Another scenario game from the ‘Lets Fight Leipzig!’
This time we have a 5 player game of Lindenau. In this scenario the French 4th Corps under Bertrand is charged with holding Lindenau. The Village has a wall around it which on the western side can only be entered via the gate. The river is impassable to all troops. The woods are impassable to cavalry and artillery but close order infantry can move through at half speed. Lindenau is a 2 module village. The small village of Plagwitz is 1 module.
The Austrians gain a complete victory if they hold 1 module in Lindenau at the end of the game.
The French players were Rob(North side) and Terry(South side…me). The Austrians were Goldie from the South, SteveT from the West and Alan from the North.
Lindeanu defended by Rob/Terry with the Divisions of Morand, Margaron and Fontanelli(15 bttns, 3 batteries) with support from some Dragoons and Wurttemberg Chevau-Leger.
The Austrians rolled to see what turns they arrived. Turn 1 only Alan in the North arrived….he was Gyulai with a mix of Jager/Grenz/Line , 3 batteries and Dragoons/Chevau-Legers. The Village of Plagwitz is in foreground.
Goldie marches on from the south and storms towards Plagwitz.
And storms straight into the attack! Mixed force again.
Then SteveT arrived from west via Schonau…another Austrian mixed column.
Initial attack on Plagwitz is held…….but my French are taking casualties.
I pulled the guns out of the redoubt to face SteveT advancing….the Cossacks were ordered in to take the fire of the battery…..fail the charge home…allowing another unit of cavalry to then attack the now silent battery..that didn’t go to plan…the battery fluffed its dice rolls and popped instead!
Defence of Plagwitz carries on as initial Austrian attack is replled.
Austrian column charged the French square…who hold…for several rounds of fighing!
Austrian central columns attack gate into Lindenau.
Goldie 2nd attack against Plagwitz succeeds.
Sigh……the square had been holding the Austrian square off until pointy sticked Cossacks joined in……
Who then made a sweeping advance into another square..that being disordered allowing them to charge in…bye bye another square…..
The initial charge from the West was repelled…but the French had suffered losses…..
The Wurttemberg cavalry who blundered the first time they received an order and went the exact opposite direction…finally arrived…
Austrians are in the village…
While on the Northern side…..Alan and Rob had shot at each other all game…..
So clearly Austrian Victory…..I lost all my infantry…the fought….bravely!
But Austrians in South and West were aggressive and ran over me…well done!
So Friend PaulW was back for a visit from Vanuatu so we had Saturday game followed by an evening Whisky Tasting(my partner was away on a Girls weekend).
Rob, Alan, Goldie and Finn(later in day) joined in.
For this game we played the Leipzig Probstheida scenario from the Steve Shann book that is JUST SO GREAT!
The Scenario has the village of Probstheida defended by Victors 2nd Corps, with some Young Guard artillery supporting. The Village has 3 modules and is on a ridgeline with the Objective of the game is for the allies to take all 3 modules to claim a victory. The Allies are Kleist’s 2nd Corps along with Wurttemberg’s 2nd Russian Corps. Various reinforcements are available to each side through the game. Should the Allies call on an optional reserve of the Divisions of Duka and Pisareff then the game is a Draw at best for the Allies.
Paul W/Alan/Finn are the Allies with Goldie/Rob/Terry as French.
Start positions with the French on the right. Goldie has the left flank Division, Me(Terry) the Village with a Division and Rob the right Division. The 2 Young Guard batteries are in Goldies force.
Alan had the Allied left and PaulW the right. Finn arrived later in day and played on right.
The Village had a bttn in each module with a legere bttn skirmishing on front of it.
Russians advanced quickly….with the legere taking advantage of this and charging the artillery in the flank and destroying them. I normally prefer to play Russians so taking out the large batteries is a priority if an opportunity presents its self.
Prussians chasing off French skirmishers.
Prussian artillery assisted by Russian column approach the village.
View from village … Cavalry reinforcements have arrive for Russians.
PaulW starts his attempt to turn Goldies flank.
On French right Rob had a long line to defend while he awaited our cavalry reinforcements. Alan is pressing the line.
Oops…Goldie has been forced off the ridge faster than we hoped!
French cavalry arrived and the 2 armies cavalry forces went hard at it. As expected with Cavalry v Cavalry….mutual extinction is often the outcome.
A prefect attack by Alan…Uhlans to front…then when French engaged send Cossacks into the flank. Cossacks cannot charge formed cavalry to its front.
I confiscated the Cuirassier Division when it arrived and used it to do as much damage/distraction I could in the center. Would have preferred Uhlans but we had none. The -2 save on a lance attack against infantry is better than extra attacks on infantry in column who are saving on a 3+.
Alan wins the cavalry combats on the Allied left.
Having picked on Alan I now turned to PaulW…aim was to destroy the column I have hit in the flank…as it could not form square…the artillery would auto pop…and I would rumble on into the skirmishers and destroy them as well. They were facing this way as my other Cuirassier regt had broken through Alans line and they were shooting at it.
