Game 138 & 139 : Leipzig, Northern Front, October 16th 1813

 The pictures cover 2 games. The first 4 pics are from the 1st game where the main actions were an assault on Mockern by the Prussians and a Cavalry battle on the French right where the allies were attempting to outflank the French defensive line.

Above is the battle for Mockern. The Prussians attacked with 2 of their 4 formations. The highlight for the French was a Dragoon Cavalry unit riding through 2 units of Prussian infantry. The French even attempted to counter-attack, but it stalled fairly quickly against a solid Prussian defence line. What the Prussians achieved was the commitment of 1 of the 2 French reserve infantry formations. 

The above is the central village. All day a battle erupted between the light infantry of both sides. The key wood in front of the village was contested all day and the Russians were unable to wrestle dominance away from the French.

This is the high point for the French in the Mockern area. After this, everything became defensive as Prussian reserves swamped into the area.

On the French far right, the Allies, Russians, attempted to sweep around the flank with a large force of Cavalry. This culminated in a combat involving 5 Divisions of Cavalry. The advantage ebbed and flowed between the protagonists, but the eventual outcome was a bloody draw.

The above effectively ended the fighting for the 16th (we fought an actual weekend to get here). 

The following set of pictures reflect the fighting on the 18th when both sides have been reinforced.

The fighting erupts first in the centre. Again, light troops from both sides would contest the key wood. The Russians quite quickly ejected the French and this allowed the Allies to both attack the village and try to force the French right centre.

Another view of the extent of the assault. The French are behind the stream and would be driven back by concentrated Russian artillery fire (it was brutal on both sides) allowing the Allied infantry to commence an advance.

This is the extreme French right where you can see more masses of Allied Cavalry advancing to try and turn the French flank. The Russian Cavalry is being supported by an infantry formation which is tasked with taking the village. 

Fighting in Mockern erupts again. This time the Prussian assault is successful and they secure the front portion of the village. The Prussians are also advancing through another wood on their far right which was a thorn in their sides on the 16th.

The Russian attack on the French right gathers pace. Another furious Cavalry melee would take place, another draw. But the Russians had more fresh units to commit to the action. The French would start to give ground although the village was still held by exhausted French infantry.

In the French right centre, the French stream defence has been heavily mauled and the position is no longer tenable for the French. This allows Russian infantry to prepare to advance and try and exploit this success. This, along with the situation on the French right, leads to the French having to start a controlled withdrawal to Leipzig. It also ended up being the last turn and the end of the game (a week this time!).

The next battle will again be fought over a week. Leipzig southern front the 16th.  It is big!

Game 137 : Near Smolensk 1941

 This "what if" battle pitched a Russian Guards Infantry Division, reinforced with a line Infantry Regiment plus 2 Tank Divisions against a German force of a Panzer Division reinforced with a Motorised Infantry Regiment. The Germans also has artillery support and good air support.

The above is action in the central, largest, village. For the whole game it was a cauldron, one side nearly getting total control, then the other. The battle finished with the Russians holding most, but it took 2 of the 3 Guards Regiments to do this. The Germans didn't fair much better, a Panzer Grenadier Regiment and motorcycle Btn getting equally chewed up. 

The above was a smaller scale combat to the Russian right of the centre. This was a line Infantry Regiment and a Tank Division facing off against a German Motorised Regiment. Both sides would jockey for position, but neither side could ever really grasp the advantage.

Another shot of the central village highlighting the number of troops being sucked into the maelstrom. This shot is from the German side of the battlefield.

The above is from the German right. Neither side was strong enough to effect any major advance. It was a situation of facing each other off.

The end of the major action on the Russian right. Both sides have reached the limits of their respective advances. The open ground would prove to be a killing ground and neither side was strong enough the attempt a drive over it.

The battle in the centre comes to a stand off. Both sides lack reserves to push for a final attack. The game ends in a bloody draw.

The responsible protagonists. We were all somewhat exhausted after this one. Pub and curry were the next orders for the day.

Game 136 : Somewhere in Greece 1941

 This was a battle pitching a Brit Infantry Brigade & Armoured Brigade, with some assets against a similar sized German Motorised formation.

The British had far superior numbers of armoured vehicles and tanks. Brit infantry was based on a Guards Brigade. The German infantry was all high class and generally superior to the Brit counterparts. Brit forces suffered from lower ammunition supplies.

The Luftwaffe had total air dominance.

This shows one half of the key village where all the main fighting would occur. The other half is off picture to the left. All troops arrived, somewhat randomly, via roads on their side of the terrain, but some the complete length of the table in the distance. The Germans tried a high risk arrival option and succeeded. German troops in Regiment strength are going to occupy all key parts of the village. 

