Halle Campaign – Day 8

Campaign Map on 9 November 1813

With the loss of his left flank Davout is faced with a serious decision

2^nd and 14^th corps are in retreat and out of supply

It will take at least two days to rally and resupply them

5^th corps have three days’ supply, 6^th corps only two days

If they attack Radegast and lose, he may lose his whole army

Even if they win he may still have to retreat to save 2^nd and 14^th corps

He orders them to attack.

Last move of battle of Radegast

The Russians hold a very strong defensive position

Throughout the morning it looks like they will win the battle

The French keep out of artillery range to deploy

Only when they are ready do both corps advance to attack

The French cuirassiers charge and rout a Russian heavy brigade

The nearby Cossack brigade have to test morale for the rout

They already have 10% casualties, they fail their morale and also rout

General Wittgenstein has taken personal command of the Russian cavalry

With both brigades in rout he is swept away with them

The French cuirassiers fail the test to react to the rout

They have to charge the nearest enemy

This is a Russian artillery brigade which is moving to resposition

They are unable to fight, break and join the rout

The Russians have lost their commander, all of their cavalry and half their guns

Without central command both corps commanders order an immediate retreat

Campaign Notes   

This was probably the most important battle of the campaign.

The Russians had retreated to the northern edge of the map

Any further retreat would result in them losing the campaign

They are not allowed to move off the map and then move on again

Both armies have divided their army in two halves, one either side of the river

The Russians have won on the left, but are too weak to pursue

Both armies are low on supplies, and have considerable casualties

So everything will depend on this final battle.

As often happens, it opens with a cavalry melee

We draw counters to decide corps sequence

The French come up first

Their cuirassier brigade charge a Russian heavy cavalry brigade

Because they charge they get a plus 1 on the melee chart

They roll 2D6 and get 10

The Russians rout with 20% casualties, the French are disordered with none

There is a Cossack brigade within supporting distance

Because of the rout they must test their morale

They roll 3, but minus for poor quality, 10% casualties and a nearby rout

They fail their morale and also rout

The French cuirassier must test their morale to see how they will react

They lose the test, which means they are now out of control

They roll again to see what they will do

They roll 5, which means that they will charge the nearest enemy unit

This happens to be Russian artillery, who are limbered and moving

In that formation they cannot fight, and automatically rout with 20% casualties

The Russian CinC had taken command of both cavalry brigades

Because they were now both in rout, he was swept away in the shambles

The Russian army have lost their CinC, both cavalry brigades and half their artillery

Without any central command each corps commander must decide what to do

Each roll 1D6.   1,2 or 3 they will rout.   4,5 or 6 they will continue to fight.

One rolls 1, the other 3.   Both rout.

It is always annoying when a run of bad dice ruins a perfectly well balanced game

It is particularly so when the outcome of the game will decide the campaign.

However it has always been our policy that we will always accept the dice

I am not sure whether this is a good policy, it can often ruin a perfectly good game

But without the element of luck the game is pointless

And you sometimes have to accept really bad dice with good grace.