Battle of Torgau

The Seven Years War System Volume II

by

Adhoc-Edition

  The Battle of Torgau was tactically pretty much of a draw. The Austrians did lose the heights, that were their main line of defense, after dark by an attack by Ziethen. However, both armies had been mauled by the vicious fighting and were in no shape to continue or for the Prussians to follow up this hollow victory. So, tactically you could call it a small Prussian victory. Strategically, the Austrians were becoming weaker because of the money spent on the war. After Torgau Austria was never again able to field as large an army as fought here. Prussia itself was getting worn out and soon Frederick was forced to just try and block the different armies attacking Prussia. With the death of Catherine the Great, Russia left the war in 1762. Really, all of the combatants were quickly running out of resources, except England, to continue the war. Peace was signed in 1763, and Frederick was left in control of Silesia. His land grab during the War of the Austrian Succession and Austria wanting to revenge its loss and take it back was the real cause of both wars.

 

 This is what Adhoc-Edition has to say about the game:

"Torgau 1760, the second game in the "SYWBS" series, will simulate the battle fought on the 3rd of November 1760 in northwestern Saxony during the Seven Years War. King of Prussia Frederick II the Great commanded the Prussian Army: 48,500 men (62 bns, 102 sqns) and 246 guns. F.M. Graf Leopold Daun commanded the Austian Army: 55,500 men (67 bns, 116 sqns) and 275 guns.

The games from the "SYW Battle System" (SYWBS) are highly playable grand-tactical portrayals of battles of the Seven Years War. The series’intent is to show how command operates on the battlefields, using the weapons and tactics of the period. The system emphasizes command & control and high playability.

The games all share the following characteristics: Scale = 200-220 m/hex (219-240 yrd/hex) Time = 30 min/Turn (60 min/Hourly phase) Counter = 1 Brigade, 1 Battalion, 1 to 3 Squadrons, 1 Battery. 1 Strength point = 100 men approximately.

Game components: 1 x A1 (58x81cm - 23x32") - 5.5 x A4 Countersheets (720 x 15mm 5/8" square counters & marquers and 52 x rectangular counters) - 4 x Orders/organization Sheets - 2 x Rules books (Simple & Standard V4.0) + 2 x Playbooks - 5 x Player Aid cards - 1 x Printed carton box."

This is a picture of the map from the designer. 

 The map is very well done, almost beautiful. To me, it really invokes the time period that it represents. However, because of the paper it is made from you do get some deep creases in it. I would suggest using a plexiglass piece over it. I did have one "for just such an occasion (Foghorn Leghorn)", but it seems I lost it in the move. 

 The game comes with a plethora of player aids and two rulebooks. The rulebooks are titled 'Simple Rules' and "Rules'. They are both made up of glossy paper and are printed in two columns. Both have many examples of play and have a sequence of play on the back of each rulebook. All of the documents are in full vibrant color and evocative of the time period. The Simple Rules are 27 pages long while the Rules are 39 pages long. The game takes an interesting change of pace with its playbooks. There is a separate Austrian and Prussian playbook. The first eight pages of both have identical and excellent historical recap of the battle. The six-scenario information and setups are next. The first is a 'Free Setup' one at the beginning of the battle. Scenarios two through five have the setup instructions on a full page on the left with the right side being a map. The formations that are already placed on the map at the start of the scenario are shown on the maps. Scenario six is the entire battle with the historical setups instead of the free setup in scenario one. The Austrian playbook does have a map with the troops position. The Prussians are approaching the battlefield. The Austian playbook is one page longer than the Prussian one because of the map for scenario six. The end of both playbooks has the order of battle for their respective armies. These OOB's are an integral part of the game system. More on this below.

 Now we go the player aids. They are also glossy and are made of card stock. It is easier to list them:

Austrian Terrain Effects Table/Austrian Units Data

Prussian Terrain Effects Table/Prussian Units Data

Rules Reminders (two-sided)

Charge Opponents Ratio Table/Charge Results Table

Austrian Relative Firepower Tables/ Fire Combat Results Table

Prussian Relative Firepower Tables/Fire Combat Results Table

Order of Battle for the Austrians under G.F.Z. Lacy

Order of Battle for the Prussians under G.d.K. von Ziethen (the battle was fought in two separate actions)

Order of Battle for the Prussians under Frederick II

Order of Battle for the Austrians under F.M. Graf Daun (the last two are two foldable pages)

 We advance forward now to the counters. The counters are beautiful and really immerse the player into the 18th century. Most of the Brigade counters are two or three hex rectangles. As battle or movement affect the units, normal square counters are used. The counters can show line, column, and other formations. One thing you will not find on them are number values. This paragraph will explain how to use the OOB's in the different playbooks.

