Battle of Luckenpaint 1809

The latest game at Reject HQ (AKA the Shed-o-War) saw four of us squaring up in a Napoleonic battle that tested our metal as well as our wits. Postie presented us with the closing stages of the north of the Battle of Eckmühl (also known as "Eggmühl") during the War of the Fifth Coalition of the Austrian Empire and the United Kingdom against Napoleon's French Empire and Bavaria.

The entire battle took place on the 21st April and 22nd April 1809 but we focused just on the action near the town of Luckenpaint on the 21st. Posties version of this action brought together the two sides in a non linear encounter battle which quickly developed into a cross between a complex and cerebral chess game and a blood soaked slugging match.

Order of Battle

Austrians

1st reserve Corps - c/o Gen Luchtenstein     (Me!)

   1st Brigade (Advance Guard - General Kecsey)

      5th/6th Jagers - 2 Regiments

      21st Line (Rohan) - 3 Regiments

      5th Chevaulegers - 1 Regiement

      Horse Artillery - Light Gun

   1st Division - General Von Lunclenau

      2nd Brigade - Gen Reinhard

         2nd Line (Ferdinand) - 3 Regiments

         33rd Line (Graf Sztaray) - 3 Regiments

         Light Gun Battery

      2nd Cavalry Brigade - Gen von Svegenthal

         2nd Curassiers

         3rd Curassiers

      3rd Cavalry Brigade - Gen von Schneller

         1st Curassiers

         6th Curassiers

2nd Reserve Corps c/o Gen Kunmayer     (Richard)

      Grenadier Brigade - Gen d'Aspre

         German Grenadiers - 3 Regiments

         Hungarian Grenadiers - 2 Regiments

         Light Gun Battery

      1st Cavalry Brigade - Gen von Clary

         3rd Dragoons - 1 Regiments

      Reserve Artillery

         Heavy Guns - 3 Batteries

French

3rd Corps c/o Marchal Davout     (Ian)

    4th Division - Gen St Hilare

       1st Brigade - Gen Lorencez

           10th Legar - 3 Regiments (Elite)

           3rd Line - 3 Regiments

           57th Line - 3 Regiments

           Medium Gun Battery

       2nd Brigade - Gen Destabenrath

           72nd Line - 3 Regiments

           105th Line - 3 Regiments

           Medium Gun Battery

   1st Cavalry Division - Gen Nansouty     (Surjit)

       1st Cavalry Brigade - Gen Defrance

           1st Carabiniers

           2nd Carabniers

       2nd Cavalry Brigade - Gen Doumerc

           2nd Curassiers

           9th Curassiers

       3rd Cavalry Brigade - Geb st Germain

           3rd Curassiers

           12th Curassiers

   2nd Cavalry Division - Gen Montbron

       4th Cavalry Brigade - Gen Pafal

           5th Hussars

           7th Hussars

           Horse Artillery Battery

           11th Chasseurs 'a' cheval

       Reserve Artillery

           Heavy Guns - 2 Batteries

The Action

Postie explains the opening deployment to Richard

The French are marching fast towards the Austrian positions. Off table the French 2nd Cavalry Division under Gen Montbron is hastening towards the battlefield. Across the table the Austrian Advance Guard the 1st Brigade is partially in position with the 2nd Brigade marching up the road towards the position. The Second Austrian Reserve Corps under Gen Kunmayer is at the far end of the battlefield with a long march ahead of them. Behind the hills on the right of the picture the Austrian 2nd and 3rd Cavalry (Curassier) Brigades remain hidden.

The French take advantage of their +2 bonus on initiative to move quickly towards the Austrians. Meanwhile the Austrian advance guard quickly take up position to hold up the French.

Richards 2nd Corps starts it long march across the battlefield towards the enemy. 

With the Austrian Advance Guard holding the central hill the 1st Division turn off the road and line up behind the ridge, ready to change formation into line if the French dare to advance.

The French close in quickly on the Austrian positions. The French 1st Cavalry Division turn and also head towards the main ridge, ignoring the clear valley before them and the slowly advancing Austrian 1st Division. The French have decided to focus all their effort on the ridge, effectively keeping a third of the Austrian forces out of the battle.

Meanwhile the French 2nd Cavalry Division under Gen Montbron arrives. 

The Austrian advance guard have taken position in the hill and in the narrow gap across the road. They look terribly outnumbered as French units converge on their position from all sides. 

Surjit continues to concentrate his forces on the gap but things are looking very confusing...so confusing he gets some of his units mixed up! The mistake is quickly rectified but lack of space to move continues to be a problem for the French for the rest of the game. 

The Austrian 2nd and 3rd Cavalry Brigades - 4 regiments of heavy Cuirassiers - moves to threaten the flank of the French Elite French 4th Division which is sweeping in from the top left. Meanwhile the Austrian 2nd Brigade remain beside the main road behind the hills guarding the army's main lines of communication.  

