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Schwarzenberg's first Card is LEADFERSIP; he rolls options to choose MELEE or MOVE as alternatives for the entire army. Leadership won't help him much; he needs to inflict damage on the enemy. Similalrly, only a few units are in a position to use MELEE, and none of them have big advantages. Thus, MOVE it is! Regardless, because MOVE was a possible option, all Allied Routers must move first. It turns out there are TEN of them; one exits the table.
Movement but the Cuirassiers cannot initiate melee!
Situation after the Austrian Reserve Corp's movement.
A single, plain move for Meerveldt as well. Nothing exciting to do.
Kleist has a number of outed units, and only top infantry regiments otherwise. The Reserve unit that recently rallied moves back towards the fighting.
The Guard Infantry roll up a single move. The last remaining guardsmen enter the table.
Overview of Allied Left Center after that.
Guard Heavy cavalry Division ge3ts a single move; units adjust their positions. The Giard Light cavalry get a double magic move, and also move into better positions.
Overview after both Cavalry moves.
Light cavalry Division gets a Double magic move.
Desperate for some decisive results, both units charge. each takes losses from defensive fire; in the case of the mounted Jagers, it is enough to stop the charge (won even roll). The Uhlans press on.
The defending (Young Guard) Infantry prevails.
Eugeme gets a single magic move; One regiment moves back to finally give the Russian 12 lbers a fuield of fire, while a Russian column charges, and forces back the Legere with losses.
Klenau gets a single move; only the battered Uhlans remain on the table and not in rout; they pull back some.
The second Allied Card is ARTILLERY FIRE; Schwarzenberg rolls up many other options, but artillery is the one area the Allies still hold an advantage.
A Austrian batteries converge fire on a fresh Old Guard regiment; it suffers 4 UI loss and disperses. A ragged cheer goes up from the ranks of the whitecoats!
A third Austrian battery fires without effect.
The Prussian Horse batery of the cavalry reserve, newly in position, shoots at some French Cuirassiers; their first shot fails to have much impact, but the second routs the armored horsemen with heavy losses. Things are looking up!
Two Russian batteries converge fire on a Cuirassier regiment with limited effect.
Newly unasked, a Russian 12 lber battery fires at the Young Guard battery ion the hill. Successive shots by the same unit are not additive, but the damage is still severe, and the battery is "Silenced".
The next initiative is rolled for, and The French win
The first card is TACTICAL ADVANTAGE. It is saved.
The second card is LULL; the French thwart the Allied attempt to steal the initiative, but, with their 2 cards played, it passes to the Allies regardless. No free card for them, however!
The first Allied card is MELLE; the option is to use MOVE instead for the entire army. With only a very few units that could benefit from Melee, MOVE is chosen.
Hohenlohe and the Reserve roll a plain double move, no immediate.
Situation after the MOVE; the Cuirassiers have forded the Elster, and some infantry is starting to ford it as well. Uh-oh!
Meerveldt gets a single move, and makes minor adjustments with it.
Kleist also gets a single move, and brings up a recently Rallied regiment in support of the gun line.
The Footguards get a simple double move and also advance.
The Guard heavy cavalry Division gets triple magic move!
They cannot resist the urge to charge! In the first round the Chebalier Guards are routed by some upstart French Dragoons, whilst the Russian Cuirassiers gain an edge on their French counterparts.
In the second round the Frenchmen are foprced back with heavy losses.
Tyhe Line Light cavalry Division gets a single magic move, using it to maneuver.
The Guard Light cavalry gets a double magic move, and all three units charge the enemy!
The Guard Hussars rout a column of Young Guard with heavy losses, becoming Disordered in the process. The charge of the Prussian Guard du Corps is repulsed with losses.
The Russian Line Corps repositions its few remaining units
The Grenadier Division gets a Triple Magic Move.
One regiment charges up the hill. over running the silenced Young Guard battery, and continuing on into a loaded French Line regiment.
They are on the receiving end of a crushing volley delivered at point blank range, and the Grenadiers rout!
Klenau gets a single MOVe; while routers continue to stream for the rear everywhere, the sole unit remaining in good order, the battered Uhlans, pulls back.
The second Allied card is... ARMY MORALE! Being long out of Morale points, the Allies must roll. Schwarzenberg fails the test big time, and the Allied army withdraws, defeated.