German Stukas arrive, again the point of arrival is random, but interdict one of 2 British columns trying to get to the objective. The result would be that the advance would stall.

Both sides, at Regimental/Brigade strength, are now entangled along the access roads to the objective. Neither side can make fast progress and both forces are manoeuvring to try and gain tactical advantage.

This is the other part of the village where British armour has arrived to contest the area against German infantry. Again the Stukas arrive! Fighting becomes a slog. The Germans also have artillery support, an option they selected. The Brits have no artillery support, more ground troops were instead selected.

The fighting has become ferocious. Brits are committing armour to the streets where they are vulnerable, but they have to to provide fire support to their infantry who lack ammunition.

The fighting in the other part of the village was more low key but the Brits were able to use the armour fire support to their advantage. The German infantry would eventually be too weak to hold.

The fighting in the other part of the village reaches a climax where the German defenders are either wiped out or forced to retire with huge losses. The main Brit attacking force, based on the Guards Brigade, has also suffered huge losses and it is debatable if they can carry out any sort of further advance.

We called the game at this point. Bloody!!

The "thugs" responsible for the above mayhem. We were knackered. Off fot eh beer and curry. Next stop is Gettysburg, 1st day.

Game 135 : Albuera May 16th 1811

 We came back to Albuera, primarily as there were 3 players and this battle will work quite well for 3, albeit 1 person will be doing quite a lot of running around- and that was me!

The above shows a long shot of the entire battlefield. Albuera is in the distance and the stream runs the whole length. The woods are open woods, in reality small copses, brush, enough to be somewhat of an obstacle but not as much as a dense wood.

It shows both sides contesting these woods. It would last the entire game, but the French would slowly inch their way through. The aim was to clear the wood, then flank the position with 2 Brigades of Heavy Dragoons.

The Allies positioned the Spanish, apart from 1 Division, on their left. The French slowly pushed over the stream and into the Spanish infantry, driving them back. The Spanish cavalry fought very well and the combat against their higher quality counterparts ended in a draw!

However, the French advance could not be halted and the flank was slowly, but surely, being turned.

In the centre it was a battle of the light infantry. KGL against French Light infantry. It was a slogging match, French numbers eventually winning out with both sides exhausted. Albuera would now be screened to pin then Allied centre.

Th fight in the woods near to Albuera ended with the Portuguese being forced to withdraw, again with attritional losses. The French were not strong enough to break out of the wood into the open, but with the Allied left flank turned and the Allied right flank being in danger of being turned, the Allies decided that a organised withdrawal would be necessary. It was at this poin the game finished.

  

	Play Test 4
French Formations	Losses %			Spanish Formations	Losses%
	Infantry	Cavalry	Artillery		Infantry	Cavalry	Artillery
Soult	-	-	3	Beresford	-	-	34
Godinot (1st Brig)	44	-	-	Stewart (1st Brig)	0	-	31
Godinot (2nd Brig)	10	-	-	Stewart (2nd Brig)	3	-	-
Girard (1st Brig)	4	-	-	Stewart (3rd Brig)	0	-	-
Girard (2nd Brig)	4	-	-	Stewart (KGL Lt Brig)	67	-	-
Werle (1st Brig)	1	-	-	Cole (1st Brig)	3	-	56
Werle (2nd Brig)	16	-	-	Cole (2nd Brig)	0	-	-
Gazan (1st Brig)	0	-	-	Cole (3rd Brig)	0	-	-
Gazan (2nd Brig)	0	-	-	Hamilton (1st Brig)	0	-	6
Grenadiers	11	-	-	Hamilton (2nd Brig)	2	-	-
Latour (1st Brig)	-	0	-	Hamilton (Ind 3rd Brig)	43	-	100
Latour (2nd Brig)	-	14	-	Port Cav Brig	-	40	-
Latour (3rd Brig)	-	26	-	Lumley (1st Brig)	-	11	-
Latour (4th Brig)	-	8	-	Lumley (2nd Brig)	-	28	-
				Blake	-	-	0
				Lardizabal	55	-	-
				Zayas	6	-	-
				Ballasteros	0	-	-
				Loy	-	13	-
				Espana	0	-	0
				Villemur	-	56	-

Losses were not enormous, they were concentrated in about 3 localised areas as opposed to across the whole battlefield. Allied artillery did suffer heavily.

Rogue's gallery. The shorts are scary! Now on to somewhere in Greece, WWII.