Strategy in Soldier Kings
Part 2: Summer-Winter 1756
By Doug McNair
October 2007

Year One of the Seven Years War plays itself out in today’s episode of my Soldier Kings replay. As Spring 1756 came to a close, Frederick the Great fulfilled his father’s dreams of expanding Prussia’s borders southward, but the shocking destruction of General Schwerin’s armies in East Prussia has left Berlin in danger of a Russo-Polish invasion. France’s decision to ally only with Turkey has reduced pressure on the French treasury from clamoring allies, and she’s doing a good job of expanding her holdings overseas but is under pressure from Dutch and Swiss armies on the Continent. Britain has fared worse, losing Jamaica to France and having her treasury drained by several unwelcome event cards played by enemies. Holland has grabbed the Austrian Netherlands, and Spain, Austria and Turkey haven’t made any significant gains thus far. The money and manpower standings going into Summer 1756 are:

Nation .......... Money .......... Manpower

Turn Two: Summer 1756

Purchase Phase

Initiative Phase

Prussia/Austria/Holland/Russia/France/Britain/Spain/Turkey

So, the Northern Alliance gets to act first again, followed by the Catholic/Orthodox League and finally the East-West Accord.

Action Phases

Then Britain transports an army from Southern England to Hanover while sending another fleet back from Holland to Southern England to guard the Western Approaches. Then the just-transported army moves south from Hanover to attack the Hessians, and Britain plays a New Leader card to bring in Prince Ferdinand, who takes the British army in Holland up through Hanover and down to Hesse to join the other army in the attack. Britain pays 2 Money for an Assault, which goes in at 4 dice to 4. Ferdinand scores 2 hits on the first round and wipes out the Hessians, who score one hit before dying and drive one of Ferdinand’s armies north to Hannover. Ferdinand then takes one free siege round against Hesse, but neither does nor takes any damage.

The Prince of Orange would love to move south and besiege Ile de France, but that would leave his rear open for the Swabians and Würtemburgers to cut his supply line. So he stays put and waits for next turn so he can attack southward in concert with Ferdinand. Britain keeps her Swiss mercenaries in Burgundy, not wanting to attack the superior French but also not wanting to lift the siege there.  She also conserves what little cash she has by keeping Hawke’s fleet and army in place on the Central Islands. But the Indian Rebel Army can attack France’s Sepoys in the South Carnatic on its own, and the rebels wipe out the Sepoys on the first round.

Portugal’s fleet and army move back to Portugal from Gibraltar.

CATHOLIC/ORTHODOX LEAGUE: Austria pulls her 4-3 army back from Bosnia to Vienna, and then plays a Minor Country Alliance card on Bavaria, getting a +1 die-roll bonus for good relations and a +4 intimidation bonus for having two Austrian armies and two allied Saxon armies on Bavaria’s borders, for a total modifier of +5. Spain likes this and spends 3 Money to bribe Bavaria to join the League, but France thinks the League does not need a second minor ally and spends 3 Money on a counterbribe. Prussia feels much the same and spends 3 Money of her own to get Bavaria to stay out of it, and even Turkey spends 3 Money on a counterbribe. But Austria wants this badly and spends 3 Money on a bribe, bringing the net modifier to +2. Austria rolls a 10 + 2 = 12, and Bavaria joins the League, bringing a 3-2 and a 2-1 army onto the board. They immediately move north to guard Bohemia while Austria plays a New Leader card, brings Daun onto the board there and takes the Austrian and Saxon armies from Bohemia northwest to attack the Prussians in Saxony. Austria pays for a 2-round Assault that goes in at 6 dice to 6, but the Prussians mount a brilliant defense, scoring 3 hits on 6 dice while Daun scores one. One Prussian army takes a step loss and retreats to Magdeburg, but both Saxon armies do their duty as cannon fodder and die. That brings Daun’s strength down to 3 for the second round, and he gets kicked out by the last Prussian army in Saxony, which inflicts a step loss on Daun’s last army and sends it back to Bohemia, and also kills Daun! It’s a very good thing the Bavarians are there to hold the line in Bohemia as the remnants of Daun’s army straggle back southeast.

Spain attacks Portugal again, sending her army in for a 1-round Probe. She scores a hit and ejects the Portuguese back to Gibraltar again, then spends 1 Money for a two-round siege. But once again Lisbon’s defenses prove too much for the Spanish army, inflicting two hits on them in the first siege round and driving them back to Galicia.

