Another Day – Another Battle

2 March 1813

 In the north 3^rd French corps enter Gifhorn

1^st Prussian corps retreat towards Weyhausen

In the centre Napoleon awaits the outcome of the battle of Wolfenbuttel

Blucher is undecided whether to support 1^st corps or attack

He does neither and waits to see what develops

In the south 13^th Polish corps attack 3^rd Prussian corps at Wolfenbuttel

The battle is hard fought on both sides, and both suffer heavy casualties

At nightfall the Prussians have one brigade left, the French two

Blucher orders them to retreat

End of Battle of Wolfsburg

It is most unusual for one of our wargames to end in a draw.

But this was the exception which proves the rule

Small games, with one corps per side, usually end in a convincing victory

This is because casualties play a larger part when there are no reserves

But again this was the exception

Throughout the game the dice favoured both Jan and I

My artillery hit one of her infantry brigades

Her gunners hit my cavalry

Hand to hand fighting are usually decided quite quickly

And the side which loses first casualties usually loses the melee

But again this was different

The cavalry melee went on for three moves

Jan won the first round, I won the second, we drew the third

Her cavalry had 40% casualties, mine had 30%

Mine were shaken, hers were only disordered

However in our morale rules a brigade with 40% casualties automatically routs

It was the same with the infantry melee

As my infantry approached, one Prussian brigade charged my leading brigade

The resulting melee lasted three rounds, and was still undecided at nightfall

Both brigades had 30% casualties.

Next move one, and quite likely, both would reach 40% and rout

At nightfall the Prussians had just one formed brigade

Their grenadier brigade still held the woods

The French had two formed brigades

Both were average, and one had 10% casualties

It was too close to call, so we both rolled a dice to see who would win.

I rolled 5, Jan rolled 5

She rolled 3, I rolled 3

I rolled 4, she rolled 2

I won

But I felt guilty about it!