on 14th October 2006 we ran the 200th Anniversary Napoleonic battle of Auerstedt
Bluebear Jeff was the French Commander, representing Davout and Mike Pearce and David Dinney took on the combined Prussian commands of the Duke of Brunswick. Jeff and Mike game with us in spirit only now.
a white curtain was hung across the table literally 'fog of war' to allow the players to deploy with zero information about the other side This was the French
this curtain would eventually be cut up into the base coverings for the snow filled Eylau game in 2007 This was the Prussian
the whole tabletop at deployment
Then orders were written and game commenced.
startup of the game, in this case the clock was being used to track actual time (on the left) since the clock in the room was non-functional the room behind is the Halbe Hall, which has gone through changes since this game was staged twenty years ago!
the cards were a big hit as I recall
there are few notes I could find about the battle actions though essentially the French picked their hilltop and defended it rigourously
the early games featured this grass paper mat and the other terrain 'put on top' while classic in appearance I was decided to change this
my sky cloth designs were still in the early stages
we even had a young lady doing some of her own painting (one of David's daughters) while the rest of us staged this battle
speaking of staging, we had many photos to assist players in understanding their army organizations
the busy battlefield
and busy painter
some flash photos worked
others needed a steady hand I got a little tripod for future games
certainly the visual spectacle was good
an occasional flash photo was okay - I really stopped doing too many flash photos as the lighting is just off
framing the spectacle was part of the challenge
truly a massive effort
this was one of the better flash photos
near the battle's end you can clearly see the old style wooden sabot's that would be replaced in the coming year also the last battle staged with my homemade 'geo hex' hills on the top of the terrain surface that grass paper would be cut up to make the first version of my metal sheet steel covers, for the magnetic base stands
the final clock time position, some seven hours after start
probably the best photo from the game that day
My tabletop narratives have become more polished and include much more detail than these early ones, though it was nice to look back and see that some of my 20+ year veteran minis are still in action to this day.
Hmm ... maybe time to put on a Napoleonic game soon?
These troops have since left my service, by becoming mercenaries and raising the cash I needed at the time.
these Prince August castings French Chasseurs served in many battles, likely also the Eylau one, and have since been sold off to raise needed funds
there was a period of time where I had a set of troops on consignment at ABC Bookstore in Courtenay at one point a grandfather bought a bunch of the British ones then in 2011, Norman left a note for me and I helped finish off the boy's collection that Christmas, doing my Santa duty.
Using Napoleon's Battles rules (with a turn/time modification - each 'turn' would equal one (1) hour).
The Nanaimo Historical Miniatures group, with helpers from Victoria, Campbell River, the Vancouver region of the lower mainland in British Columbia played out the first day of LEIPZIG battle from the Napoleonic era.
photo by Alexander
For those following this blog some of this is going to be review, the preparations for this game began last year (indeed the idea is at least three years old), with terrain works being done by Cod Sticker, with the main map elements being completed in February.
I had begun my supports works in March, as we had moved and it took some time to have all the boxes sorted...
My biggest contributions turned out to be the control board, a few buildings, a re-purpose of the metal markers - made for ACW, and these last minute add-on casualty counters and disorder/rout markers.
photo by Brian
photo by Alexander
photo by Brian (featuring the casualty marker in action) a 'frog' arrived during the game in the River
The terrain by Cod was simply amazing, and his efforts really pay off with the many views of the swamps on the west side of Leipzig.
photo by Gerald showing just Leipzig and the amazing terrain map by Cod
photo by Gerald again detail view of the swampy area
photo by Alexander now with the trees and most of the French forces on the map
photo by Alexander the Cod Sticker
Okay so enough with the set up photos, here's a time lapse getting into a bit of the troop deployment, which was just started as I arrived and before I could get the time lapse camera set up.
That was Friday, next morning was going to bring the battle game itself, the big one: LEIPZIG
we took a moment to toast the day the fallen and good fun with good fellows
the last-minute deployment completion by one of the Allied Command Team
safety briefing
situation briefing Malcolm was Napoleon in this game
a briefing about the clock and scoreboard then GAME ON!
in the south a massive artillery exchange began
to the west, in the south, a column of Austrians had begun to arrive ...
across the center, looking south, the Imperial Guard Young Guard formations had been dispatched south though they would take two hours to arrive
similar view as the Imperial Guard Cavalry has prepared to depart to the North West of the field
meanwhile in the far north MacDonald had arrived and begun moving west the French were going to assault Blucher
meanwhile on the north slope of Galenburg Hill French forces had now massed up in preparation to face soon to arrive Austrians
Liebertwolkwitz was now aflame
fun thing I learned about the name Liebertwolkwitz
there was also some fun made of the fires ... (remember everyone nothing was really burned) (all the pieces went back to the owners)
as was the small village in the Polish sector, near the river
the Kolmburg Hill was about to flood with Austrian reinforcements
players could catch up on the written history while awaiting action
the south east sector was the most active today
the western sector was about to get more excitement than they would like ...
