Sunday 18 April 2021

Branau Campaign – Day 1


31 March 1813 – Southern Germany – Day 1

In the north 7th Bavarian army take Bayerbach by a surprise attack

1st Austrian army deploy to counter attack

In the centre 11th Bavarian and 2nd Austrian armies approach Branau

Both halt in order to deploy and fight

In the south 9th French and 3rd Austrian armies fight the battle of Egglesberg.

The result is a draw, neither side will retreat and fighting will continue on 1 April

End of move 12

Battle of Egglesberg

5th Austrian and 17th French corps opened the battle

6th Austrian and 18th French corps would not arrive until the start of move 9

 

At nightfall fighting for the town was undecided

Both 5th and 17th corps had lost one infantry brigade each

Neither 6th nor 18th corps had been committed to the battle

 

The result of the battle was a draw.  

Casualties were even and neither side controlled the town

Both sides had a fresh corps ready to fight at daybreak

Neither side would retreat, so fighting would continue at daybreak


Comments

A draw is very unusual, and a second day battle even more so.

But this was an unusual wargame.

 

The Austrians halt further from the town than the French

The French occupied the southern half of the town

They then send a second brigade to take the northern half

Their artillery deployed within close range of the disputed northern half

This would make it very difficult for the Austrians to occupy the northern half

 

Instead they placed two brigades behind the northern half of the town

They were out of sight of the French artillery, who could not fire on them

 

For the first 11 moves the French approached and then entered the town

Their artillery fired on the Austrian infantry, and routed one brigade

The Austrian artillery could not fire on the southern half of the town

They were out of range of the French infantry

At the end of move 11 the French occupied the southern half of the town

Their infantry were approaching the northern edge of the town

The elite Austrian jager brigade advanced and attacked the French infantry

They won the melee and the French routed

 

At nightfall neither side could claim possession of the town

Both sides had considerable troops available to continue the battle

Both sides had suffered similar casualties

Neither side wanted to retreat and accept defeat

The battle would continue at daybreak

2 comments:

  1. Thistlebarrow,

    The start of your latest campaign must have slipped under my radar, as I’ve only just read your latest blog post.

    You ‘new’ army organisation seems to be working well, and looks likely to provide you with lots of interesting battles in the years to come.

    I look forward to reading more as this campaign begins to unfold.

    All the best,

    Bob

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Bob

    Thanks for your comment, nice to hear from you again

    We are very pleased with the extra options the new order of battle gives us
    It has changed the whole concept of the campaign
    It also makes the smaller wargames much more interesting.

    Hope that you are feeling a little better

    best regards

    Paul

    ReplyDelete

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