Another shot of the same scene with the Austrian Cavalry on the nearest hill ready to move in on the French flank. On the next hill the Reserve Corp have started to fall back slowly in an attempt to slow the French advance at minimal cost to themselves. The 2nd Brigade are lines up beside the road and in the far distance the 2nd reserve Corp are moving up. By this stage it is clear the French are concentrating on the main hills in an attempt to defeat the Austrians piecemeal before the rest of the army can intervene. 

In response to the unfolding French plan the Austrians (Myself and Richard) are working towards falling back and realigning the battle diagonally across the road (roughly from top right to bottom left in this picture). Our Heavy guns are slowly moving up towards the fight but will only play a significant part in the battle right towards the end. 

The fight for the gap becomes congested as French regiments push back the Austrians and exchange fire. So far the French seem to be suffering the most casualties as my dice rolling proves to be above average for a change. 

A wider shot the same scene showing the mass of French units crowding the gap and seemingly ready to pour across the ridge at any time. 

The Austrian Cavalry sweep down around the flank of the French but a hail of well aimed volley fire brings both Brigades to a juddering halt right under the French guns. 

Only one Cuirassier regiment manages to complete its charge on the French who have time to form square. In the end the Austrians thunder into the square and are only just rebuffed by the French. Both sides take significant casualties but the Austrians are now a spent force on this flank. 

The French have now forced themselves onto the ridge forcing the Austrian advance guard back into the valley by the road. Austrian Jagers continue to skirmish around the fringes of the French picking off troops a little at a time. Most of the French units now have at least one casualty or more. 

As well as the Jagers the Austrians also pick off French casualties with a Horse Artillery unit seen on the hill on the bottom right of this picture. The French have pushed through the gap but at a cost.

Its getting congested around this gap...

Seeing on opportunity the Austrian 5th Chevaulegers charge the disordered French in the gap. 

Some exceptional dice rolling later the Chevaulegers have won their first melee and forced the French to retreat back through the supporting units behind them. With a surge the Chevaulegers follow through and hit another disordered unit sending that fleeing as well. In one turn the 'gap' has been cleared of Frenchies! 

A wide shot shows the slow realignment of the Austrian lines diagonally across the battlefield. The gap is temporarily clear but the Austrians are now falling back on the left flank. 

The game has reached a critical point and the Austrian Advance Guard have now been forced to make a Brigade Check. They fail the check but ironically this is the best result as they get a full move (plus d6 inches) back facing the enemy. In one moment the whole Austrian left flank has swung backwards in alignment with the as yet undamaged 2nd Reserve Corp. A strong and remarkably unbroken line now stretches across the table. Now the Austrian big guns begin to open up and focus on a single French unit occupying the central ridge. The unit is wiped out in a single turn! 

With a strong position, and fresh troops now ready to do battle (and time running short) it is decided to call the game to an end. By mutual agreement we call the game a Draw and all agreed that if we had had time we have effectively positioned ourselves for a second and new battle on the new alignment.

Even taking into account my deplorable handling of the Austrian reserve cavalry I was very happy with the way the Advance Corp handled themselves. Both sides had taken a severe mauling but it definitely felt that the French had had the worse of the battle so far. Despite concentrating their whole army on a narrow front they had not been able to sweep the Austrians away without a tough fight.

To my surprise Postie awarded me a special prize for the spectacularly successful charge of my Chevaulegers against the French in the Gap. 

A couple of Happy Wargamers! 

Analysis
Everyone had a great game and despite the tough fight we all felt that the battle was one of the best we had played for a long time. The French had cleverly decided to concentrate their attack on a small section of the Austrian lines but stubborn resistance by the advance guard had blunted the hammer blow. Even the failed Divisional Morale Check had played into the hands of the Austrians allowing them to fall back in good order to their pre determined second line of defence.

An excellent game enjoyed by all the players on both sides. A pretty good result for all concerned. 

The Battle of Valderas 1808

Few games can be quite so enjoyable and disappointing at the same time as the one the Rejects had over the weekend. Five of us gathered in Posties Shed of War to play out a clash between the French and Spanish armies. Surjit and Richard took command of the French and faced Myself, Ian and Ray commanding the Spanish forces. From the start we didn't have high hopes for our troops (nearly all poor quality and under strength) but we were determined to give the French something to think about.

Ray has already posted a BatRep on his blog so for another perspective on this game check out his account of the day. 

Order of Battle

Unfortunately my photocopies of Posties hand written orders of battle were too faint to read and therefore recreate here. This is all El'Capitano's fault as he insists in writing everything in pencil...who the hell uses a pencil these days?!?! 

The Action

Initial deployment with the French on the left of this picture and the Spanish on the right. The Spanish army looks bigger but its units are smaller and of poorer quality than the French.

The Spanish commander was in the Brothel at the start of the game....probably the only successful maneuver of the day for him!

The Spanish. My Forces are closest and largely behind a hill. In the center Ian our commander held he ground. At the top of the picture are some of Rays troops. His cavalry are further along out of shot.

The French. Surjits two Divisions are closest and face opposite my troops. A Third Division sits  on the road. On the hill and beyond are Richards troops.

