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
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.
Thistlebarrow,
ReplyDeleteSorry for not commenting on this recent campaign until now, but since I was (briefly) in hospital, life seems to have been very busy.
I am now trying to catch up with how the campaign has progressed, and as far as I can tell, it has been a series of interesting battles but that it could still go either way.
All the best,
Bob
Hi Bob
DeleteThanks for your comment
I have been following your blog, including your medical journey. Good to note that you have had some good news for a change. Its a long journey and easy to get depressed, but fortunately you seem to be keeping optimistic and cheerful.
The Austrians started the campaign on a high note, but have been unlucky since then. Just as well as the campaign is not designed for the attacker losing the first battle and then having to retreat!! The map allows for it to happen, but the campaign objective has effectively been lost at the end of the first battle.
best regards
Paul
A close fought action by the sounds, but another set-back for the Austrians. Are they going to run out of 'real estate', or do you simply move the map to the east?
ReplyDeleteBest wishes, James
Hi James
DeleteThe campaign is designed to provide six battles/wargames in each phase. This normally takes aboout 6-8 weeks in real time, which I feel is long enough to use the two armies involved. The campaign then moves onto the next phase, with two different armies. There are five campaign areas in all: north, central and southern Germany plus north and south Spain.
The map for each phase has six towns either side of the district border, so if the attack goes wrong the next five games could be fought west of the border. It would be possible to extend the map to the east, I have maps of all of Germany and Spain if required. But I would not want to do that because it would extend the phase beyond six battles/wargames.
The aim of the campaign is to enable me to use all of my model armies and scenery. There are five French and five allied armies. The allies are Prussian, Russian, Austrian, English and Spanish.
Changing the campaign phase each 6-8 weeks also allows me to adjust the campaign or wargame rules or to vary the terrain objectives. When I said I had maps of all of Germany and Spain they are only the names of cities and towns. The terrain such as hills, rivers, woods etc is not included, other than major rivers. So if I find that we are using too many woods in one phase I can increase hills or rivers at the expense of woods in the next phase. The important thing is that each wargames table has an objective, which is always the town or city, but also a balance of interesting terrain (from a wargames point of view).
regards
Paul