Still ringing the changes: Zorndorf 1758

After so long playing the Napoleonic Peninsular campaign I'm still ringing the changes. The Ilkley Lads next battle will be a Seven Years War affair. Not wanting to have to set up something new every week, I've decided to do a big game that will last two or three sessions. That prospect lends itself to doing a big historical refight. To make life easy I decided to do Zorndorf - I know this battle back to front and could probably set it up blindfolded. It's also an excellent battle to base a wargame on.

The inconclusive Battle of Zorndorf, contested by Prussia and Russia, was a struggle of epic proportions and its historical casualties look like something more akin to a wargame than reality. At the start of the day Frederick could count on c. 37,000 effectives and Fermor could count on c.43,000. After twelve hours of bloody fighting, with both armies still maintaining the field, the Prussians had sustained c.13,000 casualties (34%) and the Russians c. 18,500 casualties (43%) - personally, I find those numbers astonishing. 

In my opinion, historical battles of the Seven Years War are generally easier to represent on a wargame table than those of other horse and musket wargame periods, such as Napoleonic or ACW, because their deployments generally require less table depth. The linear nature of SYW battles often makes them fit naturally onto a wargame's table without much need to compress depth. Zorndorf is a prime example of this feature.

Zorndorf can be set up at various levels of troops scaling but, I like to set it up with one wargame unit  equal to an infantry regiment of two battalions or five squadrons of cavalry. Incidentally, this is why my cavalry units are only 8 figures strong: Five squadrons of cavalry had almost exactly the same frontage as two battalions of infantry deployed side by side. This unit scaling still gives me a Russian line measuring approximately 13' long, so I need to raise the table's drop leaf (extending my table to 14' 8"). Fortunately, this is not a battle about insecure flanks, otherwise I might need even more. One thing I have done for this battle is to reduce the overall artillery numbers - not because I don't have enough guns, but because when I've scaled batteries more accurately they dominate this particular game too much - this is not an exercise in re-enactment, it's a game for fun.

In consequence of the extension being raised, it is impossible for me to take a photograph of the whole table from any part of my wargame room, so I need to take a shot from each end.

This first shot, looking east, shows the extent of both side's infantry lines, with the Prussians looking down onto the Russian lines from the higher ground to the north. Between the two sides is the Stein-Busch, a fairly open wood. The other key features can also be seen: To the left is the village of Zorndorf (which should be in flames after being torched by passing Cossacks), to the right is the village of Quartschen and, intersecting the Russian side of the field, are (west to east) the Langer-Grund, the Galgen-Grund and the Zabern-Grund. The Grunds are essentially natural water cuts that drain the land north of the river Metzel (which runs west-east behind the Russian position). The Grunds varied in depth, being no more than wet and boggy ground at their northern reaches, to steep sided 'ravines', at some points 10m deep, along their southern reaches - they are still very visible today (check out Google Earth for a very unspoilt battlefield. Modern day Zorndorf is called Sarbinowo). Seydlitz, having scouted the lower reaches of the Zabern-Grund, declared it unpracticable to cavalry so I'm counting the lower parts (defined on the table by streams) as impassable to cavalry and type III watercourses to infantry. I'm counting the upper reaches (defined on the table by boggy ground and pools) as type III watercourses to cavalry and type III terrain to infantry.

This shot, looking west, shows the two side's cavalry wings extending into the far distance. It clearly shows the extent of the Langer-Grund and Galgen-Grund. On the northern (Prussian) side of the table I have added the 60m contour. This high ground is not a hill, it is more the higher end of a long shallow slope that drops down 30m to the river Metzel some 3km to the south. Between the two lines there were several folds in the ground, notably around the Stein-Busch and to the west of it (the Fuchsberg knoll). These were enough to obstruct line of sight to certain low lying areas of the field but in reality the smoke, blowing south from the Prussian artillery and the conflagration at Zorndorf, did more to impair vision - apparently Manteuffel's infantry emerged from the smoke just 40m in front of the Russian line - so I choose not to portray them.

The Russian cavalry wing under Demiku. I've seen this wargame force deployed in several ways. Often it is deployed as a continuous line (I've done it that way myself) but to shorten it slightly I now deploy it in two lines. It comprises two units of cuirassier, a unit of dragoons and four units of hussars. There are also three units of Cossacks (generally, not much better than useless in this period): These are leaderless but are not out of command in consequence; they will each roll d8 for movement activation; they cannot rally; two cards in the Russian sequence deck (Special Event) prevent them acting on the next card turned - they really are quite unreliable, just as they were historically.

