The latest Campaign 1813 game threw up a refight on the same terrain as the battle of Bautzen 1813.

The scenario rules for the battle are below.

The map to be battled over is below. In this battle our Campaign God Russell decided each side would not get the orbats for the other, however our scouting alerted us to the French commander Marmont probably having 3 infantry divisions,with some batteries and cavalry defending the river line. Oudinot was known to be advancing in support and our scouts had estimated his force at several infantry divisions and some cavalry.

It was my turn to run the Allied side and I was again Blucher. I placed the Prussian cavalry on the extreme left of our deployment with the orders to move round to threaten the French flank. The Prussian Guard infantry were split into 2 forces, both in the centre to the right of Bautzen where they were to hold until an appropriate time to dominate the French centre. The Prussian foot artillery to support the centre while the horse artillery was to face Bautzen with one battery added to the cavalry command.

PaulW again had the Russian Guard, or rather what remained of it after the battle of Spremberg, and they thirsted for revenge. They were placed on the Allied right flank with orders to advance and turn the French flank and be a blocking force on any approaching French reserves.

Keith would have Vorontsov’s troops with the infantry to the left of Bautzen with the cavalry the right. The Jager to skirmish in front of Bautzen and to await the Prussian reserves before engaging.

The Prussian reserves of Yorke to be split between Terry/Blucher and Keith. Terry to get 1st Brigade to support the cavalry on the left flank, Keith the 2nd/8th brigades for the assault on Bautzen and Dolf to support them.

From Constantines reserves, 14th Div to support Paul. The artillery to bombard Bautzen thus allowing the Prussian horse artillery to move to support the Prussian Guard assaults. The cavalry to join the left flank cavalry attacks.

Tormasov entry points were on eastern edge of table so we really needed to get control of that then bring the cavalry on in support of the Prussian cavalry. Keith/Terry to command.

The French force under Marmont were a surprise. They deployed leaving their left flank in the air, awaiting Oudinots arrival. After Spremberg where the French all arrived at the start and the Allied reserves much later, this was taking a risk as they had 3 entry points on  their left and no troops covering them.

Oudinots force was different to my assessment in that the 2nd division was cavalry and not infantry as expected.

We played this game at Alans house in his lounge/dining room. Its was a wee bit dark so the pictures are not the greatest. Below is the French right/Allied left flank.

A close up of the Bavarians on the French right flank with Bautzen to the top right. Bautzen town was held by 2 bttns while the castle had 2 more.

Prussian cavalry on flank ready to take off around the open flank.

Bautzen with Bavarians to the left rear and more French on other side of river on the right.

Allied centre with Prussian Guard, Russian Grenadiers, Prussian guns and Russian Dragoons…. French on other side of the river.

Allied right with PaulW’s Russian Guard

View from behind French right where Alan commanded 2 divisions.

French centre where Goldie had 1 division.

Prussian cavalry on turn 1, not the mad rush I hoped for.

However on Allied right…there was  a mad rush from the Russians.

In Allied centre batteries engage French guns over river while guard jager skirmish in front of brigade of guard.

PaulW ordered his grenadiers to turn and march off after the guard. Unfortunately the managed only to turn…thus presenting flank to French(like turning back time to Spremberg when same sight….).. however I managed to get a Dragoon division into the gap on order to charge any enemy that approached within 12 inches. Whew.

PaulW’s troops continue to pour across the Spree with no opposition.

On Allied left Yorke arrives early with 1st and 8th brigade marching onto table.

French view from behind Bautzen.Sorry, not a good photo. Russain guns have deployed in top left while 8th brigade marching down road towards Bautzen in top right.

View from French left where Goldies ladz see a lot of Russians closing in.

With PaulG rolling up the French left flank, and still no sign of their reserves…I launched the Prussian Guard into Goldie’s troops. My artillery on the right eventually took out the French artillery…. I got some good rolls with my horse artillery when advanced to point blank range.

Allied left where Prussian infantry and artillery are advancing on the Bavarians while I attempted to the the cavalry to charge…managed to get 1 charge away…on a shaken unit so forming square did not help them……but rest were very disappointing!

Its not looking good for Goldie as PaulW rolls up that flank.