Then the Russian and Polish armies attack Frederick in Warsaw, going in for a 2-round assault at 9 dice to 7. Each side scores just one hit on the first round, with Frederick’s 4-3 army unhurt and one Polish 1-1 army taking a step loss and retreating to Polesia. But on the second round the League armies perform masterfully, scoring 3 hits on 8 dice for one step loss on Frederick’s army, forcing him to retreat to Berlin and lifting the siege of Warsaw. Frederick scores just one hit, doing a step loss to a Russian 1-1 army that also retreats to Polesia.

EAST-WEST ACCORD: Turkey goes for the gold and attacks the weak 1-1 Russian army guarding Volhynia, with Muhsinzade Pasha taking a 2-1 army from Transylvania and one from Moldavia into the fight, and spreading his other armies out behind him to guard Turkey’s borders. He spends 2 Money on an Assault at 6 dice to 3, and scores one hit on the first round and sends the Russians running north to Ukraine. The Turks then spend 1 Money on a two-round siege, but they do no damage on the first round and only one hit on the second round, and the Russian defenses score a hit as well and send a Turkish army back to Moldavia. So the Russian defenses hold out, at least for now.

Then the Turkish navy goes for the gold by sailing around the boot of Italy and landing an army in Austrian Lombardy. They pay 1 Money for a 2-round siege, and they score one hit on the first round but get forced back out to sea by a hit from the Lombardy defenses on the second round.  Spain then plays a Scurvy card on the Turkish navy, dealing one step loss to it and wiping out the reduced-strength army it’s carrying, thus eliminating any threat this year of a sudden-death Infidel victory by conquering the Boot.

General d’Estrees then attacks the Swiss mercenaries besieging Burgundy while ordering his Holy Roman Empire mercenaries to attack the British Prince Ferdinand in Hesse. But Holland plays a Miscommunication card, and the Swabian army misunderstands its orders and stays put to guard against northward incursions from Switzerland. The weak 1-1 Würtemburger army attacks Ferdinand anyway, but he sends them packing back to Swabia after the first round. D’Estrees then spends 2 Money to attack the Swiss in Burgundy for two rounds, and he scores 3 hits on the first round, wiping out the Swiss because they can’t retreat via a mountain route.

Back in the Caribbean, Admiral Galissoniere embarks his army and goes on the attack against the Spanish colony of Santo Domingo. The Spanish fleet can’t take him on and stays in Cuba, and Admiral Hawke tries to intercept but fails. France pays 1 Money for a 2-round siege against Santo Domingo, and they take it on the second round.

Then France’s Pays d’en Haut Indian allies invade New England, attacking the British Provincial army there. It’s a massacre worthy of Braddock. The Indians roll 3 sixes on 3 dice, wiping out the Provincials (who do one hit before dying and send one Indian army back to Lower Canada). The Indians then besiege New England for two rounds and score two hits with none taken in return, leaving Boston just one hit away from being overrun.

Turn Three: Fall 1756

Purchase Phase

Money and manpower totals are now:

Nation .......... Money .......... Manpower

Initiative Phase

It’s a coin toss as to whether it’d be better for Frederick to act first or last: Acting first lets him smash Apraxin with two elite 4-3 armies, but acting last lets him react to whatever gains the Austrians and their Bavarian allies make after attacking from the south. But his gut tells him to attack, and he opts to add + 2 to his initiative die-roll … but he rolls terribly. The initiative order ends up:

Russia/Austria/Holland/Britain/France/Spain/Turkey/Prussia

Action Phases

CATHOLIC/ORTHODOX LEAGUE: The armies of Austria, Bavaria, Poland and Russia close in on Prussia, and the only factor working in Frederick’s favor is that the League is very low on money and can’t afford to launch more than a couple of attacks. For that reason, Austria makes good use of her new allies, sending the two Bavarian armies into Saxony on their own dime while General Brown takes two Austrian armies north to attack the elite Prussian army guarding Silesia. A Polish army marches westward from Polesia to assist Brown, while Apraxin takes his Russian and Polish armies in from Warsaw to attack Frederick at Berlin, and Spain plays a Force March card on Russia’s new 3-2 army in White Russia so it can march two zones west to join Apraxin at Berlin. Then three more Russian armies march south from the Ukraine to attack Muhsinzade Pasha before he can finish the siege of Volhynia.

