By Fire and Sword: Pincer Maneuver.

Published 3 days ago• 3 minute read

In our By Fire and Sword game at the task force level, I prepared four lists per side for the main players to select their forces. Andy chose the Polish Cavalry Task Force for 64 points, while Jimmy opted for the Swedish Garrison Task Force at 51 points, resulting in a significant disparity in points. Jimmy then selected the Pincer Maneuvre scenario for an additional 10 points. With 3 points remaining, we chose the Well Rested option for our Musketeers.

SCENARIO: Pincer Maneuvre.
UMPIRING: Bartek Żynda

SCENERY: Bartek Żynda, SESWC

FIGURES & MODELS: Bartek Żynda

1. Forces.

SWEDES

(Bartek, Jimmy)

Garrison Task Force

Colonel

2 x Major

Dragoons (Vanguard, S)

2 x Mercenary Infantry (Additional Ammunition, M)

Mercenary Reiters (Veterans Present, Undermanned Companies, S)

Medium Cannon Battery (Veterans, S)

Light Cannon Battery (Veterans, Additional Ammunition, S)

POLISH-LITHUANIAN COMMONWEALTH

(Andy, Michael)

Polish Cavalry Force

Colonel (Extra Order)

Rotamaster

Polish Dragoons (Vanguard, Veterans, S)

Husaria (S)

Pancerni (Additional Pistol, M)

2 x Cossack Style Cavalry (M)

Volunteers (S)

2. The Game.

It is important to note that before selecting the scenario, the Polish forces opted for aggressive actions, while we chose defensive strategies. Our Vanguard forces then engaged in battle, with both sides deploying dragoons. Additionally, both sides conducted very aggressive reconnaissance operations. The Polish dragoons ended up with three instances of disorganisation, while our forces faced five. The Poles succeeded in reconnaissance and chose to perform successful skirmishing against us twice, as well as flanking manoeuvres. We opted for an Interrogation and Forced March. As we prepared for the scenario, we selected two of the four objectives, focusing on the two middle ones that were easier for us to control. The Polish side chose Volunteers for the furthest objective and one of the Cossack-style cavalry units for the second objective.

Our infantry quickly took down the Volunteers and causing the Cossacks to retreat to their ranks. The flanking manoeuvre executed by the Polish dragoons, who came under fire from my cannons, proved ineffective. They were too far from their officers and remained stationary throughout the battle. Additionally, the Poles had dispersed their forces, while we had two large, concentrated blocks. Our artillery swiftly signalled its readiness, unleashing havoc among the Polish units, which astonishingly chose to ignore the cannons.

The Poles launched their charge, with the hussars targeting the infantry and the Pancerni engaging the Reiters. In the first encounter, the infantry fired a salvo, forcing the hussars to retreat. The hussars regrouped and charged again, but by that time, the infantry had managed to reload and fired another salvo, which was sufficient to break the hussars' morale. As a result, the Poles began to lose morale points at an alarming rate.

In the second clash, the Pancerni successfully overwhelmed the Reiters. Meanwhile, my artillery and infantry turned their fire on the Cossack Cavalry. At this point, we concluded the game. The Swedish victory was evident and decisive.