Bounded on their left by the Langer-Grund is the Observation Corps under Browne. This comprises four large units of line infantry, each representing a three battalion regiment, and a large unit of their combined grenadiers. All of these units have five unit integrity points rather than four and that is their only 'big unit' benefit - they actually performed poorly on the day. The Corps has an attached battery of artillery. 

To the right of the Observation Corps come the first and second lines of the regular infantry with units of combined grenadiers positioned between them. 

Historically, the first line was commanded by Saltykov and the second line by Galytsin. However, due to a quirk in the rules, the game will actually work better if the infantry is divided into right and left sectors - with the two divided geographically by the Galgen-Grund (pictured bottom right). 

Galytsin will command this, the left infantry sector. It comprises seven units of line infantry, two units of line grenadiers and two units of combined grenadiers; one battery of artillery is attached.

The right infantry sector, commanded by Saltykov, lies between the Galgen-Grund and the Zabern-Grund. The command comprises eight units of line infantry, two units of line grenadiers and a unit of combined grenadiers; two units of artillery are attached. 

Another shot of the same sector showing the southern end of the Zabern-Grund and Quartschen. The army's right wing cavalry, under Gaugreben, are also stationed here: they comprise a unit of cuirassier, a unit of horse grenadiers and a unit of hussars. Guarding the crossing over the Zabern-Grund is a unit of Cossacks.

Starting left to right, at the eastern end of the field are two Prussian cavalry commands. These begin the game off table but are positioned at their predefined points of arrival. Beyond the upper reaches of the Zabern-Grund is the command of Malachowski, this comprises four units of hussars. In the foreground is the command of Seydlitz; it comprises three units of cuirassier (including the Garde du Corps and Gendarmes) and a unit of dragoons.

This shot clearly shows the upper reaches of the Zabern-Grund - streams, pools and ponds.

To their right, to the left of Zorndorf and above the 60m contour, is the main infantry strike force. Leading is Manteuffel's command, comprising a unit of line infantry and three units of combined grenadiers; it has a battery of artillery attached. Behind them is the command of Kanitz, comprising five units of line infantry, two units of fusiliers and a unit of combined grenadiers; it has a battery of artillery attached. Behind them all is Marschall's command of four units of dragoons. Frederick the Great, commanding the Prussian army, can be seen just in front of Zorndorf - I should have painted him foolishly licking his lips.

Behind Zorndorf, refused, is Dohna's infantry command comprising three units of line infantry, two units of fusiliers and a unit of combined grenadiers; a unit of artillery is attached.

On the far right is the cavalry wing of Schorlemer. It comprises three units of cuirassier, a unit of dragoons and two units of hussars.

Note, the yellow star between the infantry lines. There are three of these, one in each infantry sector (Observation Corps, left and right). These are Prussian victory objectives. They will each cost the Russians six army morale points if contacted by a Prussian unit - this will encourage the Prussians to press an attack and might be the only way the outnumbered Prussian infantry can win; no such objective points exist on the other side of the table.

I have stationed Fermor, commander of the Russian army, in the right infantry sector. Here he is alongside his sumptuous coach. The coach was scratch built, in a moment of madness, from Milliput (chassis) and old postcards (coachwork) after purchasing some Foundry draft horses and various wheels (in a bring and buy odds and sods box) at a show.

One last shot of the Prussians - doomed men?

For the first time, we will use Field of Battle (2nd edition) rules for this battle. 

Here, the sequence card decks have been sorted out before shuffling: 27 basic cards in each deck. The Prussians have a skilled army deck, the Russians a poor army deck. 

I've added two Special Event cards (Cossacks) and a Blunder card to the Russian deck. I've added a Sieze The Moment card and an Event card to the Prussian deck. The Prussian Event card will activate Seydlitz and Malachowski - possibly Marschall and Dohna too - though I'm yet to decided exactly how.

Our new to group player Nigel H. will like these cards because they have instruction notes on them. Less to his liking, the game does use the full gamut of polyhedral dice.

To decide the Army Morale Points for each army I added up their unit integrity points and divided by 3. This gives the Prussians 44 AMP and the Russians 54 AMP - this should be enough to get a historically bloody result.