The Bavarian assault on Saxony goes in at 5 dice to 5, but it scores no hits on the first round while taking one hit that reduces one Bavarian army and sends it back to Bohemia. The second-round attack scores no hits either, and the Bavarians enter the war with a less-than-impressive performance. The remaining Bavarian army stays in Saxony in hopes of preventing Frederick from collecting money and manpower from it in the upcoming winter turn.

Then Brown spends 2 Money for an Assault on Silesia. The attack goes in at 9 dice to 8, and on the first round Brown scores 2 hits (not quite enough to drive out the Prussians) while the Prussians score two hits and drive out one of Brown’s armies. The second round attack is at 6 dice to 8, and once again Brown just barely fails to achieve victory, scoring 2 hits. The Prussians score no hits, and Brown stays in Silesia to try to deny Frederick its money and manpower.

Then Apraxin attacks Frederick at Berlin. He spends 2 Money for a 2- round assault along with his Polish allies, and the attack goes in at 10 dice to 13. The Russo-Polish attack does just one hit on the first round, forcing Frederick’s weaker army to retreat to Magdeburg. But Frederick is truly Great and scores 3 hits, driving the Polish army back to Warsaw. The second round attack is at just 7 dice to 11, and the League armies score just one hit while Frederick scores two, forcing a Russian army to retreat to Warsaw. That leaves Apraxin in Berlin with one army, and he stays there so that Frederick will be forced to try to kick him out to get Berlin’s resources in the upcoming winter turn.

Then the remaining Russian armies attack Muhsinzade Pasha in Volhynia, spending 2 Money on an Assault since they can’t afford to let him take one of Russia’s richer land areas. But the Pasha plays a Burned Bridges card, cutting the Soviet attack strength in half. It works well: The Russians score no hits on the first round while the Turks score one hit and eject a 1-1 army. Neither side scores any hits on the second round, so Volhynia remains contested and the Turks have a good chance of kicking out the Russians and taking the territory before winter closes in.

Finally, Spain sends two armies against Portugal (including the newly arrived one) and spends 2 Money for an unlimited siege before Portugal’s forces can return to Lisbon from Gibraltar. Finally the Spaniards figure out how to breach Lisbon’s defenses, and they score 3 hits on 5 dice on the first round, taking Portugal for Spain.

NORTHERN ALLIANCE: Frederick goes on the attack to eject the invaders from the fatherland. He’s got the advantage of a well-stocked war chest, and abandons Saxony to the Bavarians for now so he can throw everything he’s got at Apraxin and Brown. He sends both his 4-3 armies against Brown’s 4-3 army while personally leading his three weaker armies against Apraxin.  He spends 4 Money for an unlimited attack on Brown, and battle rages in Silesia for a very long time, with each side scoring 1 or 2 hits several times but not the 3 needed to knock out an enemy army. But finally the Prussians score 3 hits in one round and eject Brown, who retreats to Vienna. Then Frederick spends 2 Money for a 2-round assault on Apraxin, and the 7 die to 4 attack scores 3 hits on the second round, sending Apraxin and his army back to Warsaw. Alte Fritz has saved Prussia, and he’s still got money in the bank!

Then Britain, Portugal and Holland attack France. The Portuguese forces have no chance of retaking Lisbon from the now-strengthened Spanish army, so Britain sends them to invade the south of France at Provence. Meanwhile, a Dutch and a British fleet from Holland and Hanover transport a British army to invade Brittany, and a British fleet transports another army from Southern England along with General Cumberland to Hanover and then heads back to Southern England to guard the Western Approaches. The Anglo-Dutch fleet attacks the French fleet guarding Brittany’s harbors at 4 dice to 5, and they do one step loss and force the French to retreat to the Eastern Atlantic. But the British get mauled by French shore batteries, which score 2 hits and do a step loss to the 3-2 British fleet and the army it’s carrying. That prevents the invasion of Brittany since the British army has a strength of zero on its reduced side. The Dutch fleet retreats out to the Eastern Atlantic along with the British.

Next, Ferdinand moves south to attack France’s Holy Roman Empire mercenaries in Swabia while Britain’s Swiss mercenaries hit them from the south and Cumberland moves into Hesse behind Ferdinand. Britain spends 2 Money for a two-round assault, and the 5 die to 5 attack does one hit to none on the first round, ejecting an army eastward to Württemberg, but does no hits on the second round. Ferdinand can stay in Swabia because as a leader he extends his army’s supply line two zones back to Hanover, so he remains in place. Then the Prince of Orange spends 2 Money for a 2-round assault on the French army guarding Paris, and the 4-die to 6 attack does one hit to none on the first round and ejects the French army, which retreats south to Burgundy. Then Orange pays 2 Money for an unlimited siege of Paris, and Dutch siege engineers prove unstoppable, taking Ile de France after just 3 rounds. Then the Portuguese besiege Provence for 2 rounds, but they score no hits and are driven back out to sea by French shore batteries.