Sadly the dice Gods totally deserted me …my dice were rubbish.. Pauls were not and I bounced….how…humiliating!! But… I was distracting them from the Objective!
Alan closed in on Rob’s open flank.
On the French left PaulW with Finn now in attendance is attacking the French reserves who now man the ridgeline.
Prussians have taken the front Village Module….my bounced Cuirassiers to their rear!
On French right Alan has sent his Prussians in again against Rob’s line…..Alan makes 5 hits…Rob saves all of them!
French left where continuous Allied attacks have failed to take the ridgeline.
And that’s how it ended…..the French still held 2 of the 3 modules of the Village and its a French victory. We managed to tie up and distract the Allies long enough to win the game!
The Whisky of the week is a beauty.
PaulW bought this glorious liquid with him as a Bday prezzie for yours truly
The Glendronach 25 year Old Port cask..
This handsome rascal is a 25 year old single malt from GlenDronach, released as part of the distillery’s 17th batch of single cask releases. It was distilled back in May 1993 and aged in a single Port pipe until 2019, when it was bottled with an outturn of 835 bottles. We love a good Port cask-matured single malt, and this one looks to be exactly that.
Tasting Note by The Producer
Nose Intriguing richness and depth of redcurrant, bramble jam and cherry cake balanced with bitter orange, black grape and a hint of tropical fruit.
Palate Long, silky and persistent as juicy blackberry and apricot liqueur build to mango and guava. Currant, papaya and mixed nuts linger in the fruity finish.
Drinking this reminded me of the first time I went to the tasting of some Bordeaux Reds and the revelation in the taste and complexity of it….and then was even told was meant to spit it out…like…NO!
So I organized a Napoleonic game for 2 out of towners In September. Brian and Dave both live on Rural properties several hours distant from Wellington so was a Saturday game.
Dave is collecting Calpe Prussians so I invited Alan and Goldie along as they have Prussian Armies, Brian has Spanish so on the day Goldie(Calpe Prussian) and Dave(using Alans Perry Prussians) were Prussians, with Brian being Spanish and Alan used a Dutch/Belgian/Hanoverian force. I was on food, drink and rules!
Brian set up on the Allied right. Some pictures of his Spanish..I do like the look.
Some of Alans force on Allied left.
Centre of table with combined advance on central village.
View down table. Dave’s Prussians then Goldies in distance.
Prussian Cavalry facing the Spanish Mob!
Prussians have beaten the Spanish to the central village.
On Allied left Alan beats the Prussians to Church.
Very orderly Spanish lines!
Flanks…flanks…flanks….Dave gets pointy stick cavalry into a Dutch flank.
Dave’s advance down his right flank.
Prussian attack through the center continues.
Spanish blunted Prussian advance……..
Spanish guerillas are very annoying I was getting informed!
Oops…Alans used his cavalry effectively to force Dave’s attack back…..
Oh dear…another unit of pointy stick cavalry found flanks…again……..sadly the combined attack with the infantry column did not net the victory expected….dice are so unpredictable!!
The village changed sides several times…sucking units in….very historical. Hanoverians have it below.
Prussians take it back.
And that was that……both sides ground out a draw…..
Ladz will come down again next month for another game.
The whisky of the week is the Glenturret 12.
On my pilgrimage to Whisky Galore, I tasted this one and was brow beat into submission to buy one(it really wasn’t that hard a task to be honest).
Tasting Notes;
Nose Oily barley and toasted nuts mingle with sweet raisins, a whiff of malt loaf, and vanilla cream.
Palate Warming ginger, juicy sultanas with dustings of cinnamon, spiced apple crumble and zesty oak.
Finish Toasty oak char, dry cakey spice with a silky, creamy texture.
For a 12 year old it is remarkably good value and certainly one of best I have tasted in a while.
Sorry for delay in posting… Technical issues between laptop and phone which now seem to be sorted.
I recently visited friend Pete https://vonpeterhimself.wordpress.com/ and he lent me a couple of books on Leipzig 1813. One was ‘Lets Fight Leipzig!’ by Steve Shann which can be obtained from Caliver Books https://www.caliverbooks.com/ a long-time favoured source of Books and Figures for many of us down under.
I have gone and ordered the book and decided to play all 12 scenarios in the book. Thankfully the ladz seem keen so we kicked off with ”Cavalry Batte at Liebertwolkwitz’.
This battle is a meeting engagement between cavalry forces with some batteries. Both sides have 4 cavalry formations with the French also having a ‘Grand battery’ of 2 batteries on table. The game was played down the table with starting forces and then reinforcements entered on the table ends/sides as the game progressed.
The French were commanded with Murat who had special orders to represent his behaviour on the actual day of the battle…a Blackpowder ‘Follow me’ exponent to warm the wee cockles of my heart. Murats Special Orders were at the start of each French Turn, on a roll on a d6 of 1 or 2, he would join the closest regiment able to charge…and declare a charge on the closest Allied unit with it. He would stay with that unit underway combat resolution had occurred. In addition a successful charge by any other French commander would result in 2 d6 being rolled, on a 1 they lose the bonus for charging that move.