Because there are so many units, I'm not going to dice up the unit quality (combat and defence dice) for every individual unit. I'm simply going to assign CD and DD by unit type (Prussian cuirassier, Russian cuirassier, Prussian combined grenadiers, Observation Corps grenadiers, Russian line grenadiers, etc.) and let the dice do the talking - with 84 units on the table that should be enough variation.

Note: This shot was taken before I finally decided how I would deploy Demiku's cavalry this time around.

Sources: 

Zorndorf 1758 by Simon Millar (actually one of Osprey's best books, IMHO). 

My well thumbed copy of The Army Of Frederick The Great by Duffy.

Opened, my dust jacketless (I've never seen one with a jacket) copy of Russia's Military Way To The West by Duffy. 

Also, free on line, and an invaluable resource for anyone interested in this period, is the Kronoskaf Seven Years War Project site: Here is a link to its excellent piece on Zorndorf.

FIASCO 2017 - Zorndorf hits the road again

Those who follow this blog will know that my expanded SYW collection is largely down to committing to doing a demo game of Zorndorf 1758 at Triples in 2014. Game aside, that show did not go well (the worst experience I've ever had at a wargame show) and the thought of doing Zorndorf again at another show has been a hurdle that I've not been able to jump - even though I had originally planned to 'tour' the game for a year or so. 

However, wounds heal and I've decided that my Zorndorf game will be at Fiasco 2017 this Sunday. 

Here are some shots of the game I took today prior to packing it all up for the show. The playing space is 14 x 6; there are in excess of 1500 figures (including some new wagons from War Bases - see next post).

Fiasco details

Anyone wishing to join in this game for a few turns (or the day) need only ask. There are only three Lads doing the game this weekend, so a few more people to actually play the game would be welcome. As with the Cerignola game last month, places are limited and the game is not child friendly (sorry about the latter but, it's not a 'true participation game' - we leave that for others). 

The rules will be Warlord's Black Powder with some fairly simple house amendments. If you want to play, my address is in the side bar - book a place.

If you are passing, drop by to say hi.

Zorndorf 1758 - A Black Powder Game

Whenever I think of Seven Years War battles, the first on my list is Zorndorf. I'm not sure if it is because it involves the Russians (never has the expression "red and green should never be seen" been more wrong); because the terrain lends itself to a wargames table so well; because it was so hard fought and such a close run battle; because it is a wonderful combination of all of the above. Whatever it is that draws me to it, few will be able to argue against the fact that, as battles go, Zorndorf 1758 is a wargaming belter.

A shot of the action in the solo game fought at Christmas 2014.

The last time I fought this battle was in 2014. Looking back at my blog posts, I fought it solo over five sessions using my home amended Piquet rules for big SYW battles. This latest re-fight will be contested by Peter, Graham and myself plus, if I can find someone else who is free for a few Wednesday nights, a fourth player. The game is well suited for two or three players until it really gets going (and I don't mind standing back for those earlier moves) but once it gets going it is better suited to three or, ideally four.

As well as the number of players, this time I plan on changing the rule set. We have been playing a lot of Pike and Shotte recently, so it is probably a good time to play this scenario using Black Powder for the first time. It's a big game, for a first game, but the basic mechanisms for the Warlord rules series don't change much - a new unit characterisation list, a new quick reference sheet and we will be down with the kids (so to speak). At this point I'd like to thank Colin Ashton of Carry On Up The Dale for sending me the Black Powder unit characterisation list he used for his own Zorndorf game. I will be using it as the basis for the unit list for my game. 

The main resources I used to put this game together, were:

Literature:
Duffy C. The Army of Frederick the Great (2nd Ed.)

Duffy C. Russia's Military Way to the West
Millar M. Zorndorf 1758 Frederick faces Holy Mother Russia
Showalter D. E. The Wars of Frederick the Great
Priestly R. & Johnson J. Black Powder

On Line Resources:
Berry J. Obscure Battles
Seven Years War Project Kronoskaf

Historical Background

Even if you don't have access to the books, the two online resources have made such a good job in recounting the campaign and battle that I think it would be pointless for me to rehash it as a complete work of my own here. The work by Jeff Berry is the fullest single account I have found - a truly excellent work.

Suffice to say, in 1758 Prussia faced imminent threats from all directions. Frederick, to relieve the pressure, decided to tackle the Russians under Fermor which were besieging Kustrin on the Oder. In a move of astonishing speed (170 miles in 11 days) he marched 15,000 picked men from southern Silesia to the Oder and crossed to the Russian side of the river, forcing Fermor to abandon his plans. Frederick then joined with the Prussian army set to observe the Russians under Dohna. This brought his force up to c.37,000 men.

