Halle Campaign – Day 8

Campaign Map on 9 November 1813

With the loss of his left flank Davout is faced with a serious decision

2^nd and 14^th corps are in retreat and out of supply

It will take at least two days to rally and resupply them

5^th corps have three days’ supply, 6^th corps only two days

If they attack Radegast and lose, he may lose his whole army

Even if they win he may still have to retreat to save 2^nd and 14^th corps

He orders them to attack.

Last move of battle of Radegast

The Russians hold a very strong defensive position

Throughout the morning it looks like they will win the battle

The French keep out of artillery range to deploy

Only when they are ready do both corps advance to attack

The French cuirassiers charge and rout a Russian heavy brigade

The nearby Cossack brigade have to test morale for the rout

They already have 10% casualties, they fail their morale and also rout

General Wittgenstein has taken personal command of the Russian cavalry

With both brigades in rout he is swept away with them

The French cuirassiers fail the test to react to the rout

They have to charge the nearest enemy

This is a Russian artillery brigade which is moving to resposition

They are unable to fight, break and join the rout

The Russians have lost their commander, all of their cavalry and half their guns

Without central command both corps commanders order an immediate retreat

Campaign Notes   

This was probably the most important battle of the campaign.

The Russians had retreated to the northern edge of the map

Any further retreat would result in them losing the campaign

They are not allowed to move off the map and then move on again

Both armies have divided their army in two halves, one either side of the river

The Russians have won on the left, but are too weak to pursue

Both armies are low on supplies, and have considerable casualties

So everything will depend on this final battle.

As often happens, it opens with a cavalry melee

We draw counters to decide corps sequence

The French come up first

Their cuirassier brigade charge a Russian heavy cavalry brigade

Because they charge they get a plus 1 on the melee chart

They roll 2D6 and get 10

The Russians rout with 20% casualties, the French are disordered with none

There is a Cossack brigade within supporting distance

Because of the rout they must test their morale

They roll 3, but minus for poor quality, 10% casualties and a nearby rout

They fail their morale and also rout

The French cuirassier must test their morale to see how they will react

They lose the test, which means they are now out of control

They roll again to see what they will do

They roll 5, which means that they will charge the nearest enemy unit

This happens to be Russian artillery, who are limbered and moving

In that formation they cannot fight, and automatically rout with 20% casualties

The Russian CinC had taken command of both cavalry brigades

Because they were now both in rout, he was swept away in the shambles

The Russian army have lost their CinC, both cavalry brigades and half their artillery

Without any central command each corps commander must decide what to do

Each roll 1D6.   1,2 or 3 they will rout.   4,5 or 6 they will continue to fight.

One rolls 1, the other 3.   Both rout.

It is always annoying when a run of bad dice ruins a perfectly well balanced game

It is particularly so when the outcome of the game will decide the campaign.

However it has always been our policy that we will always accept the dice

I am not sure whether this is a good policy, it can often ruin a perfectly good game

But without the element of luck the game is pointless

And you sometimes have to accept really bad dice with good grace.

Halle Campaign – Day 7

Campaign Map on 8 November 1813

1^st and 2^nd Russian corps refuse to retreat after the first battle of Gerbstedt

They redeploy to hold the town.

3^rd and 4^th Russian corps take advantage of a lull to resupply and redeploy

All four Russian corps have adequate supplies

Davout is faced with a difficult decision

Night has robbed him of his deserved victory at Gerbstedt

However both 2^nd and 14^th corps are down to one day’s supplies

He should resupply and rally his routed brigades

However he wants to attack before the Russians can recover from first Gerbstedt

He orders another attack at daybreak

Second battle of Gerbstedt  

The Russians have more infantry, but less artillery

Davout is present to command the battle

He also has his best corps, 2^nd Young Guard, almost at full strength

He creates an artillery reserve by taking artillery from both corps

They deploy at short range of the town

A weak Russian battery opens fire, and they both return fire

This counter battery fire proves particularly ineffective

The Young Guard storm the town, but are held at bay and defeated

This is largely because a full strength elite Russian brigade is the garrison

Although the Russians lose more casualties than the French they still win

They hold the town at the end of the battle, and have more formed infantry

The French have lost 4800 casualties and five brigades in rout

The Russians have lost 7700 casualties and three brigades in rout

Campaign Notes   

This wargame was further proof that our games really are very unpredictable.

