Games 31 & 32 : Austerlitz, the Northern & Southern Fronts

Austerlitz is one of the classic battles from the Napoleonic wars and can be quite difficult to play and get the feel of the actual engagement. In the North of the battlefield there is a clash between the cavalry reserves of both sides, a fight that has to last all day and this is not easy to achieve in wargames as cavalry can be "transient" in nature. Now they are here and now they are gone.

The Southern end of the battlefield, with the stream and villages, has its own difficulties, primarily that a French force has to fight all day outnumbered by about 4 : 1.

The battle was split into 2 games as even my table is not big enough to fight the battle in one. I will assume that everyone roughly knows how the battle was fought and the key elements that influenced the battle and its outcome. I will just show some more piccies of the battles.
First the north.

 

The above is looking South along the Russian lines. If the table continued, the Pratzen would be in the distance. The key to this sector is the Olmutz road, the Allied lines of communications. You can just see it in the middle of the pic. The battle in this sector started after the fog had lifted and pitched forces against each other that were roughly equal in strength.

 

 

This pic is from the French lines, looking north. The hill is the Santon which was where Napoleon viewed the unveiling of his battle plan. The whole battlefield is relatively open. Both sides have two infantry divisions, the Russians from Bagration and the French from Lannes. Both sides also have their respective reserve cavalry formations.

 

This shows the French centre from the north with their massed cavalry. Both sides had infantry to the flanks not wanting to risk infantry in the centre with cavalry swirling everywhere.

This is the same view from the south

 

 

 This is taken from behind the Allied centre where they have their massed cavalry. The French are in the background

 

 

This is late in the battle where the French infantry on the left most northern flank are making headway against the Allied right and are forcing it back. Needless to say, the game involved a lot of cavalry clashes which were always closely fought and would end in draws with neither side breaking. Quite historical really. We fought the game twice. The first game saw the Allies maintain the battlefield as they did historically, blunting the French advance. The second game saw the French have the advantage, not breaking the allies, but slowly pushing their whole line back. These were interesting games because of the amount of cavalry that took part and fought.

 

 Rogues gallery, all regulars. The reason for the car, and its decoration, was that the Tour de Yorkshire would pass our house and village about 15 minutes after this pic was taken.

 

Now onto pics form the action on the southern front. The real problem with this game would be the heavy outnumbering of the French. I went with a fairly historic reflection of numbers and this would be a stringent test of the rules and the mechanisms for protracted village fighting. We needn't have worried. As a game it was superb, well balanced with each side biting their finger nails as to whether they would either hold on if you were French or breakthrough if you were allied. In the end, the French just held the line as Soult's attack up the Pratzen gathered pace.

This is Kobelnitz, towards the left of the French lines. It was defended by 3 Btns that were attacked by about 15. The battle would rage all day. The Russians eventually ejected the garrison, only to be immediately counter attacked by Soult's counter attack with 2 divisions angled up towards the Pratzen. Here the Russians are still holding one sector of the village, but their division is now wrecked!

 



 

This is the Pheasantry. This was defended by two principal Btns, the Tiraillers du Corses and the Tirailleurs du Po. The Russians would eventually force the defenders to the back of the Pheasantry and threaten its right flank as shown above, but the French would hold on with the help of close artillery support.

The church represented Sokolnitz castle, itself not threatened heavily. Just behind it is Sokolnitz village. This village would be subjected to probably no less than a dozen assaults by large Austrian columns. Losses were high and the defenders would only hang on by the scraps of their fingernails

 

This is taken from behind the allied line showing the struggle for the Pheasantry

This is one of Soult's divisions counter attacking. The Pratzen heights are out of picture to the front left and the village to the front right is Kobelnitz. 

 



 

To the left flank of the previous division was the last of Soult's divisions attacking the Allied cavalry on their left flank. s the enemy cavalry was largely Hussar and Uhlan with some Cossacks, the French used infantry firepower to push them back. The allied cavalry would charge repeatedly to try and slow down the French, but to no avail, although they did manage to break one French column!!



 

The Austrian masses attacking Sokolnitz. The defenders only held out because Davout began to arrive behind Sokolnitz. Part of Davout's force was also sent to Tellnitz which was also struggling to hold out.



 

Soult has now forced back the allied cavalry on the French left flank. Soult, now supported by his own cavalry, is advancing onto the Pratzen where the Russian Guard has now deployed to face the new threat. At this point the game ended. The French line along the villages were now holding. Soult's division advancing on the Pratzen would likely undo the allied line by manoeuvre, whilst the division that was attacking Kobelnitz would roll up the allied line along the line of villages. Closely fought and very enjoyable.

