Surprise Encounter and Bautzen 1813 - Lasselle battles

 Game 1  - Surprise Encounter

One of last weeks battles had nt completed by finishing time so the players did the last three turns this week to see if the Allies could prevent the escape of the French wagons.  

In this game the French deployed to protect the whole road with their cavalry guarding the bridge. The Allies attacked strongly towards the tail of the baggage train with their cavalry and the Prussians.     

French stretch out along the road 

As the Allies advanced the French also attacked in an attempt to disrupt the advance and create as large a buffer zone as possible. This slowed the Austrian advance in east but allowed the Allied cavalry to threaten the baggage. Sadly the Prussians became very tangled in the woods and played little part in the action.     

Prussians lost in the woods

The Allied threat to the baggage forced the French into squares and also forced them to redeploy their cavalry to protect the wagons. There was a tense few turns but the French were able to extract the wagons and see them to safety on turn 8. French Win     

Baggage under threat

 

Game 2 - Bautzen; French vs Germans 

In this scenario the Allies are falling back from a defeat at Lutzen when they are attacked and form a rear guard holding a village and ridge line. The French must capture both to win but do have a Guards brigade to help them out.

 

The Germans spread their forces fairly evenly between the two objectives and awaited the French attack. The French for their part massed almost all of their troops against the town with just guns opposite the hill. 

As the French advanced their guns provide effective and destroyed a German battalion, forcing the rest to seek  cover in the woods and behind the hill. 

 

Guard attacks

The narrow French frontage allowed the Germans to abandon the hill and instead move to flank firing positions against the French attacking the town. The attackers threw wave-after-wave of attacks into the town but all were beaten back and heavy fired poured into the French columns. 

The town stands firm

Losses were heavy on both sides, including the German cavalry being routed by the heavier French horse. As we hit turn 6 both sides reached breakpoint and the game was a bloody stalemate as both sides withdrew. Game drawn. 

Surprise Encounter, 1813 - a Lasalle Battle

This game was reset from an 1809 battle in Austria. The two armies encountered each other as their lines of march crossed. The Allies had the advantage with a larger force and the French having their baggage near the front of the column. The aim was for the French to get their baggage across the table and have it escape across the river.        

Game 1 = French vs Germans

I commanded the French and decided to deploy with my cavalry near the baggage exit point, with the aim of disrupting the German attack.   

French defenders

German Horse

The Germans advanced but found their cavalry facing French infantry in the woods whilst their foot was forced into square by my advancing cavalry.   

German attack disrupted

Eventually the German horse turned towards the centre but it was too late to prevent the French baggage escaping across the bridge. French Win.   

Game 2 = French vs Austrians / Russians

The French deployed with their cavalry covering the end of the baggage column and foot stretched out along the road.   

Young Guard holding the hill near the bridge 

The Allies attacked with the Russians aiming for the baggage exit point and the Austrians in the centre and left. Their cavalry was in reserve in the centre. The Austrian attack on the left soon stalled as the Austrian infantry found themselves opposed by French cavalry and so were unable to advance. 

The Russians attacked the bridge area but were repulsed by the Young Guard and forced to retire. The game settled into a fire fight before the Allies deployed their cavalry to try and break through.  

Russians pushed back 

Austrians deploy into line

Allied losses mounted as they attacked, and eventually they reached their 1/3 breakpoint and so it was a French Win.  

Action at Eisdorf, 1813 - a Lasalle battle

This week we continued the our series of 1813 games with the Action at Eisdorf, part of the Battle of Lutzen. The scenario featured the French attacking to capture the village and river crossing. We had enough players for 2 versions of the game.

Game 1 - Austrians vs French

The Austrians deployed with their Hussars on the left and their infantry evenly distributed between the two flanks. The French deployed with strong flanks with their horse opposite the Austrians.     

Austrian Hussars

The French advanced carefully looking to outflank the Austrians. On their left the Austrians held their ground whilst they fell-back on the right looking to avoid being flanked. The French horse attacked and quickly saw off their opposite numbers forcing the infatry into square.      

French horse in position to attack

The Austrians on the left managed to resist French assaults but on the right the retreating infantry ran out of space and were forced to fight. The French won the firefight and eliminate 3 enemy battalions.   

Austrians turn to fight 

So a French win as the Austrians reached their 1/3 breakpoint. 

Game 2 - Russian / Prussian vs French

The second game had a similar set-up - the Russians deployed in the village and to the right. The Prussians and the horse were to the left of the village. The French looked to attack centrally and on the Austrian right, with their horse opposite the Prussians and Allied horse.    

French ready to attack

The French horse advanced but did not attack as they looked to mainly contain enemy. 

 

French horse advance

As the French approached the Russians opted to launch a spoiling attack with their Grenadiers but this was beaten-off with significant losses. The Prussians then also attacked to breakup the attack and suffered a similar fate. 

Russian Grenadiers attack

The spoiling attacks were a bold move but ultimately unsuccessful and resulted in the Allies losing 1/3 of their units. So a second French win.  

Prussians attack

5 Parsecs - black quartz

This week I played through two linked games involving a rare black quartz structure that resonated at the frequency of human brain waves. 

In game 1 the quartz had been found at a distant mining camp. It had caused some miners to flee but some had been driven mad and started to worship the crystal. The Hermes crew had to get an engineer to the crystal so it could be damped.

The isolated camp

The cultists advanced rapidly as I approached the crystal but I was able to put out a security detail and protect the engineer.

The cultists

After a brisk melee the cultists were driven off and no damage had been done. 

 

Crystal damped

In the second game the mission was get get sample of the crystal back to HQ for testing my the boffins. Mindful of its value a rival mining company had dispatched some hired assassins to intercept the Hermes crew.    

The assassins

The aggressive assassins pushed forward attack under cover of fire from a sniper that was accompanying them. 

It was a congested battlefield so I set up a fire zone using the engineer with the crystal as bait. The planned worked decently with the attack beaten off.   

Ambush