Battle of Wimpfen 1622

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nevermore
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Battle of Wimpfen 1622

Post by nevermore » Tue Oct 16, 2012 10:38 am

The Battle of Wimpfen was a battle in the Bohemian Revolt period of the Thirty Years' War on 6 May 1622 near Wimpfen. The forces of the Holy Roman Empire and Catholic League under Marshal Tilly and Gonzalo de Córdoba defeated the Protestant forces of General Ernst von Mansfeld and Georg Friedrich, Margrave of Baden-Durlach.

To gain time and to attempt to split the combined Catholic army, Mansfeld crossed the Neckar near Heidelberg while Georg Friedrich marched east up the river to cross at Wimpfen. The plan failed as the troops under Tilly and Córdoba did not split and instead pursued the 14,000 strong army of Georg Friedrich and cut him off near Wimpfen. Outnumbered, the margrave deployed his troops into a defensive position on a low hill outside of the village. Here the Protestants made an effective stand, rallied by a strong artillery position until a random Spanish countershot exploded the Protestant magazine, costing the Badeners their position. The Catholics drove the hill and shattered the Protestant army. Georg then fled to Stuttgart with but a few remaining men under his command.

Another 96 photos are on the main website and we would like to thank http://www.atlanticpublishers.com/magaz ... -wargames/ for publishing a wonderful report in this months magazine.

Deployed forces at the Battlefield of Wimpfen
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Protestants with armed carts await
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The defence line of the protestants army.
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Catholic army are ordered to advance towards the line.
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Artillery wait for the right moment to fire shot on the advancement.
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Margrave of Baden-Durlach lines his men behide the cover of the carts.
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Catholic cavalry await on the right flank of the Prostestant army.
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From a walk to a trot the cavalry from both sides will clash in a bloody fight that continued
back and forth during the rest of the game.
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Prostestant cavalry on the left flank move through the village to secure any attacks.
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They then take up position and await.
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A misfire from the artillery gun and a large explosion shakes the surrounding ground.
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Prostestant artillery opens fire on the advanced Catholics.
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The center and right flank postitions at the battlefield of Wimpfen, you can see the cavalry clash and the large explosion that rattled the ranks of the defenders.
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Catholics advance on the left flank
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The retreat begins with a pike defence trying to hold off the cavalry
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Ranks thin out and musket shots are shot randomly.
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http://grimsbywargamessociety.webs.com/
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obriendavid
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Re: Battle of Wimpfen 1622

Post by obriendavid » Tue Oct 16, 2012 10:48 am

Great looking game as always Malc!
I was interested to see you using armed wagons in the game, I always thought that they formed a defensive line with their baggage wagons, have you found some new info or just used what you had available?
I feel the early battles are more interesting before the Swedes get involved and just seem too powerful, at least they have been in the rules that I've used in the past.
Cheers
Dave
nevermore
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Re: Battle of Wimpfen 1622

Post by nevermore » Tue Oct 16, 2012 11:17 am

Don't really know much about the history of the battle Dave, but we was rushed into doing the wagons getting them scratch built and painted for the magazine.
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