And now, the conclusion of this great event!
As (long) anticipated, Pacthod's (Mark) French Division, including the Elite converged Voltigeurs of GB Desaix, were not far behind Frimont in arriving on the Klagenfurt from the Villach table, closely followed by Durutte (Maureen). Evidently they were under orders to pin us until Eugene gave the order to move to the attack. Ever aggressive, that didn't prevent Pacthod from roughly handling my outlying troops!
Reinforcements under Coloredo/Josef arrived from the North (via the tan), 2nd rate road to the left) to bolster my weak right flank.
Mark dispersed the Jagers and Landwehr in the woods with little difficulty, and then he an Maureen played cat (Redwilde) and Mouse with maneuvering tgheir artillery for long range shots whilst denying us the opportunity to return the favor.
Sahuc (Caleb) and his French light cavalry arrive from Kranj...
and then more French arrive from the North under the persistent MacDonakld, countered in turn by the arrival of our reserves from Marburg. Coloredo counter- marches some of his troops to oppose his old nemesis as well.
The Northern Front at Klagenfurt.
We now have Jellacic (mir), Albert Gyulai (Karl), Coloredo/Josef (Brian), Mexcery (Marty), Patchod (Mark), Durutte (Maureen), Sahuc (Caleb) and MacDonald (James) on the Klagenfurt table... and I think I see Serras and Eugene (Greg) with the Italian Royal Guard entering at the far right as well!
Was für ein Kampf!
To our South at Laibach, Stowechewich (Mike), Hadik (Kaz), Marmont (Richard), Pully (Herb), and Fontanelli (Jim) are all now engaged.
The center of our position, in front of the Klagenfurt Fortress. I am not confident that we will be able to repulse the French attacks when they commence; they have more and better troops, and our position is not as strong as it looks at first glance.
Caleb looks on as his cavalry trot to the front.
Marty (Mesery).
MacDonald (James) seems quite happy to have arrived in our rear, it seems. I think he can almost taste that Marshal's baton!
Pacthod and Durutte are still awaiting the signal from Eugene to launch their assault.
The action is heating up behind Klagnefurt fortress.
The heavy weight of numbers against the Austrians at Laibach has them pulling back towards Zagreb.
Sahuc's cavalry has maneuvered into position now.
Mescery is causing problems for MacDonald now.
Mescery's cavalry may be l;argely low quality Insurectio troops, but there sure are a LOT of them!
Overview of the main front at Klagenfurt.
Swarming Hungarians cut off a part of MacDonald's Division; with 2 Austrian batteries at Canister range, that square can't hold out forever!
5 PM has arrived already, so it is fine for the final turn of the Campaign. Sahuc's cavalry charges Gyulai's infanty across the stream!
Mescery prepares the coup de grace for a French square.
Endgame fighting at Laibach.
Pacthod charges my lines, and Durutte is in position to charge Gyulai next turn. If I recall correctly, Mark won all but one of the resultant melees, with my defensive fire failing to inflict any losses upon him at all!
Close up of Sahuc's charge.
Top down view of (most) of the Klagenfurt table after the French charges. You can see our right flank being stove in by Pacthod's (first) charge. he Battle of Klagenfurt could certainly go on for a long time, but it is hard to see how the Austrians would ever win it... and with the retreat from Laibach threatening to clear the way for more French troops to arrive, or press on to Graz,
I'd certainly give honors to the French in this campaign, although I think the Austrians performed better than their historical counterparts. In the end,the early advantage of French numbers and the low quality of the Austrian reinforcements made for a real challenge for the Austrians, just as it did in reality. It woukld have been fun to play a few more turns, but we had already gone past our 5 PM stop time. Overall, i had a great time, and how often do get to see the Hungarian Insurectio on the table, no less fight?!
Peter & Co.
ReplyDeleteGreat write up for the multiple table format and campaign. Enjoyed reading this morning the three S N articles. Klagenfurt the grand meeting place for the players it seems. Nice town, central fort. I saw the tall mountain on the table for the Kalvarienberg. A crowd of smiling player faces. Even the insurrection hussars played a successful part, better then mine at my recent Raab scenario game.
Michael aka Wargamerabbit
Thanks, Michael. The Insurrectio Hussars did indeed come in useful, although when charged by Pacthod's regulars frontally at KLagenfurt (last picture, far right of our main line) they evaporated like so much springtime snow!
DeleteA fascinating account Peter, and the tension was quite apparent. I did feel very sorry for that French square - a particularly nasty situation. A particularly great effort in assembling so many tables and scenery.
ReplyDeleteThe French Square may have been in an unenviable position, but so was the entire Austrian Army by the end of the day! :-)
DeleteAn enjoyable account of the early stages of a campaign. Very moreish, though, as no doubt the participants found. I find these 'Campaign in a day' accounts most enjoyable, and well worth rereading from time to time.
ReplyDeleteSo gad you enjoy reading about them. They really help players experience the tensions of higher command!
DeleteNice final write up from a really good series of posts, and yes nice to see insurrecto troops on the table and fighting!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Thanks, Iain! There are probably 2 more posts to come- the GM's report, player reports, and player messages.
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