Russian guns opposite Bautzen….1 battery at close range…1 battery moving behind them to set up on other side…..and 2 more batteries on the right. I love the large Russian batteries.

Troops lining up to charge Bautzen and also the supporting Bavarians.

In centre, Prussian guard have taken out the French guns and some infantry and engaged with more to their left.

Allied right where Prussian infantry attacking Bavarians.

Part of the massed Allied cavalry on the left waiting…and ….waiting to attack the juicy targets to their front.

It was at this point the French called the game.

Our 2 day game had lasted 5 hours……..the 3 divisions on the table were…doomed……the French reserves were due to arrive…but the Russian Guard and undamaged Prussian Guard with significant artillery and cavalry and all of exceptional quality(yes am biased) was waiting for them.

Post battle discussions resulted in a halt being called on the campaign. We will look to activate the armistice and allow the Austrians to save the Allies and recommence at a later time.

In mean time, we are looking to develop an army points system which John Hutton has designed. The first test of this is next week when 4 x 300 point armies will face off. The aim is to develop this and run a competition at the Wellington Warlords annual convention ‘Call to Arms’ in August. Its early days…but looks like will work so…well done and a big thank you to John for all the number crunching that has been done.

While we park the Campaign for the moment…a HUGE THANKS TO RUSSELL BRIANT for running and putting up with us through it!

We as a group now have increased French armies, new Russian and Prussian armies ready for the battles to come.

On the weekend of 19 – 20 January 2019 the latest campaign game was played. While I write up the official report with pictures of the action, here is an amusing take on the battle from one of the French commanders.

Set up – France’s 22^nd Division on French left is deployed along the bank of River Spree, 21^st Division holds Bautzen, 29^th Division hold the French the right wing

Russians face French left wing, deploying from behind the hills 6ft in from left table edge and extending up to Bautzen.  Prussians deploy opposite Bautzen and the French right wing.

Battle commences at 7am.

The allies have cossacks everywhere scouting out the enemy. They have been tracking the movements of Oudinot’s forces and hindering their progress, delaying them enough to give the allies a major advantage.

Turn 1.  Russians advance on French left, reaching the left-most bridge. They position their belt-fed automatic artillery batteries on the hill overlooking the French left and start pouring fire into the French infantry.  Prussians advance and unlimber hordes of batteries opposite Bauzten and cavalry advances down the right flank. In a revolutionary new tactic, all the Allied cavalry form dense masses to manoeuvre more quickly and to allow more regiments to be packed into the frontline.

France’s 22^nd Division extends to the left – a heroic thin “blue” line in the face of vast hordes of Russians!  French right wing consolidates along the Spree tributary.

Turn 2: Yorck arrives.  Russians sweep across river while Russian artillery start to mow down French battalions holding a thin line along the river.  Musket and artillery fire around Bautzen.

Turn 3: Tormasov arrives.  Russian Guard Cuirassiers charge into the French left formations. A French battalion panics and fails to form square (snake eyes1), who then suffer eight casualties in a turn, then the Guard cuirassiers make a sweeping advance but halted in hand-to hand-combat with a second battalion. The French General starts to wonder if Terry has played a cunning trick by Terry in making the French use the blue ‘N” dice. French players demand an inquiry into whether Terry has used Dark Magicks to curse the blue dice.

French left wing falls back.

Turn 4: On the French left Russian Guard Cossacks destroy a second French battalion (because really, why bother forming square at all), resulting in a broken brigade (2^nd Brigade under Bouquet).   More artillery fire around Bautzen.  On the French right flank Russian Guard Uhlans charge across the tributary of the Spree and destroying a Bavarian battalion.  A sweeping advance fails.

Musket and artillery duels continue along the front.

Turn 5: Oudinot scheduled to arrive.  With their superior intelligence (snigger), the Russians anticipate Oudinot’s arrival and position three Russian Guard and Grenadier battalions to await him, supported by the Guard Cuirassiers. In the centre Prussian jaegers stream across the Spree advancing on Bautzen.  Tormasov’s cavalry mass on French right wing, with horse artillery emplaced.

The French still think they have a chance until they see the Moscow Opolchenie marching forward from their reserve position. The site of these awesome forces puts the French army into full flight.

