Game 22 : Markgrafneusiedl

This is a small report on the Wagram continuation theme. This part of the battle is the fight on the extreme left of the Austrian Line with 2 Corps and the Avant Garde, against Davout on the extreme French right with Oudinot to his left. The Austrian right hand end of the battlefield was Baumersdorf and the left of the Austrian line was Markgrafneusiedl.
This picky is looking at the French right in the foreground. I'll mention now that the player, on the right in the middle, is Alan Tuckey. He nipped off home before the usual rogues gallery picky was taken. Alan has been integral to this project and has painted all of the French cavalry and some of the French infantry. You can see me advancing with Austrian light troops against Davout

This shows the Austrian right at Baumersdorf being attacked by Oudinot. The French would eventually seize the parts of Baumersdorf on their side of the river, but nightfall would see no time left to launch an attack over the river.

The thing of note here is the Austrian cavalry at he bottom and right of the picky. You can see from the left, an Uhlan regiment, 228 figures deployed as 2 Btns and acting independently of each other. Austrian Uhlans and Hussars are 8 squadron regiments. They can be used in one of 2 ways. Use as is, the full regiment or split into 2 Btns of the regiment. This choice is made at the beginning of the battle and lasts for the game. In addition, the Btn with the Liebfahne has its morale reduced by 1 factor and the Btn with the Ordinafahne has its morale reduced by 2 factors.
The Hussars are deployed as a complete regiment of 228 figures.
Using the above, the Hussars maintain their base morale of Elite. The Uhlans have a base morale of Veteran, so their Btns drop to a morale of Seasoned and 1st Line accordingly.

Another picky of the action at Baumersdorf. French skirmishers are slowly whittling down the formed Austrian troops to their front.

Closer up shot of Meerveldt's Uhlans (I think its them!).

French troops are now manoeuvring around Baumersdorf to begin the river assault. Time would run out before this gathered pace.

This is more of a shot in the centre. Here, Austrian gunnery was, lets say, lucky all game. They threw for more hits than the rest of us put together and never rolled low when trying to inflict losses. Counter battery was deadly when used and to put things in a nutshell, Davout's division in this sector limped away roughly handled. Even when Alan left and Brian, his opponent, played both sides, when Brian fired with Austrian guns, the lethality continued!

So, apart from Alan, the mug shot shows us regulars from the past.

Next up is a WWII interlude, then back to this campaign with the separate battles of Abensberg and Eckmuhl. A final postscript for guys interested in the rules. The rules have gone to the publisher for printing, Caliver. There is also a Yahoo Group for the rules. Try the link here. The rules are called "In the Grandest Manner".  https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Inthegrandestmanner/info
I'll keep people updated. I've also started on a scenario book for the 1809 campaign. Funnily enough a lot of the work is already complete.
Enjoy.

Game 21 : Baumersdorf

This is a short report from a section of the Wagram game. My self and Pete, a regular, fought the action around Baumersdorf. Pete had played as Austrians defending the area and he wanted to try attacking the Austrian line in this sector. The forces consist of Oudinot's Corps on the French side and Two Divisions of the Austrian II Corps under Hohenzollern. The pictures are in no particular order.
The French started by advancing the Divisions of Tharreau and Claparede side by side against the Austrian line. The Austrians started by surprising the French by advancing against their right flank with light troops and a cavalry regiment of Uhlans.
Now for some piccies. Some have nothing to do with the battle we played, but there is a new camera lens that needs to be tried out!

This gives an idea of the size of the Austrian line infantry division. It is a mixture of German and Hungarian line infantry.

A new lens. This is a telephoto lens that has the affect of opening up the picture. The downside, without extra lighting as I discovered, is that shadowing becomes more pronounced.

Another telephoto shot that shows the whole of the French reserve line along to the French left flank at the top of the picky in the distance.

A close up with the standard lens of Austrian Cuirassiers. I think the detail you get in 10mm is quite brilliant. I'm also practising with manual focus, photography knowledge is now becoming a necessity.

