Goslar Campaign Day 3

3 June 1813 – Northern Germany – Day 3

Prussians attack Lauterberg

In the north both armies regroup and resupply

In the centre French retreat to Goslar, Prussians occupy Hartzburg

In the south Prussians attack Lauterberg

 

The battle of Lauterberg – end of move 12

All three Prussian corps attack

On the right the French counter attack and drive them back into the woods

In the centre 2^nd corps take the left half of the town

The reserve of 2 infantry, 2 artillery and 1 cavalry brigade, fail to take the right half

On the left 3^rd corps break and rout 9^th Polish corps.

At nightfall the French hold half of the town and claim a victory

However they have lost more casualties and will have to retreat during the night

 

Comment

The larger armies result in a more complex wargame

Each of the three corps on either side fight an independent battle

Both commanders create a reserve to tip the balance.

 

1^st Prussian corps lost the battle on the right

2^nd Prussian corps took half of the town in the centre, but were unable to take all of it

3^rd Prussian corps won the battle on the left

The French won because they held half of the town at nightfall

 

Except on their left, the French fought a defensive battle

The Prussian reserve artillery had to support their losing left flank

This prevented them from supporting the main attack on the town

When the Prussian right was stabilised, the artillery were in the wrong place.

 

The French withdrew their artillery on the right of the town

But they were still able to prevent the Prussians attacking the right of the town

This allowed them to hold half of the town until nightfall

 

The Prussians won the battle on the left

The whole Polish corps was broken and routed

But 3^rd corps were too far away to support the attack on the town

 

An interesting and quite complicated battle

It highlighted many of the problems raised by the larger three corps per side armies

 

The attacker has to spread his army across the whole table

He must then create a reserve to reinforce whichever of his three corps have the most success

However it can be quite late in the 12 hour/move day when it becomes which corps that is

And almost certainly some of his army will be in the wrong place at the end of the game

 

This feels like a realistic result.  

Once a corps has been committed to attack, it could not be suddenly redeployed to meet an unexpected setback

This happens a lot in wargames, but almost never in real life

It makes the creation of a reserve essential, as it was again in real life

And if the reserve could also only be committed once

If, as in this case, it was used to restore a setback on the right it could not also be used in the centre

 

After three battles the new larger three corps armies are providing different and interesting tactical problems

This was the intention, so well pleased with the results so far.