Twilight of Divine Right:

With Fire and Sword

(Eastern European Battles in the period: 1605-1670)

Nicholas Dorrell with Maps by Dennis Kavita

Wyre Historic Books

Wyre Historic Books are a small specialist publisher established in 2020 and based in rural Worcestershire. They aim to publish historic books and material of a variety of types. This includes material for historical gaming. For further information please contact us via the details below.

Website: https://www.wyrehistoricbooks.co.uk

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First Edition: 2021

Copyright © Nicholas Dorrell

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission in writing from the copyright holder.

Paperback

ISBN:

Design & Layout: dennis@kavitagraphics.co.uk

Introduction

This booklet focuses on the battles of Eastern Europe in the period 1605 to 1670. It contains scenarios for use with the Twilight of Divine Right rules. There are also rules to cover warfare and troop types in this region. These are in addition to those in the rules, many of which also featured in these battles. Therefore you will need the rules to use the rules and play the scenarios. This period saw a series of conflicts that spread over much of Eastern Europe and from the Baltic to the Balkans. Central to these conflicts was the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and their wars against their neighbours. Other forces covered are the Ottomans, Muscovites, Cossacks, Tatar, Swedish and allied troops.

Rules Amendments and Additions for Eastern Warfare:

Troop Types:

Unit Sizes:

The following table shows the new unit types and the approximate number of real personnel they represent in the game.

Foot Units:

Eastern Shot (ES): Units armed with mainly arquebus or muskets and fighting in relatively loose order. They can be armed with axes: for example Russian Streltzi, Polish or Hungarian infantry or Haiducks, Cossack foot, Ottoman Feudal infantry and similar.

These units count as M Regiment units generally. They count as one firepower rank less than other similar infantry types. If armed with an axe (a) they do not receive the minus for being in melee with cavalry. They count as rank 3 Superior Melee foot if in contact with other ES units who do not have axes. Therefore, a unit off all shot armed troops which would usually be classed as rank 1 ‘M’ count as firepower rank 2 or rank 3 with Arquebus. They count as Regiments for action tests.

ES units can sometimes have horses, this is note by rating them as ESH. These units operate similarly to Dragoons but are even worse than them when fighting mounted. They may not move into contact with an opposing unit while mounted. They count as infantry even when mounted and are rank 6 Superior Melee when mounted. They receive a -3 modifier if contacted by any other type of unit that is mounted, this includes Dragoons and Light Horse.

ES units rout on their 3^rd morale fail.

Note on abbreviations:

aES = Eastern Shot armed with arquebuses or similar

ESa = Eastern Shot armed with an additional axe.

ESH = Eastern Shot with horses

aESaH = Eastern Shot with horses armed with arquebuses or similar and an additional axe

Janissary (J): Janissary are a variant of a Regiment troop type, their firepower rating is usually M. They are famously used by the Ottoman army. They are exempt from the factor -1 for being in melee with superior foot. They never give nor receive this modifier.

If a unit is in contact with a Janissary unit and it failed a morale test last turn it receives a -1 modifier in the next test.

J units rout on their 3^rd morale fail.

Light Infantry (LI): Infantry armed with a variety of missile weapons and operating as skirmishers in open order. They are vulnerable if operating in open ground.

Light Infantry move 2BW whether in the open or Bad going. They are immune from the same action tests as Light Horse. They undergo action tests with the same restrictions and allowances as Light Horse. They also have the same options as Light Horse with regard to Pursuit.

They have a range of 1BW and always count as Inferior firepower when firing at other infantry except other LI and Rabble. Units under fire from Light Infantry must take an action test. Light Infantry in contact or contacted by non-Light Infantry or Rabble receive a -2 morale test modifier.

LI units rout on their 2^nd morale fail.

Rabble (R): Untrained levies armed with a variety of weapons. These might be missile weapons and if so, the unit can fire. Any unit, except other Rabble, when taking a morale test receive a +1 modifier in addition to any others that might apply. They always count as inferior firepower and opposing units receive the Superior Melee rating.

