Play Book Ii Notes and Bonus Scenario
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Nothing Gained But Glory — PLAYBOOK II PLAY BOOK II NOTES AND BONUS SCENARIO Table of Contents Nyborg, November 24 (November 4), 659 .................. 2 A Note from the Series Designer ..................................... 18 A Historical Narrative of the Scanian War ...................... 7 Designer’s Notes ............................................................. 18 The Weapons of the Scanian War .................................... 16 Errata for the Cheriton Module ....................................... 19 Extended Unit Notes ........................................................ 16 Counterscans ................................................................... 22 Bibliography .................................................................... 17 Malmö Special Reminders and Modifiers ........................ 24 German/Swedish/Danish Glossary .................................. 18 NGBG Terrain Effects Chart Addendum ......................... 24 © 2010 GMT Games, LLC 2 Nothing Gained But Glory — PLAYBOOK II men under command of Feltmarskal Schack at Kerteminde on the Nyborg, November 24 northeastern end of Fünen on November 2 (November 2), 659. (November 14), 1659 They dug in there after repulsing several counterattacks by small Swedish forces. As the Swedish army moved their main forces Eastern side of the island of Fünen, Denmark towards Kerteminde, the other Coalition force under Feltmarskal Eberstein crossed the Little Belt at the western side of Fünen unop- See the beginning of Play Book I for a list of abbreviations used posed with a force of 5000 men and immediately began marching in the setups. east to link up with Schack. The battle of Nyborg was not a part of the Scanian War but of the The two Coalition armies successfully avoided being defeated piece- Northern Wars of 1655-1661. It is included in the game as it is in meal by the Swedes by seeking broken terrain every time Sulzbach many ways a very interesting battle that features many of the same concentrated against one of them. They knew the veteran Swedish participants that would fight in the Scanian War 16 years later. For cavalry would prove decisive in open terrain. This allowed the two a thorough narrative of the Northern Wars of 1655-1661 and the armies to link up at Odense on November 20 (November 0). Sul- invasion of Fünen in 1659 see the Nothing Gained But Glory page zbach, now outnumbered, withdrew towards the port and fortress on the GMT Website at http://www.gmtgames.com/p-242-nothing- town of Nyborg on the east side of Fünen in the hopes of delaying gained-but-glory.aspx. the Allies long enough to evacuate the island. After the lightning Swedish victory over Denmark in the 657-658 But the Allies were having problems of their own after their two War, which saw a march on Copenhagen across the frozen belts forces joined up. The two commanders, Schack and Eberstein, were between the Danish islands, the panic stricken Danes were forced to bitter personal rivals with very different views on how to proceed. sign the harsh peace treaty of Roskilde in February 658. That treaty The rash Eberstein wanted to seek battle at once while the more ceded the provinces of Skåne, Halland and Blekinge, the island of cautious Schack wanted to avoid a battle with the superior Swedish Bornholm, and the Norwegian province of Tröndelag to Sweden. cavalry if at all possible, seeking to starve the Swedes into submis- One of the more humiliating aspects of the treaty was the demand to sion. They eventually solved their command dispute by alternating remove all paintings and tapestries that had an anti-Swedish theme command of the combined army between them on a daily basis, from all Danish castles. and thus began a slow march towards Nyborg. In the meantime the However, King Karl X of Sweden soon regretted not having con- Swedish army was reinforced by 500 infantry when a small Swedish quered Denmark completely when he had the chance. In August naval force managed to avoid the Coalition blockade. 658 he surprised everyone by landing on the island of Zealand On November 23 (November 3) the Allies were near Nyborg when without a formal declaration of war and marching on Copenhagen. news arrived from the fleet that their supplies were running low. This time, however, the Danes decided to fight and defend their They could only maintain the blockade for a few more days before capital while awaiting the arrival of their allies. A Dutch relief they would be forced to depart, allowing the Swedes to evacuate force soon smashed the Swedish Navy and brought reinforcements Fünen. This finally convinced Schack of the need to offer battle to the beleaguered city, while a Polish-Austrian-Brandenburg army before the Swedes could escape. Sulzbach decided to meet the marched to Denmark´s aid from the south. Coalition army outside of Nyborg, as the fortress was not in good In February 659 a desperate Swedish assault on