Game 128 : Aspern-Essling, the early action.

 This game is set around Aspern-Essling. There were 2 of us so we wanted a simpler game. We played the initial actions around the villages which was somewhat confused and uncoordinated. To reflect this, once the French were sighted in the villages, the Austrians were restricted on movement. This was done by rolling 1 average dice per Division and that was then how many units could move/charge/reinforce that turn. It led to quite a few odd situations but worked well to reflect the fog of war. The troops involved were 2 Austrian Korps and 2 French infantry Divisions with 2 cavalry Divisions in support.

The above shows a frontal assault on Aspern. The Church is just seen at the top  of the picture.

This is another picture of the above assault demonstrating that the whole of Aspern is being attacked.

This is the assault on Essling. The Granary, nearly impossible to seize quickly without protracted action, is just of pic to the left.

The height of the action at Aspern. Although the Austrians were able to launch multiple assault, the movement limitations effectively stopped co-ordination between Divisions. Although tough for the French, the piecemeal attacks were all successfully driven off.

There was a cavalry action in the middle of the battlefield linking the 2 villages. It was a case of bish,bash, bosh and then return to where we started. Each side nearly won the combat, but in the end it really was "as we were" looking at each other!

 

I put this in just to show the Granary. It is behind the walled garden in the centre of the pic. The result of the battle was the French successfully holding both villages. We actually completed 24 turns. The movement restrictions worked well and "spoiled" most Austrian attacks. The French were never strong enough to launch a counter-attack. It was "hold until relieved!!

The next game will be Aspern-Essling proper. Loads of troops!