Out of sequence: All Hell Let Loose—Advance to Arnhem

This post is one out of sequence: a few turns of a Second World War game. It is clearly not related to my focus on the First World War and 1916 in particular, but does go back to late 2019 when I had painted and based some of the 1/32 figures of my youth (plus a few that I purchased to supplement them). These figures had sat, patiently, in one of the cupboards in my shed waiting for a 'run' on the table. Current projects and my focus meant that I had nothing planned for them in the near future. Then, enter my good friend serendipity.

Early last month, I was looking over some some of the many blogs that I follow and stumbled across a review of the rules All Hell Let Loose by the 'Emperor' over at L'Empereur Bête et Méchant. They sounded quite interesting, so I looked into them further, including looking at one of several links he had included; to the blog of the rules' author. I was further encouraged by what I read so, since they are available in a form that includes a pdf download and printed version, not super-cheap, but 'reasonable', I decided to get a copy.

Reading them convinced me that they could be worth a go. I had intended my activities for the Second World War to be at the squad level, but these rules, nominally company level for games from division to corps size, would allow games at these higher levels of operation. Even better, they have been written so as to be completely scalable and 'scale agnostic'. I decided to take the latter concept a step further and use the rules, pitched at 6 mm figures, with my 1/32 scale figures!

When I mentioned the idea to Julian he was super keen. We were getting together for one of our roughly monthly sessions, so it seemed an opportune time to try a few turns.

I set up a scenario loosely (very loosely) based on the advance of the 1st and 3rd parachute battalions following their landings on 17th September 1944. The paras were advancing towards Arnhem, having just passed through Wolfheze and would be opposed by German forces in the wooded areas to the east.

Battle of Arnhem 17th September 1944 (Source: Wikipedia)

 

My rough interpretation for this playtest. Third parachute battalion at left, first at right. Wolfheze off-board behind them, woods ahead. Using 1/32, each figure/50 mm^2 base represents a platoon. Each formation (e.g. the two para battalions has an HQ, represented by the officer & radio operator figures. I considered the vehicles  to have a 'footprint' of the same size; i.e. 50 mm^2 at the front-centre

We had a long catch up, dinner and a lot of 'chewing the fat', so only had time for a few turns, just managing to begin the action. We took a parachute battalion^ each, both deciding what the Germans should do. Julian carried out the firing and managed three hits from six platoons; 'destroying' one para—one of mine!
^ Re-reading a bit of the rules, these two 'formations' would be better considered to be part of one of the para battalions. This makes the scale more appropriate too.

Paras advance, not knowing that German troops await in ambush in the wood.

The first German formation springs the trap.

Six platoons fire on the paras.

Three successful hits, resulting in one platoon 'destroyed' (which represents no longer combat effective).

This was sufficient to demonstrate the potential of the rules and, pleasingly, that they could work with the 1/32 figures. I'll play a few more turns later and see how it turns out.

Objective Ant Hill—version 1

I drew inspiration from Kubric's poignant and powerful Paths of Glory for this, my initial foray into wargaming the First World War.

The attack by the 701st regiment to take the 'ant hill' is the key action in the film, the planning, execution and results of which provide the vehicle for its hard-hitting, anti-war sentiment and its moving and hopeful ending.

I have gathered several sets of rules for the First World War. Initially I was thinking that I'd focus on company-level, battalion or regimental scale representations, but soon realised that I would also like to do grander stuff; battalion or regimental level for corps or multi-corps actions. Not suprisingly, perhaps, all of the sets that I have (or have investigated) take quite a similar approach, while having differences in some of the specific mechanisms and/or the level of detail included.

I was most impressed by Tom Jensen's Westfront by Ostfront Publishing. These are ostensibly company-level for actions involving a regiment or two (plus associated artillery, tanks, other vehicles and, indirectly, aircraft). It is clear on reading that they are eminently scaleable and in looking for a link to add to this post I found that they describe them as such in the promotional material on the Ostfront Publishing website:

Play games with a handful of platoons in a trench, or re-fight the entire battle of the Marne. If you have the table size, you can play it. The game suits company to fully armed battalion sized games, but there is no upper limit.