This shows part of the actual action. The initial Austrian attack was in the foreground. After a cavalry clash that was indecisive, the Austrian withdrew to their side of the river. Now you can see a French Division advancing. Things are already slightly problematical for the French as this Division is the reserve Division replacing Claparede who got entangled in a fight near the village that was repulsed.

This is Tharreau's initial assault on part of Baumersdorf. The Austrians would hold, but the Divisional Generals for both sides would become casualties. This left Hohezollern and Oudinot having to step down to act as Divisional commanders.

This is the left hand portion of the previous picky. It shows a lot of retreat markers on Tharreau's troops after a successful counter-attack by Austrian infantry. The Austrians would keep advancing and cause the whole of Tharreau's Division to retire in order to regroup. The fact that all of Tharreau's Division, and Claparede's, except one battalion in each of elite light infantry, were second class line troops, did not help.

 

This is from the other end of the village from the French side and shows LeGrand, the reserve Division, filtering his troops through to the front line.

This is towards the end of the battle. Taken from the Austrian side, the French have taken one part of Baumersdorf. The militia that were deployed there can be seen retreating. The French victory would be short lived. The troops that were successful were part of Tharreau's Division and they would soon be retiring.

This is to the left of the previous picky and shows a general firefight developing. The French light infantry would prove to be a serious problem for the Austrian gunners who would limber and redeploy in order not to suffer excessive casualties.

This is a picky taken at the start of the game on the Austrian left. It shows the Uhlans, a regiment of 192 troopers! Jaegers are deployed to their front, deployed fully in open order.
As an interest, we concluded the game by assessing losses. Tactically the Austrians still held Baumersdorf. Nightfall would come before the French might make progress away from the village in the general firefight, their reserves having quite high morale.
The stats show start numbers, casualties and % losses.
French
Infantry: 3456 : 399 : 11.5%
Cavalry: 144 : 45 : 31.3%
Gunners: 128 : 32 : 25.0%
Guns: 32 : 2 : 6.3%

Austrian
Infantry: 2196 : 287 : 13.1%
Cavalry: 192 : 62 : 32.3%
Gunners: 88 : 21 : 23.9%
Guns: 22 : 0 : 0%

We weren't aware of how very similar the % losses were and its something that I might try to do for the games as a standard report.
That's it for now, I'm now laying out the battlefield from Baumersdorf to the Austrian far left so that I can fight Davout's action around Markgrafneusiedl.

Game 20 : Wagram

 

This is the largest Napoleonic game to date, the battle of Wagram. Certainly in size, it ranks in the top three of largest of all Napoleonic battles. This battle was fought with a constriction of the front line, otherwise the table would have been too small. The battlefield extended from Baumersdorf on the Austrian left flank to some way past Anderklaa on the Austrian right flank.

The set up was fairly historical. The French were deployed historically with the same objectives as in the actual battle. This included the retaking of Anderklaa, previously vacated by Bernadotte against orders. Massena was given the task to retake it. The French would win by holding the battlefield and punching through the Austrian centre over the river Russbach stream.

Forgive me if I assume that you have a good idea of the actual battle. The Austrians were deployed historically with one major exception in that the reserve, although starting behind I Corps, could be ordered as the Archduke saw fit. Most of these pictures come from our second game as we managed to play it twice. As to the outcomes, wait until the end.



 

 

This shows a Division of I Corps in the background advancing on Anderklaa, in the foreground, which has been re-occupied by St Cyr from Massena's Corps. Village fighting is protracted and the fight for Anderklaa would see Divisions from both sides severely mauled and depleted before a result was obtained.

This is a picture of the French reserve, deployed near Rassdorf, their main line of communication. Rassforf is the strategic target of the Austrian flank attack by III Corps under Kollowrat. The reserve you can see consists of the following : 6 regiments of Cuirassiers in 2 Divisions, 3 regiments of Guard Cavalry, 6 batteries of Guard Artillery, 2 batteries of Line horse Artillery and 12 battalions of Guard Infantry.

