Bataille Empire - Game Report 15

French 1809 vs Austrians 1809

Kevin and I enjoyed the first 28mm Bataille Empire battle we clearly needed to revisit it. Given the period and armies I decided to invest in some mid European buildings for this battle. For this battle we diced for and received the encounter battle. In my case I deployed the Advance Guard Division on the right to secure the buildings and to hold the flank. The Corps Comd arrived with the Corps Artillery Reserve.

The Infantry Division arrived. Its Militia Regiments were broken down to deploy as detached skirmishers. While the Austrian Regiments formed column to move forward to attack.

The French were deployed as three small Infantry Divisions at this stage, each of two regiments supported by an 8lb battery.

The Advance Guard Division’s Cavalry regiment has deployed between the buildings to protect the flank from some interfering French Cavalry.

The Infantry Division has secured the first low hill and is now pressing on to the main French line of battle. The Advance Guard Division has further refused its right flank as the Cavalry regiment withdraw into reserve.

The French have forced one of the Grenzer Regiments of the Advance Guard Division to withdraw from a fire fight. However, their line remains intact. In the centre the Infantry Division Commander is waiting for orders from the Corps Commander.

The French counter-attack, and drive the Austrians from the hill they had secured, destroying two infantry regiments in the process. However, the left-hand regiment has pursued its French opponents and is continuing its advance while the remainder regroup. On the right the same Grenzer Regiment was broken by French fire and has withdrawn. On the left flank the arrival of the Austrian Light Cavalry Division has the potential to change the dynamics on the left flank.

In response to the threat posed by the Austrian Infantry that have broken though the French have withdrawn from the low hill.

While the Austrians consider whether they can exploit the breakthrough that they have made, and the French consider how to counter it.

The French have decided to launch a counter to the breakthrough and have formed column to charge in the flank against the breakthrough. The challenge for the Austrians is that they lack the command and control to be able to move forward in support of the Infantry Regiment on its own. Nor are the Advance Guard or the cavalry Divisions in any better state to help.

The regiment is on its own.

Outcome

From counting up the losses and objectives we believed that it was a Marginal French Victory. Another excellent game using 28mm.

Lessons Learnt

The jury is still out on the deployment of the Militia as detached skirmishers.

More attention to the terrain deployment rules, as the buildings were probably much too close together.

Austrian Command and Control is a severe challenge, I am not sure the large size of the Austrian Division was worthwhile.