The rules include the key elements without getting bogged down in too much detail. So, for example, infantry weapons come in two categories: rifles and hand grenades/close assault weapons. Machine guns are a separate category of unit, enabling them to be allocated according to historical organisation. Artillery are simplified to four categories: trench mortars, flat-firing field guns, howitzers and heavy howitzers. There are only three levels of quality/morale of troops: raw, regular and assault/veteran. Choices of weapons and tactics are governed by what Jensen refers to as the 'evolution of warfare'. He divides the four-years conflict into three periods: early war (1914–1915), mid war (1916) and late war (1917–1918). Orders are determined by the draw of a card (joker included), providing 14 options which dictate attack, defense, hold, reconnoitre, any flanking, artillery support.

The rules are set out somewhat unconventionally with the order being organising a game, detailed rules, evolution of warfare, orders, deployment and gameplay, army lists, playing aids. This means that, for example, the game turn is found on page 32, but they are easy and clear to read and to navigate during a game (thanks to the detailed table of contents). There is not a quick reference sheet provided with the rules, but it is easy enough to duplicate the few necessary tables and make one's own (particularly if you opted for the pdf version as I did).

I kept this first game extremely simple, limiting the types of troops and ignoring some aspects of the rules like random events/blunders, communication (info. or requests to headquarters and responses back). In keeping with the film, the French attacked as infantry only with no artillery support and no machine guns. The Germans held a trench which I deemed a deep one (as opposed to shallow) so as to give maximum cover and received two supporting machine gun units in heavy cover.

Let's leave it at that brief introduction and overview of the rules and game and move to a pictorial report of the play-test where I can illustrate some of the mechanics. (Note: a standard unit in Westfront is composed of two bases, but bases may move and fire independently).

The 'cunning plan' hatched by General Mireau called for an advance with half of the regiment against the German left, while the other half came in a second wave against their right, weakened as it responded to the threat to the other flank. Clever.

Colonel Dax leading the advance.

The German defenders await the French. My first stuff-up was to make no-man's land too big. I forgot to check that bit of the rules! It was no great matter though as it merely meant that the French did a longer advance out of range of the German infantry weapons.

The French right approaches the barbed wire. Second mistake was to place this out of range of the German infantry, so they could not shoot the enemy as they cut the wire!

Back in the headquarters trench General Mireau observes progress (represented by the Airfix figure with telescope as I have not yet painted any French generals/staff).

Dax's men reach the wire. A base must spend two turns stationary at barbed wire to cut it.

Meanwhile, Dax's left-most companies have progressed through an area of destroyed wire and fired at the German defenders (die roll of five, modified to three for heavy cover), forcing some to become suppressed (indicated by the prone figure). I have included the die/dice in the photographs for this description. They are not necessary as markers in the game.

I began by photographing each base firing one at a time, but improved as I went on. The second French base missed (die roll of one, modified to minus one). I did not realise until reading the text around the table more closely after the completion of this game, that the result can be lower than one. This is important as a result of one is 'no effect and low on ammunition'. Lower than one is simply 'no effect'. I got it right this time by the serendipity of an error!

The suppressed result forces a morale test, passed easily. Suppression remains until the end of the German turn, but the base remains in place.

German turn. The three produces a suppressed result and the two by the French for morale leads to a break. The German two is 'no effect'. This was the start of some poor shooting by the Germans early on in the game. The 'angleometer' is showing the firing zone of 45º from either base edge.

Back at the wire the cutting begins, indicated by the prone figures.

French base makes break move while the companies forming Mireau's clever left-hook come up. A broken unit must return to the army baseline (starting trenches) before testing to rally.

Good shooting by the French produces '50% casualties*' (indicated by the dead German), but a six for morale sees the Germans pass. *This is actually the wrong result as the French six should have been modified to four which is a 'suppressed' result.

In homage to All Quiet on the Western Front, a bit of beauty amongst the hell and misery.

Great shooting by the Germans, but only one French base to take the fire; now removed (indicated by dead figures).

 

French now through the first line of wire and up to the second—also placed out of rifle range by me. What a duffer!

 

French at wire and advance.

Actually, not all of the French at the wire were out of range. The left-most base cops it and breaks (roll of two on the blue die). At this stage it seemed to be going according to Kubrick et al's script!

French at wire begin to cut, indicated by side-on prone figures. I was beginning to develop a system.

Germans manage only one hit from four attempts and the French base receiving the 50% casualties passes morale.

Second turn of French cutting.

Now with only one French base in range, the German's miss.

