Angus Konstam's Edinburgh Wargames
The Seven Years War
Dealing with those Prussian bullies
The latest Die Kriegskunst update is down at the bottom of the page
This is probably my favourite period. This is the true "Warfare in the Age of Reason", "Sport of Kings" era, when the aesthetics of warfare seemed almost as important as the fighting itself! Although I began with a 15mm army, I've recently switched over to 28mm, tempted beyond reason by Foundry's new Seven Years War range. There's just something about a tricorne - serried ranks of tricorne-wearing infantry and imposing grenadiers look great, and then there's the range of different uniforms, flags and colours involved. It really is one of the most aesthetically pleasing wargame periods around.
Several years ago I wrote a couple of Osprey books on the Russian Army of the Seven Years War, so I suppose it was inevitable I would opt for the Empress Elizabeth's lads. The Foundry range is superb, with a great range of poses, although their sometimes illogical packaging system means that I've slipped a few Front Rank figures into the mix as well.
After a year or so the army is almost finished - just a few more units to do. At the moment I've got a dozen units of foot, five of horse,(16 foot to a battalion, or 20 horse to a regiment), plus guns, limbers, wagons and, of course, a dancing bear (left). My final goal is 16 battalions of foot, 4 regiments of horse, 2 units of Cossacks, four gun batteries, staff and all the other impedimenta of war.
I've also started work on a new army - the French. I recently conducted an unpainted lead swap with a wargaming pal from the Edinburgh club - he got Romans I bought but quickly lost interest in, while I gained a box of Front Rank French infantry. It was enough for about five battalions, which - added to the three Reichsarmee units I already have will be enough to make up a small army.
Click here for a progress report on the French Army (link still under construction).
Actually, the army has reached eleven units already: three regiments of horse, seven of foot and a battery of guns.
Part of the inspiration for me was meeting Phil Olley - a very gifted member of the former League of Augsburg triumvirate, and the owner of an extremely pretty and rather large Prussian Army. My regular wargaming opponent (and co-author of Die Kreigskunst) Dougie Trail also built up a large force of Prussians.
Caught in the flank...
When I played this period in 15mm I used Warfare in the Age of Reason, which was a fairly good system, even though it seemed rather slow. For 28mm we use two sets. The first is A Grim Panoply, which is Phil's own variant of the Wargame Holiday Centre Marlburian Rules. They work extremely well, even when everyone brings all their toys to the table. The second is Die Kriegskunst ("The Art of War"), the Seven Years War variant of Dave Brown's Napoleonic General de Brigade rules.
We've playtested the system for a couple of years, and we think we've got it right. Dave Brown came on board to help us bring the project to fruition. Along with myself and Dougie Trail he's the third corner of the "Tricorne" - the nom-de-plume the rules will be published under)! We decided to call them Die Kriegskunst (The Art of War) as it had a suitably Germanic ring to it!
Scroll down to read all about them...
A Russian Regiment (28mm Foundry)
A game with Phil Olley's figures
Dougie Trail's Prussian Hussars (28mm Foundry)
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Die Kriegskunst ("The Art of War")
Wargaming the Seven Years War in Europe, 1756-62
Adapted from the General de Brigade rules system by "Tricorne"
Available from:
Publication date: 1st July 2008
You can order your copy here
Actually, the final version has a nicer green cover, and we've lost the chilli pepper red title!
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Update - Late June 2008
They're finished! They're with the printer, and the new, final, not to be delayed again publication date is on 1st July! Hurrah!
Actually, they're worth waiting for, as they now include four scenarios (Emsdorf, Paltzig, Hochkirch & Moys), a chapter containing a walk-through of a game, really pretty colour order markers, and a bunch of Orders of Battle we weren't going to include originally. The price has gone up slightly to £17.50, but then they include more than was originally planned. Plans are already afoot to produce a scenario book, containing a ten or a dozen more scenarios, and a small campaign system.
For those of you who don't know about them, they're part of the General de Brigade stable of rules, those highly successful (and slightly "old-school") Napoleonic set. One of our aims was to keep the general flavour of GdeB, while adapting the rules to fit our idea of what battles in the Seven Years War were all about. After all, it represents a completely different period with its own set of tactics.
