Ratisbon Campaign - battle of Abbach

Campaign Map

9th Bavarian army, commanded by Marshal Ney, attack Bad Abbach
3rd Austrian army, commanded by General Mervedt, defend the border

The Bavarians have 12 infantry brigades, 3 cavalry brigades and 3 corps artillery
The Austrians have 12 infantry brigades, 3 cavalry brigades and 3 corps artillery

Table at start of battle

3rd Austrian army is nearest to the camera
8th corps is in the centre holding the inn to the left of the main road
7th corps is to the right of Bad Abbach and 9th corps to the left

9th Bavarian army is at the far end of the table

There are three game objectives, all in the centre of the table
Woods on the left, Inn in the centre and hill on the right
The side which holds at least two at the end of 12 moves will win the game

Table at end of battle

On the left 27th Bavarian corps attack the woods held by 9th Austrian corps.
The woods are divided into four sections, and each can hold one brigade.
The Austrians quickly withdraw to the two southern sections
Their artillery dominate the south west section, and do so throughout the battle
They are supported by infantry and cavalry preventing a Bavarian attack to the left of the woods
The Bavarians advance between the woods and the inn, which is time consuming

Ney takes command of the cavalry and artillery of 25th corps, between them and 26th corps
26th corps attack the inn in the centre, supported by Ney and the reserve

Merveldt takes command of 7th corps cavalry and artillery, to counter Neys reserve
The Bavarians attack and take the inn, and hold it until nightfall

The hill on the right is not suitable for cavalry or artillery, and becomes an infantry battle
Both 25th Bavarian and 7th Austrian corps devote three infantry brigades to the task.
A prolonged skirmish and melee combat results in the rout of the Austrian infantry.

At nightfall the Bavarians hold two of the three objectives and win the battle.

Summary

This was another hard fought battle, with both sides suffering heavy casualties
Jan and I both have a thorough knowledge of the rules and tactics which work well
Neither make any glaring errors anymore, so it is usually down to the dice.
In this game we both had our fair share of good and bad dice, which makes it interesting

The infantry combat on the hill was particularly interesting, with three brigades per side.
Each had one grenadier brigade, one light brigade and one line brigade
The grenadiers are good at melee, but not in the skirmish role
The light have a skirmish advantage, but are poor in melee.
The line are average at both skirmish and melee.

We draw a chip to determine the sequence of movement for each turn.

On broken ground such as a hill, skirmish range and charge range are both 4”
Both players used their skirmishers against the enemy grenadiers or line
However they had to fire first, or would be at a disadvantage when the enemy charged

The Austrians had more luck in moving first, and won defeated all three Bavarian brigades
In doing so they lost their own light and line brigades.

The CinC sent his only infantry, a conscript brigade, to support the attack on the hill
They managed to charge the remaining Austrian grenadier brigade whilst disordered
Thus the Bavarians took the hill using a brigade with poor skirmish, melee and fire ability.

It was a relief that the Bavarians won this battle, a defeat would have forced a general retreat.
They have won one battle, and the Austrians the other, so the third battle will be critical…
If the Bavarians win they are back on course and will advance towards Ratisbon.
If the Austrians win the Bavarians will have to retreat west towards Landshut.

A great campaign so far, that first defeat really threw a spanner in the Bavarian works