Game 124 : Battle of Caldiero, take II

 Having learnt quite a bit from the first game we played of this battle, this was a repeat. There was a lot more fighting and far heavier attrition of both armies.

This time we were two a side, so a lot more happened more quickly. Below is the Austrian right flank. Although the Austrians have mostly light cavalry, they are large regiments and so we decided to use them offensively across the front. Austrian infantry is also advancing, but the terrain, orchards, would heavily compromise the advance.

At the top of the pic, a French Grenadier Division is assaulting Caldiero. The Austrians would hold off four separate assaults, having luck with morale throws, before voluntarily yielding the village when the army began a controlled withdrawal.

The Austrian left flank saw massed Hussars attacking to their front and succeeding in stopping any useful French advance in this sector.

This is the second French assault on Caldiero. The Austrians holding the village comprised mainly Grenadiers, including one elite battalion actually holding the village.

The fourth, and last, French assault. The Austrians were in a position to have their own reinforcements. Losses on both sides were heavy. 

French Formations	Losses %			Austrian Formations	Losses%
	Infantry	Cavalry	Artillery		Infantry	Cavalry	Artillery
Massena	3	10	-	Archduke Charkes	-	-	0
Gardenne	23	0	16	Bellegarde	-	-	10
Molitor	0	0	0	Left Wing	-	-	0
Partonneaux	11	-	22	Lindenau	14	-	-
Verdier	0	0	0	Reuss-Plauen	1	0	31
Durutte	0	0	0	Simbschen	3	0	13
Moulin	16	-	-	Davidovich	0	0	-
Duhesme	0	8	0	Argentau	0	0	0
D’Espagne	-	15	38	Vogelsang	35	7	-
Mermet	-	13	25	Ballinlough	-	21	29
Palombine	-	0	0	Nordmann	2	6	0
				Somariva	0	0	-

The artillery suffered rather badly. I claim the luckiest shot, nearly knocking out a French battery in a single shot. Counter battery fire at artillery effective range is rather bloody! 

Rogues gallery. Graham designed this game and it worked very well. Next stop is back to the Sudan!!

Game 123 : Battle of Caldiero 1805

 This battle was fought in Northern Italy. I was a battlefield that had more than one engagement over the wars. Both sides are evenly matched. The French have a slightly higher average morale, the Austrians have numbers. We are also using variable morale.

The above is a shot from the French Left. It shows vineyards in front of a protected position of earthworks. Turn 1 saw the French (me) lose a full Light Btn in open order to the dreaded bad dice! Making progress here, for either side, was difficult.

Nearer the centre, Caldiero is in shot, The French secured the fron part of the village relatively easily. Dragoons are advancing to try and pin down Austrian forces being fed into the village area

On the other side of Caldiero, French heavy cavalry, including Cuirassiers, made good progress. Some Austrians were caught out of square and suffered appropriately from the Cuirassiers. This also led to the French being able to assault the second part of Caldiero (there were 3 village sections).

Further to the right, the French Light cavalry also advanced to engage the enemy cavalry. I was lucky in that the lead unit was Elite, it ensured that the Austrian cavalry was driven back..

This is Caldiero seen from the Austrian lines. French Cuirassiers have broken through. I recalled them as they would otherwise get embroiled with squares and they had done their job by allowing my infantry to engage the second part of Caldiero.

At this point, the Austrian centre retired, there was a danger they would get beaten piecemeal if they remained in place. A very interesting battle, it was designed by Graham. We will be playing it again with more players and likely we will reverse sides.

French Formations	Losses %			Austrian Formations	Losses%
	Infantry	Cavalry	Artillery		Infantry	Cavalry	Artillery
Massena	3	10	-	Archduke Charkes	-	-	0
Gardenne	23	0	16	Bellegarde	-	10	-
Molitor	0	0	0	Left Wing	-	-	0
Partonneaux	11	-	22	Lindenau	14	46	0
Verdier	0	0	0	Reuss-Plauen	1	0	31
Durutte	0	0	0	Simbschen	3	0	13
Moulin	16	-	-	Davidovich	0	0	-
Duhesme	0	8	0	Argentau	0	0	0
D’Espagne	-	15	38	Vogelsang	35	7	-
Mermet	-	13	25	Ballinlough	-	21	29
Palombine	-	0	0	Nordmann	2	6	0
				Somariva	0	0	-

Overall, it was quite a bloody affair. We'll see what the second engagement brings.

Game 120 & 121 & 122 : Plancenoit 1815 take II & III & IV

 We have now played the same game 4 times. Each time we have learnt more about the game system (huge amounts), its quirks and exactly what type of tactics need to be employed.

