Tannenberg, 15 July 1410: Downfall of the Teutonic Order

"This game simulates the battle between the army of the Teutonic Order and the Crusader knights from all over Western Europe who joined them, under Hockmeister Ulrich von Jungingen, and the combined armies of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, under Wladislaw II Jagiello and Vytautas "the Great", fought on 15 July 1410 between the villages of Tannenberg and Ludwigsdorf, west of Lake Lubien in Prussia (modern-day north-east Poland). The game system is a simplified version of that used in "Hanba'al: Ambush at the Trebbia", from the spring 2007 issue of battle-market. As well as enabling the battle to be replayed as it happened, the game is designed to explore "what-if?" questions (see "Scenarios", below), such as: If the Poles and Lithuanians had deployed the other way round (Poles on the right and Lithuanians on the left) might it have significantly affected the battle? Can a completely different deployment by both armies make a radical difference to the outcome of the battle? Could a more intelligent use of the Teutonic infantry have made a difference to the outcome of the battle? The game includes an historical article, rules, A4-sized map, A4-sized page of tables, 71 game counters, 71 strength counters and a game turn counter. Each game turn represents 20 minutes. Each hexagon represents about 250x250 meters. Each counter represents 1000 cavalry, 2000 infantry or a leader with their personal "banner" of 240 cavalry.