Monday, April 23, 2012

Alpine Battle

Track of movements


We played the latest scenario on Saturday April 21st. For a change of pace, each side noted their deployment on a map before revealing our arrangements to our foes. The fact that the table was so divided made for 3 separate "little" battles. The arrangements made for some interesting match ups as the Austrians poured their infantry into the center while the French had infantry brigades on the left wing and in the center. This deployment scheme left the French left (Girard) facing all of the Austrian light cavalry (Fulda) while all of the French light cavalry (Pages) and the French Dragoons (Etoquigny) were on the right wing facing a lone Austrian Dragoon regiment (Altensteig). I commanded the French brigades of Pages, Etoquigny, and Six while Carl led Girard's troops. Mike had the pleasure(?) of leading all of the Austrian side.

Each side set up within on move of the village so it came down to the first initiative throw to determine attackers and defenders. As the French won the initiative on the first turn, General de Brigade Six led a battalion into Tollo while the rest of the brigade moved to either side of town to prevent the Austrians from flanking the town and hitting it from multiple sides. Turn 2 saw the first Austrian charge into Tollo in an effort to oust the French troops. The Austrian dice were unkind and Salamon's Grenadiers failed to carry through with their charge. Unlucky dice for the Austrians was a recurring theme throughout the day as Mike continued to roll miserably low rolls at key moments.

Soon the Austrians sorted themselves out and charged into the village and threw the French troops out. In quick succession the French charged back in with another battalion led by GdB Six. The French were once more masters of the village after a fierce melee sent the Austrians packing. Quickly, the French line infantry in Tollo took up defensive positions at the edge of town and began trading shots with the Austrians. It was around this time that GdB Six was captured by the Austrians after an unfortunate moment of panic. The Austrians rolled a double six which led to a roll on the Risk to General table. The dice roll on that chart gave the result that GdB Six was startled by a near miss and galloped for safe cover but wound up galloping into the Austrian's hands. That left our old friend Crappet to take over the command of the brigade in the center.

As all of that nonsense was unfolding in Tollo things were moving in fits and starts out on the wings. On the French left wing the Austrian light cavalry launched a set of charges that forced Girard into square and, improbably, took out the French artillery. this left Girard to try and move towards the center with his battalions in square while the Austrian Uhlans waited for another chance to charge them. The loss of the French guns left the left wing stale-mated.

On the French right wing the two French cavalry brigades moved out looking to engage the lone Austrian Dragoon regiment on that wing. As they advanced, the French Dragoons of d'Etoquigny peeled off and moved towards the center in order to prevent Austrian infantry from moving past the village. The light horsemen of Pages continued to advance and launched a charge on the Austrian Dragoons as soon as they reached charge range. In a series of melees spread over a few turns the Chassuers hacked down the Austrian Dragoons and destroyed the unit. Once they had reformed, the Chassuers began to move around the ridge to try and get at the rear of the masses of Austrians in the center of the battlefield. Soon, Pages horsemen encountered the Austrian artillery which immediately began to bombard them at long range. Apparently, this was more than the cavalrymen had bargained for (both regiments failed morale tests BADLY) so they headed back to the scene of their win over the Austrian horsemen to look for trophies.

Meanwhile, the fight for Tollo raged on as the Austrians retook the village and dispersed the battalion of the 23 Line that was holding the village. Time was winding down and the Austrians now held the key to victory. In desperation, Crappet led a battalion of the 22 Legere in a charge that once more seized the village for the French. Now, with only a few turns left to play, the Austrians organized for one more charge. When the last turn arrived, 2 battalions of Austrians under Mansfeld assaulted the town. The dice roll showed they had no stomach for it as both of the columns could not pass the test to close into melee. With that, it was over.

It was a close battle with the French winning, more by luck than skill, as they held the village at the end. The Austrians dished out heaps of casualties when they got to shoot or melee but they could not pass a morale test. This left many Austrian units in disorder throughout the battle and that prevented the more numerous Austrians from simply swamping the French around the village.

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Next Scenario: Alpine Advance

Here is a copy of the proposed scenario for our next game of Napoleonics. As always, it will be played in 28mm using General de Brigade. Please note that this is a fictional encounter and is designed more to be "an even fight" than anything else. On Saturday we will see about that!




