This game was the Battle of Wagram 1809. It was played at a local hotel in Scarborough where an enormous game is played once a year, over a week. This battle we managed to play twice, a French victory and then turned the game around, more like players switching sides. The idea here is not to go over the actual battle in detail but to use the pics to demonstrate what can be done with 10mm and to also demonstrate how "realistic" it looks with the large formations.
The above pic shows French Reserves deployed at the start of the game. To make the look impressive, all troops are deployed on table. It also saves a lot of time and fuss trying to find troops on trays if hidden movement is used.
This is an even longer shot of the rear table with French Reserves. Table length is 33.5 feet.
The initial Austrian assault on Anderklaa which is on the Austrian right flank. The village will fall to the Austrian Grenadiers, but the whole area will never get cleared of French. As the battle develops the French will attempt to retake the village.
This shows Oudinot's initial advance against Baumersdorf in the centre of the Austrian deployment. After protracted fighting, the area would come under French dominion. But having got the village is one thing, crossing the stream successfully is another question; and battle!
The Austrian Avant Garde, on the Austrian left, launched a surprise attack against the French in the form of Davout and his crack Corps. It would take a long time for the French to stabilise the position and then beat of the Austrian attack.
A close up of the Austrian Hussars in the Avant Garde pushing forward.
An aerial view of the attack on Baumersdorf seen from the Austrian side at the bottom.
This is the Austrian Grenadier assault on Anderklaa. Just a few men committed to the assault!!
The above is a taster of the battle. My intention is to fully describe the battle in another Companion book, hopefully later this year. As always, anyone is welcome to attend the games as are also welcome to try a game at the Situation room.
If you like beer, curry, large armies, meaningless discussion and a lot of wargames, all encompassed in a convivial setting with good hospitality, then why not pop in and have a look.
The next game will be early Napoleonics, the Battle of Rivoli.
