And now, the end is near...

The midpoint of the siege has been passed, and the long-anticipated mortars are due to arrive. I’ve no intention of buying some models just for this (I’m saving my pennies for a reworking of my infantry regiments) so I can turn to the excellent Junior General for my batteries. I’m not sure how to put in a link, but you can find the site as I did through the excellent Duchy of Tradgardland site. With these guns in place, I’m set to finish up the siege!


Day 34
Following on from the Covered Way assault, the battered Luftberg infantry were quickly ordered on to dig some approach trenches, connecting the ends of the lodgement to the third parallel. As this put the third parallel back from the front line, the mortar batteries were also set up in it to open on the Zaub bastion. Aschenbach defending guns had an easy time of it, firing on the frantic digging works as well as enfilading the poor troops stuck in the covered way, now perfectly overlooked by the defenders.

Day 36
The approaches to either end of the covered way were finally completed, and digging works began at the top of the glacis for the final artillery positions – the plan being that the covered way would be kept filled with infantry to guard against sallies, while the guns were dug in just behind them and able to fire on the walls at long last.

Some of the mortar batteries proved unable to reach the defences, and so were repositioned further forward – those that could reach the Zaub bastion soon had shells arcing into the enemy positions. The heavy toll of Aschenbach gunnery continued on the covered way defenders.

Day 38
Digging works were at last ended. Guns were hauled up to the brink of the ditch, finally overlooking the wall of the fortress. Also, Aschenbach casualties were mounting from the mortars’ constant attentions, with some battery crews being smashed in the Zaub Bastion.

Day 40
Under a constant rain of shells, Von Krumper decides to concede the Zaub bastion and conserve his gunners for work elsewhere. For the first time since taking the covered way eight days ago, the Luftberg infantry are no longer enfiladed and both the target bastions are suppressed. The very southernmost flank of the lodgement is abandoned, on account of this extended area still being vulnerable from guns further round the fortress, so the captured covered way now extends only between bastion tips. Still, it proves enough and the Luftberg cannon open fire on the fortress walls for the first time.

Day 46
With no vulnerable digging works, the defenders’ guns concentrate all their fire on the Luftberg guns now knocking away at the fortress walls. Artillery losses mount on both sides, as the mortar batteries prove themselves ideal for counter-battery work. I’d always thought of them as an attacking weapon, but the defenders probably wish they had a few in the garrison!

Day 48
A Breach! The first section of wall has been smashed down, permitting a single infantry base to squeeze into the defences. If the opening is widened, the besiegers will be able to launch an assault in the comfortable expectation of success. The artillery duel continues, but with the mortars now in use as reinforcements the attackers have a distinct advantage in weight of fire, as the steadily mounting Aschenbach losses attest. Their only hope now is the running down of the clock…

Day 56
Finally, after more than two weeks of constant battering, the breach is deemed ‘practicable’ for an assault. The covered way is packed with troops, as it has been for the last few weeks, and the defenders take stock.

So, what now for Aschenbach? Upon sad reflection, they’ve been too passive in the siege and now have limited options. From their initial force of 30 infantry, only 10 now remain thanks to the ill-advised sortie early in the siege and the constant efforts of the mortars since their arrival a month ago. Numbers are now so tight that a sortie to regain the covered way would be doomed to fail. A defence of the breach against an enemy assault, as well as diversionary attacks elsewhere, would likely cause great destruction but ultimately fail. By that stage of course, the city would then be sacked and pillaged by the convention of the age – not the best outcome. Similarly however, it is possible to honourably surrender once the breach has been opened, which would save both the city and the nucleus of the Aschenbach army from which they could rebuild for future campaigns. Either way, the campaign concludes in a major defeat. How to go – fighting to the last in defiance of all odds, or with a touch of dignity and humanity?

I was trying to decide, and then just thought “What the hell – I won’t decide!” Many people posting comments on this blog had good advice for both sides, so they can have the honour of deciding. The next few comments on the blog will be taken as a ‘council of war’ vote on how to resolve the siege (If there are no comments, I’ll flip a coin.) Good luck!

The First Assault

After 32 days of siege at Flussburg, in the dead of night, Luftberg made it's first serious assault on the fortress defences. Troops packed the third parallel trenches, a double rum ration was issued, and the storming parties rushed out into the darkness. The covered way assault was underway!