Copenhagen shape and the majority of his force consisted of cavalry. The oppos- failed. Coupled with the liberation of Swedish-occupied Jutland by ing armies made contact in the late morning hours on November Coalition forces, the Swedes were forced on the defensive while 24 (November 4). the Allies discussed their next move. Because the Swedish main forces still blockaded Copenhagen, the Danish generals called for The Battle an invasion of the Swedish-occupied island of Fünen as a stepping The Swedish army, with about 7000 men, took up an excellent de- stone to the liberation of Zealand. However, the Poles, Austrians, fensive position astride the Odense-Nyborg road, with its left flank and Brandenburgers did not think an invasion of Fünen was neces- anchored by a lake and its right by woods. Most of the battle line sary, as they saw it as purely a Danish goal aimed at ensuring the was covered by hedges or streams. The 11,000-strong combined best possible terms at the peace table. They did, however, agree to Coalition army was arrayed in two lines with Eberstein´s corps in support the invasion with minor contingents, and then redeployed front and Schack´s corps behind him. most of their forces to Germany to fight the Swedish forces there. Additional Danish and Dutch forces to bolster the invasion were Eberstein´s corps started its attack at 1100 hours before Schack’s therefore drawn from Copenhagen, as the direct threat there had was ready. Eberstein still feared that the cautious Schack would back diminished due to the heavy losses incurred by the Swedes in the down from a battle, and therefore wanted to start the battle as soon as previous assault. possible so that Schack would be forced to intervene. The Coalition attacks were stopped by Swedish musket and artillery fire, and then Prelude repulsed by several counterattacks by the Swedish veteran cavalry on both flanks. Eventually, the units of Eberstein´s right wing, followed The Swedish forces on Fünen, numbering about 5500, were under by those of his left wing, were forced to retreat with heavy casualties. the command of Fältmarskalk von Sulzbach. While short on infan- Only his infantry in the center and the artillery held their positions. try, a large part of these forces were veteran German cavalry and An attack by Schack´s right wing in support of Eberstein´s attack dragoons. was also repulsed. The fighting had lasted two and a half hours at Initially the Allies attempted to cross the Little Belt from Jutland this point and the outcome was very much in doubt. and made two attempts to land by sea near Nyborg. When these attempts failed, they sailed north and successfully landed 6200 © 2010 GMT Games, LLC Nothing Gained But Glory — PLAYBOOK II 3 While Eberstein was fighting Sulzbach´s entire army, Schack changes made to the terms of the 658 Roskilde settlement in that moved most of his corps forward and took up positions to the right Denmark regained the island of Bornholm and the Norwegian prov- of Eberstein´s center to prevent a Swedish envelopment. Schack ince of Tröndelag but not the recently ceded Scanian provinces. The then launched an attack against the Swedish left and center with Danish demands for those provinces were denied as the maritime his well-drilled Dutch infantry together with some of Eberstein´s powers of England and the Netherlands didn´t want either Scandi- infantry. While the Dutch and Danish infantry fought the Swed- navian kingdom to control both sides of The Sound, and thus be in ish infantry, Schack´s right wing cavalry succeeded in throwing a position to collect toll money from their Baltic trade. the Swedish left wing cavalry back and routed them after a short but fierce fight. As the Swedish cavalry fled towards Nyborg, the The Danish wish for revenge and a return of the Scanian lands would flanks of the Swedish infantry became very vulnerable. The Danish have to be put on hold until an opportunity presented itself, which cavalry attacked the Swedish infantry in the flanks while the Dutch it would do in 675 with the outbreak of what would eventually be infantry kept up the pressure on their front, destroying much of the known as the Scanian War. Swedish infantry. The remnants fled but were pursued mercilessly by the Polish cavalry. Coalition Forces Note: All leaders are Danish, except for Quast, who is from Bran- The Swedish collapse on the left and center quickly spread to the denburg. right where Sulzbach was still holding his ground against Eberstein, who had rallied his forces and was attacking again. As Coalition units ARMY COMMANDER: Schack (–); Feltmarskal Hans Schack from the victorious wings were moving to attack his flank and rear, (609-676) was from Schleswig. He entered the Danish army as Sulzbach skillfully disengaged his remaining forces and escaped a teenager and participated in the Danish intervention in the Thirty with his right wing cavalry to the relative safety of the fortress of Years War and served in the Swedish, French, and Danish armies Nyborg.