Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Battle Report on Cadzand 1809

Date played: 6 February 2016
Rules: General de Brigade Deluxe
Turns: @14 Turns
Time: 10:00am to 3:00pm

General course of the battle

Mike and Jeff took command of the British forces with Jeff acting as overall commander (Huntly). I commanded the polyglot French force of Monnet. The British created a new cavalry brigade by putting the 12th Light Dragoons under the AdC Rosslyn. With the forces set out, the British quickly set off. 

A rapid general advance saw the British get into firing range very quickly. The only bright spot for Monnet's men was the exceedingly accurate counter-battery fire of the French Horse Artillery against the British Foot Battery. The British guns lost 1/3 of their strength soon after the battle opened. This caused the British artillery to linger far behind the infantry for the entire battle as the British did not want to lose what little artillery support that they had.

The brigades of Stewart and Alten arrived before the French lines first and opened a deadly fusillade of skirmish fire on Wagner's infantry. Soon after that, the British brigades of Dyott and Rice hit the French troops under Lawless. After scoring numerous hits with their first volleys, the British accuracy faded for much of the rest of the game. Below average dice rolling caused the British volleys to lose much of their sting.

Eventually, Mike was able to cross the ditches and launch a cavalry charge with the British Dragoons. They lost the combat with the French Dragoons and went streaming back throwing the British right wing into disarray. After sorting things out, the British again charged into melee with the KGL Hussars against the Dutch Hussars. Surprisingly, the Dutch Hussars repulsed the KGL horsemen and pushed them back too. 

The French brigades continued to blast away at the British lines inflicting casualties at a steady rate. Alten's British troops suffered heavy losses and had to pass a Brigade Test in order to remain on the field. Failing that test was probably the best chance for the French to score enough British losses to win the game - but the British passed the test.

Eventually, the superiority of the British side began to tell. French units began to crumble under the effects of heavy casualties. A British volley put the cavalry commander Maschek into a panic and he ran from the field (a 2 result on the DOUBLE SIX chart). A cavalry charge by the British 12th Light Dragoons smashed the remnants of Lawless's French brigade. Wagner's brigade was battered but holding firm. With the right flank turned, a leaderless cavalry brigade, and now significantly outnumbered the French troops began a withdrawal leaving the British as victors on the day.

French losses had been heavy, as expected, with the loss of @40% of their infantry lost. The French cavalry was still in good shape but left with no room to operate. The British had lost 29% of their force. Close to the 33% amount needed to trigger a British retreat that would have given victory to the French. This was a tense battle as mounting casualties influenced the actions of units on both sides. 

If anyone tries this scenario I would really like to hear how your game goes!

Scenario for Napoleonics Cadzand 1809

Here is the scenario for our most recent Napoleonic game. The original scenario comes from the EXCELLENT Battles For Empire (http://www.napoleonbooks.com/battles_for_empire.html) by James Arnold. I have modified it to fit with our preferred rules General de Brigade. Unit strengths and some command structures were modified to match up to our figure collections.

Cadzand Isle 2 August 1809

In July 1809 the British Navy transported 40,000 Army troops to land on the Dutch coast. This was an effort to drain French units away from the Austrian Campaign and to shatter the coastal defenses of this section of Napoleon's Empire. The expedition suffered from many obstacles and ultimately failed. Poor weather, difficult terrain, well sited defenses, and indecisive British leadership combined to rescue the unprepared French from defeat. Much of the British failure can be traced to Lord Huntley's slow advance on Antwerp. The key to a rapid advance was the French held defenses at Cadzand. Lord Huntley had deemed it impractical to even initiate an attack on Cadzand's Heavy Batteries due to unexpected French reinforcements. This failure to act quickly stalled the British drive on Antwerp and doomed the entire affair to failure.

Our scenario supposes the British assault on Cadzand is implemented in a timely manner. The British units are those actually slated for the attack with some small units combined for our rules. The Franco-Dutch forces are likewise amalgamations of units present at the island.

Terrain:

Flood Control Ditches – Minor obstacles treated as difficult terrain. All unit types may cross the ditches by paying the terrain penalty. No charge moves may cross a flood control ditch. No unit may finish its move in the flood ditch. There is no cover modifier for the ditches.

Woods – Difficult terrain per the book. These are sparse woods so sighting distance into/out of them is 6”. Woods offer a COVER -2 modifier.

Dike – The dikes are much like an earthwork for military purposes. Dikes offer a HARD COVER -4 modifier against musketry and artillery. Dikes cannot be reduced within the time frame of this game.

Village – The village can hold up to 1 battalion of 24 figures. The village gives a HARD COVER -4 modifier against gun fire.

Redoubts – The redoubts are treated as HARD COVER -4 to their front but offer no cover to attack from the open rear face.

Roads – Due to the sandy soil and frequent flooding, there are no roads of any military benefit.

Victory:

The British must capture Breskens Naval Batteries with no more than 33% casualties. Figures counted as dead or routed are the only ones who count towards the 33% condition. When Lord Huntly determines that his force has suffered 33% casualties then he will immediately call a retreat as he cannot risk so much of his force. The French can disregard casualties as far victory conditions are concerned.






Lord Huntly's Contingent

General Huntly (Poor)
ADC Lt General Lord Rosslyn (AVG)


Light Division
1st Brigade General Stewart (Excellent)
Regiment
Strength
Rating
Skirmish
43rd
24
VET
1st RATE
52nd
24
ELITE
1st RATE
95th
16
ELITE
1st RATE

2nd Brigade General Alten (Excellent)
Regiment
Strength
Rating
Skirmish
1st KGL Light
24
LINE
1st RATE
2nd KGL Light
24
LINE
1st RATE

Cavalry Brigade General Linsingen (AVG)
Regiment
Strength
Rating
Skirmish
3rd Dragoons
12
VET
N/A
12th Light Dragoons
12
VET
N/A
2nd KGL Hussars
12
VET
N/A

1st Infantry Division
1st Brigade General Dyott (AVG)
Regiment
Strength
Rating
Skirmish
6th
24
VET
N/A
50th
24
VET
N/A
91st
24
VET
N/A

2nd Brigade General Rice (Excellent)
Regiment
Strength
Rating
Skirmish
9th
24
VET
N/A
38th
24
VET
N/A
42nd
24
VET
N/A

6lb Foot Artillery
3 Sections
VET
N/A



Monnet's Defenders

General Louis Monnet (AVG)
2 AdC (?)

1st Brigade Col. Wagner (Excellent)
Regiment
Strength
Rating
Skirmish
4th Dutch Infantry
24
LINE
N/A
5th Dutch Infantry
2 Bns of 24 each
LINE
N/A
1st National Guard
24
LINE
N/A
2nd National Guard
24
2nd LINE
N/A
3rd National Guard
24
2nd LINE
N/A


2nd Brigade Capt. William Lawless (Excellent)
Regiment
Strength
Rating
Skirmish
Veterans Guard
24
LINE
N/A
3rd Foreign Regiment (IRISH)
24
LINE
N/A
4th Foreign Regiment (PRUSSIAN)
24
Conscripts
N/A
Provisional Battalion
24
Conscripts
N/A
Naval Artificers/Gendarmes
24
Conscripts
N/A


Cavalry Brigade General Maschek (AVG)
Regiment
Strength
Rating
Skirmish
2nd Dutch Hussars
12
VET
N/A
Dragoons de Marche
12
LINE
N/A
Hussars de Marche
12
LINE
N/A


4lb Horse Artillery
3 Sections
VET
N/A


Map of initial deployments


Pictures