The plan was pretty straightforward - the first waves would charge up to the covered way and then, through close combat with grenades or point-blank firing at the crest of the covered way, beat back the defending infantry. The constant stream of reinforcements fed into the line from the trenches would make up the losses and maintain the pressure until the covered way had been occupied from the tips of the two flanking bastions. Once this was captured, a signal would go back and the following waves would bring up gabions to let the lodgement be fortified. What could go wrong? Success was expected, but the cost was debatable. Would it be too pricey?



Initially the assault went well, as the attack was spotted just as it reached short musketry range - however the defenders rapidly opened up a storm of fire, with a hail of musket balls flying every direction and the cannon in the fortress blasting shots over the defenders' heads. Still, the attack was pressed with reassuring vigour and quickly smashed it's way into the covered way in front of the ravelin. A chaotic and point-blank series of firefights and combats broke out everywhere, over the glacis, into the covered way, and even down into the ditch. The attackers had numbers, but the defending cannon kept on firing canister down into the oncoming attackers. More than a few attacking lodgements were stranded for some time as reinforcements simply couldn't reach them.



Some virtues of the defence, not considered before, began to have a baleful influence. The Zaub bastion, not yet enfiladed and cleared of guns, was able to fire repeatedly into the attackers with great effect - far better than the guns back on the main fortress wall. Also, the zig-zag layout of the covered way meant that the defenders regularly found themselves able to fire into the flanks of the attacking infantry who tried to pass either side of them.



One spectacular feat was achieved by the defence - on the covered way at the tip of the Zaub bastion, a single unit of grenadiers had been stationed. These frosty-eyed killers soon proved themselves to be quite unbelievably lucky, seemingly bulletproof and indestructible, as they destroyed and rebuffed many times their own number of attackers. The mystical forces of dicerolling were clearly with them, as the Luftberg infantry simply couldn't roll a 6 to kill them. Every time they managed to gather sufficient strength to surely tip the statistical odds their way, the cannons on the Zaub bastion would thin them out again and then the grenadiers would drive them off.



However, most of the covered way in the target sector was now taken, and the signal for gabions was successfully sent back. However, the reduced movement rate of the burdened carriers hadn't been anticipated. While the gabions were hauled up with painful slowness, the Luftberg infantry had to endure point-blank cannon and musket fire from the defenders above them on the ramparts, taking heavy losses as a result. Still, very very slowly, the gabions were dragged up and erected, then filled with earth to provide the desperately needed protection.

The defenders' view

Aschenbach infantry on the flanks of the lodgement backed away or returned to the fortress, conceding the position. Finally, the inevitable happened and the grenadiers at the Zaub bastion peak were finally wiped out by point-blank fire, grenades being hurled in, and Luftberg troops from further down the covered way working their way along to them. With them gone, the rest of the covered way was occupied and entrenched.

The heroic defenders - medals all round!

The permanent losses for the assault were - 5 Aschenbach defenders lost, and 33 Luftberg attackers destroyed. The defenders have by now lost around half their strength, while this assault takes the larger attacking force down to around two thirds of it's initial strength. Still, the result of all this bloodshed was the covered way - captured all round the Zaub bastion, all round the ravelin, and up to the point of the Kaisertreu bastion. Problem is, as the diagram shows you in blue arrows, is that as the Zaub bastion isn't yet cleared, most of the trenches are open to enfilade fire from the defenders...

The Lodgement

Progress... (Sort of)

The last update on the siege halted at around day 16 or so, with the Luftberg guns being sited to enfilade the central Kaisertreu bastion. I’ve kept a note of the developments, and here’s the latest news on progress…

Day 18
The Luftberg sappers approached the bottom of the glacis before the selected section of wall, digging a new approach out from the second parallel. The Aschenbach defenders had no interest in letting it slide however, and launched a sortie to disrupt the digging. This was the first launched since the major sortie a week earlier, and as it had been modified for all it’s mistakes it was very different. The attackers only used four bases, launched the attack at short-range, and backed off fast once they’d wrecked the digging. End result: 1 Aschenbach base lost, 3 Luftberg bases destroyed, and all digging works brought to a standstill.

