Game 103 : Saalfeld 1806

 This is a repeat of a small game done years ago. It pitches 2 brigades of infantry and a brigade of cavalry against each other. The forces are advance guards for the French 7 Prussian armies. The town/village is important as it is a nexus for the road network in this area.

All the action occurs either within the village areas or very close to them. It shows that the rules "In the Grandest Manner" (I know - a plug) work equally well with enormous battles, such as Wagram, Borodino etc, down to Brigade sized actions. All the nuances that apply to the large games applies to the small games and vice versa. The French have the edge on quality but both sides have a large complement of light infantry. The 3 village sections dominate the battlefield in that it is easy to see that control of them controls the road network. But you will have to control all three to achieve this.

Now the action.

Both armies get committed very quickly as there is no ability to have a reserve as the forces are too small. The French get an immediate piece of luck when the main Prussian foot battery suffers an unlucky morale reverse, and then is ridden down immediately by a French cavalry regiment.

The setback above undoes the entire left flank of the Prussians as each side has fielded their entire 11 btns and there are no reserves to plug the gap. The French advance and roll up the entire Prussian position.  

We turned the battle around and tried again. This time I was lucky as Prussian as the French got their right flank advance muddled and had to retire. However, at best this would only give the Prussians a draw as the remaining French still degraded the Prussian fighting ability. The Prussians would still have to withdraw. 

Losses for both sides were lower in the second battle but the edge in French infantry quality would see the same overall result.

French Formations	Losses %			Prusso-Saxon Formations	Losses%
	Infantry	Cavalry	Artillery		Infantry	Cavalry	Artillery
Claparede	5	-	-	Pelet	80	-	100
Vedel	24	-	0	Muffling	73	-	100
Reille	19	-	-	Schmmelpfennig	-	13	-
Treilhard	-	5	0	Beliaqua	3	-	0
				Xavier	-	8	-

It is easy to see what a hammering the Prussian infantry took. It all came about after the loss of the foot battery. After the we swapped sides and replayed the game, the result was the same, albeit the Prussian losses were a lot lower. In each battle, French losses were about the same. 

French Formations	Losses %			Prusso-Saxon Formations	Losses%
	Infantry	Cavalry	Artillery		Infantry	Cavalry	Artillery
Claparede	17	-	-	Pelet	55	-	0
Vedel	3	-	19	Muffling	11	-	0
Reille	11	-	-	Schmmelpfennig	-	8	-
Treilhard	-	15	25	Beliaqua	4	-	21
				Xavier	-	30	-

The usual shot of the rogue's gallery. Hopefully after our next game, the "bus shelter" will be complete. Onwards!!