 

 

Rogues gallery for this one. It was actually fought before the other game. All these battles are being written up and will be published in a companion series to the main rules. The first one is at the publishers, the 1809 Danube campaign. Full OBs, map, deployments, a battle commentary and loss assessment. Next battle here is Friedland, starting this weekend. More beer please!!

 

Game 30 : Vauchamps Feb 14th 1814

This is a battle fought in the early days of 1814. It is between Blucher with Russians & Prussians and Napoleon. It could be described as an encounter battle as the Napoleon is trying to catch an Allied Corps in Vauchamps itself. The Allies have larger numbers in all arms, but Napoleon has all his best troops present; the Old Guard, the Young Guard and the Guard Cavalry. It is numbers against quality.

 

 

This shows Vauchamps from the French lines. It is a key in this battle and forms the central part of the Allied line, indeed the central part of the Allied defence. It is a group of buildings, each counting as a built up area and totalled 7 "villages" to use a rules parlance. The entry to the village from the French side is through a gatehouse and walled enclosure. Even more fun when attacking! In the background on the wall is a good shot of the play sheets for the rules. You can see the full set of 6. On the wall behind the French, the system is repeated.

This is taken from the French lines to the right of Vauchamps. It shows the Allied left flank deployment and an assault is in progress. The French troops in the bottom of the picture are the Young Guard

 



This shows the French preparing to attack Vauchamps and the Russian defenders awaiting the attack. The French infantry division would fight all day conducting many assaults, all of which were repulsed. In the end, only 1 part of Vauchamps would be lost by the stoic Russian defenders.

This is the French left flank where the Guard cavalry deployed, advanced and swept away the Russian cavalry and Cossacks on this wing. The Allied deployment was a refused flank, trying to use the woods in their rear as an anchor to their defence. There would be a running fight all day in this sector.

A picture to the right side of Vauchamps from the Allied side. The Russians are continuing to resist all attacks. On the far side of the village, the Allied attack has been broken and become a shambles. The French have counter-attacked, only to be caught in the open by Allied cavalry that has then caused some mayhem. The French eventually stabilised the flank and renewed their advance, whereas the Allies broke off but did manage to create a secure line further back.

This is the Allied high point on their left flank. The battle raged back and forth until the Allies were forced to retire and the French renewed their advance.

This is towards the end of the day. The French formation just to the right of Vauchamps is a mauled French infantry division. Just above it, going further into Allied lines, is the Young Guard division, again very badly mauled by incessant artillery fire as it tried to advance. The top right of the picture shows the Allies beginning to retire. But ominously, in the bottom left of the picture, the French Old Guard are advancing past the village to engage the Russian right flank infantry. Not good for the Allies!

The Allied right had been pushed back and exposed the Russian infantry to the French Old Guard. The Russians had no cavalry support, the French had plenty. In addition, the French cavalry had also cut the main road to the east, the Allied supply road.

The Allies had fought bravely and inflicted heavy losses on the French. However, the day belonged to the French as the Allies would have to retire away from the main road with all the consequences that such a retreating manoeuvre entails.

 

Next stop is a revamped brand new Austerlitz to be fought over Easter.

Game 29 : A sort of Arras

I've called this a sort of Arras as it was based on a scenario where the Brits in 1940 think they are on the defensive, but then have to realise they have to act offensively to ambush a German Motorised Division reinforced with a Panzer Regiment. The set up was a gamers worst nightmare. The Germans thought they were attacking from one side and had to arrive by 3 main routes. I asked for an order of march for each road. As they went away to plan, I briefed the British. They were in defensive positions around a canal to their rear which must be held at all costs, and villages to their front. They were also briefed, continuously until game start, that the game was not what it seemed!!

 

The Germans arrived back to find out that they were advancing from the opposite side of the table they had planned for. Furthermore, all forces had to enter on their nominated roads in the specified order of march. In addition, they then had to travel across table, on these roads, moving at truck speed and were not allowed to leave the road until they had been engaged.

The Germans did well to play their turns with a straight face as if they had planned just to drive up a highway. The British were a bit non-plussed. One General did catch on to the brief "its not what it seems" but his two other Generals couldn't get out of the defensive thinking. They were supposed to launch an ambush, whilst they could, and try to get an advantage.

As it was, the British remained largely in place and engaged the Germans. The game ran well as the sides were still well balanced. Superior British armour in terms of "armour" but far less manoeuvrable that their German counterparts.