Day 20
Artillery fire had been underway for four days now on the central bastion, which the defenders decided against abandoning in favour of putting up a fight. A sharp artillery exchange caused some losses in the besieging artillerists, but their numbers and advantages in position all told and the gunners were driven out of the bastion with heavy losses. In front of the fortress, the Luftberg infantry persevered with the approach trench while the defending batteries were distracted by the duel around the bastion.

Day 22
The approach again steadily inched forward, so another small sortie was launched – almost exactly like the last one. This time 2 Aschenbach and 3 Luftberg bases were lost, but despite half the sortie being lost the trench was again brought to a virtual standstill.

1. Kleintrink Bastion; 2. Kaisertreu Bastion; 3. Zaub Bastion; 4. Vogelhof Redoubt; 5. Support Trench

The Elector of Luftberg pondered this over with the HQ Siege staff – Major Ungaurn & Captain von Prittstik – and determined a plan. The approach was being brought to a standstill through enemy battery fire and constant sorties, and more support would be needed. Most of the Aschenbach casualties had been caused by fire from adjacent units in the completed trench sections, who could fire from relative safety onto the attackers. Also, the sorties were typically approaching head-on to the tip of the approach trench, wrecking the advancing excavations before the marauding troops hit the completed trench, took losses and then fell back. The order was given to extend the trench of the second parallel (labelled 5 on the map)round to the south from the Vogelhof Bastion and envelop the approach trench. This way, any sortie would be forced to attack into a blizzard of crossfire from entrenched infantry. Little did they know, but the Aschenbach high command had already just given orders to halt sorties on the approach. The defenders were losing men less rapidly, but could still not afford the cost of constant sorties and were down to around 70% of their strength. The approach trench had been stalled for over a week, and now it was time to wait and conserve strength for the direct assaults which would cost the attacker more heavily.

Day 26
Four days on, with new supports dug out, the approach trench finally reached the glacis opposite the tip of the Zaub Bastion. Heavy artillery fire had still made progress difficult and costly, even without the infantry attacks. The Aschenbach defenders packed the covered way opposite the trench with troops, ready to make the assault’s reception as warm as possible. In the rest of the fortress, they stripped the defences down and – to reduce wastage from random cannon shots – pulled their troops back into the ditch for protection, leaving only spotters to keep watch for an enemy attack.

The attackers have opened up a new approach to menace the other parts of the defences, trying to position themselves at the bottom of the glacis for a plausible raid on the northeast covered way, forcing defenders to stay close by. Other than this, the trenchworks are now sufficiently developed for the batteries to be relocated and enfilade the ravelin directly in front of the intended breach location.

Day 28
A hot exchange of fire over the ravelin, but the defenders cling stubbornly on. The approach trench in front of the intended attack sector is now extended to the tip of the Zaub bastion, and a new branch is started out to the Kaisertreu bastion tip, effectively turning it into a third parallel spanning between the Kaisertreu & Zaub bastions. This trench will be converted into the mortar battery once the guns (imminently) arrive, but first the protecting infantry screen must make the next leap forward – the covered way lodgement. Some thought on troop movements down trenches quickly shows that once the assault has been launched, the reserves filing up the trench will only be able to supply a further 2 bases a turn – potentially not making good losses from the enemy’s fire. Orders are issued for the flanking trench (5 on the map) to be extended to join the 3rd parallel, doubling the rate that the follow-up waves can enter.

Day 30
Sensing that they’re just pushing their luck, the defending gun crews in the ravelin abandon the work and withdraw their guns back into the fortress.

The extending third parallel, heading to the tip of the Kaisertreu, appears to be less well covered than the initial third parallel lodgement. A small 2-base raid is launched, but lively fire from the Luftberg troops cuts one base down and sends the other scarpering back, with the digging works undisturbed. The stage was now set for the Covered Way storming. To date, the Luftberg besiegers have lost 20 bases as permanent casualties in a full month of besieging works – a figure expected to mount spectacularly when they actually have to switch from digging to directly attacking fortifications. In the meantime, the troop-packed fortification lines edge even nearer…

I forgot to do pictures!

All rough work-in-progress, but I thought you'd like to see how it's shaping up now I've built and base-coated the fort...

Siege of Flussburg

The technical explanation of siege progress, to which the previous correspondent (the Captain Conrad von Prittstik) did not have, is covered below. About 2 weeks, or a quarter of the total time allowed, has passed for the Luftberg siege of the Aschenbach fortress.

