Ratisbon Campaign Day 7

22 September 1813 – Southern Germany – Day 7

The French occupy Ratisbon
7th French army – occupy Lappersdorf
8th French army – occupy Ratisbon
9th French army – occupy Kofering

The Austrian retreat east of the river Danube
1st Austrian army – abandon campaign, retreat east
2nd Austrian army– abandon campaign, retreat east
3rd Austrian army – abandon campaign, retreat east

Summary

On 16 September Marshal Massena crossed into Ratisbon District with orders to defeat the Austrian army and capture their main depot in the city of Ratisbon.

The Austrians won the first battle at Prettendorf, but were forced to retreat when the French won the next two at Abbach and Rittendorf. The Austrians redeployed in front of Ratisbon, but were defeated at Kofering, Lappersdorf and Ratisbon itself.

The Austrians crossed to the west bank of the river Danube and abandoned the campaign. This left Massena the winner of the campaign

The campaign started on 27 May and ended on 15 July 2026

Comment
So the campaign ends with the Austrian army in full retreat, and the Bavarian army in possession of Ratisbon. At this point is all seemed so predictable, with Massena winning five battles out of six. It is easy to forget that after the first battle it looked like he would be forced to abandon the campaign and retreat himself.

It is also easy to forget that each battle was a hard fought wargame, and that all could easily have gone either way. With our rules on move 10 the outcome is often in the balance, with either side likely to win. Then one player is lucky and either moves first, or rolls a 6. This then has a knock on effect resulting in a seemingly overwhelming victory. It is unfortunate that in this campaign the Bavarian side seems to have an unfair share of that luck. But when Wargaming each battle that was not the way it felt.

Looking back we have had six enjoyable and challenging wargames, which is the whole aim of the campaign. The winner of the campaign is less important than both players having an enjoyable experience playing the games.

21 September 1813 - Battle of Ratisbon

 

Campaign Map

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

Ratisbon is the campaign objective

Table at start of battle

8th Bavarian army are furthest from the camera
22 corps on the right, 23 corps in the centre, 24 corps on the left

2nd Austrian army are in the centre between the city and the Bavarians
6 corps on the left, 5 corps in the centre, 4 corps on the right

There are three game objectives
Farm on the left, woods in the centre and bridge on the right
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 24 Bavarian corps have taken the farm
6 Austrian corps have retreated to the hill to the left of the city

In the centre 23 Bavarian corps have occupied the woods
5 Austrian corps have retreated to Ratisbon

On the right the bridge over the river Danube is still in dispute
22 Bavarian corps have taken the east end of the bridge
4 Austrian corps still hold the west end of the bridge

Having taken two of the three objectives the Bavarians have won the battle

The Austrians have lost 16 infantry, 1 cavalry and 1 artillery casualties (6,600 men)
The Bavarians have lost 7 infantry and 3 cavalry casualties (3,100 men)


6 Austrian and 3 Bavarian brigades are in rout

Ratisbon Campaign Day 6

 

21 September 1813 – Southern Germany – Day 6

The French attack Ratisbon
7th French army – occupy Lappersdorf
8th French army – attack Ratisbon
9th French army – hold Kofering

The Austrian defend Ratisbon
1st Austrian army – abandon campaign, rereat east
2nd Austrian army – defend Ratisbon
3rd Austrian army – regrjoup east of Danube

Situation
In the north 7th Bavarian army have occupied Lappersdorf
1st Austrian army have withdrawn from the campaign

In the centre 8th Bavarian army have orders to attack Ratisbon
2nd Austrian army have orders to defend the city

In the south 9th Bavarian army have occupied Kofering
3rd Austrian army have withdrawn from the campaign

The Bavarians have already won the campaign.
1st and 3rd Austrian armies have left the campaign and cannot return
However the Austrians still hold Ratisbon, the campaign objective
The capture of Ratisbon is largely symbolic
Even if the Austrians win this final battle they will have to retreat

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.