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6th Austrian corps have three corps have withdrawn from the woods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5th Austrian corps have abandoned the woods and withdrawn to Nittendorf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4th Austrian corps have withdrawn to Nittendorf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