Starting French force……Rob and Robert played the French, Goldie, Alan and Keith were the Allies. Steve T and I were sampling a whisky below.
Close up.. Rob’s French cavalry are stunning.
Couple of turns on and the French Dragoons are approaching the Russians.
Russian Hussars take on French Dragoons.
Oh dear…….
Russian Hussars have routed 2 French and reformed facing them again.
Prussians join in with Dragoons charging French Dragoons and being supported by Cuirassiers. The skulking Cossacks then joined the conflict in the French flank!
Another view..
Prussian Dragoons and Cossacks won the combat…French retired and the Prussian swept on into another unit. The Cossacks swept in behind in support.
Meanwhile on the other flank, Robert through his light cavalry into the Cuirassier’s, who took artillery fire as they charged past the horse battery on the hill. The Horse battery was then charged in the flank by another light cavalry unit…and popped.
The cavalry having defeated the Artillery swept into the main combat, now in the flank of the Cuirassiers. Well planned attack.
Goldie had stolen Alans dice and was rolling ridiculously high dice…..the French lost the combat…and the Cuirassiers swept into the small supporting unit.
Elsewhere, more combat.
And more…..
The Prussian Dragoons were still making charges…..
French reserves pour onto the battlefield.
Even some Polish arrived!
The Austrians arrived and some Russian Uhlans…..
Alan through his Cuirassiers straight into French Dragoons…..
And a large unit Chevau-Legers into Dragoons……
The Austrian Cuirassiers chewed up 1 regt of Dragoons and sweep into another…..
The dice below show the newly arrived Austrians losing combat and rolling 1s…so they left the table in disgrace.
Pointy stick French and Austrians at it… Austrians winning.
The Polish Uhlans and the Russian Uhlans charged each other…below their commanders are looking for them. It was mutual extinction.
Well…that was fun….be most charges we have had in a Thursday night game for a while if not ever. Great fun. The Allies get the win.
Now I have just had a 65th birthday and a number of Whisky’s have come my way. Below is a GlenAllachie 12 which my partner particularly liked so we procured it.
Tasting Notes:
TASTING NOTES
COLOUR – Polished Bronze.
NOSE – Butterscotch and honey playing the lead, with raisins and mocha in the background.
TASTE – Honey, marzipan and bananas, with lashings of butterscotch, raisins and a delicate hint of mocha.
The 2nd game in June was a 4 player French v Austrian Napoleonic one.
I set the table up with 2 small French forces each of an infantry brigade with 6 foot bttns, 1 battery and an attached small cavalry brigade of 2 light cavalry regiments each encamped around farms. Rob and Robert were the French players.
The terrain had 4 roads entering the table, 1 from each side of the table. The 2 Austrian players would roll to see which road they would march on down. Alan and Stephen were the Austrian players. Stephen had an Avante Garde brigade with 3 standard size bttns, a Grenz unit, light battery and 2 Hussar regiments. Alan had an Avante Garde brigade with 3 large infantry bttns, a Jager bttn, light battery and 2 Hussar regiments.
French deployments are below with Rob then Roberts deployments.
Alan arrives on the North Road.
Stephen arrived on the East Road which put him between the 2 French forces! Alan can be seen deployed on the North Road.
Robert has garrisoned his farm with a bttn and moved the rest of his force North to meet with Alan. 2 of Stephens bttns and the battery are tasked with taking the farm.
The rest of Stephens force are tasked with holding Rob off and awaiting reinforcements. Austrian Hussars have charged a French bttn, who formed square, the Hussars then retiring and the skirmishing Grenz have advanced to clsoe range to shoot them up…the Hussars staying within 12 inches which pins the square…and the Grenz close enough to them that the French cavalry cannot charge the Grenz.
Alan deploys to face Robert’s approach.
OMG! Robert charged straight in…Alan rolled APPALLINGLY badly … a theme that would continue all game….even a change of dice did not help.
Rubbing salt into the wound Robert sent lancers into the flank of Alans last bttn after disposing of his cavalry.
Down south Rob is deploying to face Stephen …Rob was unable to get his 2 bttns south of the village to move…lucky break for the Austrians.
Fortunately for Alan his reserve formation of 5 large bttns and a battery now advanced on to the table over the remains of the Avante Garde brigade.
Stephen had his reserve of a Grenadier brigade march onto the table,,.. so I personally took control of the French reinforcements of 6 bttns and a battery who rolled to arrive on the South Road. I decided to move them to a central position and support both Robert and Rob as necessary.
Hmmm…..Alan has charged Robert…then deployed a bttn in line…masking his guns…….