Encounter near Tarvisio 1809


1915 Postcard of Tarvisio


 This fictional scenario supposes more aggressive action by the Austrians as Eugene’s Franco-Italian Corps pushed northward in May 1809. The seizure of Tarvisio, the Storming of the Malborghetto Blockhouse, and the Storming of the Predil Blockhouse opened the way for the French to attack into Austria’s Carinthia territory. Our scenario has the Austrians striking a portion of Eugene’s army prior to it arriving at the town of Tarvisio. The main goal here was to provide a small scenario to be completed in a short time.


The terrain will effectively divide each army into 3 sections and create command/control difficulties.

Terrain Notes:
The Hamlet of Tollo will hold 1 battalion of 24 figures and counts as COVER -2

The Hills are SEVERE TERRAIN and thus impassable to artillery and cavalry and very disruptive to formed infantry units

The Woods are DIFFICULT TERRAIN

The Roads offer x2 speed for units in MARCH COLUMN that spend the entire move on the roads


Objective Notes:
We will add up points to determine a victor (or loser, if you are like me)

1. The cross-roads hamlet of Tollo is the key terrain objective and is worth 10 points

2. Each side is seeking to destroy or rout more than one enemy brigade. Each destroyed brigade is worth 5 points

3. Each enemy general killed or colors taken is worth 5 points

4. Each enemy battalion/cavalry regiment destroyed or dispersed is worth 3 points

5. Enemy artillery destroyed is worth nothing

Set up Notes:
Each side will have 3 set up areas (A, B, and C for Austrians) (D, E, and F for French) that must contain 1 brigade when the battle opens. Most likely, that will leave 1 extra brigade for each side to deploy into any of the 3 set up areas.

French Forces
Division Durutte: General of Division Pierre François Joseph Durutte
 AdC is CdDB Crappet


1st Brigade: GdB Six
22nd Light Infantry Regiment (2 Battalions) ELITE 1st CLASS SK
23rd Line Infantry Regiment (3 battalions) VETERAN

2nd Brigade: GdB Girard
62nd Line Infantry Regiment (3 battalions) LINE
Foot battery 6-pound battery (6 guns) VETERAN

Brigade: General of Brigade François Guerin d'Etoquigny
7th Dragoon Regiment (4 squadrons) VETERAN

Brigade: General of Brigade Joseph Pagès
6th Chasseurs à Cheval Regiment (4 squadrons) VETERAN
8th Chasseurs à Cheval Regiment (4 squadrons) VETERAN

Austrian Forces

VIII Armeekorps: Feldmarschall-Leutnant Albert Gyulai
AdC Oberst Roche

Brigade: General-Major Hieronymus Karl Graf von Colloredo-Mansfeld
Strassoldo Infantry Regiment Nr. 27 (2 battalions) VETERAN
Saint-Julien Infantry Regiment Nr. 61 (2 battalions) VETERAN
Foot Battery 6-pound brigade battery (6 guns) VETERAN

Brigade: General-Major Anton Gajoli
Salamon Converged Grenadiers (1 battalion) ELITE
Franz Jellacic Infantry Regiment Nr. 62 (2 battalion) 32 Figures Each LINE
2nd Banal Grenz Infantry Regiment Nr. 11 (1 battalion) 2nd LINE 2nd CLASS SK

Brigade: Oberst Wilhelm von Fulda
Ott Hussar Regiment Nr. 5 (4 squadrons) VETERAN
Hohenzollern Chevau-léger Regiment Nr. 2 (4 squadrons) VETERAN

Brigade: General-Major Johann Hager von Altensteig
Savoy Dragoon Regiment Nr. 5 (4 squadrons) VETERAN



Monday, April 09, 2012

Robinett Report

This was a short battle without much subtlety. The Battery area and the road had to be seized in order for the Confederates to claim victory. Preventing these goals would give the victory to the Union men. Mike (CSA Phifer), Eddie (CSA Cabell), and I (CSA Moore) played on the Confederate side. Our plan was to engage the our right flank, press in the center, and attempt to advance on our left wing. The Union brigades of Fuller and Doyle were commanded by Gary while Carl directed the troops in Pohl's brigade. Their plan appeared to be "cling to the walls and fences" at all costs.