The game ended with the British flanks being squeezed slowly and the infantry being forced/persuaded to defend in the villages. The main organisational problem was that my camera had a technical fault and so the pics are from an earlier game but add to the flavour.

 

 

Atypical Brit start up with infantry in cover in the fields and the armour thrown out on the flanks. There were interesting encounters between German armoured cars and fast light British armour.

 



As the British pulled back somewhat to defend the villages, German airpower had more dense targets to engage, albeit they are in cover.

Who will flinch first? German crews tend to get the upper hand in static engagements by trying to concentrate on the weaker British armour and "smoke" the heavier armour. The British need to keep manoeuvring to try and not get picked off.

A typical look to the battlefield. Villages surrounded by fields and woods. The canal was to one side of the battlefield and ran the whole length of the table.

A brief report, shows we are still going strong. The next report is back to Napoleonics and an 1814 battle that I will post next week.

Game 28 : Borodino 7th September 1812

I suppose we should call this "the big one". Borodino is the largest game done so far and utilised the whole playing area. Over 200 Infantry Battalions, 50 Regiments of Cavalry and 50 Batteries of artillery were fielded in this epic battle. I think we did justice to its size!

I won't be going into huge detail, I think everyone knows the battle and the battlefield. The piccies will show snippets of the game as it progressed. The first battle started on a Sunday and was ended on the Thursday. In the future, this battle will be written up in full and form part of the Companion series for the rules we use, In The Grandest Manner. That's the advertising plug done, so to the terrain and actual battle.

 

The battlefield started from the Great Redoubt and moved along to the Fleches. The northern edge was the Kolotcha river, the woods at Utitsa were the southern boundary.,

This piccy is from in front of the Great Redoubt. It is a good 30" long and about 12" deep or thereabouts. Entry is via the sides. The squares in front represent the wolf pits and act to unform infantry who cross. The Redoubt will take 2 full Russian gun batteries.



This is a picky of the Fleches. Two are in the front and one is behind on the hill to the right. Its easier to see in upcoming piccies. The Fleches were deemed to be on slopes, hence the hills that appear between them. The whole feature was treated as a higher level. Each Fleche is about 18" long and will accommodate a battalion in line and a full gun battery. Scenario rules were used to define both the Fleches and Redoubt, including capacity, defence factors etc etc.

 



This is a long shot from the southern end of the battlefield from the French lines. The village of Semonovka can just be made out after the second Fleche.

This is a long shot taken from the northern end of the battlefield

 

The early battle in progress. In the foreground are 2 of Davout's divisions, the best line in the army, attacking the Great Redoubt. Although eventually successful, these divisions would be spent after taking the Redoubt having suffered 30% losses. Opposite Semonovka, another attack, this time by a division from Ney, is underway.



This is the same time as before nut from the south. Junot's corps is attacking the Fleches, trying to create a gap to exploit between the southern Fleche and the Utitsa woods.

 



 

The Great Redoubt has been abandoned by the Russians, Semonovka is a stalemate battle and a ferocious battle still rages around the Fleches. In this picky, French reserves, the Reserve cavalry, Guard Cavalry and French Middle & Young Guard are released to exploit the fall of the Redoubt.

 

This is taken from the Russian lines from behind the Fleche nearest Semonovka. The village itself is under constant attack from 2 sides but still holding. In the foreground is a corps from the French cavalry reserve being met by Russian cavalry as they try to exploit a gap that opened between the Fleche and Semonovka.

 

Junot's Westphalian's are still contesting the Fleches and Utitsa woods at the bottom of the picky. The Russian defence has been dogged and now the position is being reinforced by Russian Grenadiers. This fight remained intense for the whole game. 

 

Russian cavalry behind the Fleches move forward to contest the ground between the Fleches and Semonovka. Even with the table being huge, finding sufficient room to fully deploy formations can be quite a task.

 

French Middle & Young Guard in the foreground attacking just to the south of the Great Redoubt. They would come up against the Russian Converged Grenadier division. The Russians would fight stoically, suffer horrible casualties and then eventually break. The masses of cavalry now have the space to advance and are preparing to assault the Russian reserves on the far side of the hill, Russian Guard infantry and cavalry.

French reserve cavalry pouring through the gap created between the Fleche and Semonovka. This manoeuvre would also help Ney wrestle control of the Fleche nearest Semonovka as the cavalry dominated the ground immediately behind.