The reserve Austrian Grenadiers advancing…lovely metal Front Rank figures….ladz were telling me current Figures purchased from the new providers of Front Rank metals are not great(okay…I have toned down the comment ….with the cost of postage to this neck of the world you want a decent casting!). 3D printer anyone………
My brigade continues to advance…..good shooting from the attack columns shakes the Hussars who moved to attempt a block.
Alan, if he lives is now being transferred to an Austrian Village on the Turkish borderlands…..he lost the combat….both the attacking unit and support decided to head home…..his unit in line fluffed its shooting and is soon to be heading home as well.
The stalemate between Rob and Stephen continues in the South.
Soo we called the game at that stage…Robert has cleaned out both Alans brigades….he was quite damaged…but still operational…he was holding Stephen off in his farm, it was a stalemate in the South but there were sufficient French on the table to force Stephen to retire.
A French win was called. Robert’s very aggressive attack coupled with Alans real bad dice rolls made for an interesting encounter.
Played a 4 player game at Hutt Valley Club with French v Russo/Prussians.
I organized the sides to be roughly equal on numbers as a new player, David was having his second game of Black Powder. Sadly David had some problems on his farm and couldn’t make it on the day. So rather than assist David, I filled in on the French side with Rob, Goldie had his Prussians and Mike was playing Russians for I believe the first time.
The Allied set up on North side of a stream, they had a couple of villages and some field fortifications to hide behind. Below is some of the Russian set up.
View down the table. Rob commanded the French right and in view of Goldies Prussian being mainly Landwehr suggested the plan was Rob attacks and I hold the Russians attention.
So Rob attacked on turn 1. Not quite what I had in mind, but, Go Rob!
I did a more sedate skirmishing advance on a village.
Hmmm….so Robs attack was an initial draw coupled with some extinction events on both sides, but Rob eventually did the deed on the landwehr. French heavies move up in support.
View from Mikes side towards my French.
I tried to get a skirmish line up to close range on the Jager…also skirmishing..to avoid the Russian artillery doing to much damage on me…it failed.
Cavalry attacks going in. Its looking good for Rob at this stage!
Missing Prussian units…others damaged……but heavies have taken punishment.
Back on other flank…French skirmish screen has taken a battering …so columns have burst through them to charge and drive off the skirmishing Jager and then carry on into the columns behind them…only…we didn’t make it…and instead decided to be target practice for Russian batteries. Being the gentleman I am(well..sometimes) I helped Rob with advice on how to beat up my French(I never play French…normally Russian..or Austrian…even Dutch before French!)
At same time the columns were meant to be engaging Russian infantry…behind this battery was a brigade of light cavalry…who were meant to charge the battery in the distance…..die in the attempt…allowing the now unloaded battery to be ridden down by the next French cavalry unit…..sadly…..no one wanted to … and rolls and re rolls just failed…and failed….and…..I need a drink….
In centre…. it was shooting..and shooting…..
View of other occupied village… a tough nut to crack frontally hence Rob’s flanking movement. Goldie has Dragoons and horse battery stationed in reserve in center.
Robs attack stalled as his cavalry commander blundered and retired…..the horse battery got shot up and popped…..and attacks could just not get going……its one of those days….
Russian horse battery has now deployed so the plan of charging the foot battery is now over and with the damage was taking…I decided to retire from the field.
In center…French skirmishers finally managed to get moving and stormed across stream to enfilade the defending troops on the field fortifications…with supporting columns to retire behind if needed,,,and brigade of heavies ready to assist. But its all to late…..
The Rob v Goldie duel and Rob has just taken to much damage to push Goldie back.
So we called it an Allied victory as they still held the villages…and looked to have a superior position overall.
Now when we visited Christchurch recently, my better half got all carried away and bought a bottle of whisky for me. She liked the name…no other reason….how can you resist buying a bottle of ‘Firkin Whisky;…just say it a few times after a tasting….it grows on you.
Found a review : ‘They say quality counts, and this dram has our number! This is a seriously sensational whisky. The elegance of Linkwood, one of Speyside’s finest, marries perfectly with the glorious earthy oak and Madeira richness & raisin spice. Brilliantly rich and fruity notes complement the hint of toasty oak with exceptional balance. This dram lingers like a summer lover, complete with a lovely tingle of spicy oak.’
We played a Montmirail 1814 refight at the Hutt Club which was designed for 6 players , however on the day sadly we had 2 no shows so we ended up with Goldie and I being Allied players and Rob and Russ the French.
The table was 15 foot x 6 foot with the Russians set up on the Western side of table and deployed on the Southern half of the table. The Prussians to arrive on turn 2 from the North.
The French would arrive from the East with locations/turns on their Orbat
Being 1 player down I took on playing the Russian force of 24 bttns, 6 cavalry regts and 4 batteries. I was going to be exhausted!! Goldie had the Prussians of 4 cavalry and 12 foot. Their artillery was bogged down back up the road.
The French Orbat is an impressive list of units! I never quite got my head around it totally…but Rob was Marmont, Rob also had the Division of the Middle Guard and also started with the Young Guard cavalry but as the game developed Russ took over. He also had Ney. Russ had the Old Guard Cavalry, Old Guard infantry and the artillery and absorbed the Young Guard cavalry as well plus Napoleon and Lefebrve!