The French were saving this one up! Three suppression results (above) and two German units break (below).

German turn and perhaps they are beginning to get the range. One French base broken (die roll of one for morale) and one wavering (walking wounded marker).

Anything the Germans can do... The base at the left of the German trench gets a break result with that one for morale.

Only one hit to the Germans here and that six on the blue die is a pass for the French base with 50% casualties (dead figure). The German base that fired with a four is modified by minus one for low on ammunition and another minus one for French being 'gone to ground' (indicated by crawling figure), hence 'no effect'.

Perhaps the luck has swung? That is a set of misses to the French.

Two more broken French bases.

First German base fails to rally (requires four or better) and is lost for the game. I realised when I did this test and re-read the rally rules that it should have been testing all the way to the table edge.

Second base rallied.

French turn, only one successful fire, causing suppression of the second German from the right, but it passed morale with a four (regular infantry).

Good German shooting and Mireau's left-hook is blunted.

Rallied.

A whole lot of nothing for the French, save for the base in the German trench whose grenade/close assault has broken the German defenders.

I finished the game with this German turn. Another French base broken (blue die showing the two for morale on a suppressed result (already having suffered 50% casualties).

The end of the action, as captured by the Imperial Army's photographer.

Another of the images from the Imperial Army's photographer, digitally enhanced in colour.

This was a double positive result. A year in the making, my initial foray into First World War wargaming has me more interested than ever. The Westfront rules held up pretty well. The simple morale rules could do with having a few more modifiers (for situation and current condition of a base perhaps) so as to make the result more than pure chance. The range for the machine guns seemed a little short too, but we'll see after "Objective Ant Hill v2", where I'll add artillery and perhaps some other details.

References

Jensen, T (2016) Westfront - Tabletop Game for the First World War. Ostfront Publishing http://www.ostfrontpublishing.com/games/westfront/

Kubrick S, Willingham C, and Thompson J (1957) Paths of Glory (screenplay) based on the novel "Paths of Glory" by Humphrey Cobb.

 

Redux: A tiny test of Twilight: Fraustadt 1706

This is a re-posting of a post about my first solo game that was posted originally on our Avon Napoleonic Fellowship blog.

The ’Twilight of the Sun King’ rules were first brought to my attention by a review on the marvellous 'Un Marius Sinon Rien' blog. Reading a further review on wargamer.com website convinced me to purchase them. They arrived in April and I was immediately keen to give them a go. I threw some Great Northern War Saxons into the ever-expanding group of figures that I am painting. Having brought these, a few Russians and some additional Swedes to the stage of ‘good enough’ (base-coat completed, awaiting black-wash, addition of basing mix and then final highlights/details), my impatience could wait no longer; it was time for a test game.

Set-up for this first test game, the Battle of Fraustadt 1706 at brigade scale (a scenario provided in the rules). This also gave me a chance to have a go with my new latex rivers and roads. The scale meant that 15 mm and N-gauge railway buildings were most appropriate.

Twilight of the Sun King, revised edition 2019

The Rules

The authors of Twilight of the Sun King are members of the Pike and Shot Society, so it is little wonder that the rules have a strong historical focus. That said, they are not complex; I consider them to be the definition of elegant simplicity. The rule book is 22 pages long, with a further three devoted to the introductory scenario and a one-page 'advert.' for the Pike and Shot Society. The rules could easily have been written on around four pages, I'd estimate. The longer presentation is due to them having been printed in a large font, with clear, large diagrams and the odd reproduction of a painting from the period—all most pleasing aspects. The booklet is a simple, A4 production printed in black and white (apart from the cover) and is not especially cheap (£12 plus postage). It does not, though, suffer from the problem of gloss over substance that besets so many of those expensive, hard cover sets of rules that seem to be churned out all to regularly.

I was drawn to purchase the rules because they featured a truly novel system which sounded like it could work well (and was certainly worth a go to find out). They take the familiar 'I go you go' approach, but the similarity with other set of rules stops there. The turn sequence for each side comprises but three phases: opponent's bombardment, test morale of own troops (for effects of bombardment, firing, mêlée), move own troops. In each turn the attacker moves first followed by the defender.

