Saturday, rain, what would be better than a large Napoleonic wargame to pass the time. I had not long completed an Austrian Division after about six months painting, (albeit minus the artillery), and wanted to 'try them out'. This seemed like an opportunity not to be missed. Having finished the game and taken photos as I went along, I thought an action report on a large fictitious battle would be a great addition here in the hope that others may find inspiration to complete their forces too.
Both sides, French and Austrian were around a Division each. The French objective was to take and sustain occupation of a village somewhere in Poland.
The figures are Adler miniatures and the rules used were "In the Name of Glory" - fourth or fifth edition if memory serves.
The village was initially garrisoned by two battalions of Austrian landwehr and two battalions of regular troops. The Austrian cavalry were set up on one edge in amongst a small wooded area. The main Austrian force was aligned to the right of the village. Lastly, some serious reinforcements were due to arrive at any time, on the throw of doubles on two average dice).
The complete French army was placed on table behind some low lying hills and would be first to move. A regiment of light cavalry were sent to scout the woods and quickly found themselves embroiled in melee with the Austrian hussars, (to be fair the French hussars held their own for some time).
The first image shows a small section of the French army.
For around five or so turns no Austrian reinforcements appeared, meanwhile the French resolutely marched on the village. Most Austrian forces held their ground to minimise losses due to combat sallying forth was not an option here. One of the French Cuirassier regiments on the left wing 'got bored' with the sit and wait approach and decided to threaten the Austrian battalions on a hill and force them into square, thus allowing the French infantry time to close and finish the job.
Back at the village, the badly needed reinforcements were starting to fill gaps left by the controlled withdrawal of the defenders on the hill. The landwehr were also starting to feel the pressure of the French onslaught on the opposite side of the village where the French were starting to get a foothold. The star performer was a 9lb artillery battery which had fired at the French columns early on and just kept at it even in the face of the Cuirassier attacks.
By game end, the village was still in Austrian hands - just! The French left wing had burned itself out with the cavalry melee, the centre was too far behind to be fully effective in view of the Austrian reinforcements honing in on the space between the village and the hill lastly, the right French wing was a little too weak to push forward and take the objective.
Attrition was definitely the name of the game for the French, but melees were taking too long to break the Austrians in order to clear a path for fresh units to exploit. Wholesale French shooting was hindered by the need to form column in order to get into the space available and to 'punch' through the Austrian lines. Credit must be given, metaphorically, to the Austrian commanders in endlessly bolstering the morale of needy units.
All in all, an excellent game that played out well on a rainy Saturday and took around five hours or so to play solo.
This was one of the few games I have played that used a significant reserve force to use to supplement the front lines, either to finish off an opportunity or to plug a gap of opposition breakthrough. While playing the game, I also thought about some house rules to tweak the main rules to make them more to my tastes - always a bonus!
Both sides, French and Austrian were around a Division each. The French objective was to take and sustain occupation of a village somewhere in Poland.
The figures are Adler miniatures and the rules used were "In the Name of Glory" - fourth or fifth edition if memory serves.
The village was initially garrisoned by two battalions of Austrian landwehr and two battalions of regular troops. The Austrian cavalry were set up on one edge in amongst a small wooded area. The main Austrian force was aligned to the right of the village. Lastly, some serious reinforcements were due to arrive at any time, on the throw of doubles on two average dice).
The complete French army was placed on table behind some low lying hills and would be first to move. A regiment of light cavalry were sent to scout the woods and quickly found themselves embroiled in melee with the Austrian hussars, (to be fair the French hussars held their own for some time).
The first image shows a small section of the French army.
For around five or so turns no Austrian reinforcements appeared, meanwhile the French resolutely marched on the village. Most Austrian forces held their ground to minimise losses due to combat sallying forth was not an option here. One of the French Cuirassier regiments on the left wing 'got bored' with the sit and wait approach and decided to threaten the Austrian battalions on a hill and force them into square, thus allowing the French infantry time to close and finish the job.
Meanwhile on the Austrian left flank, a unit of 'Grenzers' and one artillery battery managed to inflict damage on the advancing French columns. It was only when the French lancers were assigned to sort them out did the 'Grenzers' give way. The infantry columns had quite a bit of open ground to cover and although the skirmishers initially assigned to the area did their job of soaking up the Austrian fire, the columns took some time and casualties in advancing. this was an area that needed rapid movement in order to start attacking the village - at least initially.
After about turn seven the off-table Austrian reinforcements decided to amble onto the field and support their comrades - but was it too late? The French Cuirassiers had broken through the centre and were hotly followed by the infantry columns. It was a lucky break for the Austrians that the Cuirassiers pursued the routing infantry to the edge of the table before rallying. Giving the Austrian lancers and remaining infantry time to re-align themselves to meet the threat.
By game end, the village was still in Austrian hands - just! The French left wing had burned itself out with the cavalry melee, the centre was too far behind to be fully effective in view of the Austrian reinforcements honing in on the space between the village and the hill lastly, the right French wing was a little too weak to push forward and take the objective.
Attrition was definitely the name of the game for the French, but melees were taking too long to break the Austrians in order to clear a path for fresh units to exploit. Wholesale French shooting was hindered by the need to form column in order to get into the space available and to 'punch' through the Austrian lines. Credit must be given, metaphorically, to the Austrian commanders in endlessly bolstering the morale of needy units.
All in all, an excellent game that played out well on a rainy Saturday and took around five hours or so to play solo.
This was one of the few games I have played that used a significant reserve force to use to supplement the front lines, either to finish off an opportunity or to plug a gap of opposition breakthrough. While playing the game, I also thought about some house rules to tweak the main rules to make them more to my tastes - always a bonus!
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