"All units on the OOB's have important values, under their name. Each value is for each status of the unit: 'B' if the unit is still within its Brigade and in the same formation (Brigade counter used. unit's square counter still not used). 'F' if the unit is Well Formed within or not within its Brigade (unit's square counter is used). 'S' if the unit is shaken and, finally, 'P' if the unit is Panicked."

 This means that you will need to cross reference your units with the OOB's in the playbooks to find out their combat values. You will probably also need to swap out the larger rectangular counters for the square ones during play. I will do a close up on the OOB's to illustrate this.

 The only other thing to mention is the game is sent in a flat pack that also contains the game box to be assembled by you. The box is surprisingly strong once put together. I have had other normal sized and weight games placed on it and it had no issues.

 How do the components of Torgau measure up? In my book they get an A- for their beauty and ease of reading etc. The only thing I am not a fan of is the deep map creases. 

This is a picture of the multi-hex brigade counters from the designer

 Now we get to the crux of the matter, gameplay. I have seen a good number of beautiful games ruined by bad game mechanics. The next question to be asked is do the rules give a historical representation of 18th century warfare?

 The first thing I want to say about gameplay is this. The game does come with both Simple and regular Rules. However, like most good wargames, they adhere to the GIGO principle (garbage in, garbage out), meaning that you will have to put some effort into learning the game. If you are a seasoned wargamer of even the Napoleonic era, this game and its rules will come as no surprise. If, however, you are only used to pushing cardboard panzers it will take some time to get used to. The biggest difference between the Simple and regular Rules is the inclusion of orders into the mix. This also includes the time it takes to send an ADC off on his horse to the troops in question. Some wargamers are not a fan of orders in game rules. However, I like their addition in games that simulate warfare before radios were commonplace. It is true that the designer has given us the Simple rules to do away with more tracking and forget about the time lag. 

 When you are first presented with the game, the number of counters seems large for a smaller battle such as this. This is in comparison to other battles that have about 100K troops all totaled. The reason the counter number is so large is because of the way the game handles some mechanics. Each unit will have multiple counters depending upon its status at that moment. So, counter clutter is cut down, and you also do not have stacks of informational counters teetering on top of the unit counters.

 I believe that it most definitely helps a player to be immersed in the subject matter of the games they are playing. In fact, most of my gaming is totally dependent on what military history I am reading at the moment and not the other way round.

This is actually double-sided

 The crash of brigades and squadrons in the game seem to me to really give plausible 18th century results. The Battle of Torgau was a close and highly contested one. This was not an easy win for Frederick, as with Rossbach. In actuality the battle came down to the wire. The Prussians became the winners almost in a double overtime situation. This was not the Austrian army of the War of the Pragmatic Sanction, and the rules and the designer's ideas show that. 

 Victory is decided by points. Each side in the different scenarios have their own special conditions. Units that are panicked or removed from the board are either added to your total (enemy units) or added to your opponent's score if they were your units. Some of the scenarios also have points given for control of certain hexes. So, pretty standard fare in wargames.

 To me, the game does make a good representation of the pageantry and linear form of warfare used in the Seven Years War. The different rule sets allow the players to decide how immersed into it they can get. Even with the Simple rules you will feel like you are commanding Prussian or Austrian brigades across a battlefield from over 200 years ago. The rules are not the cookie cutter kind. They are not designed to, nor do they feel like, replicate other eras of warfare with just prettier counters. This game sucks you in and makes you not so much care about the cardboard counter, but you do get a rush when a brigade that is faltering is able to make one more push to crack the enemies line.

OOBs for both Ziethen and Lacy scenario

 Thank you Adhoc-Edition for allowing me to review this game. I am much more versed in the earlier battles in the Seven Years War like Kolin. So, this was also a chance to increase my knowledge of the era. I am also a big fan of Field marshal Daun so that also adds into the equation. Adhoc-Edition has added a few battles to their Seven Years War System in the interim. Please check out the entire line below.