This is taken from the eastern end of the battlefield. Baumersdorf is immediately to the right off camera. In the far distance you can see the Austrian columns advancing on the French flank with the 2 smaller divisions of Massena's Corps, plus Lasalle, facing them off.

Same shot but with the camera moved northwards to show the front lines. Baumersdorf is in the foreground, Anderklaa is way down the table and the Russbach is to the right of the picture. This was at set up and the Austrian formations would thin out as they deployed to occupy and contest the front line.

This is from the rear of Baumersdorf looking south. The Austrians would defend the village on both banks of the Russbach and French columns can be seen in the background preparing to attack.

This shows a division from I Corps bearing down on Anderklaa and immediately behind them are 2 reserve divisions of Grenadiers.

Playing with the camera, the next major investment. The picture shows a General with his various ratings used throughout the rules.

This is later in the game. The Austrians still hold the main line and the French are now sending all the reserve cavalry along with the Italian division of Lecchi from MacDonald's Corps to reinforce the left flank which has been shattered at this point.

At the same time, French Guard foot artillery has been released to  pound the Austrian mail line which now pulls back to the far side of the hill to try and get some relief from the fire.

Anderklaa has eventually fallen to the Austrian I Corps, which although looks like it is preparing to advance, would actually halt to rest and lick its not insignificant wounds.

This is general action along the whole front line.

The French Young Guard have been committed to the centre as all previous French assaults have failed to punch a hole in the Austrian centre.

At the same time on the French left, the Austrian flank attack has been reinforced by a 2 reserve Cavalry divisions and a reserve Grenadier division. At bottom left can be seen French Cuirassiers form the French reserve cavalry. The clash is imminent!

This is just south of Wagram where having cleared Anderklaa, the Austrians are now beginning to role up the French centre with the Russbach stream to their left.

This is a continuation of the tactical situation going south. The reserve cavalry from both sides would clash, most importantly the Austrians were set up to give effective support fire. The result would be the throwing back of both French Cuirassier divisions as they could never get their weight of numbers to deploy.

Just before the charge, Austrian Cuirassiers attacking French Cuirassiers at the bottom of the shot.

Not all the Austrian infantry in Kollowrat's corps were as confident. Prudence was the order of the day

More general action, but you can now see how the French centre is being shortened by the advancing Austrians. Not long after this, the French attack would be called off before large elements of the French army became trapped.

The French did manage to take Baumersdorf late in the day. The Austrians eventually ran out of men to throw into the fray. The French would still try to advance across the stream around Baumersdorf until the battle was called off.

 

 

As usual, the gallery picture of the reprobates that played. There is another, Paul, who played earlier in the week, but he had to leave early. More next year. The rules will also be published, hopefully by Easter. Victory was assigned to the Austrians in that they forced the French to halt their assault and lick their wounds until another day. So, until then!

 

Game 19 : Austerlitz, the Southern Front

Having tested Aspern Essling to death, this game was to be new challenge in a variety of ways. This game would see 12 gamers, the maximum that I would want to do for the table size. This game would also see the "Command & Control" rules used for the first time. All rules were now in play.
Austerlitz is really too big a battle to do, even with 24' (8 metres) width if you want a decent troop density. I had already split the battle into 2 fronts when playing in 28mm, north and south and I picked the southern front for this game.
A problem with Austerlitz is that it does work better if neither side is really aware of the historical outcome, from deployment to events that occurred. To try and emulate this, I decided to be French and so fixed the French deployment to a largely historical one. For the allies, I found an amenable volunteer in Steve Miles to be the Commander in Chief and sent him a map, OB and a strategic background to the campaign so far and the present situation. I also gave a false date to hide the battle. I asked Steve to come up with a deployment and orders that were timed.
Amazingly enough, the allied plan virtually mirrored the historical plan with virtually all the allied columns in the historical positions.
Now it was to the game. Before showing lots of piccies, I will share some points that make these rules fundamentally different to existing rules and how this influences gaming.