1. Kleintrink Bastion
2. Kaisertreu Bastion
3. Zaub Bastion
4. Vogelhof Redoubt
The black blocks are batteries, red arrows are lines of fire (solid if established, dashed if proposed)

The plan above shows how things stand at present, following about 2 weeks of siege. Luftberg proved to have a good eye for distances, and correctly estimated a starting location for his first parallel which was just outside defending cannon range, thus sparing his men a turn of being showered with cannonballs.

The plan derived by the Elector and Major Ungaurn is to force a breach between the Kaisertreu and Zaub bastions (2 and 3 on the plan above.) The Kaisertreu central bastion could be pretty easily enfiladed by digging around the eastern face of the fort, but to flank the Zaub bastion would require a pretty extensive bunch of works to the south. It was decided to instead keep flanking it as plan ‘B’ for the present, and instead use the anticipated howitzers to shell them out. Some calculations with ranges revealed that this would need some mortar batteries at the very edge of the glacis to lob shells into the bastion.

With the first parallel completed, an approach was dug and then the second parallel extended in a southward direction. The trench line now projected out slightly to get the enfilading line on the Kaisertreu, so the Elector ordered a redoubt to be built for protection of the batteries. In honour of the army’s greatest victory, it was dubbed the Vogelhof Redoubt. The defenders’ guns made construction as unpleasant as possible, but before long it was completed and packed with troops, plus lots of inspiring flags to encourage the men.

The second parallel was also extended northwards, with a similar angle to envelop the defences. The extension was necessary for enfilading the Kaisertreu, but the intention was also to create some ‘jumping off’ trenches for raids, plus allow a diversionary attack when the breach was assaulted to spread the defenders thin. However, as it extended round the required distance and before any protective redoubt was completed, the defenders decided to launch a sortie to disrupt the digging.

Around 8 bases of troops packed the covered way, before sweeping out of the sally ports and attacking. Sadly for the Aschenbach forces, the vigilant defenders spotted the activity almost instantly and began to prepare to receive the attack. A runner was sent to the batteries across from the threatened sector, and with unexpected speed there were soon shots raining down on the flank of the approaching Aschenbach troops – things were going badly wrong for them!

Diagram of the sortie in solid red lines, the dashed trench section is under construction, and the dashed red line shows the flanking artillery battery fire.

All the same, the attackers pressed on and crashed into the defending workers, and a heated exchange took it’s toll on both sides. A group of Aschenbachers even managed to turf the defenders out of a small section of existing trench, and held it long enough to overturn it – much more than was originally planned. Finally though, they were forced to retire back with honours even at six bases lost on each side. All the proposed digging works had been halted, and when redone the next day with heavy guards of Croat skirmisher screens and Grenadier reserves. The works are now complete, and the Kaisertreu is enfiladed, although with considerable delay and cost to both sides. The Feldmarschall von Krumper will not be attempting another sally soon however, what with the losses it took from the unexpected enfilading artillery fire. He reckons currently on one future sally once the batteries are positioned with the aim of spiking some guns, and hopefully a further counterattack on any Covered Way lodgement.

Correspondence from the front

Extract from the diaries of Captain Conrad von Prittstik, of the Infanterie Regiment of Negrelli (IR4) – Siege of Flussburg

Day 1
The army has arrived back outside the city of Flussburg once again, to resume the siege that we were engaged in before the battles of Flussburg and Althirschburg. Instructed my servant, Otto, to reacquire my previous lodgings in a nearby inn. Spent the night under canvas with some other officers, close enough to hear the digging works from the men for the first parallel.

Day 2
First parallel completed. A few shots from the enemy have found our initial works to be pleasingly just beyond their effective range. Appealed once again to the Baron Negrelli to consent to my secondment to headquarters, so my compendious knowledge of siegecraft can be put to use. No sign of Otto.

Day 4
The first approach trench has been run forward, despite the enemy guns having a fine time on our diggers. Otto has reappeared, and reports the inn I stayed in previously has been pillaged, burned down to rubble, then pillaged again. I am now quite glad I didn’t pay my bill.

Day 5
A day of fruitless labour for our gunners, who were ordered to haul their guns into batteries in the first parallel, to look like they are contributing. As the second parallel is still under construction, they protested that they could do nothing until then. Happily, I can record the Elector paid them no heed. I must get my secondment to headquarters, as life in camp is ridiculously boring. Played cards until 2am. Lost 43 crowns.