Robert Peterson

Adhoc-Edition

Battle of Torgau

 Napoleon 1806

by

Shakos Games

 The Third Coalition was brought into existence by English money (subsidies) to defeat Napoleonic France. Prussia, oddly enough, had not joined it. The consensus of historians that they were biding their time until either side had given them enough of a bribe. They hadn't counted on Napoleon, and the completely trained and incredibly formidable Grande Armee. Before anyone realized what was happening, the Austrian General Mack (and 50,000 soldiers) were swept up by Napoleon without really a fight. This sent the Austrians reeling back to meet their Russian Allies. However, a little battle called Austerlitz put the Third Coalition down for a dirt nap. Prussia was just starting to think it would be a good idea to join the Third Coalition before it was no more. So with the Grande Armee and its roughly 200,000 troops sitting in Germany or nearby on the border, the Prussians came up with one hell of an idea. The Prussian court had a war party headed by their lovely Queen. This war party finally talked the King and his ministers to go to war with France virtually on their own. What was wrong with the drinking water in Berlin I guess we will never know. Russia had not concluded peace with France, so the Russians could help in the long run. The Prussian Army was led by octogenarians who had been weaned on Frederick the Great's battles. One of their youngest generals was Blucher, who was in his sixties. The Prussian staff seemed to have no idea of what actually to do. They staggered slowly toward the French border with no real plan. They also decided to split their army in two without having any idea of where the French were. The lion that was Napoleon had no trouble dispatching the sheep that were the Prussians. As a matter of fact, the 1806 Campaign is usually listed as the first blitzkrieg. The French went through Prussia like poop through a goose, probably only stopping at times to procure more maps of each new area they were rampaging through. This is one of those games where it is almost impossible to do as bad as your historical counterpart. The history being done, let us see what is in the box:

1 mounted game board 60 x 60 cm

1 rulebook

1 quickstart booklet

2 player aids (orders of battle)

2 player screens

2 sets of 36 cards

1 sticker sheet (54)

More than 220 wooden pieces

10 combat dice

1 cloth bag

  Opening up the box leads a person to exclaim 'C'est Magnifique! This is another European wargame that mixes a real honest to God wargame with a Euro game's look. The map is a beauty, and has a real historical feeling to it. The stickers are little pieces of artwork. They have the countenances of the Prussian King Frederick III and his various generals. These are countered by portraits of Napoleon and some of his Marshals. The two Orders of Battle are made of hard stock and are also a pleasure to look at. The Quickstart Guide is a very large four page fold out. It has a simplified rundown of this information on the first and fourth page:

Setup

How To Win

How To Play

How To Move

Fatigue

How To Engage In Combat

The middle two pages have a complete picture of the map and the Orders Of Battle and a Sample Card. The information needed for using the Orders Of Battle and Cards are also printed there. There are two Player Screens, one in blue, and one in gray. On the inside of the Screens are The Game Sequence and information on combat etc. The two Decks of Cards are also well done, and the Cards themselves do not feel flimsy. The manufacture of the wooden block pieces was done with excellent quality control. I found no mismatched sizes in the different pieces. The Rulebook is a work of art in itself. It is filled on most pages with colorful illustrations of what is being written about on the page. It is twenty-three pages in length. The actual rules take up fourteen pages. There is also a Short Scenario added for those who can only fit in time for a short game. A section called 'Rules For The Grognard' is added to add some historical flavor, and fog of war to the mix. Next is a section called 'Rules Of The Marshal"; this is a setup to play a tournament of the game. For conventions etc. this is a nice addition. What follows is a three page rundown of every Card and their meanings. The end of the Rulebook is a four part History Of The Campaign, and Design Notes. You also get a nice bag for the different pieces. The picture on it is a gold Napoleonic Eagle done on a blue background. The actual game pieces are a carbon copy of what you would find in Shakos Games 'Napoleon 1807' game. I will have a link to my review of that game below.

 The Sequence of Play is easy to remember:

Draw -  Each Player Draws Three Cards

Initiative - The Player With The Highest Value Card Wins

Operations - Movement And Combat

Recovery - Each Player Can Remove Fatigue From Some Corps

  The game rules allow for games to be played quickly. However, there is so much that a player can choose to do each turn that it can be a longer game. This totally depends on what depth each player wants to put into each of their moves. The Grognard Rules really add a lot to the game. These are:

Hidden Setup

Fog Of War

Cavalry Vedettes

 The Map is a point to point movement type. With the Order Of Battle Cards being hidden from play, your opponent will have no idea of what is in front of him strengthwise. The Cards Decks add to the 'friction' of war. While the French Grand Armee is still near its peak the Prussian Army, if not led as it was historically, can still give the French a run for their money. This game is another example of a designer wanting to have a game based in history, as much as possible, but still make it an excellent 'game', and a relatively easy one for two players to enjoy.

 Thank you very much Shakos Games for letting me review this beautiful and great playing game. It deserves to be right up with its brother Napoleon 1807 on your shelf. They have also come out with Napoleon 1815, so it is now a trilogy of games. I also had a chance to review their Saladin game. I will have the review in the links also.

Robert

Shakos Games:

Shakos | Historical board games

Napoleon 1807 Review:

Napoleon 1807 La Campagne de Pologne by Shakos Games - A Wargamers Needful Things

Saladin Review:

Saladin by Shakos Games - A Wargamers Needful Things