Rocroi 1643

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StuccoFresco
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Rocroi 1643

Post by StuccoFresco »

Hello Generals, I'll post my AAR of Rocroi 1643 (by El Minotauro) I fought last week. Rocroi is a very famous battle, and I was eager to try it in the game.

The battle itself is very straightforward: it's an open battlefield with difficult terrain at the flanks and some slope in the middle. The respective armies are deployed in a mirrored fashion, with cavalry on flanks and a line of pike&shot units in the middle. There isn't much space for complicate maneuvers so there will be none. My plan it's extremely simple:

- I will advance the Tercios to the central slope to ensure every attack on them will suffer from being on lower ground. The mixed foot units will be interlocked with the Tercios and will concentrate fire on one French unit at the time. Same order for artillery.

- Left flank will try to use the woods to score flanking charges on the advancing French artillery. A couple pike&shot units will be ready to join the struggle and wear down enemy cavalry with gunfire. The musketeers will initially retreat deep in the woods avoiding contact, then pop out as soon as the French have committed their forces to shoot on their backs.

- Right flank is the most exposed and there isn't anything I can do to maximize my chances except to commit a couple pike&shot units from the center to help my cavalry. The Croats will try to bait some reckless charge and harass the enemy flanks, if possible.

Given that a draw would see me as the victor, I believe I can do this. The rules about losing the Italian commanders are clear: if they die/rout, the Italian tercios will become Fragmented. I hope I won't lose them.
StuccoFresco
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Re: Rocroi 1643

Post by StuccoFresco »

As you can see, I've tried baiting the French cavalry to charge the units in front of them, while some of my horses await just behind the forest's corner. A couple early charges saw the heavy cavalry of Ulloa and Buton routing a French cavalry unit, but both got disorganized. Two Mixed Foot units (in the bottom of the pic) lent their help by firing relentlessly on the advancing french cavalry. The musketeers have left the woods to fire on them too. Mascarenhas and Bentivogli have been hit hard by the French "thanks" to a botched positioning on my side.

The struggle on the left flank is still undecided.

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On the right flank I had little room for strategy so I simply tried to put my units on high ground and let the Croats free to harass the enemy flank with their carbines. The French spread out their formation a lot, so I was able to engage a couple of their cavalry units with Mixed Foot taken from the center. Enemy Reiters have been hit hard, but overall the melee is in full swing with neither side having an advantage.

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Nothing happens in the center: artilleries fire inflicting some losses, my troops reach the central slope and the French advance.
StuccoFresco
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Re: Rocroi 1643

Post by StuccoFresco »

Left flank is quite the mess. By turn -15 it has fragmented in a series of duels between cavalry units trying to undo each other, with Spanish units breaking through on one side and French ones on the other. Overall, while being able to win more "duels", the French are advancing with 4 more cavalry units and my units are pretty spent already.

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Right flank is doing unexpectedly well: all the enemy Reiters have been routed and some flanking charge have achieved successes that allowed me to pile on the French cavalry. By turn -15 the battle is almost over, with Spanish cavalry chasing stragglers and ready to roll on the enemy center. The Croatian are doing exceptionally well: after harassing the enemy units as they passed by, they charged one of them in the back and are doing well in the melee.

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In the center the French infantry is in musket range, so I start whittling down the closest units trying to disorganize them before the contact. I manage to disorganize a few, and when one French unit tries to charge a Tercio just to escape the punishing musketry fire, it promptly gets impaled on the pikes and it routs. I don't think the French will be able to break my lines. I therefore order the Borgognon and Italian Tercio on the center-left to advance and try to help my left flank, along with two Wallonian Mixed Foot.

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StuccoFresco
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Re: Rocroi 1643

Post by StuccoFresco »

Turns -14, I think I'm winning the battle on the left flank. Turn -11, the French have broken through the left flank. Such is life with cavalry: one moment you think you have won, one moment later everyone runs away and the enemy runs amok. Losing the Italian commanders means the Italian Tercios, who were doing really well, falls into Fragmented state and my whole center-left is in danger of being rolled up. I quickly redeploy the Wallonian Mixed Foot to cover it. Luckily, I have already won the battle on the center-right so the German Mixed Foot and the Tercio Viejos are converging on the French center, which is already collapsing.

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By turn -9 the battle is almost over: all enemy infantry has been smashed by the flanking Germans and Tercios, while I've been able to stall the French advance on the center-left with what remained of the Italian Tercios and the Wallonian. The enemy cavalry who broke through my left flank either chased stragglers or tried to converge on the center and got shot to bits. Of the mighty French Army only three stubborn cavalry units survive at turn -4: the Royal Garde, Enghien's and Guiche's units. Those obstinate but incredibly brave horsemen resisted till sunset, battered but unbroken. While the battle has been a decisive Spanish victory, those French cavalrymen has undoubtly gained eternal glory.