Total French Morale points lost at the end of the game = 36 out of 64; the Allies lost all 72 of theirs. The overall picture is perhaps worse than that - the number of routed and destroyed Allied unit was huge compared to the French The Corps of Kleist and Klenau were all but destroyed, and the Russian Corps of Eugen lost more than half its units. Would it have been enough to knock Austria out of the coalition; probably not. It might have lead the other approaching Allied Corps to revert to their previous strategy of avoiding conflict directly with the troops of the Emperor for a while longer.
The result looked like it was heading that way, although the Allies put up a good show for a while. The sixth coalition was a fragile thing, so who knows how the course of history could have changed. They certainly did their fair share of retreating and playing for time after each battle.
ReplyDeleteI suspect that had things gone as they did here, with the Corops of Kleist and Klenau all but destroyed, and that of Eugen severely mauled, that the allies would have pulled back from L:eipzig. That probably would have kept the Saxons on the French side a while longer, and perhaps allowed St Cyr's troops in Dresden to become a factor again. That would have been a good time for Napoleon to consider negotiating... but I doubt that he would have.
DeletePeter, this is an impressive undertaking especially for a playtest. with such a lopsided result, will you make changes to the scenario or is the outcome truly built in the cards?
ReplyDeleteThe Allies had terrible dice early on, which really hurt them. I think they were too aggressive in attacking the French early on as well. Time and numbers (and artillery!)were on their side, not the French. They need to advance some to get a little breathing room, but after that, put the onus of attacking on the French! Also, the Austrian Reserve might have been better used attacking (and especially firing) across the Elster, with Meerveldt perhaps crossing the Elster to support Kleist early on. .A much lesser force could have been sent through the swamp (very tough going - they were fortunate to get as far as they did) tio make the French worry about the flank. Decisions, decisions! That's part of what makes it an interesting scenario, I think! .
DeleteAll of the off table troops will come on sooner (on average) based upon the playtest. . The only other question would be whether to increase Schwarzenberg's LD to D10. I think that's too good for commanding such a hodge-podge of nationalities (and with the Czar potentially interfering). On the other hand, D10 is generous for Napoleon/Murat on the day, but they at least had pretty good unity of command.
Excellent post-game analysis!
DeleteGood review of play and d options pursued. Giving the Allied CiC] eaders a D10 would certainly be novel. As would a Napoleon at some thing less. He really didn't earn his reputation at Leipzig. .Amazing how much work this AAR has.
ReplyDeleteIt was a lot of work, but this way the photos remind me and also tell the story!
DeleteGreat stuff. Always good to see best rules in action
ReplyDeleteGreat minds, and all that! :-)
DeleteSplendid looking game and interesting result, it seemed to be heading that way for a while really, a difficult one to reflect the real battle I think?
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Well, this certainly a fair amount of "bath-tubbing" to fit the action even on a 15 x 6 foot table. I think the French did better than historically, but probably not enough to knock Austria out of the war. Likely a case of delaying the huge battle Napoleon likely couldn't win by a few months at best. Some minor tweaks (and better die rolling) will likely improve the Allies chances somewhat.
DeleteThat has been an epic undertaking Peter and your reporting has certainly got the juices flowing! Seemed like the Allies had more than their share of bad luck - wrong cards at the wrong time etc - but that is the joy of wargaming - the unpredictability and "friction"!
ReplyDeleteRoughly 25 years ago, which would be about halfway through my wargames "career", I had reached the point were the rules I was playing were too predictable; I almost didn't have to play the game to know how it would turn out. Roughly then, I discovered the new "Piquet" rules by Bob Jones; what a breath of fresh air! Not everyone's cup of tea for sure, and due to its design, not great for more than 4 players. The Field of Battle family and now Battle Command have taken those concepts in different directions, but preserved the role of drama and chance. You are still certainly more likely to prevail if you follow the odds, but in all but the most overwhelming situations, it is never guaranteed, and a surprise may be coming with the next card turn or MOVE or combat role.
DeleteGlad to have been a small part of this.
ReplyDeleteJohn, you were no small part; the game would have been impossible without you, and you tried a maneuver I had considered unlikely, pressing on through the swamps of the French right!
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