Fermor retreated south to a position near the village of Quartschen where he was joined by the 9000 men of the Russian Observation Corps (originally organised, from regiments of unemployed horseless dragoons, hence their riding boots, for the observation of East Prussia earlier in the war). This brought his force up to c.43,000 men. Here he waited, facing north, in a very strong defencive position .

Frederick bypassed the natural defences in front of the Russian position with a bold night march around the eastern flank of the Russians to village of Zorndorf, which lay directly to the rear of the Russian position. The final part of the move was too slow to launch a surprise attack from there; the Russians had time to turn around. The attack from the south would be across much better ground than one from the north, but the attack would be a frontal one. 

The Prussians had been on the go since 3 a.m. and it would be a very long, hot, bloody day. By the end of it, neither side could claim a victory. Of the 80,000 men engaged at the Battle of Zorndorf, 25th August 1758, 31,500 (39%) would be dead, wounded or missing by nightfall. 

Frederick had nothing  but disdain for the Russians prior to Zorndorf, "describing Russian troops as worthless, insisting that a disciplined army would make short work of any number of them [Showalter]". When Frederick asked Seydlitz for his opinion after the battle "the general responded more or less curtly that such an appellation hardly fitted men who had repulsed Prussian troops so decisively [Showalter]". The Russians were now recognised as a great military power in the war.

The Set Up

So, what does my initial set up look like? Well it's impossible to show you in one photograph because to deploy all of the troops I have to raise the drop leaf extension on the table (making the table six feet wide and just under fifteen feet long) and this doesn't give room to position a camera. The best I can do is this.

Looking from the SE corner of the table to the NW corner of the table.
(Note: Zorndorf was fired by rampaging Cossacks just before Frederick's arrival.)

Looking from the SW corner of the table to the NE corner of the table.

Terrain

The Grunds: These are small watercourses in wet depressions of varying depth and difficulty. 

• Where the Grunds are represented by pools with lichen on the banks they are impassable to any troops. 
• Where the Grunds are represented by 'solid water' they count as an obstacle and disorder hazard to all troops. Disorder occurs at contact on a die result of 5 or 6; if disorder occurs it takes effect immediately and prevents further movement for the turn. They take one full move to cross.
• Where the Grunds are represented by 'marsh pieces' they count as an obstacle to all and disorder hazard to cavalry. Disorder occurs at contact on a die result of 5 or 6; if disorder occurs it takes effect immediately and prevents further movement for the turn. They take half a move to cross.
• Artillery pieces cannot cross Grunds, at any point, in any event.

The Stein-Busch: This is an open wood. 

• The Stein-Busch is rough terrain and a disorder hazard. All movement through the Stein-Busch is made at half rate. It causes disorder to artillery and cavalry on a die result of 5 or 6 and a 6 for infantry. 
• It provides soft cover.

Quartschen and Zorndorf: Villages comprising various built-up areas.

• Zorndorf is in flames and cannot be occupied. It can be passed through.

High Ground: I have added high ground (a 1" contour high) to much of the Prussian side of the table because the Russians are sat at the bottom of a large shallow depression with a large stream (the Hofe-Bruch) and boggy ground immediately behind them. However to troops on the ground the terrain seemed fairly flat.

• No game effect.

Order of Battle

The Russians

Commander in Chief: Fermor [rating 6]

Army broken on 3 commands broken.

There are three Russian infantry commanders. Saltykov commands the first line; Galytsin the second line; Browne commands the Observation Corps.

Saltykov [rating 8]: 
8 units of Line Infantry.
2 units of Line Grenadiers.
3 units of converged Grenadiers.
1 battery of Field Artillery.
1 batteries of light Howitzers.
1 battery of light Field Artillery.

Broken on 7 destroyed.

Galytsin [rating 7 & hesitant]:
7 units of Line Infantry.
2 units of Line Grenadiers.

Broken on 5 destroyed.

Browne [rating 8]:
3 large units of Observation Corps Line Infantry.
1 large unit of converged Observation Corps Grenadiers.
1 battery of light Field Artillery.
1 battery of light Howitzers.

Broken on 2 destroyed.