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StuccoFresco
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Re: Rocroi 1643

Post by StuccoFresco »

CONCLUSIONS

The battle has been won, by a good margin. It could have gone badly when the French broke through my left flank, but they didn't use their cavalry's mobility to invade my backfield, instead pushing laterally into my center to no avail. Had they won on the right flank too, I would have lost, but my cavalry did an astounding good job there and secured that flank rather quickly. Surely the units I diverted from the center-right helped A LOT. Cavalry is good and all, but some solid block of pike&shot can really turn the tide if used correctly, even in a cavalry fight.

Overall, the battle don't leave much ground to the player to prepare some clever tactic: it's pretty straightforward. Given how strong is the Spanish center, I reccomend to the Spanish General to dispatch 2-3 infantry units on the side to bolster his cavalry units. The French seem eager to send the cavalry forward so they arrive before the infantry in the center can make contact with yours. You will have several turns in which you can use those 2-3 infantry units to help your cavalry win the battles for the flanks.

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Athos1660
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Re: Rocroi 1643

Post by Athos1660 »

Well done, Gentilhombre :-)

But let’s face it. On this P&S map, everything is done to prevent the French cavalry from flanking the Spanish left wing and then being able to attack the rest of the Spanish army from behind which is a big difference with the real battle.

On this map, the Spanish left wing is close to the woods.

IRL the Spanish left wing was quickly in a very difficult situation :
- Before the attack, the French knew there were Spanish troops in the woods and where they were. Thus they surprised them and made them quickly flee.
- There was space between the woods and the Spanish left wing cavalry making possible for the French cavalry to attack them simultaneously head on and from the flank. The Spanish left wing couldn’t resist for long.
- The French attack begun at 3-4 a.m. (before the arrival of de Beck’s reinforcement) thus in semi-darkness.

The Spanish Army
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The French Army

However, it is a game. And you did very well. Congrats :-)
StuccoFresco
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Re: Rocroi 1643

Post by StuccoFresco »

In the near future I'll probably get into modding, so I may try to revise the scenario. What are De Beck's reinforcements? I don't remember them in the scenario.

Maybe it could be interesting to make a scenario that starts with the French cavalry already enveloping the Spanish' left flank.
Athos1660
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Re: Rocroi 1643

Post by Athos1660 »

StuccoFresco wrote: Tue Nov 26, 2019 11:46 am In the near future I'll probably get into modding, so I may try to revise the scenario. What are De Beck's reinforcements? I don't remember them in the scenario.
iirc, de Melo was waiting for the reinforcement of de Beck's 4000-6000 men to attack the French.
During the night, the French learnt de Beck was to arrive early in the morning, so Enghien decided to attack first at 3-4 a.m. by charging the Spanish left wing. When the battle was over, de Beck's army was still far away from the battlefield.
StuccoFresco wrote: Tue Nov 26, 2019 11:46 am Maybe it could be interesting to make a scenario that starts with the French cavalry already enveloping the Spanish' left flank.
Indeed. Rocroi is the victory of the speed of the cavalry charge over the best infantry of that time. It would be nice to simulate this in game while also giving the Spanish an opportunity to win. I don't know whether it is possible though.
Athos1660
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Re: Rocroi 1643

Post by Athos1660 »

StuccoFresco wrote: Tue Nov 26, 2019 11:46 am In the near future I'll probably get into modding, so I may try to revise the scenario. Maybe it could be interesting to make a scenario that starts with the French cavalry already enveloping the Spanish' left flank.
Last night, unconsciously, I somehow reproduced the beginning of Rocroi in a small custom battle (with the help of arty).

My cavalry was on the right wing while AI's one was on its left wing. I focused my arty (1 medium + 1 heavy batteries) on one of its cavalry units until one was broken and another disrupted — That was rather quick. — while my shock cavalry with a General (from Cronos09's mod) approached.

Then my cavalry charged frontally on the remaining enemy cavalry.

Our both infantry met, after some 'dragonnades' and carronades of mine had weakened a bit some of his infantry units.

My cavalry was to definitely destroy his cavalry and then come back and charge in the back of the enemy infantry when the victory of my army was announced.

It was a bit 'like' Rocroi as the first part of the action was about weakening then destroying the enemy left wing for a future rear attack. A lot of cannonades and a General (with his additional +50 impact/melee PoA) in my cavalry helped (even though there was a General in his own cavalry).

It might help you build your scenario.

On the other hand, maybe you can also mod so that the Spanish cavalry at the left wing starts the battle with a very weak Combat Strength, simulating the surprise effect of the French cavalry. I don't know whether it is possible.
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