The French capitulate. Or the advance of the Moscow Oplochenie after the battle had ended resulted in ironic cheers, but the Russian commander was delighted that his new units had finally been able to move!.

Back in Paris Napoleon is informed of the disaster on the Spree. 50 battalions cut to shreds by allied cavalry. Green French infantry unable to form adequate squares and skewered by Cossack spears. The total absence of French cavalry and artillery is laid bare and the populace is baying for a resumption of hostilities.

In order to appease the rioting crowds and attempt to replenish their infantry, the Allies are forced to sue for an armistice.

Played a small game with Goldie other night. One of the meeting engagements in the early stages of the 1809 campaign in Austria. Paul worked out sides and terrain was from one of my many books on period.

Paul was the Austrians and his forces were:

• Advance Guard of 2 Grenz bttns and 2 Hussar regts
• Line brigade of 4 large bttns
• Line brigade of 4 large bttns

All his commanders were 7’s.

My French were from Davout’s Corp with my commanders being Davout himself along with Friant, St Hilaire and Montbrun…..so all commanders 9’s!

• Friant – 1 legere and 4 ligne bttns
• St Hilaire – 1 legere and 4 ligne bttns
• Montbrun – 2 Hussar Regts

Initial set up below. Austrians on rolling terrain…I have a freeking great wood in the middle of my deployment area so I split forces with Friant and Montbrun on left of woods and then  Davout is with St Hiliare on the right. Decided to be very unfrench and start infantry in line.

Man was I stooooopid.

Austrians set up with infantry brigade on either flank of wood and Advance Guard Grenz in centre and a marauding Hussar unit with each line brigade.

Austrian columns heading towards my boyz.

French left where Montbrun is going to rush around the Austrian flank and hopefully stall them so Friant can advance and smash them! I think Montbrun had a hangover as he was pretty darn useless all game. Didn’t like moving.

Over on the right the legere are securing flank in the woods.

Right flank and French lined up in…lines ready to shoot.

While over on the left flank…Montbrun still has not moved…..Friant also has not moved and shortly several units will miss interpret the….’Advance Order’  with the, ‘Retreat Order’. Since when do Davout’s troops in 1809 ever retreat you may ask…believe me I was asking……Paul was starting to laugh about now.

Great…..Austrian Grenz in the woods…you will note there is no sign of the legere…….forest goblins ate them I suspect……they seemed to evaporate……moving into rear support a unit to fill the gap, or rather….. trying to move them as they didn’t seem very keen to go into the woods.

Over on the left…I put the infantry in attack columns…..Montbrun has 1 cavalry unit left…..pathetic performance by other one and they also evaporated.

Last throw of the dice…….forced infantry into square….Austrian cavalry come out to play…..its at this stage of a game I start to question how Perry Miniatures Cavalry get as many dice as Front Rank Cavalry…we are clearly much heavier beasts……those Austrian ponies are smaller than my mutt!

Over on the right……thank god the Austrians don’t really want to move forward either…although another hole has appeared…..not only do my troops not want to move…they can’t shoot either…what was in that darn wine last night Davout is asking….when he can actually focus enough to think……

At this stage we called in quits. Over on left my infantry had charged…won a combat, pushed back a unit and in new Black Powder v2 followed up back into combat. The cavalry fight resulted in both units backing off……so that was okay for French…but on French right was a done deal…Austrian’s clear winners. Lessons learned…don’t be a twat….1809 French run around in columns……always…….and just because u have superior commanders don’t expect they are going to get orders off!

And here’s the mutt…he is much bigger than a Perry Hussar on his shetland pony!

The real culprit was these things…Blue dice…have been using the Green Russian and Yellow Austrians for so long now…I think these guys were sulking.

Thankfully, next big game in January will be safely back in the bosom of Mother Russia and her green Dice!

I have already posted the official account of the Battle of Spremberg from our campaign scribe.

The following is my view on my part as Blucher and how I played the battle.

The original plan was for there to be 4 Allied players.

