Once again I put out the Napoleonic troops on the table at the local library. This time an old hand came out to test his mettle against me on the attack with French, while I held the line with Austrian forces.
We randomized the terrain and laid out the troops, in near record time!
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| Austrian forces on the ridge line |
The woods across the center of the map made for a more limited battlefield, and the Austrians made full use of the cover and strength such a natural defensive feature provided. While the French were going to march out from a series of built up areas, a 4 sector and 2 sector town. Oh, and there was a small hill on the far left flank of the French position, of no consequence for this battle.
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| deployment |
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| Italians |
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| Ney in his HQ with heavy artillery |
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| Germans |
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| Austrians line the ridge |
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| all the way |
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| Austrian horse was on the left |
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| The deployment marker, silver lion |
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| View of Austrian lines along the ridge |
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| Artillery started, though the French guns were soon masked as the foot advanced |
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| Italian columns |
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| Guard, maneuvering so as to march around a town |
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| Germans in columns also |
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| Ney screaming orders |
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| Austrian Guns pound out punishment on French horse |
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| Austrian horse make ready to charge, beyond the Austrian HQ |
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| Horses clash with devastating results on the French |
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| French reach the Austrian advance line ... taking casualties without result |
By turn 5 the situation was not looking good for the French attack.
Two division commanders had 'stalled' having made contact with the Austrian line, they had fallen back and converted to defensive. The French light horse was in 'desperation morale' having failed to rally from the loss of the first of three brigades.
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| the supreme moment of action needed for the French |
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| at last the Austrians were taking casualties |
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| pressure was building on the Austrian line |
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| troops were getting thin in the French lines |
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| The Guard was moving forward |
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| repeated charges were having an effect |
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| There were literally mounds of dead to march over as the French pressed up the hill ... |
Turn 6 was the telling one.
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| at last the Austrian forward defense was beaten |
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| only one force of foot was holding the forward line |
The problem was it had cost more French men to win that position, and while the French light cavalry had recovered their courage ... they were now open to Austrian artillery and horse counter-charge.
Leading to a final thunderclap in turn 7:
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| a series of charges and counter-charges along with the Austrian artillery were to end both the Italian Division and the French light horse |
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| Davout was to see his command shattered by artillery fire |
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| the guard was simply not able to engage before the battle had ended |
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| Austrian command had remained stationary with a close-knit interior line of communication that was not tested all game |
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| The action had been concentrated in the open flank |
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| High ground proved to be all powerful |
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| indeed the Austrians had never really been pressed on the hill top |
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| French artillery was not well placed all battle long |
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| allowing the Austrians to use the woods to screen off anything coming from their left flank |
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| German allies of the French proved to be very adept at staying out of the line of fire ... |
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| the carnage of the hill |
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| Austrian artillery, while not deadly every shot, proved to be effective when needed |
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| combined arms was the trick for making the French pay for every inch of their advance |
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| General Victor was twice ordered into the Austrian lines, and twice was not able to press home |
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| some of the carnage |
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| the ground of the repeated cavalry charges and counter-charges was the most deadly this day. |
This makes the match-up between France and Austria so far 1:1 in the library. One final match ought to be run to determine a final winner.
It was great to have the experienced opponent, who was capable of taking his own decisions and moving the men quickly. We were able to play out the full 7 turns and come to a final conclusion in just over three hours, from about 12:45 to just after 4 pm.
In the meantime, my eldest was busy running an active game of Long Live the King!
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| The Long Live the King players |
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