A Rabble unit, in order to move at all, must pass a standard action test, failing on a 1 or 2. This is in addition to any others required. It counts as an ET unit when performing an action requiring a difficult action test.

Rabble units get a +2 in any Pursuit Test.

R units rout on their 2^nd morale fail.

Mounted Units:

Eastern Horse (EH): Eastern Horse are mounted units fighting in relatively loose formations and using a combination of firing, melee and manoeuvring to defeat their foe. They rarely perform close order charges. Examples are Muscovite pomest’e noble cavalry, Polish pancerni and Ottoman sipahi.

Eastern Horse can fire mounted with a range of ¼ BW. They count as firepower rank 6.

They give other Eastern Horse and Light Horse a -1 if they move into contact with them. If a unit is in contact with an Eastern Horse unit and it failed a morale test last turn it receives a -1 modifier in the next test.

Infantry, unless secure, receive a -2 modifier in the turn they are contacted by Eastern Horse.

Eastern Horse do not need to take an action test when moving and wheeling up to 45 degrees or when doing an about face. If Eastern Horse pursue they receive a +2 modifier to the pursuit distance

EH units rout on their 2^nd morale fail.

Eastern Horse with Lance (EHL): Units of Eastern Horse armed with lances or capable of an effective charge. For example Polish-Lithuanain Petyhorcy.

Eastern Horse Lance can fire mounted with a range of ¼. They count as firepower rank 7.

They give all cavalry a -1 if they charge them.

If Eastern Horse with Lance pursue they receive a +4 modifier to the pursuit distance, similar to Ga.

EHL units rout on their 2^nd morale fail.

Winged Hussars (WH): Disciplined cavalry charging at the gallop, often using a lance, in relatively good order. Examples are the famous Polish Winged Hussars.

Winged Hussars count as Gallopers (Ga) except in pursuit. They receive all the modifiers that Gallopers do except in the Pursuit Test and Pursuit Distance. Winged Hussars do not receive any modifiers in the Pursuit Test for their unit type. If they pursue they receive a +2 modifier in the Pursuit Distance roll

WH units rout on their 2^nd morale fail.

Noble Levy Cavalry (NL): Untrained cavalry raised in an emergency of little combat value. For example the Polish cavalry raised during the Deluge period. They count as Eastern Horse for morale tests but not when taking Action Tests. They count as Light Horse for action tests to move into contact. They are always Raw and Poor. They do not receive as many morale fails as their size might suggest to further reflect their quality. They can be mounted on deeper bases than normal for identification purposes.

NL units rout on their 2^nd morale fail.

Other Units:

Tabor (T): Many armies used wagons and other portable defences as part of their military activities. They were intended to be used to form a static fortified camp from which the troops of the army could fight from. They were mobile and so could move to a desired location but took a considerable time to set up. Therefore normally in a game a Tabor will be static in a game and in effect be ‘terrain’ and their effect will be defined in the terrain notes of scenarios. Typically, they will count as cover, defensive terrain and require action tests to enter or exit if on foot. On occasion the Tabor could be moved and sometimes was caught when moving.

If moving a Tabor unit counts generally as Artillery. It moves at the same rate as artillery and has the same number of morale fails. That is 1 fail if in contact and 2 otherwise. The Tabor needs to be occupied by another unit to move. Until set up the unit in the Tabor can not cause a morale test or partake in a test caused by another unit. It receives the same modifiers as artillery when taking morale tests. It takes 2 action tests to set up a Tabor unit, the unit may not move when doing this. The first is to unlimber and if successful the unit will no longer count as limbered. The second is to set up the defences, etc, and once successful the unit will count as ‘terrain’, as above, and the occupying unit can function normally.

If the owning player wishes the Tabor can be abandoned by the occupying unit. This requires an action test and the occupying unit is placed alongside the Tabor. The Tabor can not be occupied again during the game but should remain on table and still effect movement.

Rule Modifications

This is a brief summary of additions and changes to the rules.

Morale Test Additions and Changes.