So I have chosen to just publish some pictures from these games.

Close action in Plancenoit itself. The French yielded the front part of the village and then held the central area. Firepower won the day here. 

We still had to learn that guns charging guns was not the idea l thing to do.

We learnt fairly quickly that troops that are still steady are hard to shift. We picked up quickly that every action caused fatigue. What we still needed to learn was how quickly fatigue was recovered.

The French artillery thought better of deploying in front of the church! Redeployment was the better side of valour.

The chess game at the beginning of the battle. Half the Prussian army starts on table, the other half is 4 turns behind.

Myself and Pete played this game. Good fun and I do like the system. Pete missed the rolling of dice!

This time we had all the rules in use, from wave attacks from both infantry and cavalry to co-ordinated and unco-ordinated attacks. We were also savvy about when to charge and what to charge. 

An attempting flank attack was thwarted by the garrison of the church. We also noted that the Prussian infantry had to be got to where the action was going to erupt with no fatigue. For them to do this, their artillery arm is the way to go and try and get the infantry up unmolested.

Cavalry waves going into action. The Cavalry Division of Domon, with 3 regiments, bested the Prussian Cavalry Brigade of Landwehr cavalry with 5 regiments. It came down to artillery support fire to sway this fight.

The Prussians are trying to organise regimental infantry attacks. It nearly succeeded but the French artillery disrupted their approach by stopping the odd battalion.

Plancenoit is now safe. The Prussian infantry is stalling and the fight at Plancenoit itself is developing into fire fighting. So when we next play Carnage & Glory, it will be a new battle. I have a few ideas.

I was still French, Bob & Steve were the new Prussian commanders. The games were getting closer and it always came down to army morale as we approached nightfall. The closest was French 76% and Prussians 75%. Off to new grounds next.

Game 119 : Battle at Plancenoit, Waterloo 1815

 This is a venture using some computer rules called Carnage & Glory. Like all new rule sets we had a few teething problems but not enough to really influence the overall outcome.

This pic gives a long shot across the battlefield from the Prussian right. Plancenoit is in the middle of the table. The Prussians have 4 Brigades of Infantry, 3 Brigades of Cavalry and 11 Batteries. The French have 2 Divisions of Infantry, 2 Divisions of Cavalry and 6 Batteries. 

The Prussians started their attacks on their right with the lead Cavalry Brigade. The French would come of worst from this encounter. Fatigue plays a large part in how the software controls overall unit effectiveness and units can tire quickly.

The French await the advance of the mass of Prussian Infantry. The French edge the quality ratings, but the Prussians make up for this with numbers. 

The Prussians did attack Plancenoit. Fighting in villages is difficult, as it should be, and progress was slow. The Church was counted as a stone strongpoint.

The Prussians make a general advance just as nightfall was beginning to close. In the open, the French would have no option but to retire. However, the Prussians made no headway into Plancenoit itself. An interesting first experience which is about to be repeated.

Myself and Graham enjoying a short break before resuming hostilities. Graham was Prussian and we decided that he had the edge in the result.

 

Game 118 : Hill 220

 We're on the Eastern front, sometime in earlyish 1943. GrossDeutschland is driving down the main Highway. In its path is Hill 220 that dominates the visibility in the entire area. GD is advancing with a reinforced Panzer Grenadier Regiment. It is supported by the Assault Gun and Tank Destroyer Btns from the Division along with a Tiger Tank company.

The Russians defending have an Infantry Division, an old style Tank Division with T34s and some randomly assigned assets. Key to this assignment was  Btn of KV1 tanks.

The Russians are dug in. The game was effectively resolved by the Russian KV tanks. Their heavy armour made them a bit like a moving road block. It allowed the T34s to rush the lighter German armour, namely the Marders. The Germans tried to protect these with the Stugs from the Assault Gun Btn, but opportunities were to be had. The village in front of Hill 220 was taken by GD infantry. The Russian infantry were ousted, not helped by their random rolls to have high morale but next to no casualty absorption capability.

Russian T34s, sneaking forward, come under Stuka attack. The air forces of both sides were active, they both really only had a cameo affect.

Russians form a square. No, its not 1812, but the Russian Btn in question is literally being given the run around by the GD Motorcycle Btn. The intervention of Russian armour to the top of the pic would see the Germans driven off.

We did have a combat where the bulk of both air forces turned up. In a nutshell, the German dice rolling was hopelessly unlucky and the Russians were more effective than they should have been.

A nice little outing that saw the WWII kit back out in a small sized game. Plenty of space and options. The usual crowd, Brendan and Adam are doing their best to hide! 

Next stop is Carnage & Glory computer rules, Plancenoit 1815.