• Paul Weakley
• Keith Gates
• Murray Nash
• Terry Swain(thats me)

Murray was having his first game with the group and he was providing a chunk of the the Allied forces. Namely 2 beautifully painted full Prussian brigades plus additional cavalry units. All Calpe miniatures. In addition he had some Russian artillery and heavy cavalry. Naturally he was to be given command of the Prussian Guard brigade. I would then take the Prussian cavalry, whilst keeping a weather eye on Murray and also the Russian 3rd Division. Keith would get the 3rd Grenadier Corps, Paul the 5th Guards and they would share the Russian Cavalry. Yorke’s reserves would be arriving on 3 roads on the south baseline at some stage.

However, at the last minute Murray withdrew, but like the good chap he is, he let me use his troops. So I switched to gaming Prussians and Keith took over the 3rd Division. Paul went all meglomaniac on us and took the rest of the Russians!

The Allies would set up in the green section of the map above, the French set up in the blue section.. The town of Spremberg is on an island on the River Spee in the centre of the table. On the east side of the river at that point was a Schloss. This position plus the bridge over the river was worth 9 points, each of the other bridges was worth 3 points each. The river was fordable, but not by artillery which had to use the bridges.

So my initial set up plan with the Prussian Guard was fairly straight forward.

• Split the 8 bttns of infantry into 2 sub brigades of 4 each.
• Brigade of Fusiliers/Jager to capture Spremberg
• Brigade of Grenadiers to then cover area south of Spremberg to southern bridge
• Cavalry brigade supported by horse artillery to force river south of bridge
• Prussian foot artillery to move to river bank south of Spremberg to cover
• Russian artillery assets to advance to close range and shoot up Spremberg before Fusiliers charge it
• To then roll the French up from the south while pressing in the centre/north so they could not disengage

The aim here was to initially force the river at the south bridge and get across with the cavalry to threaten the French flank, then move infantry across in support with the horse batteries. Once that was accomplished, to then assault Spremberg. Once the reserves arrived to use 4 Prussian bttns south of Spremberg, 4 north and 4 in central reserve. Dolffs cavalry to also move to central position and the Russian Dragoon/Hussar divisions assigned to me to move also to central position.

Initial Prussian forces, note both Blucher and von Bulow are command rating 10’s.

Prussian reserves, Yorke has a command rating of 9!

Russian reserves, assigned to me are the Dragoon Division of Lapuchin and the light cavalry of Tchernitchev.

The picture above is looking down the table from behind french deployment zone.

Paul has his massed Guards/Grenadiers/Cavalry in our deployment zone facing away from the River Spee preparing to meet the arriving Eugene.

Alan played the roles of Reynier and also Davout when he arrived. He is defending the river line with bttns in Spremberg and the Schloss.

Turn 1 and the Prussian horse batteries on the south edge. A French battery was opposite them, briefly.

View of the advance of the river. Cavalry to south, horse batteries at river, Fusilier brigade heading towards Spremberg and Grenadiers towards river line. Russian batteries on ridge heading for Spremberg and on north side of Spremberg, Russian 3rd Division.

Another view of Paul marching to meet the dust clouds announcing Eugenes advance. This did not go well…the Russians failed orders and did not get in position in time…and when combat developed…they performed…well…they all died…that really says it all!

The defence of Spremberg, defending bttns , artillery support either flank and supporting bttns. Tough nut to crack. In the north crazy Russians have rushed forward. The problem with the Russians is they have a lot of brigades of 3 units. Which means they break easily, but in battle terms every broken brigade gives 5 victory points to the other side in addition to 2 points for each destroyed unit. It does not matter how many units in the brigade. So a look through the French orbat and you see mainly 5 or 6 bttn brigades. So Russians losing 2 brigades, which has the same combat strength as 1 French brigade means we are at -5 battle points for equal number of destroyed units. So we need to try and rotate damaged Russian divisions before they break if possible, whilst focussing on taking out entire French brigades.

Keith being a wee bit to keen!

Attack in the south. Uhlans have charged French bttn, they have formed square…..horse batteries are now flooding across the bridge…setting up at close range to the square. Infantry moving across river in support with 12lb battery moved to river line. More cavalry moving up to support the advance.

In the centre the Russian batteries are advancing on Spremberg with infantry moving up.

The square was shaken by the horse artillery, so the Uhlans were able to charge it, destroy it and sweep on to the next bttn which was also destroyed. The Uhlans rallied back as sustained 3 casualties, and I moved them eventually back over river to be by von Bulow so he could rally the casualties off them. The Hussars then moved up and across the river. The 2 heavy cavalry units failed their orders with a blunder and withdrew 1 move.