Unit Quality, Size and Circumstance

+1 any unit except Rabble taking a test caused by a Rabble unit

+1 Only fired on by Light Infantry if a unit on foot except Rabble and other Light Infantry

-1 in contact with Eastern Horse (EH or EHL) or Janissary (J) and the unit failed a morale test last turn

Cavalry Only

-1 Eastern or Light Horse (EH, EHL or LH) contacted by Eastern Horse (EH or EHL)

-1 Cavalry the turn they are contacted by Cu, Sw or EHL cavalry

-2 Cavalry the turn they are contacted by Ga or WH cavalry

Infantry Only

-1 Infantry (not Janissaries) in melee with superior melee foot

-1 Infantry, unless secure, the turn they are contacted by cavalry except Eastern Horse (EH or EHL)

-2 Infantry, unless secure, the turn they are contacted by Eastern Horse (EH or EHL)

-2 Light Infantry contacted or in contact in the open except by other LI, Rabble or artillery

-3 Infantry mounted on horse (H) contacted by any Cavalry

Inferior Firepower Additions

Rank 1: Janissary

Rank 2: Most Eastern Shot who have no pikes or similar

Rank 6: Eastern Horse (without lance only)

Rank 7: Eastern Horse Lance

Rank 8: Rabble

If armed with arquebus or with a significant number of troops armed with pikes or other melee weapons the Janissary and Eastern Shot are reduced one rank for each.

Superior Melee Foot Additions

Rank 3: Eastern Shot with a significant number of pikes or other melee weapons. Also ES troops with axe against ES troops who do not have axes.

Rank 4: Eastern Shot

Rank 5: Light Infantry

Rank 6: Rabble and Eastern Shot Horse mounted

Pursuit Test Additions

+2 testing unit is Rabble

Pursuit Distance Additions

+2 unit is Eastern Horse (EH) or Winged Hussars (WH)

+4 unit is Eastern Horse Lance (EHL)

Dismounting Cavalry: Fire rank? Melee Rank?

Scenarios

Variable Unit Quality and Armaments:

In the scenarios where a particular unit was obviously ‘Elite’ or ‘Raw’ it has been rated as such. In many cases a proportion of the units that are rated as ‘Trained’ would be Elite or Raw but it is not clear which. Therefore, the players may roll for each unit rated as Trained to randomly decide its actual rating. The scenarios will give units a category, the default is C. Roll a D6 on the table below and cross reference with the unit’s category.

Often it is the case that we do not have information on the mixture of weapons within infantry units. In these cases, the players can roll or assign the infantry weapon category for the units involved. This is in the form of a D6 dice roll for the units which the players can use to randomly decide the ratio of individual units. Alternatively, they can be assigned in the implied ratio but at the players choice to the available units. For example, an army’s Weapon Ratio is defined as 1 or 2 MX, 3 to 6 MH. The player can therefore roll a single D6 for each unit to see what ratio it has. Alternatively, as this is on average 1/3^rd of the unit MX and the rest MH they can just assign the rating to an appropriate number of units.

Notes for Alternative Rules:

We hope you will play these scenarios with the Twilight of Divine Right rules but if you wish to use some other set of rules here are some guidelines to help.

Base Width: All measurements are in base widths and these are half the frontage of a unit.

Unit Types: These are the types of units used and a brief description of them. Unit represent a varying number of real men. Unless noted otherwise all units are standard sized. Small and Large units are noted in the scenarios.

Table Sizes and Maps:

Table sizes are flexible and depend on the size of base you are using. Foot and Mounted units consist of two bases and Artillery of one base. All measurements are in BW (base widths) which is the frontage of a base you are using. All of the maps are marked in squares. Each square is 5 base widths square. With bases which are 60mm wide this means that a square is 30 cm by 30 cm, approximately 1 foot by 1 foot in imperial measurements.

Deployments:

On the maps are indicated the areas where the armies deployed but not in detail. The orders of battle give a guide to how the real armies deployed and can be used to place the forces accurately. For example, usually the Right wing of an army was on the right of the deployment area and the 1^st line of this group will be in front. If this was not the case this is noted. The players are welcome to ignore the real deployment and place the units as desired.