Everlasting Quests, breaking them and throwing them from the field.

This allowed Kastor to take the initiative. He led the Blazing Suns in a charge on the Black Bears, which the Bears counter charged. Kastor and a unit of knights took on a unit of Black Bears and broke them, however the Blazing Suns also had to abandon the field after the engagement. Meanwhile in the centre the Blazing Suns beat the Black Bears, forcing them to retire shaken, however the last unit of Bears surged forward and drove the last unit of Suns from the field. Thus were both opposing brigades of knights broken in the same turn.
The last Everlasting Quests also charged Vyshnevtsky again, but this time he beat them decisively and broke their unit.

Technically the Averlander army was now broken, with both its Knightly and Heavy brigades broken, however with all their infantry intact and virtually undamaged, we decided to play on.
The prince's greatswords, having taken a bashing when they charged the knights of the everlasting quest, now found themselves charged by the Tilean spearmen and broke. With the other greatsword unit shaken by sustained artillery fire, and the outriders in a bad way, this meant that the Hardenburger household brigade was now also broken and the two forces were again even.

Vyshnevtsky now struck back. His artillery concentrated their fire along the battle line on the advancing spearmen, while his outriders moved into position to support this fire, which managed to drive the Tilean spearmen to the West from the field. The Kasotian and Hardenburger spearmen also advanced, the Kasotians on the handgunners. Meanwhile Vyshnevtsky and his griffon tackled Kastor, the griffons tore chunks from each other, but Vysnevtsky came out on top and Kastor put from the field.

The Averlanders now continued their attack, the Averland spearmen charging their Hardenburger counterparts, while the last knights attacked the shaken outriders. The Averland artillery continued its bombardment of the Hardenburgers, while the handgunners opened close range on the Kasotians, but caused little damage.

Yann the Bold and his Spearmen beat and broke their Averlander opposites, while the Outriders and knights forced each other from the field. The remaining, and almost undamanged outriders now charged forwards into the approaching Tilean spearmen and broke them, though they themselves were also beaten back, shaken. Thus the last Averlander battalion was broken, however with their greatswords still undamaged, the fight continued.

However with the Kasotians failing to engage the handgunners, the handgunners and artillery opened fire on them and broke them. But the Hardenburgers soon replied with their own fire and destroyed the handgunners, leaving the Averlanders with just the count's greatswords

With the odds against them, the Averlander artillery, in their strong position, bombarded the small remaining Hardenburger force. The last of the household troops were knocked from the field, while the greatswords charged Vysnevtsky, wounding his griffon and sending him from the field.

With that the Hardenburgers retired back down the road under pressure from sustained artillery fire, directed by the bright wizard, the Black Bears breaking.

The spearmen at last broke under artillery pressure and the civilians and stragglers with the baggage fled.

Yann the bold was the last to leave the field, making sure that the baggage got safely away before the artillery too retired, but there was no fear of a pursuit, the Averlanders were also in too bad a way.

The battle was thus declared a DRAW.

We had alternately broken each others brigades, until there had been very little left of either force.
The Hardenburgers advancing on Bieswang were thus ambushed, and though they put up a stalwart defence, protecting their baggage and artillery train, they were forced to return down the road and regroup near Pfungzig. However neither were the Averlanders able to make the most of this flight, for their force was also broken and had to return to Bieswang to regroup. The next battle would thus be a pitched battle on the road, with both armies advancing along the road to decided whether Bieswang or Pfungzig would be the next battle ground.

By B