Now having far more units than I normally command I was very much focused on my sector and neglected to get pictures of other parts o the battle so up front apologies for that.
The Russian cavalry was placed on the open left flank.
Beside the cavalry I had a strong defensive position with a wood, a gap and then a 3 defensive zone village.
Then on the other side of the village there was another open gap to swamp with a wood to my front. I figured I should be able to defend this!
French Guard cavalry advance onto the table.
The view of the arriving French. From the top to bottom they are: 2 divisions of Conscripts to the front, Middle Guard advancing up road, Old Guard to Northside of road, Garde d’Honner with the Conscripts, Young Guard cavalry then Old Guard cavalry with a horse battery. The 2 Guard batteries were off table.
In my turn I managed to move my Dragoons and Hussars out of charge targeting by the French except for the Cossacks who declined to move. Idiots. Thankfully the French were a bit confused and didn’t manage to contact them.
Rob threw his conscripts forward, I forced one into square by charging them with Dragoons, and then charging them with a column and moving the skirmishing Cossacks up as a support. It took a few combats but eventually the square popped.
So Goldie arrived from the North. He moved his 4 cavalry on….not any infantry. So 2 Dragoons and 2 Landwher cavalry marched on just so they could give Russ the pleasure of introducing his massed Guard cavalry to them.
Rob spent the day shooting up the village but without any artillery he had no show of kicking me out of 3 defensive zones. I plugged the gap with a battery supported by 3 columns and held 2 bttns Jager in reserve. My Hussars and Dragoons were behind them. From the wood to the table edge was another brigade of a battery..4 Musketeer bttns and 2 Jaeger bttns.
After several turns of a cavalry massacre for the French this was the situation. Notice the lack of Prussian cavalry.
Meanwhile in the centre the Middle Guard have entered the fray and I have tried the cavalry to front, form square and charge in a column combo again. Sadly, Middle Guard are tougher proposition.
After taking out the Prussian cavalry a unit of Guard lancers was flank on to my Hussars who managed to get a ‘Follow me’ into them. They destroyed the Lancers and carried on into the Horse Grenadiers but did not destroy them. I then rallied them back to face the Horse artillery that would now rock up and destroy them. I figured it was a worthy sacrifice in the scheme of things. Some Cossacks had wandered over to guard their flank and offer support. They would soon be destroyed.
Back in the centre another Dragoon charge has forced another Middle Guard into square so they could be charged by a column. Rob then started deploying the same tactic on me!
Prussian infantry march on face the Guard cavalry with the Old Guard infantry closing in.
My Cossack commander admiring the Guard Horse artillery, presume he is trying to locate his troops.
Hmmm… Old Guard v Prussian landwehr…surprisingly they actually did okay and shook some units according to Goldie.
Lovely paint job as ever Russ.
Sadly my camera played up…the light gets dodgy in the hall in the afternoon and the pictures from this flank were to blurry. But I had taken the flank wood…. put batteries either side of it and was moving 8 undamaged bttns forward supported by Dragoons. Below is final part of turn…Dragoons forced a square and 2 columns hit it…French survived!
So in the end the Prussians were destroyed but the Russians were largely untouched with only the Cossacks and 1bttn destroyed. So being as biased as ever…its a draw leaning towards an Allied victory!
Be nice to try it again but make the villages smaller as those huge buildings of Goldies really dominate the table. Rob was never going to take the village without any artillery but there was no room for him maneuver around it. Equally in the North send the Prussian infantry on first…..then the cavalry behind it so the infantry has opportunity to form firing lines supported by the cavalry…who knows …I might then venture out from cowering in my corner and attack the French!
So after the game I rushed home, showered and headed into the Central City for the night as the neighbors in hill above us had left a wee note in the letterbox advising a daughter was having an 18th birthday party and it would be loud(ouR other neighbor’s report it was VERY LOUD). So we evacuated to the Sofitel….had a lovely room….. they gave us an upgrade…we went and dined at a lovely restaurant while watching our local Football team on the screen and retired back to our room where I had a tasty whisky and was asleep….early!
The tasty whisky is the Oban 14 which I enjoy when staying at a Sofitel/Novotel Hotel.
Tasting notes are:
Palate Smoky, creamy palate with notes of marmalade, toffee apples and pear cider. A development of cloves comes late palate. Finish A long, malty finish with toasty oak and spice. Overall A true classic, Oban’s 14 year old is a great coastal dram for lovers of lightly smoked, fresh malts.
As ever I really don’t taste all that…all I know that after a tiring week…and a tiring game….it was the perfect way to end a good day. I will be buying a bottle soon.
Tuesday was our National holiday here in New Zealand so Goldie suggested a game at his place. So we played a Napoleonic Game using our Black Powder points system. It was set at 200 points which is what Goldie can field his Prussians as. I took along Russians.
