GMT's grand tactical, light-moderate Seven Years War battle series continues with four more battles in Prussia's Glory II. Players can enact some of the war's most famous battles in games playable in a single sitting. PG II hones the original Prussia's Glory system with some slight changes, and introduces Optional rules that further break out combat arms differences, such as Austrian Croat Sniper Attacks, Howitzer fire, and advanced Cavalry facets.
The game also expands on the PG visual feast of Prussian, Austrian, French, Empire, Saxon, and Russian icon units with the Hanoverian-Allied army, featuring new heavy dragoon cavalry, and a striking red-dominant color scheme. Each battle includes one or more variants to allow players to explore historical possibilities involving larger/smaller forces present, or Alternate History battles that reverse attacker/defender roles on the same fields.
Prague: Last Day of the World
Frederick brings 64,000 troops to the gates of the Bohemian capital, where he is faced by 60,000 Austrians led by Prince Charles and Marshal Browne. The Prussians march east to flank the Austrian right; Browne recognizes the threat and quickly sets up an east-facing line. Winterfelt's infantry and Zieten's cavalry attack; Browne's massed Austrian grenadiers and the Austrian heavy cavalry counter-attack. Browne is wounded, and the Austrian counter-attack loses steam. Prince Ferdinand brings in fresh Prussian infantry to attack the hinge of the Austrian lines, and by 4 p.m., the Austrians retire south or back into Prague with 13,000 casualties. But Prussian general Schwerin is dead, the most notable of 14,000 Prussian losses on a day that took many of the "pillars of the Prussian infantry," and shocked Prussian leadership over improved Austrian capabilities. Prague includes six variable reinforcement options that can greatly alter both armies' compositions, promising extensive replay variety.
The Golden Sun of Kolin
Frederick must interrupt his siege of Prague and march east with 35,000 men to counter Marshal Daun's relief army approaching from Moravia. Against his generals Zieten's and Bevern's advice, the King attacks the Austrians at two to three odds, uphill, against Daun's masterfully laid defensive position and counter-march. The Prussian attacks meet stiff resistance from upslope Austrian canister fire and infantry, and are distracted from their line of march by Croat sniping. Zieten's powerful hussar cavalry contingent is fought to a standstill by their counterparts, led by Hungarian general Nadasdy.
Desperate Prussian efforts, punctuated by colonel Seydlitz's sweeping cavalry charges, gain the Prussians the crest of the ridge - only to be sent reeling in turn by massive Austrian and Saxon Cheveauleger cavalry counterattacks. The Prussian army retreats, and nearly breaks, in Frederick's first defeat. The Alternate history battle of Kaurzim explores the possibility that Frederick heeds his subordinates' advice, and waits until the cautious Daun is forced to attack him in a good defensive line instead.
Krefeld: Ferdinand Ascendant
Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, now appointed commander of a revitalized 32,000 man Hanoverian-Allied army, takes the offensive against the Duke de Clermont's 46,000 strong French. In a maneuver as strikingly bold (and lucky) as Frederick's at Leuthen, Ferdinand divides his force and makes demonstrations against the right and center of a strong French position enclosed on three sides by walls and water ditches. With a third force, he uses covered terrain to infiltrate his troops onto the French left flank and attacks on a narrow front. Clermont is slow to respond, but local French officers scramble and put up a dogged defense. Holstein's Prussian- Hanoverian cavalry find a narrow unguarded causeway into the French rear and widen the attack; arriving French cavalry launch a daunting counter-attack.
The battle is in the balance, but the Hanoverian and Hessian infantry hold against the French charges, and the aggressive Hanoverian artillery forces the French to retire. Ferdinand's victory causes 4,000 French casualties and gains as many prisoners, in what may be termed the Hanoverian army's Watershed battle. The Alternate history battle of Kempen explores the possibility of the French attack that had been planned but called off a few days before, led by the more able Duc de Broglie as French commander. The full Main scenario plays out in only 2-3 hours, making it an ideal short evening game.
Inferno: Kunersdorf, 1759
Frederick must again march east to meet a Russian threat, his troops haunted by memories of the ordeal at Zorndorf the year before. He confronts a 59,000 strong Coalition army, well-entrenched, with over 400 cannon, led by Russian general Saltikov, and augmented by Loudon's crack Austrian corps. Frederick takes 50,000 men on another flank march through heavy woods and marsh, hoping to attack the enemy rear. Instead, after an exhausting six hours in the August heat, the Prussians emerge only to find they have actually marched to the even better-prepared front of Saltikov's position. Nevertheless, the Prussians go in, and after a stiff preparatory bombardment, have initial success against the weak Russian Observation Korps.
But Saltikov's line troops hold, and Frederick's infantry is shredded by Russian Unicorn cannon and Shuvalov howitzers, and stalwart Russian and Austrian infantry defense. Seydlitz's cavalry is hampered by the terrain and achieves only mixed results; Seydlitz is wounded, and Austrian general Loudon launches a perfectly-timed Coalition cavalry counter-charge led by the elite Austrian Light Dragoons. After 19,000 casualties, the Prussian army breaks; Frederick narrowly escapes capture at the hands of Cossacks amid the worst defeat in Prussia' history. Kunersdorf introduces horse artillery for both armies, and terrain types of abatis and wolf pits. With 10 Coalition and 8 Prussian artillery units, and losses routinely reaching the "horrendous" range, it's not for the squeamish!
Prussia's Glory II again offers the flexibility and convenience of shorter Battle scenarios (90 minutes to 5 hours) and intriguing Main scenarios (adding 30-60 minutes to each game) which allow players to alter their armies' crucial approach marches to the field, offering the possibility of radically different outcomes. The new optional rules provide a richer mix of tactical chrome, while the selected actions serve to round out GMT's coverage of the war's most famous battles. PG I and II may also serve as a tactical complement to GMT's upcoming Clash of Monarchs, a card-driven, strategic treatment of the Seven Years War in Europe. Complexity 4.5; solitaire suitability 8.
Components:
• 704 5/8" full-color die-cut counters.
• Two 22"x34" full-color back-printed mapsheets
• 18 page Rulebook
• 14 page Scenario/Playbook
• 2 11x17" Player Aid Cards
• 2 6-sided dice
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