More important politically than militarily, the Battle ofFehrbellin (June 18, 1675) will be the focus of a new project here in the Duchy
of Alzheim.
 |
| Pinched from Wikipedia |
I have admired for quite a while the Willie late 17th
Century figures (Monmouths’ Rebellion, Tangier and so on…) and had been looking
for an excuse to paint some up. This will be the excuse!
Pitting a well-balanced Swedish force which is attempting an
orderly withdrawal under pressure against a Brandenburg army which is mostly
cavalry, it is an interesting battle between two small armies of differing
capabilities.
The Brandenburg army was somewhere in the region of 30
Squadrons of horse, slightly more than a regiment of Dragoons, 1350 infantry
drawn from various regiments and 14 guns. The Swedes disposed of a similarly
sized force but with a better balance between infantry and cavalry as well as a
marked superiority in artillery. I do not have a precise breakdown of the
Swedish force so I shall guesstimate somewhere in the region of twenty
squadrons and about 2400 infantry along with 25 guns.
I will be using the Beneath the Lily Banner (2nd Ed) rules
which seem pretty well right for the fight. For those of you who are not
familiar with them, in BtLB2 an infantry unit is three stands of six figures.
Another smaller stand of pike may be added
(decoratively and as a designator) behind the central stand for nations
other than the Swedes. For the Swedes, the Pike are considered to be a part of
the central stand. A squadron of horse is represented by a single stand of 2-3
figures.
What does this mean for me? If I went for a representation
of each unit involved, then for the Brandenburgers I would be putting two units
of foot (say the equivalent of two 600+ man battalions) on the table and 30 squadrons
of horse as well as 2-3 guns on the table. The Swedes would get in the region
of 5-6 units of infantry, 25 Squadrons and 5-6 guns. Were I to bathtub things,
I would reduce the numbers of units by half and plan my ground scale
accordingly.
Now, if anyone was able to get me Swedish Uniform and Flag
references as well as a decent Swedish OOB for the battle, I’d have it made!
Pictures as I paint figures will be forthcoming.