In the centre the Russian batteries are shooting up the Schloss, and to the north Keith is charging in!

Just when its all going to plan….ALL the French reserves come on early! Here comes Davout(22 bttns, 2 batteries) and unfortunately over other side of battlefield, Eugene arrived as well.:(

In the centre, Fusiliers have taken the Schloss and pressed on to attack Spremberg town. The French battery in foreground just would not admit defeat .. my guns just could not damage it. To north Keith’s troops are pulling back as Davouts 2nd Division approaches him and word of the disaster occurring to his rear reaches him.

3rd Division now facing many brigades of French.

Prussian version of the Mexican standoff.  Prussians are 32 figure units of metal figures v 24 figure units of plastic Perrys. I think it scared the garlic munchers a bit.

The Saxon Grenadiers in Spremberg held on…and on…and on. Alan’s dice were running hot at saving throws!

In the south, Davouts lead brigade comes charging in with the Polish Uhlans from Reyniers Saxon brigade giving support. Prussian guard are a hard nut to crack.

Enough of this, threw another bttn into the Spremberg combat. This worked and took town. To north 3rd Division is in peril and the Russian batteries have been moved to hold the line.

Spremberg taken. This also resulted in breaking the Saxon brigade so the Polish Uhlans also had to withdraw which eased pressure in the south. There are a LOT of French in the north!

In the excitement, I stopped taking photos for a couple turns….after a series of charges by Alans reserves in the south…which were held… I got my heavy cavalry and horse batteries into action again and gradually took out units(8 in one turn) which resulted in collapse in the south for the French.

End game in the south…Prussians are rolling up the flank. By this stage Yorke was on the table however rather than the initial plan…1st Brigade was used to replace 3rd Division in the North, part of 2nd Brigade is supporting the attack above and remainder is helping stabilise Russian lines.

In the Russian combat area…..Eugene has largely defeated the Guard/Grenadiers and is pushing on. Russian reserves are arrived and blunted the initial attacks. Above have used Prussian cavalry to force the Old Guard into squares and then charged them with infantry. Actually won a combat against them and they broke. I did lose a Grenadier unit though…was locked in combat and got flank charged.

Prussian 1st Brigade to North of Spremberg holding the line!

And that was it.

The Prussians had a good 2 days at the office…after recoveries Yorke lost a Grenadier unit attacking the Old Guard(got flank charged while fighting Old Guard) and Blucher a horse battery.

The Corps of Reynier and Davout suffered following losses after recoveries post breaking:

• Reynier –  lost 9 bttns and 3 batteries
• Davout – 13 bttns and 1 battery

A good day at the office for the Prussians.

The following is the after battle review produced by Russell Briant who is running our campaign.

I will produce a wee follow up from my biased perspective as Blucher!

As we were playing the game in my lounge rather than garage(my partner Anita is a saint giving up the room for 2 days!) we extended the table from 16 to 20 feet in length and added 2 side tables for French arrivals.

Stay tuned for Blucher’s recollections!

Dearest brother Francis, 

The 6th July will forever live in the memory of your great Holy Roman Empire for your Haupft Armee have defeated the Corsican invader on the fields of the Marchfeldt. Over 2 days your brave army have for the second time defeated the armies of France. Though outnumbered, the brave men of your Empire,  led by your brothers, Ludwig and John along with your other commanders were truely magnificent leading men again and again into battle. Our losses have been great, but Europe now knows Napoleon and his armies can be beaten and are sure to rise up against him at last!

The winds of change turn on Napoleon

I will make no apologies, but this report is going to be a wee bit biased, I was Archduke Charles(and Ludwig) after all and as happens in such a large game, I did lose track of what was happening a tad.

My plan for the Austrians was fairly straight forward. On day 1(saturday) we were to hold the line and inflict as many casualties on the French as possible, particularly targeting their artillery as I felt by eliminating as many batteries as possible whilst preserving our artillery, we could then move troops from the Russbach Heights on day 2 combined with the arrival of Archduke John on our left flank and Wiessenwolf on our right flank to take the attack to the French.