All movement and ranges are calculated in base widths, so the rules are completely scalable. Units can always move straight ahead, so there is none of this business of troops sitting around waiting for someone to tell them how to march. More 'elaborate' manoeuvres (including charging, formation changes, crossing terrain, entering difficult going, undertaking more than one move) require a successful 'action test'. This is simply a roll of a D6 with anything but a 1 or 2 being a success. There is a negative one modifier to the die roll for the action test if the unit failed a morale test in the current turn (and/or is charging a platoon firing unit—for the Great Northern War this is limited to "probably Russians from 1710").

There is no firing. WHAT?!!! If you have read reviews of the rules you'll already know this 'shocking fact'. Actually, it is not really correct. There is plenty of firing (as you'll see in the photos below), but it is not conducted in the familiar manner where a roll is made against factors and ranges to determine the casualties on the enemy unit(s) (or other mechanic being used). Rather, in Twilight of the Sun King being fired upon, involved in mêlée or infantry with cavalry in close proximity (1/2 base width) are causes to test morale and any artillery fire, small arms fire, mêlée, terrain/defences, supports/flanking (as appropriate) are modifiers to the test.

Failing a morale test (modified score of two average dice below eight) results in a morale failure (four or below is a rout). Generally infantry will break on their third failed test, cavalry and artillery on their second. A unit classified as 'large' and/or 'determined' gets an extra morale failure before breaking, while one classed as 'wavering' gets one fewer (units classed as 'small' and those classed as 'raw' receive a negative one modifier in the test). There is no way to 'rally' troops or otherwise recover morale, but a commander may have an impact.

The presence and proximity of commanders is important in Twilight of the Sun King to bolster morale (i.e. re-take a morale test if 'attached' to the unit—within a base width) and to encourage the troops to undertake some of those more elaborate manoeuvres mentioned above (i.e. re-roll an action test). In the former case a commander is a commander (provided that he may command the unit, is close enough and is not 'attached' elsewhere), while his quality is important for the latter (and for a brigade or army test if required).


I was pleased that the introductory scenario provided in the rules is for the Battle of Fraustadt, 2nd February 1706 (by the Julian calendar—one day later by the Swedish calendar of the time and eleven days later by the modern Gregorian calendar) as the Great Northern War is one of the two conflicts in the eighteenth century that interest me greatly—along with the French and Indian War, not being particularly 'fussed' with the rest (apologies to the devotees out there). The scenario in the rules allows for the game to be played at either the brigade or regimental scale. I decided to test the rules initially at the brigade scale, moving to a larger game if I liked them sufficiently. I used the scenario largely as provided, but adjusted the order of battle, chiefly using the Great Northern War Compendium, to one that I considered more historically accurate.

Volume one of the Great Northern War Compendium includes a chapter by Oskar Sjöstrom and Stephen Kling about the Battle of Fraustadt. I used this source, principally, to adjust the order of battle for the game.

Playing the game solo meant that I carried out turns as and when it suited, playing two turns over two nights last week and then finishing the game on the Friday. This was really helpful as it allowed me to proceed slowly and to double-check the rules between mini-sessions. 

The Game
 
This has been a wordy post so far, by my standards, so let's proceed to the pictorial description of the game.
 

Table set-up, showing the map from the rules. The area is tiny, being 10 base widths x 15 base widths or 500 mm x 750 mm for my figures.

The Russo-Saxon army had been lured by Rehnkshold from its strong defensive position on the heights near Schlawa when the latter had moved his Swedish army away from their positions in a seeming headlong retreat. Schulenburg, commanding the Russo-Saxons, advanced, then hastily formed a new, improvised and 'messed-up' defensive position north-east of Fraustadt when Rehnkshold turned to give battle.

View from the Saxon side of the table. Note the far inferior Swedish force, odds roughly 2:1 in the Saxon favour.

A map from Sjöstrom and Kling's chapter in the Great Northern War Compendium. I began the game by copying these moves (as far as possible, allowing for the scale).

As per history, the Saxon guns opened fire on the advancing Swedes (bombardment range in the rules).

"From right to left, one cannon after another spewed its deadly content onto the field... however, aside from the battery at the right end of the line that managed to slow down a couple of Swedish battalions, the salvoes had had more or less no effect at all" (Sjöstrom and Kling 2016). We were going fairly well to script, the Södermanlands regiment at the right of the line failing the morale test (indicated by the black piece of straw).

Rehnkshold encouraged his centre forward towards the Saxon positon (successful action test for a second move).

