Only months earlier, Mohr, in an effort to support the resistance of the German people against the French made a bold move into French held territory but Napoleon brought even some of the Guard to bear down on him ultimately forcing him to retreat. Although Napoleon was forced to deal with events elsewhere, the French under Soult, forced him to the sea.
This was the scenario background and based on an actual Napoleonic battle albeit not in Germany and did not involve the Prussians . If you have not already guessed, based on my use of homophones, more clues to come!
David came over and I created this rather smaller battle than the much larger one we did last time! See:link
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The deployments looking
north with the French in the foreground. --the ruler is used for
future reference should I want to play this one
again--
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French advance toward the village of
Elvina. Clue!
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The clash on the ridge as the French
assault the Prussian brigades
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...but are forced to retire behind their
reserves. Note that each combat creates fatigue as well as possible
combat loss and the nearest Landwehr brigade effectiveness is down to
2 from 3 as they were in the previous photo.
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The '2nd Foreign Regiment' of 1815 aka
'the Swiss' reaches the ridge. Yes, earlier Swiss did participate in
the historical battle. Clue!
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Oh my, the 1st Silesian Landwehr about
to be routed. French cannons to the fore, flanked by a powerful
French light infantry brigade and having shaky confidence - the
black die showing .............but a 1.
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As you might have gathered, the
Prussian under my rather dubious command, held to the ridge too long
hoping for a repeat of the real battle and force the French into a
stalemate. Clue But in the
game were ultimately crushed.
Oh,
the historical battle? Corunna in Spain early 1809 with the British
(nee Prussians) vs, well, the French. Also known as the Battle of
Elvina.
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Battle
No.2
The same with roles reversed. Even with much discussion about
the rules and working out measuring systems, we concluded the game
in very good time and so could have another go at it.
You can read David's report here: link
You can read David's report here: link
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Now
playing the French, we can see my deployment with guns up front to
gain direct fire advantage ...not trusting my dice luck and needing
all the help I can get ! The green stick next to the village module
is a movement stick. We don't employ rulers but use painted
doweling for the different distances. They, and the dice are green and
any markers are designed to blend into the game as not to distract
the eye too much.
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Close
up of the Swiss in red. Perry 1815 design flag from their plastics
box.
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Prussian
regulars advance to meet the French attack.
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The
French cavalry sent into rough ground. In the actual battle they
could very little, here they were outside effective command control.
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David,
playing the role of Mohr/Moore and the Prussians/British was much
more skillful than I to disengaged his forces and escape to
Kurunne/Corunna.
A
small battle of only 12 elements to 9, it proved to be an interesting
affair with two battles played to conclusion in an afternoon – with
much rule discussion and amendments. Hopefully now much more
streamlined, it proves the adage that sometimes you have to destroy
to build up stronger and larger battles await.
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