Below is Goldies Prussian point list
Below is my Russian point list. I upgraded the Jager to Reliable for reasons that will explain in report(apart from having the points spare!)
Below is my Russian set up. My force was divided into 4 brigades. This was a standard Russian division of 3 brigades with 2 being of 4 Musketeers EACH and the 3rd of 4 Jager. I upgraded the Jager to Reliable/Elite 5+ so they could be ordered on CC9 instead of 8 and have a change of rallying from a Disorder before the order phase if disordered. The 2 Musketeer brigades each had an artillery battery. The last brigade was of 2 Hussar units which allowed me a free Cossack unit(under our army system rules).
Goldies Prussians had a brigade of 2 Dragoons, a brigade of 2 landwehr cavalry, a brigade of 2 Grenadiers, a Jager, horse battery and Leib Hussars then a brigade of 6 landwehr. A foot battery was in there somewhere as well!
Terrain was a village( 1 defensive zone) in center of table, woods either side of it and a farm on one table edge with a couple of small hills in the Russian side of table.
I managed to just beat the Prussians into the village.
Goldie takes a gamble and charged Landwehr cavalry into my right side of table battery. My battery gets 4 shots, hitting on 3s with hits having a -2 effect on saving throws. The cavalry save on 5+ so they have no saving throw. Any unsaved hits while charging artillery result in an automatic break test from closing fire. That plus the unsaved hits and a poor break test roll from Goldie meant the unit and its attached commanders were destroyed. Being marauders the remaining unit does not suffer any brigade morale test.
A good start for me!
As I beat Goldie to possession of the village he threw in Grenadiers with supports to try and take the village. I managed to disorder them by my closing fire which is great result as now they need 4s and not 3s to hit in combat. I manage to hold in the combat.
Goldie had placed his horse battery on his left flank….he then ordered it to move to the centre. Sadly, that move was only partially successful and they ended up flank on just past the woods. So I dutifully charged them with Hussars…..destroyed them and continued a ‘Sweeping Advance’ into a stationary Dragoon unit. I managed 3 wounds so they were now shaken. Goldie did 2 on me and I retired. Another good result.
Shaken Dragoons looking at Russians in distance.
On other flank I had managed to get a unit of skirmishing Jager around the farmhouse that Goldie had a Landwehr unit in and put 3 shots into the Leib Hussars who were now shaken.
I did this so they were not available to charge me when I moved my Jager’s in skirmish formation through the open terrain between the farmhouse and Village.
Poor dice rolling by Goldie meant the attacking Grenadiers lost the continuing Village combat and were destroyed when failed the break test. The other units did not care.
The undamaged Dragoon unit charged a column I had advanced to the edge of the woods who passed their test to form square and the Dragoons retired. With no artillery on this flank and infantry busy attacking the village…there was no risk to them….there were Prussian Jager in the wood…but they had been forced out.
Between the farmhouse and village I have moved up 2 skirmishing Jager units supported by columns. This was so I could move forward with a skirmishing line and shoot up and hopefully destroy the Prussian battery next turn with no fear of cavalry now interfering.
The Jager who shot up the Leib are retiring back towards their lines. The troops in the farmhouse were unable to inflict any damage on them.
Skirmishing Russian Jager have advanced on Prussian battery and shaken it from shooting. Hussars are now positioning for charge on Prussian landwehr column next turn…which will form square…the Hussars will retire and the Column with then charge the now formed square. If they don’t manage to get charges in…there is a battery positioned to damage the column and 2 Jager units will be positioned to shoot it.
I have moved a second unit up to block the gap between the wood and village.
On Prussian left the Prussian Jager have been pushed out of the wood, my artillery have disordered and put 2 wounds on the surviving landwehr cavalry and a unit of Cossacks are poised to charge them .
Goldie made another attempt to attack the village..it failed and we called that game as a Russian Victory.
Fun game…….Goldie had some poor dice rolls at critical times…..but charging into a village when your artillery has not caused any wounds or disordered the troops inside is always a risky task. Taking out his Horse artillery and stopping the turn 1 charge on one of my batteries was a great step in winning the game.
The Whisky of the day is the Aberlour 16.
This was another Xmas present.
I won’t bother with tasting notes….except to say it has won multi awards and deservedly so!
The comment I found online pretty much sums this one up.
‘A fruity and spicy release from Aberlour, this 16 year old has been matured in a combination of sherry butts and first-fill bourbon casks. Jim Murray scored it 94.5/100 in his 2015 Whisky Bible, describing it as ‘a malt of unbridled magnificence’.
Go Goldie messages on a Friday, wanting a game Saturday at the Hutt club…..somehow 4 of us managed to make it……and Goldie was still messaging me at 11.48pm about the game…..me only being awake thanks to some noisy neighbor’s boys music!
So Goldies plan was for a meeting engagement where we played down the table…objective to control a crossroads in centre of table(I say centre…but it was a centre on the allied side!)