The Saxon cannons fired "... a third at short range and canister" (Sjöstrom and Kling 2016).
Another morale failure for the Södermanlands.

GåPå! The Swedish infantry charged the fortifications.

On the Swedish left, the Livdragonregementet moved to confront the Saxon cavalry.

 

On the Swedish left, in a break from history, the Saxon garde du corps and Goltz Dragoon Regiment attempted to advance through the marsh, only making it half-way (failed action test to exit). At this point, I realised that I had mucked up my left and right and so put two Saxon cavalry units on their right, instead of three, the reverse on their left. Ah well, that's what test games are for!

The Saxon infantry opened fire on the attacking Swedes. (Note dear reader, that is more of that firing that does not exist in the rules!).

This time the Västmanland regemente (Södermanlands in support) failed a morale test (above), but the Närke-Värmlands regemente, an élite unit with the Pommerska dragoons in support, passed (below).

 

Breaking with history, the Saxon infantry behind the chevaux de frise, represented by the zig-zag fences here, continued to hold. The foot guards (right of photo) passed their morale test, forcing the Västmanland regemente to withdraw 1/4 base-width. The Drost regiment failed a morale, but were still able to hold on and continue the mêlée with the Närke-Värmlands.

Cavalry mêlées on the Swedish right (above) and left (below) flanks.

Having pushed the Västmanland regemente back, the Saxons fired off another round of volley and artillery (intense enough to make the camera shake).

On the Swedish right, the élite Livdragonregementet had beaten back the Beust cuirassiers, who retreated behind their supports (Dünewald dragoon regiment) who then charged the Swedes.

Not so good on the Swedish left, the Skanska Standsdragon regemente losing the mêlée (failed morale test) and, having no supports, retreated their full measure, caring not about the marsh. Keeping up the pressure, the Goltz dragoon regiment followed-up (below).

In the centre the Swedish infantry tried again and were blunted once more.

 

More Saxon fire, a second morale loss for the Västmanland regemente (below).

Hope again for the elusive breakthrough, as the Närke-Värmlands continue in mêlée.

It was not Hummerhjelm's day. Two failed action tests made the Skanska Standsdragon the Skanska stranded-dragoon.

Not missing the opportunity of a charge in the rear, the Goltz dragoon regiment finished them off.

As with the historical action, the von Krassow's brigade (represented here by the
Livdragonregementet) were getting the better of their more numerous Saxon opponents, aided by the fact that the Saxon's poor deployment had them attacking piece-meal.

Having forced the Närke-Värmlands regemente back, Schulenburg ordered an exchange of the lines, replacing the Drost regiment with the Koningin. I really enjoyed mixing up the paint to make those Isabella facings and base colour for the flag of the Koningin.

For the Queen! The Koningin immediately out-did their line comrades, Närke-Värmlands failing a morale test (now represented by the little red 'pimple—utilising some silly little plastic covers from some pens that I bought, making more attractive markers).

Having 'sat on his bum' for eight turns, and with the Västmanland broken, Rehnskold was finally spurred into action, sending cavalry left and right. Too little too late?

Perhaps not, von Krassow's Livdragonregementet broke the Beust cuirassiers (above), von Dunewald sending in the Wrangel dragoons supported by his own unit (below).

Now getting desperate and unlikely for the Swedes in the centre: a volley against the
Närke-Värmlands and artillery fire on the Södermanlands (which did not agree with them, as you'll see later).

The Pommerska charged the exposed left of the Russian line,...

... breaking the raw unit, while the Livdragonregementet continued on their winning way.

That flank looks attractive!

Left exposed by the breaking of the Södermanlands, Schulenburg liked the look of the Närke-Värmlands' flank, sending out the Saxon foot guard.

The Wrangel dragoon having retreated from the mêlée, von Dünewald's dragoons again charged the Livdragonregemente.

Flank fire on the Pommerska and a loss of morale.

A second morale loss to the Närke-Värmlands, now unsupported.

In charged the Pommerska...

 

... a morale loss to the Patkul Infantry Regiment, but they held.

 

von Dünewald's boys fought bravely, but incurred a morale loss.

The Norra Skanska tried a desperate, headlong charge against the Saxon guard, with predictable results, the Pommerska dragoons were broken by the Patkul Infantry Regiment and even the Närke-Värmlands had given up the fight.