Although outnumbered in infantry, the French were a much stronger army than the Russians.  Each army had two corps, and one corps on each side were much depleted from the first battle of Gerbstedt.

However each army has one almost untouched corps.   The Russians had a standard corps, but the French had a Young Guard corps.   This consisted of four average infantry brigades and an elite heavy cavalry brigade.   The Russians had a Cossack brigade.

But more important the French had two artillery batteries against one Russian battery which already had 10% casualties.   With their superior cavalry they could expect to be able to deploy their artillery very close to the enemy.

As the game progressed the French artillery proved much less effective than expected.   They failed to inflict any casualties on the two infantry brigades forming the garrison of Gerbstedt.

With some confidence I, as French player, sent in my four guard brigades to sort out the Russian centre.   Three broke and routed the Russian infantry outside the town, for the loss of one brigade.   The remaining three brigades then turned their attention to the town.

There are two sections to each town, each require one infantry brigade as garrison.   The French artillery concentrated on the left hand section.   The three guard brigades stormed the right hand section.    This section was held by an elite Russian grenadier brigade.  

A garrison gets extra combat points, but these were equalled by extra points for three brigades attacking.   A combat is then fought for each attacking brigade.  All three are fought at the same time, so casualties from one combat does not affect the other.   Despite this I was very unimpressed when two of my guard brigades lost their melee, broke and ran away.   The third was a draw, with 10% casualties on both attacker and defender.  In addition the Russian brigade has suffered another 10% from the two combats which they won. The French lost the second round of melee, and also ran away.

Worse was yet to come.   The Russian brigade now had 30% casualties, but still held the town section.   The French had one last infantry brigade available.  The Westphalian brigade was full strength, but it was also poor quality conscript.   In the twelfth (and last) move of the game I sent them in to take the town.   They failed, and also ran away.  

At nightfall the Russian grenadiers still held their half of the town.   They had suffered 40% casualties (minus 4 on combat and morale tests) and must have failed any further attack, or even any forced morale due to a nearby rout.   But the game had ended, and they had won.

Great game, even though I lost.

Halle Campaign – Day 6

Campaign Map on 7 November 1813

Russian 3rd and 4th corps rally and resupply at Konnern

French 5^th and 6^th corps rally and resupply at Halle and Landsberg

Wiedemar depot is moved to Landsberg

French 2^nd and 14^th corps attack 1^st and 2^nd Russian corps at Gerbstedt

Battle of Gerbstedt move 2

Davout leads the attack with 2^nd French and 14^th Westphalian corps

He creates an artillery reserve by taking command of both corps artillery

Wittgenstein is not present, 1^st and 2^nd Russian corps act independently

However they are supported by 19^th brigade, the garrison of Gerbstedt

The Westphalians open the battle, and lose the initial cavalry melee

They are supported by the reserve artillery and mount an infantry attack

An extended infantry melee is the result, which masks the artillery

The Russians lose and withdraw

The Westphalians are too disordered to pursue

2^nd Young Guard corps wait for the attack on the right to develop

When the infantry melee starts the reserve artillery redeploy to support them

However 2^nd Russian corps withdraw to a new position before they can attack

At nightfall both armies are battered, but neither are defeated

The Russians still hold the town, and 2^nd corps is largely intact

A second day of battle will have to be fought to decide the winner                                     

Campaign Notes   

It is very, very unusual to have a drawn battle with my rules.  

Of the 312 wargames fought during this campaign only one other has been a draw

The Westphalians lost a cavalry melee during move three

Not only lost, but were routed with 30% casualties

The cossacks did not lose any casualties

This is also a very unusual result, and largely down to good dice

This would usually signal the end of the game

It is almost impossible to attack equal numbers of infantry without cavalry

Particularly when the defenders still have the use of their cavalry

However Davout had created an artillery reserve by taking artillery from both corps

This allowed the Westphalians to attack, with strong artillery support

The attack quickly developed into a prolonged infantry melee

This meant that the artillery could no longer support

The Westphalians eventually won, but suffered heavy and could not pursue

The French artillery then redeployed to support the opposite flank

Here the Young Guard corps had kept out of artillery range to await developments

By the time they moved forward, again with artillery support, it was too late

The Russians withdrew to a strong defensive position in support of the town

Night fell before the Guard could complete their attack

Davout claimed a victory. 

But the Russians were not beaten, and they still held the town

A second battle would be needed to decide the rear winner