Gaugreben [rating 7 & aggressive]:
1 small unit of Cuirassier.
1 small unit of Horse Grenadiers.
1 small unit of Dragoons.
1 unit of Hussars.

Broken on 2 destroyed.

Demiku [rating 7 & hesitant]:

2 units of Cuirassiers.
1 small unit of Cuirassier.
1 small unit of Dragoons.
3 units of Hussars.

Broken on 4 destroyed.

Note at this point that none of the seven units of Cossacks present at Zorndorf , three on the left wing and four on the right, have not been included as being under any commander. See scenario notes.

The Prussians

Commander in chief: Frederick the Great [rating 9 & decisive]

Army broken on 4 commands broken.

Manteuffel [rating 9 & Agressive]:
3 units of converged Grenadiers.
1 unit of Line Infantry.

Broken on 2 destroyed.

Kanitz [rating 8]:
1 unit of converged Grenadiers.
4 units of Line Infantry.
2 units of Fusiliers.

Broken on 4 destroyed.

Dohna [rating 8 & hesitant]:
1 unit of converged Grenadiers.
5 units of Line Infantry.
2 units of Fusiliers.

Broken on 4 destroyed.

Malachowski [rating 8]:
4 units of Hussars.

Broken on 2 destroyed.

Seydlitz [rating 9 & aggressive]:
2 units of  Cuirassier.
1 small unit of Guard Cuirassier.
1 unit of Dragoons.

Broken on 3 destroyed.

Marschall [rating 8]:
4 units of Dragoons.

Broken on 2 destroyed.

Schorlemer [rating 9]:
3 units of  Cuirassier.
1 unit of Dragoons.
2 units of Hussars.

Broken on 3 destroyed.

Note that the Prussian artillery has not been put under the command of any field commander. 

The artillery comprises: 6 batteries of Field Artillery (2 of which are Brummers, one positioned at each end of the artillery line).


Unit Characterisation List for Black Powder

Black Powder unit characterisation table for: The Battle of Zorndorf 1758

RUSSIAN CAVALRY UNITS

Unit

Unit Move

Melee Dice #

Shooting Dice #

Morale save

Stamina

Special

Cuirassier

18”

8

-

4+

3

Heavy Cavalry Charge: Add D3 melee result bonus. Cuirass: May re-roll one failed melee morale save.

7

2

Small unit adjustment

Horse Grenadiers

18”

7

-

4+

2

Heavy Cavalry Charge: Add D3 melee result bonus. [Small unit adjustments included]

Dragoons

18”

5

1 (12”)

4+

2

[Small unit adjustments included]

Hussars

18”

5

-

4+

3

Marauders: Do not count command distance.

Don Cossacks

18”

4

1 (12”)

5+

2

Marauders: Do not count command distance. Skirmish: May fight as skirmish cavalry. May evade. Unreliable: Fail to act on equal command roll.

Other Cossacks

18”

3

1 (12”)

6+

2

Marauders: Do not count command distance. Wavering: Take a break test on receiving a casualty. Skirmish: May fight as skirmish cavalry. May evade. Unreliable: Fail to act on equal command roll.

RUSSIAN INFANTRY UNITS

Unit

Unit Move

Melee Dice #

Firing Dice #

Save

Stamina

Special

Grenadiers

12”

7

3 (18”)

3+

4

Elite: 5+ to rally disorder. Valiant: May re-roll one failed break test. 1st Fire: Add one die for first shot. Steel wall: +3 melee bonus when fighting frontally Vs cavalry with friends directly to both flanks within 1”.

Converged Grenadiers

12”

7

3 (18”)

4+

4

Elite: 5+ to rally disorder. Valiant: May re-roll one failed break test. 1st Fire: Add one die for first shot. Steel wall: +3 melee bonus when fighting frontally Vs cavalry with friends directly to both flanks within 1”.

Line Infantry

12”

6

3 (18”)

4+

3

Valiant: May re-roll one failed break test. 1st Fire: Add one die for first shot. Steel wall: +3 melee bonus when fighting frontally Vs cavalry with friends directly to both flanks within 1”.

O.C. Converged Grenadiers

12”

8

3 (18”)

4+

6

Elite: 5+ to rally disorder. 1st Fire: Add one die for first shot. Stubborn: May re-roll one failed morale save. Steel wall: +3 melee bonus when fighting frontally Vs cavalry with friends directly to both flanks within 1”.