This forced an army morale test, which Rehnskold easily passed!

von Dünewald's boys had fought bravely, but finally broke. I just realised that I forgot to do the brigade morale test, but it was of no consequence as, with only two cavalry regiments left, it was all over for the Swedes!

 
So, after nine turns I lost. As a fairly unimaginative Rehnskold I had failed to replicate the  dramatic Swedish victory that was his finest hour. Alternatively, as a more aggressive Schulenburg I achieved a better outcome. Still, since I lean strongly towards the Swedes, I have to say that I beat myself.

The result was not really the point of this though, for it was about the rules and they came out of this game with a win. On reading, I thought that I’d like them. I was not sure after the early turns. I re-read key sections, found things that I had not done quite correctly and, as I began to get the mechanics clear in my head and perform the tests correctly, I found myself liking them more and more. The rules are straightforward, as I said in my description above, but the completely novel approach meant that they took a bit of getting one’s head around.

As the 'mist' cleared I could consider the rules' mechanics. There are several aspects that I like, firing is central, units can always move, but it takes more to perform more 'elaborate' movement, supports, protected flanks and generally good positioning of your forces are paramount. Troop quality has an effect, but not an extreme one (either positively or negatively). Similarly, commanders are well represented in the rules, but not out of proportion.

Having enjoyed this playtest of Twilight of the Sun King, I'm keen to complete the additional troops necessary to play the game at regimental scale. I’ll then compare the rules with GåPå (that I have tried once and liked) and also the Polemos Great Northern War rules (by Nick Dorrell one of the authors of Twilight of the Sun King—one can see that he has included a lot of ideas from them into Twilight of the Sun King). I often find 'sticking points' with rules the more that I use them. Time will tell whether this is the case with Twilight of the Sun King. They passed their first test with a credit and I'll see how they go with further testing.

One of my long-term aims is to paint sufficient figures for the Great Northern so as to field Swedish, Saxon, Polish-Lithuanian, early Russian and Ottoman armies (these latter will also be fit for Napoleonics), as well as some later Russian and Danish troops. The eventual 'grand plan' is to work through the battles of the Great Northern War from go to whoa. This playtest has added fuel to that fire.



Rules

Twilight of the Sun King by Steven Thomas, Andrew Coleby and Nicholas Dorrell, revised edition 2019 (https://www.wfgamers.org.uk/resources/C18/Twilight/ToSK).

Scales: 1:200–300 for brigade-scale games, 1:100–150 for regimental-scale games. Units of two bases each (one for artillery). All movement and ranges calculated in base widths. Ground scale 1:5 000 for brigade-scale and 1:2 500 for regimental scale at recommended base width. I used 1:6 000 for my game (base width 50 mm).


Figures

All figures in the game were 1/72 scale.

Swedish
Infantry: Mars 'Swedish Infantry'
Cavalry: Zvezda 'Swedish Dragoons of Charles XII' and Strelets 'Reitars of Charles XII'

Saxon
Infantry: Mars 'Saxon Infantry'
Cavalry: Strelets 'Russian Dragoons of Peter I' Artillery: Zvezda 'Swedish Artillery of Charles XII'

Russian
Infantry: Strelets 'Russian Dragoons of Peter I' and 'Swedish Infantry of Charles XII', Zvezda 'Russian Strelets Infantry' and Strelets various bonus Streletsi figures.
Some of these Russians were part of a huge haul from John of the Wargame Hermit blog that I got back in June 2018 (thanks John, if you are reading). I'm adding further streletsi as early Russians (for Narva, River Düna).


References

Sjöstrom O (2008) Fraustadt 1706 - Ett fält färgat rött. Map of the battle (sourced from https://www.tacitus.nu/gnw/battles/Fraustadt/)

Sjöstrom O and Kling SL (2016) Warsaw, Fraustadt and the Grand Plan to Crush Charles XII. In Kling (Jr.) SL (Ed.) Great Northern War Compendium Volume 1. The Historical Game Company. pp. 197–210.


Thomas S, Coleby A and Dorrell N (2019) The Battle of Fraustadt - 1706, Introductory Scenario. In Twilight of the Sun King. The Pike and Shot Society Essex England.

Wye Forest Gamers (n.d.) The Battle of Fraustadt, 13th Feb 1706. https://www.wfgamers.org.uk/great-northern-war/gnw-battle-of-fraustadt