The changes all really relate to 2 major changes, figure scale and the treatment of cavalry. Because units are larger in game turns, it takes a lot longer to degrade units. Simply put, 3 times longer. As a result, units that engage in melee early on tend to get a result that maintains the status quo because the units are still relatively fresh. Attacks have to be prepared and the enemy weakened or unformed. This is where artillery is also now different. A 12pdr battery blazing away at long range against an infantry unit will spend most of his time killing some men but unlikely to seriously damage any unit in the short term. Artillery is now most effective as a support weapon. You get the artillery into a position where it can attempt to support the attacks.

Cavalry now need space, and crucially, a proper reason to go charging all the over the place with no real purpose. Otherwise they will get degraded quite easily.

The order system has now completed the misery for the player who simply wants to go where he wants, when he wants. I grade Generals according to my interpretation of their historical ability or specific behaviour in a given battle.

Now, without further ado!

The allied plan was an extended left hook staring from the far left. The centre would advance when the 2 villages nearest were taken, Telnitz and Sokolnitz. The allies now new the game but things were in motion. The Russian right was to take the village to their front, seize the stream crossings and then hold. The village to their front was Puntowitz.

It was the French who were hampered initially by "command and control" as there was only 1 French General, St Hilaire, deployed thinly from Telnitz to Sokolnitz. This meant that the village of Telnitz fell fairly quickly and the defence in this area had to be undertaken from the far side of the Goldbach stream.

This was an immediate allied assault, led by Russian Grenadiers, on Sokolnitz. This would be the first of four major assaults, the French holding them all off (with some timely luck in places).

This is the allied advance between the Pheasantry (off camera to the right) and Puntowitz (off camera to the left) where the Austrian contingent was attempting to force the crossing of the Goldbach.

This is the allied highpoint on their right flank as they attack Puntowitz from 2 sides. The French would hold after the infantry combats because both sides were still relatively fresh.

This is a view that shows the assault on Sokolnitz in the foreground, allied columns advancing in the centre following their timed orders and the allies on their right, struggling to neutralise Puntowitz. I should have added earlier that the battle started with the area swathed in dense fog and formations were not allowed to even attempt to change orders (either side) until someone in the formation saw visible enemy troops. This worked well. The "fog" was controlled by a predetermined time when it would start lifting (known only to me) albeit the players were given indications based on how the fog had behaved on the previous few days.

This shows Russian troops, preceded by Jaegers, advancing on the Pheasantry. The feature was held by 2 Elite light infantry battalions, the Tirailleurs du Corses & du Po, who would hold onto this feature all day

A view of the whole battlefield, not long before the French hammer blow would fall on the allied right flank, roughly where Gordon (big oik at the end of the table) is standing.

The French, with Puntowitz stable, now start to attack with Vandamme, to the right of Puntowitz and up the Pratzen.

This shows the French attacking between Puntowitz and Pratzen village. The Russian guard can now be seen deployed, at the top of the picture, in an attempt to stop this flank attack.

This is a picky of the final major assault on Sokolnitz, from 2 sides. This assault was also checked. The battalion actually in the village, would end the day still in place (mainly because I couldn't get it out!).

This is the standard gallery picky of the players. We had quite a few newbies this time. From the left, is Neil, of Reinforcements by Post fame. It is not without his considerable help and understanding that this project has come on so far and relatively quickly.  Next from the left is Keith, picking his brains on building regs has been quite fruitful. Then we come to the guys on the right who all normally play together at home (gaming that is). Far right is Brian, just retired from teaching. Next is Iain, both famous and infamous from Boleyn's fame (ask no questions) who appears from his expression to be reminiscing about Boleyn's? Then comes Paul, usually seen propping up Iain at Boleyn's.

I included this one as it now includes Steve (in the loo apparently for the previous piccy) and also Iain who now seems to be back with us..?!?!?!

A last picky of the northern end showing the French assault up the Pratzen with the Russian Guard to the left being slowly but inexorably being pushed back and at the far end the remaining allied columns being checked.

All in all a good game, it had a very historic feel with the outcome mirroring the historical battle. This game will get some other outings and the game in December is now in planning, but what to do as it largely depends on the arrival of painted cavalry units. We will see no doubt!