After the boys did their WH40K game on New Years Eve morning/afternoon, we set up a Shako II game to follow up the forced river crossing ...
I was requested to do a 'follow on' game to our December 4th game of 'crossroads' a 'capture the bridge' scenario.
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| Austro-Russian Allied command was surprised by a French force that had slipped past their reconnaissance in force divisions ... |
The Austro-Russians had time to create a fortification, then deploy out some of their faster forces beyond the river area into the territory held by French forces; the French had plans to lure them away and by-pass the reconnaissance force and attack the bridgehead.
Tabletop setup video
Into the action we proceeded.
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| table setup as the action started |
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| part of a Russian division across the river |
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| Austrians manning fortifications |
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| French VI Corps artillery |
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| A fresh French Division had been added to the VI Corps |
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| Bavarians (in columns) and Italians |
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| alternate view of the Bavarian and Italian lines |
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| turn 2 start |
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| massed French light and heavy cavalry smashed through 1/3 of the Russian Division |
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| more artillery brought forward |
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| Austrians fire and re-deploy in their fortified positions |
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| the massive Bavarian column takes a pounding |
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| Russian Jaeger formation performs heroic work in many delays to the massed French cavalry ... buying the much needed time to have the Russian and Austrian cavalry arrive ... |
The French knew that they had limited time to make the Allied army retreat, so taking out the formed troops was the immediate task at hand.
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| opening of turn 3 |
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| French command needed to send off some more messengers this battle - once again they were dying before delivering their commands |
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| the Bavarian and Italian attacks were stalling ... |
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| Russians were managing to stay around and delay the attacking French |
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| frustrated at the lack of progress the Cavalry were pressed to keep attacking! |
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| by the end of the turn the French were right up to the Russian last line ... |
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| finally the French were on to the flank of the Russian foot |
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| unfortunately, the Russian Heavy Cavalry had arrived |
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| now the Bavarians would have to start forming squares |
Unknown to the French, their time had mostly run out. They were to discover this in turn 5.
Austrian cavalry, that had been sent out to seek the French and had been by-passed, was now arriving on the field.
They would be devastating.
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| opening of turn 5 note the area where the QRS (white page) is this is where the Austrian cavalry would be arriving... |
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| French 21eme Division pressing forward |
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| Bavarians forced into squares |
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| Russian dragoons did get wiped out |
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| Austrians started leaving the fortifications in order to carry the fight to the Italians |
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| Russian Dragoon Division was ordered to go into the center of the field ... they did not need to go that far in the event as the French were coming to them. |
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| longer view across the last of the Russian Infantry their Jaegers again causing the French horsemen to slow down |
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| the critical bridge access, now well covered by Russian cuirassier and Austrian foot. |
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| Allied command now suddenly knew that they could win this battle ... all it took was to have the Russians stand. |
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| Desperately the Russians tried to hold on ... |
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| it looked like the French would overwhelm them |
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| the cannons now had clear shot on the Russian horse (note the open area behind these guns) the open area behind them filled with Austrian horse in a matter of 10 mins and within 30 the French Division had been demoralized. |
French Division was demoralized, the Italian Division collapsed and retreated. Bavarians were holding on, only just. With the Allied numbers now rising the French command knew that it must break one of the Russian divisions or loose the battle.
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| start of turn 6 |
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| Austrian light cavalry running rampant in the rear and flank of French columns none made squares and were, in the end, all broken |
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| Russian Cuirassier stood and took fire! |
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| Bavarians now were under fire on two sides |
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| more Austrians poured out of the fortifications |
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| the critical bridge would be held |
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| Russian dragoons made ready to stand off against French heavy cavalry |
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| in the end, it was not to happen the French had broken army morale and their retreat was on |
All in all a great end to the new years eve game session.
It did come down to the last two die rolls, which if they had gone in favor of the French would have seen one Russian Division broken utterly and the other needing to make a critical morale roll ... which if it had gone poorly (1/3 chance) then that division also would be broken and flee.
Fantastic to see combined arms used by both sides and an amazing performance by some Russian Jaegers.
The time lapse of the whole battle.
I took a couple of photos of the 40K battle that took place earlier in the day.
Up next, some Piracy using Blood & Plunder, which was played on Sunday Jan 1 2023.
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