Goldie(Prussians) and Robert(Dutch/Hanoverians) were Allies and Rob and I were French. Below is Rob advancing onto table…up road with 2 brigade’s of foot and a 2 unit cavalry brigade. I advance on once they are on table. All arrive up the road.
Allied cavalry advances. They similarly advance up the road.
Very early on and French Lancers and Prussians Dragoons fight it out. Thankfully Prussians did not win…or some guns and infantry units would be in peril.
Roberts Hanoverians advance onto table…..I think this was their first battle…which we all know is often fated to be a disaster.
Bit further on Prussians are at crossroads….but some French Lancers are now fighting Prussian Landwehr cavalry…normally you would go ,’ We know who’s not going to win that!’. However, the French were shaken already and could not counter charge…..the perfect target for Landwehr cavalry!
French Legere take out the Prussian battery at crossroads.
So each player had 3 brigades… 2 foot and 1 cavalry…in the belief the table would get to crowded, I subbed in a brigade of Guard cavalry for my 2nd infantry brigade and also the cavalry brigade. Points wise about the same…and they are much prettier!
Robert checking how the advance of his Hanoverians is going…….my infantry were lining a hedgerow waiting the onslaught of 2 brigades!
Robs French advance on the crossroads and hold the wood as Goldies Prussians, who were a bit tardy…finally arrive.
Ahhh…tis a glorious sight……..Goldies Grenadiers had advanced to crossroads….but got themselves shaken…..and were still shaken in our turn…so I sent the Empress Dragoons in…..the 2 dice with ones are Goldie form square…they fail to form square and are disordered….it just gets better and better.
View from behind…..lots of Allied units are now on the field of battle.
Oopys..after combat dice rolls…..I had 8 hits on the Grenadiers…..Goldie needed 3’s to save them…below is the sad tale…..so that’s them gone.
The other Grenadier unit decided to high tail it home as well…and the Empress Dragoons retired on Rob’s French lines.
Goldie now threw his landwehr into the woods and charged square on the side of the wood…his cavalry had previously charged them and forced them into square. It often takes 2 or 3 turns for the attacking column to take out the square in this situation…and so it was again.
Roberts shooting has forced me to withdraw my damaged and outnumbered infantry back from the hedge line into the woods.
It took several turns before Goldie was able to push Rob out of the wood….but he had a strong line with artillery ready for Goldie.
View from behind Roberts advancing troops…Dutch on the left and the Hanoverians on the right…in distance Rob has a battery on the road…I have a Guard battery on hedge line and infantry in the woods with a unit of Guard D’Honner cavalry on the edge of woods.
Ahem….open flanks…I keep talking about open flanks…..I had attempted this charge my turn before…but was agreed I was not quite positioned for a flank charge…so I moved them so was. Robert attempted to move the Dutch up to cover the exposed flank, but..well…they are Dutch…they didn’t want to move that far…so the Hanoverian flank was still exposed….so I charged it with ‘The Gods’.
I destroyed the 5 units below.
I then carried on into these guys….managed 11 hits…but these lads were made of sterner stuff and held on!
So we called the game.. I think was a French victory. Lots of lessons…..exposed flanks….artillery are weak if in front line and exposed…etc
Fun game though…and its always a delight to use the French Guard cavalry…big, heavy metal Front Rank figures and Goldie did a wonderful paint job on them!
Onto the Whisky of the Week!
Now my favorite whisky of them all is a 500ml wee beauty from Edradour which is simply called ‘Straight from the Cask’ which sadly I currently do not have and am awaiting a resupply!. However, they do make a similar dram under another label, the ‘Ballechin SFTC’. So I treated myself to this for Xmas.
Tasting Notes are:
Nose Smoked meats and honey roasted nuts, with a hint of milk chocolate coming through later on.
Palate Juicy sultanas and raisins, with more meaty malt and smoke developing.
Finish Sea salt, chocolate mousse, and brown sugar.
I must admit to being a wee bit underwhelmed as was expecting a powerful hit of Sherry Goodness as well as the 58.0% alcohol…but this one is a more Peaty than Sherry dram. It is still quite tasty…but pales to the Edradour SFTC.
So I was celebrating a birthday and Goldie decided to host a game at his place in my honor…how cute!
Goldie chose the game to be a Dresden 1813 refight. The set up and orbats are below.
The French right flank forces are below. John came down from Auckland for the game and bought his lovely French heavy cavalry with him. Steve T. pulled out at last minute so John got be Mortier as well as Murat. Opposite him is Stephen as Gyulai.
More Allied commanders from right to left Keith(Wittgenstein), Alan(Kleist) and Graham(Hessen-Homburg).
Allied left flank(Stephen).
Turn 1 and Robert(St Cyr) had charged his Uhlans forcing Graeme to form square. In our turn Graeme then charged them with Hussars…risky as the French have pointy stick advantage. Thankfully no one won and they both withdrew damaged.