 



 

This is towards the end. French Old Guard, the column nearest, have marched across the field unmolested to engage their Russian counterparts. Next to the Guard a relatively fresh division from Davout which had been held in reserve. Above them the Semonovka village is now coming under pressure from 3 sides.

 

This was the last move we did. French Guard cavalry pouring through past the Great Redoubt to attack Russian Guard cavalry. The French would have the luxury of large amounts of fire support and it would be this that helped swing the combat. But now the Russian shave decided to withdraw and survive to fight another day.

A great game fought in great spirit with copious amounts of alcohol and good food to help.

In addition, my wife Anne gets a huge thank you as she kept us all fed and in drink for the week, picked up guys from the station as need be and made all the evening dining arrangements.

I'll say she is just perfect!

 

And finally, the rogues gallery. The only newbie was Grant (top row, second from right). I do like Herbert in his cap who must now be praised as he has bought the rules! As to what is next?

A WWII jaunt into France 1940. Another week of wargaming with a quite complex involved scenario. The game after that will be Napoleonic, something new but you will have to watch this space!!

 

 

 



Game 27 : Battle of Mockern : October 16th 1813

This was the Battle of Mockern, to the North of Leipzig and known overall as the Battle of Nations. The game would pitch the Army of Silesia, marching via the northern roads to attack Leipzig, their paths blocked by Marmont and his forces. The allies would have advantage of numbers in all arms, most noticeably artillery and cavalry. The French have a good defensive position, the front resting on the villages that screen the north of Leipzig. The main road to Leipzig is in the background and runs next to the river Eslter. The is a road in the centre and in the foreground is a road to the right of the French line. The picky is taken to the south of the battlefield, looking west and are the rear areas of French deployment.

 

The picky below shows the northern part of the battlefield, including the French front line and the approaches that the allies must take

This next picky is taken from the north, looking south and is the left of the allied line. It is the village of Widderitsch and is occupied by Dombrowski's Polish troops

The village in the centre is Lindenthal and is to be occupied by one of Marmont's three divisions

Over on the allied right is the village of Mockern, occupied by another of Marmont's divisions. Marmont's third division would be held in reserve, a duty it would manage to fulfil for the entire battle.

 



 

The Prussian plan was to mask the villages with minimal amounts of infantry, advance their main  infantry forces between the villages and use their superior weight of cavalry on their open left flank. The French plan was to hold the villages with infantry and the gaps in between with cavalry. A French reinforcing division, Souham, would be arriving on the French right flank with supporting cavalry and would be immediately engaged with a day long battle against superior numbers of allied cavalry trying to push in the French right flank. 

An allied infantry division masses between Lindenthal and Widderitsch. Its progress would be painfully slow and they would ultimately get handle roughly by Polish light cavalry counter-attacking in the centre, contesting the ground.

Another shot of a second Allied infantry division amassing between the two same villages. The failure to undertake attacks on the key villages, to at least tie down French infantry, would allow the French too much reaction time to threats as they appeared in a more or less piecemeal fashion.

 



Lindenthal, the village in the centre, was never seriously threatened. The French infantry stationed there were able to react to the Allied infantry pushing forward in the centre. The Allied advance was initially checked by French infantry and then thrown back by Polish light cavalry.

Massed ranks of Russian cavalry on the Allied left. They would successive attacks throughout the day and the French would be hard pressed to hold them. Although the Allies would be ultimately held, it did stop the French was having Souham reinforce their centre, a consequence where the French were lucky that he was not required.

The piccy below shows the Polish light cavalry forcing back the two allied infantry divisions in some disorder. Cavalry rallying on the spot, facing any direction, is now a very dangerous potential situation for infantry that suddenly find themselves without cavalry support.

 

The last battle piccy showing the Russian cavalry attacking on their left flank. This was probably the third major attack that the Allied cavalry had made. The French would prevail, but not without suffering serious losses. The Allies also lost heavily, but they had more reserves. Fortunately for the French, nightfall would see the French still secure along the entire line and still an intact infantry division held in reserve. The Allies were not in any way broken but would use nightfall to lick their wounds



 

And to finish, rogues gallery. All the players were regulars, apart from John Smith (yes, it is his real name and he isn't incognito). John is likely to become a regular and is a whizz with cameras, He has already started showing me how to get the best out of my camera. The results this time are shots that are better lit and in forthcoming publications it will be the editing and sizing of high resolution piccies that will be exploited.

 

The next game is Borodino, complete with the Great Redoubt, Fleches and armies that are quite large (no exaggeration!!). Hurrah!!!!