Rakoczi Rumbled! The Battle of Magierów (11 July 1657)
Friday 12 June saw me put on an Eastern Renaissance wargame at the community centre. I opted for a partisan warfare scenario from this fascinating period rather than a pitched battle. (So no Winged Hussars!) We used my re-based 28mm figures and my ‘Sobieski!’ rules.
The game was set in The Deluge (1648-1667), a time of chaos and terror in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Russians, Cossacks, Swedes, Brandenburgers and Transylvanians invaded and occupied the country, and many nobles aligned with the attackers, while the Polish king went into temporary exile in Silesia.
Allied with the Cossacks and Swedes, Prince George II Rakoczi of Transylvania brutalized and plundered Poland-Lithuania in 1657. But when the Swedes withdrew most of their forces from Poland in order to fight Denmark, Rakoczi turned south to make a quick getaway with his army, accompanied by 2,000 wagons laden with loot. However, Polish King Jan II Kazimierz turned to Stefan Czarniecki, who has been waging a successful guerrilla campaign against the Swedes, to stop the Transylvanians before they could escape…
The battle took place north of Lwów in the Kingdom of Poland. Game terrain consisted of Magierów village, one road, a stream, a few hills and scattered woods.
Paul S., Paul B. and Jonathan were the Transylvanians. Rakoczi’s army was a combined force of Transylvanian, Moldavian, Wallachian, and Cossack contingents. Their task was to get the wagon train off the table. The wagons had to stick to the road.
Mal, Ian and Patrick were the Poles. Czarniecki’s army consisted of Poles, Lithuanians, Austrian mercenaries, Crimean Tartars, and vengeful peasants. Their task was to seize the wagons, while fighting guerrilla style. Both sides also gained victory points for destroying enemy units.
T1-T2: A March on Magierów…
Paul S. deployed the Transylvanian army at the far table edge. The Transylvanians had three moves at the start of the game and managed to get almost halfway across the table.
Mal and Ian marked their hidden units on a map, and made no moves for the first two turns. The Transylvanians moved ahead and approached the village of Magierów.
T3: A Trap is Sprung!
On turn 3, the Poles won the initiative. Mal deployed the Polish artillery and dismounted dragoons on the table, blocking the road from the village. Mal inflicted two hits on one of Jonathan’s light cavalry units.
Patrick now brought on the Polish medium cavalry (4 units) and 2 units of Austrian mercenary medium cavalry, threatening the rear of the wagon train!
Despite a nonchalant approach to march discipline, Rakoczy’s Transylvanian army kept moving, however Paul S. and Paul B. were compelled to turn around their cavalry to face Patrick’s horsemen.
T4: Struggle for the Wagons
The Poles won the initiative again (adding 2 to their roll by using an initiative point). Mal rolled in two units of irregular foot (peasants) which he moved up on the Polish left, threatening Paul S.’s Wallachians on the hill.
Patrick’s cavalry touched the last wagon in the train (thus capturing it), while the rest of his cavalry moved up to attack Paul S’s cavalry on the hill on the Polish left…
Paul S.’s Wallachian medium cavalry attacked one of Patrick’s veteran Pancerni medium cavalry units, who lost the melee and fell back 12″.
However Patrick’s first unit of Austrian cavalry defeated a unit of Paul B’s Cossacks who retreated. The Austrians passed a morale test and piled into the next lot of Transylvanian allies.
Paul B. responded by charging a unit of Cossacks into the second Austrian cavalry unit.
Paul S.’s medium cavalry also attacked one of Patrick’s Pancerni on the hill. Paul played a Jack but was unable to get a nearby unit of Polish cavalry to change sides!
Four melees were now fought at the rear of the wagon train. In the first, Paul B’s Cossacks defeated the second Austrian mercenary cavalry, which retreated 12″. In the second melee, Patrick won and pushed back one of Paul S’s cavalry on the hill. The third and fourth melees Patrick’s cavalry were pushed back by Paul B. and Paul S.’s Transylvanian light cavalry. Had the Polish attack met its match?
Jonathan moved up the wagon train as Paul S. kept moving the rest of the army towards the far table edge.
T5: The Tartars Arrive!
The initial Polish attack in the Transylvanian rear had caused surprise but the Poles looked to be facing spirited resistance. As the Transylvanians won the initiative, Paul B. rallied some Cossacks, and charged a Cossack unit into one of Patrick’s Polish cavalry unit, which lost and retreated. The last wagon was back in motion, having slipped out of Polish hands…
However, Patrick’s Austrians defeated a unit of Paul B’s Cossacks. Moreover, across the stream, Ian unleashed his Crimean Tartars, who popped up from a wood, and 3 of the 4 units fired off their bows at close range against Paul S’s Moldavian contingent.
Another Tartar unit swooped on the wagons and captured one in the village.
Firing at close range on flank or rear, the 3 Tartar units hit the Moldavian light cavalry several times.
T6: Transylvanian Rearguard Breaks!
Mal now charged the peasants into Petrescu’s Wallachian medium cavalry on the hill.
Patrick, regaining his balance, charged 4 cavalry units into nearby Transylvanian cavalry. The tide seemed to be turning for the Poles, who won all of these close combats, sending the Wallachian cavalry and Cossacks reeling.
The Transylvanian army had lost cohesion, and was now split between the forces occupied with the rearguard and those across the stream with the wagons.
Ian also brought on the Lithuanian light cavalry along with Stefan Czarniecki himself. This secured the flank of the Tartars, who now destroyed an irregular Moldavian foot unit!
Elsewhere, there was chaos on the hill, as Mal’s vengeful peasants charged a medium Wallachian cavalry unit of Paul S. in flank but took 4 casualties and retreated.
T7: Wagon Train Captured!
The final turn had arrived and the Transylvanians won the initiative. Jonathan advanced towards the end of the table with his units… it was Rakoczi’s command making haste!
Paul B fired his two guns at the threatening Austrian cavalry…
While Paul S. turned his Moldavian light cavalry around to face the Tartars, which he engaged in close combat.
Meanwhile the medium Moldavian cavalry under Dragos approached Mal’s artillery and dragoons (who had captured the lead wagon).
Jonathan’s medium Transylvanian cavalry desperately assaulted the Polish dragoons behind the wagon but lost and had to fall back…
On the hill, the Wallachians were broken by Patrick’s Polish cavalry, and lost 2 cavalry units in melees, from which one unit could not withdraw… Patrick also contacted the final wagon again.
Conclusion
We called it a day at 10:30pm. The Poles had captured 3 wagons out of 6, blocked the road for the whole wagon train, and destroyed 1 infantry, 3 light and 3 medium Transylvanian units. The Poles lost no units despite taking multiple hits. A comprehensive victory!
Historically, Stefan Czarniecki (with 10,000 men) similarly attacked the Transylvanian right and rear and caused Rakoczi (who may have had 20-40,000 men) to abandon the wagons and flee from the field. Other Polish forces raided Transylvania simultaneously in retaliation. Rakoczi was finally defeated at the Battle of Czarny Ostrów (20 July 1657), and signed a peace treaty on 23 July 1657 obliging him to pay a large war indemnity.
A fun night’s play: special thanks to Rob for lending me his ECW wagons for this game, and to all who turned out!
The Commonwealth will return!