O.C. Line Infantry

12”

7

3 (18”)

4+

5

1st Fire: Add one die for first shot. Stubborn: May re-roll one failed morale save. Steel wall: +3 melee bonus when fighting frontally Vs cavalry with friends directly to both flanks within 1”.

RUSSIAN ARTILLERY UNITS

Unit

Unit Move

Melee Dice #

Shooting Dice #

Morale save

Stamina

Special

Field Artillery

Prolong 1 x 6” Limbered 12”

1

1 - 2 - 3 [48” - 24” - 12”]

4+

2

Valiant: May re-roll one failed break test.

Light Field Artillery

Prolong 1 x 6” Limbered 12”

1

1 - 2 - 3 [36” - 18” - 9”]

4+

2

Valiant: May re-roll one failed break test.

Light Howitzers

Prolong 1 x 6” Limbered 12”

1

2 - 2 - 3 [36” - 18” - 6”]

4+

2

Valiant: May re-roll one failed break test. High Trajectory: Do not count linear cover when firing shell.

Black Powder unit characterisation table for: The Battle of Zorndorf 1758

PRUSSIAN CAVALRY UNITS

Unit

Unit Move

Melee Dice #

Shooting Dice #

Morale save

Stamina

Special

Guard Cuirassier

18”

9

-

3+

3

Elite: 4+ to rally disorder. Heavy Cavalry Charge: Add D3 melee result bonus. Cuirass: May re-roll one failed melee morale save. Steady: Automatic roll of 12 on first break test. [Includes small unit adjustment].

Cuirassier

18”

9

-

4+

3

Elite: 4+ to rally disorder. Heavy Cavalry Charge: Add D3 melee result bonus. Cuirass: May re-roll one failed melee morale save.

Dragoons

18”

7

-

4+

3

Elite: 5+ to rally disorder. Heavy Cavalry Charge: Add D3 melee result bonus.

Hussars

18”

6

-

4+

3

Elite: 5+ to rally disorder. Ferocious Charge: Re-roll misses when charging. Marauders: Do not count command distance.

PRUSSIAN INFANTRY UNITS

Unit

Unit Move

Melee Dice #

Firing Dice #

Morale Save

Stamina

Special

Grenadiers

12”

7

3 (18”)

3+

4

Elite: 4+ to rally disorder. Stubborn: May re-roll one failed morale save. Steady: Automatic roll of 12 on first break test. 1st Fire: Add 1 die for first shot. Crushing Volleys: Re-roll one shooting miss Superbly Drilled: Free move if command failed. Steel wall: +3 melee bonus when fighting frontally Vs cavalry with friends directly to both flanks within 1”. Reversed rear rank: May reverse rear rank in response to cavalry charge from rear.

Line Infantry

12”

6

3 (18”)

4+

3

1st Fire: Add 1 die for first shot. Crushing Volleys: Re-roll one shooting miss. Superbly Drilled: Free move if command failed. Steel wall: +3 melee bonus when fighting frontally Vs cavalry with friends directly to both flanks within 1”. Reversed rear rank: May reverse rear rank in response to cavalry charge from rear.

Fusiliers

12”

6

3 (18”)

4+

3

1st Fire: Add 1 die for first shot. Crushing Volleys: Re-roll one shooting miss. Steel wall: +3 melee bonus when fighting frontally Vs cavalry with friends directly to both flanks within 1”. Reversed rear rank: May reverse rear rank in response to cavalry charge from rear.

PRUSSIAN ARTILLERY UNITS

Unit

Unit Move

Melee Dice #

Shooting Dice #

Morale save

Stamina

Special

Field Artillery

Prolong 1 x 6” Limbered 12”

1

1 - 2 - 3 [48” - 24” - 12”]

4+

2

Field Artillery (Brummers)

Limbered 12”

1

1 - 2 - 3 [60” - 30” - 15”]

4+

2

Note that there are one or two special rules in the above tables that do not correspond to the rules in Black Powder.