So the initial orders for most of the commanders was to hold the line, use your artillery and where possible eliminate smaller French formations. Kolowrat was ordered to advance and take Breitenlee to his front as fast a possible and deny it to the French. This would then provide an anchor for the southern flank. Klenau was to advance , sweep away the small French force to his front and then turn and attack around Breitenlee the flank of the French forces fighting for Aderklaa.

These orders lasted…hmm…nope…didn’t even make to end of turn 1!

The first action of the day was for Massena to give orders for Ct Cyr’s exposed bttns who had charged straight through the village, chased out the defenders and then found themselves under fire from 3 sides! They decided to rally back.

St Cyr’s exposed bttns on the wrong side of Aderklaa. French elan taken just a wee bit to far!

The Austrians then gave their forces orders….Kolowrat ordered his divisions to advance on Breitenlee…they decided not to follow that order….Klenau went charging across the open fields to his front….he was going so fast he went right past Brietenlee and the exposed flank of Massena and headed for the small division of Boudet between Aspern and Essling. Idiot.

Elsewhere the Austrians held the line, Lichtenstein made preparations to attack Aderklaa, a critical part of the line that the Austrians had lost.

I positioned Charles on the Russbach plateau as he started the game with the Hohenzollern Cuirassiers in tow along with a landwher bttn, moving them to support Rosenberg. Ludwig was behind Bellegarde’s corps.

One concept I had adopted for the game was to marry players up to match commands and game rolls that suited their individual styles of play. The French right of Montbrun and Davout were aggressive players, Oudinot and Eugene steadier players, Massena plays like Rommel(there is only attack!), Marmont is aggressive and Napoleon likes his guard so I did not expect it to be wasted. The Austrians were similar, Nordman/John would be aggressive(exactly what I wanted), Rosenberg vastly experienced using Austrians and I expected to hold the critical flank, Hohenzollern would hold the plateau for ever, Bellegarde was steady, Lichtenstein was aggressive, Kolowrat normally was an aggressive player…his dice deserted him and Klenau was perfect for his role(he was just to perfect in the end!). As for me, give me cavalry and ‘Follow Me’ orders and am a happy man….couldn’t wait for day 2 when would be in thick of it as Bellegarde!

I will report on the battle by sectors.

Davout/Montbruns attack on Markgrafneusiedl.

Village of Markgrafneusiedl with Davout/Montbrun arrayed opposite Rosenberg/Nordman.

Davout prepares to attack. The stream was fordable downstream by artillery. Note the large elite bttns.

Montbrun crosses the Russbach with Nordman to his front.

View from the Tower(an Alan Hollows creation) in Rosenbergs defensive position on the Russbach Heights behind Markgrafneusiedl.

Davout crosses stream and assaults village. Artillery moving to open ground on flank and Arrighi’s Cuirassiers in reserve to right rear.

Grouchys Dragoons moving to attack Nordmans flank. Montvrun behind has sustained casualties, Morand can be seen advancing in centre. Note the darkened patch to the front of the Dragoons….a present from a stupid 40k gamer who leaned over table holding a coffee…and spilt it. We should be thankful the neanderthal missed figures.

French pushing past village and heading up to Tower. Lots of casualties are being inflicted but large units on both sides along with Elite French meant a lot more grinding down was to occur.

The sun comes out on Davouts attack. Left unit shaken, has 4 casualty counters on it.

Rosenberg powered by Coke Zero leans on table with Hohenzollern( saturday version)in background.

French flank. Grouchy was outstanding, from Austrian perspective. He failed countless orders, through blunders and generally kept his 3 Dragoon regts sitting around. Truely awesome!!

What is he thinking?

The village is still holding on!

French high water. They have taken the village but Morand’s division has broken, Grouchy still won’t move and is now taking artillery and musketry fire, John has arrived on the table edge and is preparing to roll down the now open flank.

And so ended the battle on the French right flank. Rosenberg and Nordman held off Davout and Montbrun long enough for Archduke John to make an appearance and start to roll up the French flank. The French were not helped by coming out on the wrong side of most cavalry combats and then Grouchy’s Dragoons refusing to obey any orders.

The neighbouring conflict was for the Russbach Heights…..that will be part 3.