the Austrian forces arriving on Kolmberg Hill
in the south west, the Young Guard start to arrive
Kolmberg Hill now taken by Austrians in the east
MacDonald and the Guard Cavalry press on to the North West sector
in the far west, now more Austrians were arriving - blocking the French easy escape ...
this moment drew in many cameras
the entrenchments model was now deployed (earlier in the day - I missed the moment)
Then came lunch break
at this moment, only the Old Guard remained in the center of the field
the artillery barrage continued in the south
another village on fire
Liebertwolkwitz continued to burn
though pushed back, French still hold Galenburg Hill
scoreboard as of 13h00 (game time)
With some players leaving, due to other commitments, we decided to present a couple of awards (exactly what they looked like)
The game then resumed
MacDonald was almost to the location in the north
across the south a stalemate had happened
in the North, Blucher had started to arrive finding many more French than he expected!
massed French columns press north and west on the roads
while in the West, near Lindenau, Austrian Jaeger battalions press over the river and into the swampy ground ...
all while the French Imperial Guard Cavalry pressed on north west to bolster MacDonald facing Blucher
MacDonald's columns marching
in the south, more exchanges had worn down French units, still no major losses on either side also no key terrain changed hands ...
Blucher had arrived! (right edge of board)
Bonaparte was also nearby, in direct conference with MacDonald
casualties mount in the Jaegers crossing into swampy ground
across the north, the lines were now engaged
Imperial Guard remained stationary in the central region of the field as Bonaparte had gone to the north
It was at about this point we broke for the first day of game, returning Sunday morning to finish the titanic struggle of day one Leipzig.
panorama, north east corner
panorama, north west corner
panorama, south west corner
panorama, south east corner
looking south, Donnewitz to the right (with French Garrison), Imperial Guard to the left south line of contact across the top of the image
Galenburg Hill and Liebertwolkwitz burning
view from the east across the north wing
the south east corner, Kolmberg Hill to the left Galenburg Hill to the top right
Lindenau starts to face more Austrians at closer range ...
North Wing forms two French Lines (though more Prussians are expected ...)
tables in the north are merged together to better show troop relationship for artillery fire The Imperial Guard Cavalry are in the foreground
south wing, Galenburg Hill to the top center Kolmberg Hill to the left of image
whole field view, from North (bottom) to South (top) Blucher is busy in the foreground Austrians on the right side of the river Allied high command to the far south and east of the field (top of image from left to right)
COMMAND DECISION
Napoleon Bonaparte, seeing that the situation in the south
was just holding on to the point value locations and that another salvo or two of artillery, combined with a good cavalry charge at the end of the day, could do a lot of damage
to the forces under Murat, and that the north wing would take some
time to prepare for an attack the next day, decided to use the
"initiative" marker that was under his control, and shorten the day by one full turn, which ended the
day of battle at 3:30 pm 15h00
the initiative card would be in the hands of Allied High Command for the opening of action on the 17th October
Thus began the documentation of all forces and map mosaic construction for the accurate placement of forces for a 17th October game day (when or if this will happen is yet to be determined)
good simple overview of north positions (I can be seen documenting the map at this point)
Mockern under stress in the North
In no particular order I would like to thank Alexander, Brian, Nate, Rick and Gerald for their permission to use the photos they took of various points of action during the three days of work to put on this great event!
To close out here are a few other game player photos from over the three days.
how the center of the board was reached at times ...
we then wrapped up with a final crew photo at the end of Sunday action
Cleanup then commenced, I will leave the time-lapse to cover that.
the storage system of Cod Sticker was needing a bit more detail:
Cod has used this system on the road before
while assisting I managed a cut (tossed keys) they say that no project is great unless you bleed for it ...
bleeding for a cause
there was so much more terrain that a trailer was needed for transport
terrain stored outside awaiting movement into trailer
All in all an amazing three days, worthy of the tale and certainly the largest single action that our humble little group here on Vancouver Island has ever put together!
Now that the map is made and most of the minis exist, we have the details for October 17th (our version), will there be a repeat?
In a uniform from the age of 13 to 30, learned much of 'military life' and after a decade of travel have settled down to start a family. Started with boardgames and RPG's in the 1970's and added tabletop miniatures in the 1990's. Now with a family of three boys, seeking to turn this sometime hobby into more of a lifestyle.
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