• Crushing Volleys has been added to give the Prussians the edge in fire discipline and is just a better way to phrase 'sharpshooters' for this sub-period. 
• Steel Wall has been added because SYW infantry didn't adopt battalion squares in response to cavalry charges because their long lines of battalions / regiments, with only very small intervals between them, largely rendered the formation pointless. Square is a legitimate formation but it not available as a charge response.Infantry with the ‘steel wall’ special rule are automatically counted as being in steel wall if they have a supporting infantry unit within 1” of each flank. The rules:
• Troops in steel wall gain bonuses for it when charged by cavalry to their front or, if using reversed rear rank formation to charges from front and / or rear.
• Troops in steel wall can deliver closing fire.
• Troops in steel wall always add 3 to their melee result, plus any normal support bonuses (note that the infantry units within 1” of the flank can also provide flank support if they qualify under the standard rules when the melee is fought).
• Charging cavalry count no bonuses when charging 'steel wall' (normal to hit bonus, or by special rule) unless the target unit is already engaged, shaken or disordered.  
• Rear rank reversed was the response to cavalry getting behind, or between, lines of infantry. It is allowed as a charge response to better trained infantry and is a permitted formation for all infantry. The formation is static. The formation is treated as a steel wall with two faces (front and rear) for fire and melee. The formation is represented by reversing alternate stands.
• Cuirass is simply the stubborn rule applying only to melee.
• Artillery ranges have been altered to account for Brummers (fortress guns) and a belief that canister should be more effective over greater distances. Short range to hit bonuses still start at 6". Note: I count 12 pounders as field pieces and 6 pounders as light field pieces. I don't field battalion guns, counting them as included in the infantry shooting factor.

Scenario Rules

Russian Command Blunders: Because the ground behind the Russian position is very difficult going any blunder roll that would take the unit off the Russian table edge will be ignored. Instead the unit raids the stores of brandy and vodka in the regimental baggage and must re-roll for the result:

• Result 1 - 2: If the unit is shaken it breaks, otherwise the unit becomes shaken, is disordered, and becomes 'unreliable' and will fail to act on equal command rolls.
• Result 3 - 4: The unit is disordered and becomes 'unreliable' and will fail to act on equal command rolls.
• Result 5 - 6: The unit becomes 'unreliable' and will fail to act on equal command rolls.

Note: Deal with disordered and shaken troops as per the normal rules. Unreliable pertains to effected units for the remainder of the game and they should be marked as such. If non-Don Cossacks blunder in this way they should be removed from play.

Note: Several references to Russian troops raiding their own baggage for alcohol and becoming unruly, especially by the Observation Corps, are recorded.

"General St. Andre, I will try to get through to Schwedt!": At 2 p.m., with the battle at crisis point, Fermor departed the field with those words. To represent this man's craven disregard for the men he left behind, every time a Russian unit breaks two d6 must be rolled. On a result of 2 - 3 Fermor is removed from the field and Saltykov will assume overall command of the army. Fermor counts as a lost unit to each Russian command.

Cossacks: The Russian Cossacks do not have a commander of their own and will not accept orders from field commanders. Instead, the Russian player will need issue orders to Cossacks directly from the C-in-C. If the C-in-C is used in this fashion he cannot issue orders to other troops subsequently in the same turn. Up to four units of Cossacks can be nominated as Don Cossacks - most of the bad ones had been sent home as worthless to the war effort by 1758.

Moller: Historically the Prussian 2nd Field Artillery Regiment (at Zorndorf) fell under the direction of Moller but, as far as I can ascertain, his was only an administrative command. Consequently I have put him with the 'General Staff' as part of Frederick's command stand.

This post may be subject to future editing.

Edit: Since taking the photos I have reduced the Russian artillery and redistributed the remainder equally along the line. The Russians have one less battery of howitzers and I have replaced the O.C. field battery with a light field battery. This is probably still being quite kind to the Russians - they had 136 pieces compared to the 193 belonging to the Prussians and numerically they should have a scaled eight guns (four batteries) to the Prussian twelve guns (six batteries) - but, four batteries does not allow for a good spread along the line and the weight of the Prussian guns (all heavy Vs one heavy) should help balance the fire-power of the opposing artillery well enough.

Edit: I have made Gaugreben aggressive. His cavalry, especially the St. Petersburg horse grenadiers, were very feisty on the day.

Edit: I have made all Prussian grenadiers 'steady' to allow Manteuffel to attack with more confidence. The 'steady' rule also applies to IR 2 of Manteuffel's command (it was a very good regiment).

Edit: Up to four units of Cossacks can be nominated as Don Cossacks.

Edit: I have shortened the Galgen-Grund beyond the Russian front line by about 10". It now only extends to a point level with the front of the Stein-Busch.

Edit: 'Steel wall' and 'Rear rank reversed' have been better defined and ruled upon.