Holland would dearly love to go for a sudden-death victory now by taking her fleet from Ceylon and conquering some rich overseas territory, but the army she has there is reduced and strength-zero, so it can’t mount a siege. So Holland keeps her fleet at home, and Prussia sends the Indian rebel army to besiege the French South Carnatic. They score no hits, but the French won’t be able to collect any money or manpower from India this winter since they have no fleets in the area. Admiral Hawke also would like to attack Galissoniere at Cuba, but he’s got little chance of sinking him and can’t afford to take a step loss since Britain doesn’t have enough money to maintain two damaged British fleets over the winter. So Hawke just moves out into the Caribbean to keep Galissoniere or some other French fleet from blockading him and preventing him from delivering the treasures of the Caribbean to Britain over the winter.

EAST-WEST ACCORD: The French dispatch the damaged fleet that was driven from Brittany to the Western Atlantic so France can collect money and manpower from her North American possessions. Then another fleet from Gascony sails out to try to blockade the Central Islands in the Caribbean to keep Britain from collecting money from there. The British fleet in Southern England fails to intercept it, and neither does Hawke! The blockade goes in and the Central Islands won’t be exporting this year.

Then France plays a Minor Country Alliance card and tries to bring Sardinia into the Accord. She spends 2 Money to give herself a total +4 bonus to the alliance roll (she gets a +1 bonus for good relations, and +1 for the allied Turkish fleet hanging offshore). But Austria and Portugal give a total -3 intimidation bonus for armies and fleets adjacent to Sardinia’s territories, and France’s net roll of 6 + 1 = 7 fails to make the alliance. Then General d’Estrees throws everything he’s got at the Prince of Orange to take back Paris, except for one reduced army that he sends south to guard the Riviera from the Portuguese. France spends 4 Money for an unlimited invasion, but the 10 die to 8 attack scores no hits for the French on the first round, while Holland’s masterful engineers have constructed defensive works around Paris that inflict 3 hits on the French, sending two French armies packing. That leaves d’Estrees with just one 4-3 army against Orange’s entrenched 3-2, but he fights on, and the battle rages for three more rounds until finally Orange scores 4 hits on 8 dice, inflicting a step loss on d’Estrees’ elite 4-3 army and sending it retreating south to Burgundy. Orange just barely misses killing d’Estrees, but he gets satisfaction by playing a Recruit Prisoners card and gaining 3 Manpower for Holland since he inflicted 3 step losses on the French armies. Paris remains under Dutch control, and there’s nothing France can do about it.

Then comes the final insult: as France’s Pays d’en Haut Indian allies converge for the final siege of New England, Prussia plays the Jesuit Plot card, and the Indians take their booty and disappear into the hills. The siege of Boston is lifted, and France has no New World allies anymore.

Then the Turks go on the offensive, with Muhsinzade Pasha bringing in another army to try to wrest control of Volhynia from the Russians. Turkey pays 2 Money for an Assault, and even though the Burned Bridges marker she placed there cuts her base attack strength in half she does one hit to none on the first round and the same on the second round. Both Russian armies are driven out, and Turkey then spends her last Money point for a 2-round siege, and takes Volhynia for the Sultan.

Peace Phase

In her zeal to crush Prussia in concert with the armies of Poland, Austria and Bavaria, Russia spent all but one money point. But with Frederick’s spectacular victory over Apraxin and Browne, and Muhsinzade Pasha’s victory over the Russian armies in Volhynia, all of Russia’s armies are now reduced. Combine that with the fact that Russia has just one Money point left to pay maintenance over the winter, and all but one of Russia’s armies will evaporate as her soldiers go home rather than starve in the cold. Russia can buy more armies in the spring but she won’t get them until fall, and by then she’ll be overrun by Prussians and Turks. So, Russia surrenders to both Prussia and Turkey, giving back East Prussia to Frederick and returning the captured General Schwerin as well. Turkey selects White Russia as a territorial concession, and Russia’s borders have now been pushed back nearly to the gates of Moscow. But Russia rolls a 6 for the Peace of East Prussia, meaning Prussia can’t attack Russia or enter Russian territory for six turns. She then rolls a 4 for the Peace of Volhynia, meaning Turkey can’t attack Russia or enter Russian territory for four turns. This puts Russia effectively out of the war through the year 1757, but it will also give her time to rebuild her armies. And if she manages to snag a minor country ally or two in the meantime she’ll be back in business.

