Sunday, 16 August 2020

Another Day – Another Battle



2 March 1813

 In the north 3rd French corps enter Gifhorn
1st Prussian corps retreat towards Weyhausen

In the centre Napoleon awaits the outcome of the battle of Wolfenbuttel
Blucher is undecided whether to support 1st corps or attack
He does neither and waits to see what develops

In the south 13th Polish corps attack 3rd 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!

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