The battle went as scripted, more or less, with Cabell moving a firing line against Pohl's Union troops and remaining there for the duration of the engagement. Moore's Confederates engaged Battery Robinett with skirmishers as the heavy guns of the battery repeatedly ripped holes in their thinned lines. Meanwhile, Doyle's Federals were slowly ground down by the very accurate fire of Phifer's Confederates. Without support from other brigades on their respective sides, Phifer's and Doyle's fight became the deciding factor in the battle. It was as if the two armies were ready to sit back and watch the struggle from across the stream.

In the end, Mike's "hotter" dice allowed the Elite troops in Phifer's brigade to maximize their advantage on Doyle's Federal troops. Once the 50 Illinois left the field, after falling below 25% strength, and the other units withdrew from the fence line it was only a matter of time. Eventually, the remaining two regiments failed dispersal rolls and Doyle's brigade left the field. This left two battered Union brigades trying to hold the line. The guns of Battery Robinett had fallen silent @2:00pm as the gunners had been killed by infantry fire.

We played the entire game in @4 hours (11am to 3pm) and it was declared a minor Confederate victory as casualties would have compelled the Union to withdraw before they were overwhelmed by the Confederates.

Civil War Battle

Our most recent battle was a modified version of Paul D. Stevenson's scenario of Battery Robinett from Charge Magazine #12. His scenario was designed with Johnny Reb in mind while we play Guns at Gettysburg. Further, we don't have the variety of different sized units in our collections (YET!) that would match his suggested unit strengths. So, units were altered and/or combined to create the rosters that we used. The overall strengths were about the same, and the objectives were the same.

Sketchy map of the battle

Battery Robinett
at 
Corinth MS  October 1862

Confederate Units
BG D.H. Maury AVG
1 AdC

Moore’s Brigade BG  J.C. Moore (EXCELLENT)
42 Alabama
20
RM
1st Class SK
GREEN
15 Arkansas
20
RM
1st Class SK
VETERAN
23 Arkansas
20
RM
1st Class SK
VETERAN
35 Mississippi
20
RM
1st Class SK
VETERAN
2 Texas Sharpshooters
20
RM
Sharp Shooter Class SK
ELITE
Price’s Light Artillery
2 Sections
12lb Napoleon SB
NO
VETERANS

Phifer’s  Brigade BG C.W. Phifer
3 Arkansas Cav Dismounted
20
RM
1st Class SK
ELITE
6 Texas Cav Dismounted
20
RM
1st Class SK
ELITE with added +1 in melee for extra weapons
9 Texas Cav Dismounted
20
RM
1st Class SK
ELITE with added +1 in melee for extra weapons
Vance’s Artillery
2 Sections
12lb Napoleon SB
NO
VETERAN

Cabell’s Brigade BG W.L. Cabell
18 Arkansas
20
SB
2nd Class SK
VETERANS
19 Arkansas
20
SB
2nd Class SK
VETERANS
20 Arkansas
20
SB
2nd Class SK
REGULARS
21 Arkansas
20
SB
2nd Class SK
REGULARS






Battery Robinett
at 
Corinth MS  October 1862

Notes:

Stream is DIFFICULT TERRAIN but “fordable” everywhere along its length. Artillery may ford stream as long as it is limbered.

Woods are LIGHT WOODS/DIFFICULT TERRAIN. Units in Column or Skirmish move through woods with no penalties. Woods have sight distance of 6” and provide light cover/soft cover -1

Road gives columns a 50% move bonus if the unit stays on the road, in column, for the ENTIRE move

Tactical March gives columns who begin AND end a move further than 24” away from any formed enemy units a x2 move bonus (not to be combined with a road bonus)

Battery Robinett counts as COVER -2

Hasty Works/Fencing count as LIGHT COVER -1


Winning (or losing)
Federal Goals
1.       Control the Battery Robinett position
2.       Lose no more than 1 brigade to casualties or rout
3.       Control buildings to rear of battle line
4.       Maintain control of the Memphis Road into Corinth

Confederate Goals
1.       Control or destroy the Battery Robinett
2.       Lose no more that 1 brigade routed or destroyed
3.       Seize control of the Memphis Road into Corinth

Pictures