Handout for the game - THS – Team für historische Simulationen

tw i g h l i g ht
over t h e
h eselberg
A Thirty-Years-War Battle • Nördlingen 1634
presented by
Team for Historical Simulations
t h e backg ro u n d
September 5th, 1634, early evening, the Heselberg*
near Nördlingen. Northern Europe is being devastated
by a war that started over 25 years ago.
What initially started as a religious schism
between catholics and protestants has since the
intervention of Gustav II Adolph grown to a full
scale struggle for power between him and the
Habsburgian emperor. The Swedish King’s and
his antagonist’s Wallenstein deaths have not
ended this conflict. The war continues and
the theatre of operations increasingly shifts
towards Southern Germany.
After deceiving the imperial army, the Swedes
launch a surprise attack on the catholic forces
besieging Nördlingen. A daring cavalry charge
led by Duke Bernhard of Weimar has overwhelmed the outpost lines and panic is
spreading throughout the imperial army.
While Piccolomini attempts to rally the fleeing
imperial forces, the Grand Prior of the Order of
St.John, Aldobrandini is killed in a desperate
defensive action.
The Duke of Weimar then gathers his troops
for the decisive blow against the Heselberg
south of Herkheim. The German, Spanish
* Notes: The sources give varying names for the places
mentioned (Häselberg = Heselberg, Albuch = Allbuch,
Retzenbach = Rexenbach etc.)
and Burgungian imperial musketeers fiercely
defend the forested hill until the Swedes, reinforced by artillery and additional infantry finally
manage to push the catholics back. Midnight
sees the end of the fighting.
It is now too late to attack the Allbuch that
bestrides the landscape only a few hundred
meters away. This important hill is the place
where the imperials dig in over night. It is
the failure to take this position on the 5th of
November that presumably decided the battle
of Nördlingen on the following day. The Swedish
regiments were bled white during no fewer
than 15 attempts at taking the earthworks of
Allbuch, only overrunning them a few times
temporarily.
m i n iat u res , t errai n ,
ru les system
The game features over 300 28mm miniatures,
mainly from the companies The Assault Group
and Bicorne, but also Foundry, Old Glory,
Perry Miniatures, Redoubt, Renegade and
Warlord Games.
The THS own variable modular
boards serve as terrain, with all
hand-made buildings (Dietmar
Schmidt-Bartelt) and forrest
segments (Michael Immig).
The Black Powder Rules
System by Warlord Games
was adapted for the necessities
of the 30 year wars.
so u rces
The battle of Nördlingen is very well documented in publications, eye-witness accounts and
other sources. We warmly recommend the
following:
• Nördlingen 1634 by P. Engerisser und
P. Hrncirik, Weißenstadt 2009
• Die Nördlinger Schlacht am 27. August 1634
by Dr. Oscar Fraas, Nördlingen 1869
(reprint 1983)
• Friede ernährt Krieg und Unfriede zerstört –
14 Beiträge zur Schlacht von Nördlingen 1634
from the 27. Annual Report of the „Historischer
Verein für Nördlingen und das Ries“ (1985)
• Tracht, Wehr und Waffen im Dreissigjährigen
Krieg by Eduard Wagner, published 1980
in Hanau
We also recommend
the flyer „Schwedenweg“
supplied by Geopark Ries
and the website
www.schwedenlager-bopfingen.de
The battlefield and the town of Nördlingen with
its museums, well preserved buildings and fully
intact town-wall are worth a visit. You will fi nd
more recommendations on our website.
please allow us to
introduce ourselves
We are a small, multinational group of wargamers,
who indulge in simulating historical battles of
any period and fictional confl icts in small scale
using painted miniatures, specially designed
terrain and commercial- as well as house -rules.
Our team meets every other Friday night in
Erkrath-Hochdahl which is situated half way
between Duesseldorf and Wuppertal in the
Rhine/Ruhr-area, North Rhine-Westphalia/
Germany. Refer to headquarters for information
concerning our meeting place and check our
agenda for further details on our meetings.
Also have a look at the highlights to find out more
about our activities in the past and near future or
simply brows though the pictures of our gallery.
By the way, we are a just a bunch of people sharing
the same hobby, so there are no such thing as
membership- or entrance-fees, committees,
boring AGM’s and the like.
Come around and
see for yourself!
Visitors are always
welcomed.
wh o i nvent ed t h i s?
This scenario was initially presented at
TACTICA 2010 in Hamburg. Due to additional
information gathered in situ and the special
needs of CRISIS 2010 in Antwerp, terrain
and game-system underwent minor changes.
We are substantially indebted to Bernhard
Hennen, who proposed, developed the idea
and supplied most of the miniatures as well as
Alex Stolch, our excellent battlefield-guide.
Everything else is teamwork.
You have further questions concerning
our team or the hobby?
Please contact:
THS – Team for historical Simulations
co. Karl-Heinz Kieckers
Hackberger Strasse 2
40699 Erkrath
Germany
www.ths-wargames.de
www.t h s -wargam es . d e