20 September 1813 - Battle of Lappersdorf

Campaign Map

7th Bavarian army, commanded by Marshal Massena, attack Lappersdorf
1st Austrian army, commanded by General Schwartzenberg, Lappersdorf

The Bavarians have 12 infantry brigades, 3 cavalry brigades and 3 corps artillery
The Austrians have 12 infantry brigades, 3 cavalry brigades and 3 corps artillery

Table at start of battle

7th Bavarian army are furthest from the camera
19 corps on the right, 20 corps in the centre, 21 corps on the left

1st Austrian army are in the centre between the town and the Bavarians
1 corps on the left, 2 corps in the centre, 3 corps on the right

There are three game objectives
Farm on the right, small woods in the centre, large woods on the left

The army who holds at least two of these at the end of 12 moves will win the game.

Table at end of battle

Summary
On the left 3rd Austrian corps hold the woods and have done so throughout the battle.
21st Bavarian corps lost their artillery to counter battery fire
Despite this they pressed home their infantry attack, but failed to take the woods
Without artillery support they were forced to withdraw out of artillery fire.

Both Massena and Schwartzenberg created a cavalry reserve in the centre left
For most of the battle they observed each other, but did not engage
Towards the end of the battle the French cavalry advanced and charged
Both sides lost one brigade in rout, leaving the reserve brigade to decide the melee
The Austrians lost and routed, however the Bavarians failed their morale test and also routed

In the centre the Austrian infantry were forced to retreat from the woods
However their artillery prevented the Bavarian infantry from taking possession
It was only after the cavalry melee that the Austrian gunners were forced to retreat
The Bavarian infantry then took and held the woods

On the right three Bavarian brigades attacked and captured the farm
Austrian grenadiers counter attacked, but were outnumbered and forced to withdraw

At nightfall the Bavarians held two of the three objectives and won the battle.

Ratisbon Campaign Day 5

 

20 September 1813 – Southern Germany – Day 5

The French attack Lappersdorf
7th French army – attack Lappersdorf
8th French army – regroup Nittendorf
9th French army – occupy Kofering

The Austrian defend Ratisbon
1st Austrian army – observe on border
2nd Austrian army – regroup at Ratisbon
3rd Austrian army – retreat east of Danube

Situation   
In the north 1st Austrian army have orders to defend Lappersdorf.
7th Bavarian army has orders to attack Lappersdorf

In the centre 2nd Austrian army is regrouping at Ratisbon.
8th Bavarian army is regrouping at Nittendorf.

In the south 3rd Austrian army has left the campaign and retreated east
9th Bavarian army has occupied Koffering.

The Bavarians have secured the southern flank and occupy Kofering
3rd Austrian army has retreated east of the river Danube.

Ratisbon Campaign - Battle of Kofering

Campaign Map

9th Bavarian army, commanded by Marshal Ney, attack Kofering
3rd Austrian army, commanded by General Merveldt, defend Kofering

Losing the first battle at Abbach disrupted Ney’s campaign plans
By winning at Nittendorf he regained the initiative and is back on track
A victory at Kofering will give him command of the border towns
It will also force Merveldt to retreat to a new defensive line at Ratisbon

The Bavarians have 12 infantry brigades, 3 cavalry brigades and 3 corps artillery
The Austrians have 12 infantry brigades, 3 cavalry brigades and 3 corps artillery

Table at start of battle

Both armies on the table at the start of the game
Austrians nearest to the camera, Bavarians far end of table

There are three objectives and the Austrians are deployed on all three
Farm on the left, small woods in the centre and hill on the right
The army which occupies at least two at the end of 12 moves will win the battle
The river can only be crossed using one of the three bridges

Bavarian CinC has taken command of half of 25th corps between the hill and the farm
Austrian CinC has taken command of half of 8th corps between the woods and the hill

Table at end of battle

On the left 27th Bavarian corps have occupied the farm
9th Austrian corps have held the farm throughout the battle and suffered few casualties
They have been forced to withdraw because the rest of the Austrian army is in retreat

In the centre 26th Bavarian corps have occupied the woods
8th Austrian corps were forced to withdraw when they lost their artillery
They have suffered light casualties and redeployed in front of the town

On the right Ney led the infantry attack on the hill resulting in a convincing victory
All three Austrian infantry brigades were routed with casualties of 20-30%
The Austrians continued to hold the area to the right of the ridge
However they also retreated in line with the infantry.

Summary
The attacker must expose his artillery if he is to gain an advantage over the defender.
The guns deploy at long range of the enemy infantry and cavalry.
Before they can open fire they receive enemy artillery fire
They must achieve a roll of six using 1D6 to hit enemy gunners
This is considered an acceptable risk, and usually results in the defenders retreating out of range
The attacking artillery then manhandle forward to force another retreat.

The usual answer to this is cavalry, which has the same charge range as long range artillery
The cavalry advance half a move and the gunners roll 1D6 to determine what they will do

1 or 2 - gunners rout with 10% casualties
3 or 4 - gunners must stay with guns and fire at close range
5 or 6 - gunners can fire at close range, or seek shelter within 4”

If the gunners evade the cavalry can complete their charge or half disordered.
If there are cavalry supporting the artillery, they are at a severe disadvantage

The attacking player has a maximum of four moves to soften up the enemy with artillery
He must then send his infantry forward to avoid running out of time.

There are 12 moves in the game and the distance to the objectives is about 4 infantry moves
Two moves are used to advance into artillery range and deploy
Four moves of artillery fire leaves four moves to reach the objective
There is then only two moves to win the infantry combat and capture the objectives

If the artillery fire fails to cause enemy casualties it is much more likely the attack will fail.

