Slodka Woda Report

Rules: General de Brigade Deluxe

Turns: @14 Turns played

Time: 10:30am to 3:00pm

For once, trying something a bit different worked out pretty well...

Rolling for objectives provided a bit of mystery as each side wasn't quite sure what the other fellows were up to as our units began to maneuver. The Russians, it was later revealed, rolled a 2 and a 6 giving them the target of the hill on the French left side as well as the imaginary point in the center of our rear area. The French had to take the farm on our right wing and take the imaginary center point marker at the rear of the Russian lines from rolls of 2 and 5.

Prior to battle each side had used our point allotment to build the forces brought to battle. Both sides chose two batteries of artillery while the Russians added much more cavalry than the French could afford. The French had 1 more battalion of infantry. The French had this...

France

CiC = Free

2 batteries = 2 x 90 = 180

7 line infantry = 7x50 = 350

3 legere veteran = 3x72 = 216

1 Light Cavalry (12) veteran = 54

brigade general = 4x50 = 200

                            -----------------

                                     1000

GdD Lagrange

1^st Brigade  GdB Armonde

1 Bn Legere (Veteran)

3 Bn Ligne (Line)

2^nd Brigade GdB Bouchard

1 Bn Legere (Veteran)

2 Bn Ligne (Line)

1 Battery/3 Sections 8lb Foot Artillery (Line)

3^rd Brigade GdB Corbineau

1 Bn Legere (Veteran)

2 Bn Ligne (Line)

1 Battery/3 Sections 8lb Foot Artillery (Line)

Cavalry Brigade  GdB Desjardin

8^th Chasseurs a Cheval (Veteran) (12 Figures)

While the Russians had something like...

General

1st Brigade
3 Line Infantry

2nd Brigade
3 Line Infantry
1 Battery/4 Sections 8lb Foot

3rd Brigade
3 Line Infantry
1 Battery/4 Sections 8lb Foot

Heavy Cavalry Brigade
Dragoons (24 figures!!)

Light Cavalry Brigade
Uhlans (12 Figures)

With our objectives in mind, Gary led Corbineau's brigade to take possession of the Koza Farm. With no Russians there he was able to take it within a few turns. It took him a few turns because he neglected to use the Tactical March Rule that would have allowed him to take the farm in 1 to 2 turns with a rapid move. That would have allowed him to sweep around the Russian's left wing much more quickly.

Meanwhile, Armonde's and Bouchard's brigades moved forward with each soon deploying their artillery to pound the Russian infantry brigades to their front. The Russian 1st Brigade set itself to hold a line from the town to the hill while the 2nd Brigade, supported by that heavy cavalry(!), pushed against Armonde's troops. 

While that was going on, the Russian 3rd Brigade and Light Cavalry moved to threaten Armonde's left flank by setting up artillery on the road. This forced me to withdraw Armonde's units and allowed the Russian 2nd Brigade to move into the area between Slodka Woda and the woods on our left. A lengthy firefight ensued between Armonde and Russian 2nd Brigade while the Heavy Cavalry deployed as the Russian's "second line". As that was happening, the Russian 3rd Brigade moved through the woods and took the hill on our left. The Russian Light Cavalry continued to move further around our left wing.

Back in the center, Bouchard's artillery and skirmishers were shredding the Russian 1st Brigade while Corbineau finally got new orders that allowed him to push around our right wing and begin to add fire against the flagging Russian 1st Brigade. Soon, the Russian 1st Brigade began to suffer broken units and failed a Brigade Test. Unlucky from a French perspective, since the Russians retreated right onto our second victory location and quickly reformed.

On the left wing things were coming to a conclusion. Under a hail of musketry and artillery, one of the infantry battalions in Russian 2nd Brigade DISPERSED. Normally, this would be good news for the French! However, in this case it only opened up the hole that the Russians had been waiting for. The Russian Dragoons swept forward to win the day. But luck was with the Frenchmen, for a while, as the Russian cavalry twice failed to close due to the shockingly good fire fire the French poured into them. However, with a unit so large that it could absorb casualties and still be a threat, the Russians charged a third time and smashed Armonde's artillery and forced his infantry into squares. As this was occurring, Desjardin's horsemen were involved in a series of charges against the Russian 3rd Brigade and their Light Cavalry. These charges delayed the Russians for a while but Desjardin's troops were DISPERSED as a result. 

At this point the battle ended as a narrow Russian win because they had moved onto both victory points while the French had another 2 turns of work to do to take our second victory point.