MY FRENCH ARMY

Angus Konstam's Edinburgh Wargames

Dougie's Seven Years War Prussian Army

Organised for Die Kreigskunst or Black Powder

This army isn't mine - it belongs to my wargame buddy and regular opponent Dougie Trail. Dougie is a really good painter, but even he can't make the Prussians look colourful. Just like their Napoleonic ancestors, the Prussians of the Seven Years War are a rather dull army, but they win - and do so consistently.

Dougie began building it up around 2007, having got rid of an early 15mm Prussian army because he was tempted by Foundry's latest offerings. He's stayed pretty true to Foundry ever since, despite their greedy pricing and shipping policies, their variable quality and their irritating blister pack groupings. This has given the army a certain degree of unity, and as a result it always looks pretty impressive on the tabletop.

In Die Kriegskunst the Prussians enjoy several advantages, such as being able to move and fire, and better command and control. This makes them quite formidable on the tabletop, and it means that in most games my French or Russians are caught on the wrong foot, and fight a defensive battle. Actually, for the Russians this was their preferred tactic, and they relied on the stolid nature of their infantry, their powerful train of artillery and field defences to halt the Prussian juggranaut. The only time the French took them on in a pitched battle - at Rossbach - Les Messieurs were slaughtered. You have to be careful with these crafty Prussians. That said, Dougie can usually be relied upon to attack, and in several games his much-vaunted Prussian horse have been bested by French hussars, or even more embarrassingly - by Russian cossacks. I suspect that Dougie's enthusiasm for Black Powder is partly driven by his realization that lance-armed cossacks aren't such a threat as they are under our own Die Kriegskunst rules. We now use both rules interchangeably, depending on battle size and time.

In Die Kriegskunst, a typical Prussian battalion is 20 figures strong, although 16 figure units are also common, as they better reflect the size of a unit after a few weeks of active campaigning. Converged grenadier battalions are 12 to 16 figures strong. As for cavalry, most of the Prussians are in 5 squadron regiments - which is 20 figures. That means you get big blocks of cavalry, although we often play it so the regiment is divided into two smaller "divisions", which makes it easier to manoeuvre, and better reflects the cavalry tactics of the period. Dougie's hussar units tend to be smaller, reflecting the Prussian habit of breaking them up into one or more detachments. Actually, the real reason is that the different hussar uniforms add a splash of colour to an otherwise dull army!

He also has a bit of a thing for cavalry, and his army consists of about 40% horse to 60% foot - higher than the normal ratio on a battlefield. As you can see (above), they can also be a bit of a pest, riding round flanks, and picking off infantry units who are too slow to react - which given their usual command ratings means most of my French or Russians! Still, that's exactly what my own hussars and cossacks are for - keeping marauding Prussian hussars at bay.

You can't really have a Seven Years War battle without a Prussian army. Not only do I have one to fight, and an opponent who knows how to use it, but for all its lack of colour the Prussians look professional and tough, and have a real presence on the tabletop. That's probably just as well - I imagine I'll be staring at them across the tabletop for many years to come, figuring out ways to keep the Prussian juggernaut at bay, or to teach them a lesson they won't forget!