Ratisbon Campaign Day 4

 

19 September 1813 – Southern Germany – Day 4

The French attack Koffering
7th French army – advance to Prettendorf
8th French army – occupy Nittendorf
9th French army – attack Kofering

The Austrian defend border
1st Austrian army – observe on border
2nd Austrian army – defend Nittendorf
3rd Austrian army – retreat to Kofering

Situation
In the north 1st Austrian army has retreated to Lappersdorf.
7th Bavarian army has occupied Prettendorf.

In the centre 2nd Austrian army has retreated to Ratisbon.
8th Bavarian army has occupied Nittendorf

In the south 3rd Austrian army has orders to hold Kofering.
9th Bavarian army has orders to attack Koffering.

The thrust of the Bavarian campaign has been restored.
They have occupied the three border towns of Prettendorf, Nittendorf and Bad Abbach.

The Austrians have been forced to retreat to Lappersdorf, Ratisbon and Kofering.
They must hold Ratisbon in order to win the campaign

Kofering is the first of the three battles which will decide the winner of the campaign.

Ratisbon Campaign - Battle of Nittendorf

 

 

 

Campaign Map

8th Bavarian army, commanded by Marshal Mortier, attack Nittendorf
2nd Austrian army, commanded by General Klenau, defend Nittendorf

The Bavarians lost the first battle of the campaign and retreated east
The Austrians lost the second battle of the campaign and retreated west
The winner of this battle will determine the direction of the remainer of the campaign.

The Bavarians have 12 infantry brigades, 3 cavalry brigades and 3 corps artillery
The Austrians have 12 infantry brigades, 3 cavalry brigades and 3 corps artillery

Table at start of battle

Both armies on the table at the start of the game
Austrians nearest to the camera, Bavarians far end of table


There are three objectives and the Austrians are deployed on all three
Large woods on the left, small woods in the centre, bridge on the right
The army which occupies at least two at the end of 12 moves will win the battle
The river can only be crossed using one of the three bridges

Bavarian CinC has taken command of cavalry and infantry from 22 and 23 corps
Austrian CinC has taken command of artillery and infantry from 4 and 5 corps

Table at end of battle

On the left 24th Bavarian corps have taken two of the four wood sections.
6th Austrian corps have three corps have withdrawn from the woods
However they have three infantry brigades ready to defend the two southern sections
One infantry brigade, the cavalry and artillery are all in rout
Neither side has taken all four wood sections so the result is a draw

In the centre 23rd Bavarian corps have taken the woods
5th Austrian corps have abandoned the woods and withdrawn to Nittendorf
The Bavarians hold the woods and secured the objective

On the right 22nd Bavarian corps have secured both ends of the bridge
Marshal Mortier commands half of the corps on the left bank
Wrede commands the other half on the right bank
4th Austrian corps have withdrawn to Nittendorf
The Bavarians hold the bridge and secured the objective

As the Bavarians hold two of the objectives they have won the battle.

The Bavarians have lost 1 infantry and 2 cavalry casualties (600 men)
The Austrians have lost 10 infantry, 3 cavalry and 2 artillery casualties (4500 men)
There are five Austrian brigades in rout and only one Bavarian brigade

Summary
This was a disappointing game for the Austrian commander (Jan)
They had some early wins, but had poor dice throughout the game
By the end of move 10 it was clear that the Bavarians had won.

Battles with rivers are always a challenge, for both attacker and defenfer
The defender has to deploy his army first and must decide how to hold the river
He must hold both ends of the bridge, and usually deploys two infantry brigades on each side
The problem is where to put the cavalry and the artillery
Normally the army commander takes command of one side of the river

The attacker then has the option of whether to match the enemy deployment
This is the safe option, and just let the dice decide which side wins
I prefer to use my cavalry against the enemy artillery

Large woods are also becoming a problem, mainly because they take so long to capture
I have always used three or four sections of woods to make a large woods
One infantry brigade can be placed in each section
The attackers deploy to take the two nearest wooded sections
However the defenders can then retreat to the two further sections
The attackers then have to redeploy to attack the remaining two sections
There is never enough time to do so, particularly if artillery support is required
Not sure what the answer is, perhaps reduce large woods to two sections

Ratisbon Campaign Day 3

 

18 September 1813 – Southern Germany – Day 3

The French attack Nittendorf
7th French army – regroup at Dingolfing
8th French army – attack Nittendorf
9th French army – occupy Bad Abbach

The Austrian defend border
1st Austrian army – observe on border
2nd Austrian army – defend Nittendorf
3rd Austrian army – retret to Kofering

Situation

In the north 7th Bavarian army is regrouping at Dingolfing after their defeat at Prettendorf.
1st Austrian army has redeployed along the Landshut/Ratisbon regional border.
They have been ordered to hold there until the battle for Nittendorf has been decided.
If the Austrians win again, the whole army will advance into the Landshut region.
If they lose they will have to retreat to the west.

In the centre 8th Bavarian army is following the invasion plan and attacks Nittendorf.
The town is defended by 2nd Austrian army, who have completed their deployment at the border
They occupy a strong defensive position west of Nittendorf along the border.

In the south 9th Bavarian army occupy Bad Abbach, having won the battle on 17 September.
3rd Austrian army is retreating to Kofering, where they have been ordered to hold.
They have been told to prepare to counter attack should 2nd Austrian army hold Nittendorf.

The battle at Nittendorf will decide whether the Bavarians continue to invade Ratisbon region.
Should they lose the battle the whole army will have to retreat east into Landshut region.
In that case the Austrians will almost certainly pursue them