Another aerial shot showing the whole battlefield at the start of the game. The Spanish are in the foreground.

The French begin their move and almost immediately Surjit starts mixing up his Divisions. Messy boy!

The Spanish troops commanded by Ray on the right flank start to advance. With our army of generally poor quality we decided to advance on this side and try to dictate the terms of the battle. It almost worked even with most of the Spanish Cavalry refusing to move. 

Surjits troops begin to advance across the field in front of the Spanish. However a significant portion of his troops veer away and head towards the center of the battlefield to support Richard who's troops quickly looks like they are about to be swamped by superior numbers of rapidly advancing Spanish under Ray.

The rejects at play.  From front to back on the left are Postie, Surjit and Richard and on the right Ian and Ray. Here Ian moves a skirmish line into a cornfield as part of the Spanish effort to dominate the field of battle and dictate the terms of engagement. 

My troops move up onto the hill as the Spanish advance. The two units in Blue at the back are Militia.

An out of focus shot of French reinforcements (like they needed them!)...Imperial b***dy Guard!! Two units of Fusilier Grenadiers , two Fusilier Chasseurs and a unit of Gendarmes de Elite.

The French Columns advance towards my fragile division, but Surjit feeds some of his units towards the center to bolster Richards position. I still have an impossible task but its not as dire as it looked at the outset. 

Postie corrects a rather 'creative' piece of maneuvering by one of Surjits columns. 

My men wait on the hill and wonder why they joined this army.

An oblique view across the battlefield showing our lines advancing on Richards command in the distance. 

Two of Surjits columns move forward enough for me to advance and unleash my first-fire on them. I did this under orders from Ian in the hope I'd somehow get a perfect dice roll and cause significant casualties. You can probably guess how things actually went.

Another fuzzy picture showing Ray's advance towards Richards troops in the Center.

Overview showing the curved bow of our front line, hemming in the French. If we could provoke a morale check on the French we may stand a chance, but with the Imperial Guard on the battlefield we have to move fast.

One French unit is sent packing and routes through several other units (Surjits columns moving into the center) disrupting them all.

Just as we see a glimmer of hope one of our units is defeated in hand to hand and forces a Divisional morale check. Upon which old Ray (of Blog Don't Throw a 1 fame) throws double ones! The Division flees the field and our entire center disappears....game over.  

Analysis
I'm afraid we (meaning the Spanish Players) were convinced our glorious leader had it in for us. The Spanish forces in this game were of much poorer quality than the initial French forces we faced. Throw in the Imperial Guard reinforcements they received and this game could only go one way. Having said that I think our decision to dictate the battle was the right one. Rays attack on the right flank drew french units down the table towards the perceived threat. This meant that a) I wasn't facing impossible odds on the left flank, and b) a significant portion of the french army spent the game marching rather than fighting, and c) The french got in a right messy jumble as their maneuvering space was reduced.

So far so good. This made for a very interesting and enjoyable game with the French really having to think hard about how to respond to us rather than the other way around. I can't speak for the French players but I rather suspect that they expected us to fight a defensive battle. It felt good to confound them, even if the game still ended in defeat for us. I don't think we actually thought we stood much chance of winning but to then loose it so abruptly, as we did on a morale check, was very disappointing indeed. 

French vs Austrians Battle

Yesterday I had the pleasure of stomping on some of Napoleons finest. Posties Rejects gathered for a Napoleonic wargame using a set of home grown rules that flowed very well and were easy for a newbie like me to learn. I commanded the left wing of the Austrian army facing off against a mixed French force of veterans.

Our plan was for the more experienced players in the centre and on the right wing to force the pace of the battle while my job was to hold the left flank firm. As it was the plan evolved over the course of several turns with my 2nd Division slowly pushing forward and dominating the high ground. It was a tough fight but a series of advantageous initiative rolls worked against our opponents.

I had an early lucky break with a resounding victory over the Cavalry facing me sending them into an uncontrolled rout that saw them off the table. I can assure you this was nothing to do with tactics or clever playing, it was just lucky dice rolls. Not that I'm complaining because with the enemy cavalry gone - and his reserves at least two turns from entering the fray - I was able to push forward with my Infantry and consolidate my line.

Meanwhile our centre got a little bit muddled but essentially worked its way down to an artillery duel and some desultory infantry charges. The real action took place over on the Austrian right wind with some dramatic cavalry charges and counter charges that saw units rushing to and fro across the table with élan.

Here are a few more pictures of the days action.

The Austrian left wing stakes its claim to the hill then pushed forward throughout the battle.

The Angry Lurker gets a close up picture of the action

The clash of Cuirassiers in the final turn of the game proved indecisive

The end of the battle saw a flurry of activity resulting in a narrow win for the Austrians

Apologies for the lack of detail (units involved etc.) but I was focusing on learning this set of rules as I have never played them before. Next time we play I'll make more detailed notes and try to put together a better battle report. I have to say though that despite the handicap of not knowing the rules these were easy to understand and I soon got to grips with them and was able to focus on tactics rather than technique. All in all a very enjoyable game.