Day 6
Approach the baron once more, and appeal for more involvement in the siege. Was still hung over, and probably didn’t make the best impression. Nevertheless, the baron smiled and promised me that I would have my wish soon enough.

Day 9
Last three days spent overseeing digging works – confound that baron! Forced to spend my days standing in a muddy hole in the ground, under constant cannon fire, to make sure that the men are digging along the correct path and not veering off to one side or another, to either get us all killed or avoid the fort altogether. Took some comfort that by the end of my final day, the second parallel was well under way and the batteries had been moved forward to begin returning fire. Celebrated my return by giving my mud-covered uniform to Otto, then played cards. Lost 14 crowns.

Day 10
Batteries are now firing away on the fortress, and the second parallel extends on. Have completed a large redoubt, from which some rather exhilarating fun can be had watching the bombardment. Have resolved to work for myself into the headquarters, and instructed Otto to gather up some decent quantities of alcohol.

Day 12
Much high drama through the dawn, as the enemy has launched a sortie. Seeing the progress of our works, and realising that we should soon enfilade their central bastion, a large force attacked out of the fortress and disrupted the proposed works. I was present in the trenches nearby, and was even briefly caught up in a lively exchange of grenades before we were persuaded to retire. The Aschenbach troops even managed to occupy and overturn a portion of our existing works, before we managed to drive them out with much close-range combat of cold steel and grenades. Otto somewhat singed. Decided to write my invitations to the Siege’s director, Major Ungaurn, in person.

Day 14
No sign of a return visit from the enemy, as we have repaired and finished our works while screened by pickets of Croats to the fore and flying columns of grenadiers in reserve. Much destruction from the enemy’s gunners, but the trenches are at last complete. Invited Major Ungaurn and his aide to cards in our tent. Lost 85 crowns, became very drunk, but thankfully was matched in alcohol by Major Ungaurn and secured my secondment to the Siege Headquarters. Glory Awaits!

Handiwork

I'm not particularly good at fixing things up around the house. Want a tap washer replaced? Ring the ambulance before asking me to help out. Need me to rewire one of your plugs? Forget it - just burn your own house down and save yourself a phonecall. But, if you need a scale model of an 18th Century fortress, well... Suddenly all my well-worn caution flies out the window! I've not done this sort of thing for years, but I'm game enough to give it a shot.



All the last posts were a bit dry and technical, but I couldn't see any way round it, as the vocabulary is needed for any decent write-up of what each side is doing and why. Still, it's done now and I can progress. For the siege of Flussburg, I actually had a rough plan - I'd sketched a star-fort on the map I'd used for the approach marches to the battle near Flussburg, and so have adapted that for the design. The fortress is an eight-bastioned layout, of which half will need to be modelled for a decent game. On paper then, this would produce a semi-circle with three full bastions, two half-bastions right at the board edge, and four ravelins in between them.

My Plan 'Template' on paper

The finished fortress quarter (No. 2 on the way)

A plan view of the defences

The bastions and ravelins

The ditch and covered way

After dismissing built-up card covered in paper-mache, I built the models by buying a bunch of polystyrene insulation tiles and cutting into them - as the fortresses were supposedly low-lying, modelling them downwards into a surface rather than up above it seemed more sensible. I cut the tiles in half, marked one up with a paper template measuring about 24cm or 6BW from bastion-to-bastion. Using a sharp knife I cut out the ditch shape, then built up the covered way with corrugated cardboard strips glued together. Ravelin shapes were cut from the spare polystyrene removed to make the ditch. The cut sections were then glued down on the other unmarked half of the tile, which acted as a nice base for it all. Now I just need to paint it all...

Checking through the depleted force lists and OoB's after the battle of Althirschburg, the two forces have an infantry balance of around five-to-one in favour of the besieging Luftburg army - pretty good odds for a siege. Artillery-wise, the two sides are pretty equal, but as the siege is scheduled to run for 2 months I'm prepared to bolster the Luftburg artillery park a bit around the half-way point, maybe with some mortars. Scale will all be a bit relative. I estimate the defender of this mighty citadel will need about 20+ figures to do so, which means that the attackers will number a corresponding 100+ infantry bases. This can't be done all at once, but I'm planning to keep a tally on paper, and release troops to the tabletop as required.