I know that Die Kriegskunst ("The Art of War") is difficult to say after a beer or two without getting into trouble, but the publisher liked the title.
As for the authors, "Tricorne" is the collective nom-de-plume for Dave Brown, Angus Konstam & Dougie Trail. Dave wrote the original GdeB rules.
One of the biggest differences is the figure scale (1=40 rather than 1=20). Then there's the way you move your units around. In GdeB the orders system means that you can't always do what you'd like and when you would like it. In Die Kriegskunst this is even more apparent, as we've made it a little harder to change orders. We've also introduced a new type - the "Approach" order - used to recreate those great Frederickean flank marches. Is "Frederickean a word? Well, it is now! Even more restricting is the way units manoeuvre. there are no columns (well, only in really limited situations like storming breaches), and in the age of linear warfare, moving a brigade from column of march into line was a complicated business.
We think we've found a way to simulate this fairly simply, but even so you really have to figure out where your troops are going and where they'll deploy well in advance. For example, a battalion in column of march (one stand behind the other) has to wheel to the right, then halt. the next turn it moves all the stands through 90 degrees, so that they no face the enemy - thereby forming a line. Now, if you imagine doing this for a whole brigade, then for a division-sized force with one or more brigades forming a second line, and you've got some idea of how tricky the whole thing is. Of course, you can start your games in line, facing the enemy and raring to go, but we needed to produce a system to get the guys there in the first place!
Other differences include modifications to the firing mechanics, a new system for firing at chargers (charging cavalry into formed infantry is rarely a smart move), and a downgrading of skirmishers. While these may sound like little more than little tweaks, they actually represent a lot of work and experimentation - trying to keep the basics of the existing system while adapting it to reflect the linear tactics of the period.
Left: The Leib Infantrie Regiment of the Archbishop-Elector of Köln (Part of the Reichsarmee). In the rules they're classed as "Garrison" troops, which means they aren't very good - but at least they look nice! In fact these Front Rank French figures will soon be replaced by ones in more accurate Austrian-style uniforms - and by touching up the facings and redoing the flags these figures will suddenly become the von Anhalt Rgt. - a German unit in French service - who wore French-style coats.
Basing is the same as for other General de Brigade sets (although we use slightly larger bases ourselves - four 28mm infantry figures on a 40x40mm base). A full strength Prussian battalion is 20 figures, an Austrian one is 24, and a Russian one is 16. Heavy cavalry ride around in 20 man units, although the Russians should really be smaller due to their chronic cavalry resupply problems - 12 man for Cuirassier units and 16 for others. I just have to have more Russians to make up for the small units - and of course there's my pretty but less than effective Cossack horde...
If you want to try them out (and you already have GdeB) then you'll be able to pick up the basics from the playsheets. If not then drop me a line. I'll be posting a 15mm version of the playsheet some time over the next week or so. the rules also include three scenarios, and a walk-through chapter which features the small Battle of Emsdorf (1760). the other three will be Moys (1757), Hochkirch (1758) and Paltzig (1759). If you want to look at another scenario, you can download Gross-Jagersdorf (1757), a battle we designed as a demonstration game at a show. At some stage after the rules are published we'll be doing a scenario book, which will include about a dozen more battles, amongst which will be Kolin, Prague, Breslau, Minden, Kunersdorf and the assault on Schweidnitz.
Before you ask, these rules only cover the Seven Years War in Europe. We've deliberately left out the battles fought in the Americas or India, as they'd need special rules which would complicate the basic system. We therefore decided to include rules for these periods in a special scenario book, which will also include rules amendments and scenarios for the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion and the War of the Austrian Succession.
Notes on Die Kriegskunst Basing and Unit Sizes (Expanded) A sample Order of Battle (Kolin, 1757)
Latest version of Die Kriegskunst Playsheet (Word File)
Sample Scenario: Gross-Jagersdorf , 1757 (Prussians v Russians)
Coming Soon: Emsdorf 1760 (A scenario and walk-through example of play).
Example of Die Kriegskunst Armies: The Russians The French The Prussians (both under construction)
For accounts of our own Seven Years War games, see Journal 9, Journal 12 , Journal 13 Journal 15 Journal 16 Journal 17 , Journal 18 & Journal 19
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Seven Years War American War of Independence Age of Bonaparte American Civil War
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