This sight had me lamenting…loudly…the rain rule which allowed cavalry to charge squares if it was raining…Goldie threw for rain…….there were accusations of foul play as dice roll was not seen…..that was me of course…..the right hand unit failed to form square so fights disordered…a better result than forming square.
The Dice Gods are not on Johns side…..he needed 3’s to hit…..he got 4 out of 10…he then lost the combat and withdrew. Gorgeous!!
A look down the flank…..the initial French attack is repelled. I have moved Grenadiers up to line the riverbank and Graeme has moved his Grenz into the Village.
Metal Front Rank Grenadiers jeering at the plastic French Cuirassiers.
In centre PaulW who was over from Vanuatu had his reserve cavalry arrive on table…6 Russian Cuirassiers, 4 Guard infantry and 4 recalcitrant Grenadier bttns who refused for several turns to arrive. I suspect in protest at Paul leading them and not me…I am their normal commander. In front of them are Alans Prussians advancing in line…yes line…its 1813….I didn’t think Prussians knew what a line was then…..its a COLUMN Alan…a COLUMN.
On the right Keithy has it sorted. A skirmish line…supported by columns…with artillery and then pointy stick cavalry. Was a thing of Beauty.
Frenchie’s rush reinforcements to this flank…..Rob and Russ with his Guard cavalry ready for action. Any French Guard losses count as a Division…and the Division lost counts as a Corp.
Roberts conscripts were skulking in the walled gardens…the perfect spot for them. Especially when musket fire from LINES are not really going to hurt them.
Skirmisher fight starting in woods.
His cavalry having failed him….John throws his Young Guard in.
Prussian Cuirassiers take on French Guard Lancers….the Lancers are destroyed. Russ replaced his dice.
More French have lost.
To be honest…so much was happening I can’t recall what happened here….but imagine was not good for the Prussians. The must have failed to form square so fight disordered.
The other Guard unit is gone.
A bit further on…and…no French Guard cavalry……Russ replaced his dice a couple of times…..there are 8 Allied Cuirassier units over here…and 3 pointy stick units.
Graeme blunted his Austrian Division clearing the front of Dresden and I handed over the reserve division to him to do more carnage and then allow the Russian Grenadiers to take Dresden. There tardiness let us down.
Alan is now skirmishing in front of the walls. Supported by…LINES.
An out of sequence shot…..but shows some good fights.
Dear oh dear…John charged a battery to take it out and carry on and hit the shaken columns behind…hopefully destroying one and causing some tests……but the dice Gods really deserted him…his Cuirassiers were shaken going in…as was from artillery doing closing fire…had to perform a break test and…failed…popped and the Division Commander died with them..HEROIC!
I could have sat my Grenadiers behind the river and shot Johns cavalry all day…but where’s the fun in that for John…he had come all this way…… so I headed over and attacked his infantry…expectation of being destroyed eventually…but it would stop him retiring cavalry back across Dresden to help the other flank.
Stephen has lost his 2 infantry division’s,,,rain does that to you……so he had 2 Hussar units left so he charged French Cuirassiers……and…won!
Keithy moved his Landwher Cavalry over to block our side of the river and the Russian Grenadiers can at last be seen advancing to the right of the village.
Robert threw his last light cavalry regiment into blunt the infantry advance making them form square. I retaliated with Cuirassiers…the French lost. Grenadiers and artillery are moving up.
To the right we have Austrians forming for another attack…the Prussian guns are about to move into the gap in the front. A couple of turns of arillery from the 4 batteries and then 12 bttns will charge in! Oh for another hour……….
French still hold the Gardens..I don’t even think they got charged…but Rob has a solid force supporting it.
End of game on right…Russian Guard are advancing into the Fray. Keiths infantry are behind them rallying casualties.
So that was Dresden 2023. Another couple of turns and I think Allies would have taken Dresden…….Goldie agreed was Allied Victory.I am sure he did…honest guys…..thanks to John and PaulW for coming and playing.
Time for the Whisky section of the tale…and what a Tale it is! Being my birthday weekend John and PaulW came out for dinner. My partner had slaved all day cooking and we had a superb Lamb Shanks meal accompanied by a wonderful Pinot Noir PaulW had ordered and had sent to my place.
Now PaulW and I enjoy a good Whisky tasting night…..where we taste …discuss the tasting…rate them…debate our scores…..play music and then move onto the next one. PaulW had been sending bottles to my place…I had some PaulW had not tried…Paul bought me the Glenrothes as a bday prezzie…..so we had…a few to taste….the list is below…I will rate them as future battles are discussed.
Cadenhead Glentauchers-Glenlivet 14years(Winner)
Bladnoch Liora
Glenmorangie Extremely Rare 18years
Glenrothes Elders Reserve 18 years
Arran Sherry Cask
Edradour in the Cask
Lagavulin 16 years
Laphroig 10 years
Bunnahabhain Toiteach A Dha
Caol Ila Distillers Edition
It was a great night……the ending was……I can’t recall it so it will just remain a mystery of legend!
terrysgaragegaming 