Turn Four: Winter 1756

Before anything else happens, Spain plays a Winter Campaign card, and General Alvarez crosses the Pyrenees with a Spanish army and moves into Gascony.

Spain then plays a Profligate Heir card on Prussia, causing Frederick to lose 2 Money to silence scandalous rumors. But then Britain plays a Debase Currency card on Austria, which will inflate Austria’s Money collection this turn by 25 percent but then decrease it by 25 percent in every turn thereafter. Britain hopes that this will help Austria put Turkey back in her place in 1757 but then weaken her so Prussia can take her out of the picture later

Winter Attrition Phase

No armies are unsupported, so nobody dies due to attrition.

Maintenance Phase

All Russian forces except one army go home. All Turkish armies and fleets take step losses due to lack of maintenance, but they’re all at full strength so none of them die, and with Turkey’s gains in Russia she’ll have them all rebuilt in no time. Austria has 3 Money left to spend and is thus able to maintain Brown’s two reduced armies in Vienna plus another. Prussia has just 1 Money left, but that’s enough to maintain her one reduced army so she doesn’t lose any units. France has just 3 Money left, and due to the walloping she took from the Prince of Orange she has to let two of her damaged armies in France die due to lack of maintenance (she’ll be getting a fresh army in the Spring and needs to build more fast, and by maintaining her damaged fleet off the coast of North America she’ll have the money to build them with). Britain has just 1 Money left and has to sacrifice the damaged army and fleet that got repelled from Brittany, because sacrificing her damaged fleet in New York would rob her of 8 Money she desperately needs. Holland has the 2 Money necessary to maintain her overseas units (which are more expensive to repair later), and Spain has the 2 Money needed to maintain her units in the Caribbean. All mercenaries go home because nobody has the money to rehire them.

Victory Phase

The victory point totals now stand at:

Nation .......... VP Total

So, since Holland and Turkey only need 10 VPs to win, they’re way ahead of everyone else. But they’re also weak militarily, and Holland in particular may find herself fighting one or more of her former allies shortly, if they decide she has outlasted her usefulness.

Money and Manpower Phase

Nations collect money and manpower from eligible areas, and the totals they end the year with are:

Nation .......... Money .......... Manpower

Event Card Phase

Everyone turns in his or her event cards and gets five new ones.

Diplomacy Phase

Spain approaches France and asks bluntly whether she really wants to fight a three-front war at home, with Britain and Holland coming at her from the north, Spain and Portugal coming at her from the south and Austria and the Swiss Mercenaries that Spain shows her from her card hand coming at her from the east. France says no, and Spain says good; there’s a very easy way for France to avoid all that: simply ditch her alliance with Turkey, join the Catholic League and give Santo Domingo back to Spain. That way, Alvarez and the Swiss mercenaries will help d’Estrees drive the Northern Alliance out of France, rather than conquering the south of France themselves. It’s an offer France can’t refuse, and she does the deal. Spain successfully strong-arms France into joining the Catholic League (the “/Orthodox” part having been dropped since Russia is effectively out of the war), Santo Domingo reverts to Spanish control, and the combined Caribbean forces of France and Spain can now concentrate on driving the British out of the New World and conquering it for Catholicism.

France and Spain give Austria 3 Money each and Spain gives her 2 Manpower, since Austria’s got to fight Prussia and Turkey simultaneously now with no help from Russia.  Britain gives Prussia enough of a boost to compensate for Austria’s boost from the Debase Currency card (4 Money and 2 Manpower) and Holland throws Frederick a sop of 2 Money as well to keep him from turning coat, coming in through the back door and sacking the Low Countries.

Turkey is suddenly cast adrift, and she gets nothing but silence when she approaches the Northern Alliance (they don’t want to help Turkey win a sudden-death victory at the end of next year). As for Holland, the new Franco-Spanish alliance likely makes her more important to Britain, who could use Holland’s fleets to support her overseas against the Catholics. So, the Prince of Orange can be reasonably sure that his British allies won’t stab him in the back next year — maybe. If not, Holland has some cards up her sleeve that will at least slow the British down until he can find some other allies to save his bacon.

But that’s all for 1757. Tune in next time to see which Soldier King or Queen comes out on top in the second year of the Seven Years War!

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