Hildesheim Campaign – Day One

 

19 August 1813 – Northern Germany Day 1

The campaign opens with a Prussian surprise attack on Hildesheim district

The Prussians are deployed to the east of the Goslar-Hildesheim border
They are out of sight of the French, but are concentrated ready to attack
1st Prussian army – observe Seesen
2nd Prussian army – observe Holle
3rd Prussian army – attack Harsum

The French are deployed to the west of the Goslar-Hildesheim border
One corps from each army is deployed on the border
The remainder are in reserve for ease of resupply
1st French army – defend Holle
2nd French army – defend Harsum
3rd French army – defend Seesen

Battle of Harsum – End of Move 2

The winner must occupy at least two of the three game objectives

Village on the left
Woods in the centre
Hill on the right

The Prussians start the game with a considerable advantage
All three corps enter the table at the start of move one

One French corps occupies the woods in the centre at the start of the game
The other two corps will not arrive until the start of move 2

On the left the Prussians reach the village first, however it is occupied by one brigade
They send two brigades to attack the village, the rest deploy to slow the Prussian advance
The French occupy the village on move 10, but lose it on move 12

At nightfall neither side hold this objective

In the centre the Prussian gunners are routed by the French gunners
Without artillery support the Prussians are unable to attack the woods
At nightfall the French hold this objective

Only infantry can fight on the hill on the right
Both CinC lead three infantry brigades to take the hill
After a prolonged melee all six brigades are routed
However the Prussians rally first and take the hill
At nightfall the Prussians hold this objective

Neither side has taken two of the three objectives
But there are three Prussian brigades in rout and only one French brigade
The French are declared the winner

Comments

Very interesting and enjoyable first game of the new campaign
The Prussians should have won, they had the advantage of surprise
This translated to all three corps arriving on the table at the start of move 1

The French had one brigade on the table at the start of move 1
But the other two would not arrive until the start of move 2

As always luck played an important part in the game
Artillery fire on gunners is usually ineffective
It takes a roll of 6, with a six sided dice, to hit gunners
Yet in the centre the Prussian gunners were hit three times
This is a compulsory rout, and they were out of the game
Without artillery the Prussian corps could not attack the centre objective

The Prussians took the village on the left towards the end of the game
However the French had their best skirmish brigade to counter attack
They also redeployed their artillery to fire on the garrison at short range
In the last two moves they caused three casualties (30%) to the garrison
The Prussians routed and abandoned the village
It was too late for the French to occupy the village
And the Prussians had an elite brigade ready to counter if they did

The most interesting part of the game was the infantry battle for the hill on the right
In my current rules only infantry can fight on hills, cavalry and artillery can move but not fight
Both CinC took command of three brigades of infantry each and marched onto the hill
Only two brigades on each side could deploy to skirmish or melee.
Over a period of three moves all six brigades were routed
The Prussians went first, but also rallied first, and were able to return and occupy the hill

Not a good result from the campaign point of view
The attacking side have lost the first battle, and will have to retreat