French Curassiers

Started these before I went on holiday and managed to get them finished today. Two Dragoon Brigades and a Brigade of Carabiniers to follow

 

Kopperberg Woods, Muhlenau 1809

Bouyant after their victory over the Hapsburgers at Zellerode, the French have pursued the Austrians and have brought them to battle on favourable terms near the small village of Muhlenau.

In this second installment of the Play By Email 1809 Blucher campaign, a new opponent Paul kindly agreed to take up the reins and lead an Austrian Army.

The PBEM Scharnhorst phase took place over a week resulting in the French isolating a single Austrian Corps and bringing them to battle in a most vulnerable position.

Opposing Forces

French
I Corps {led by Beauharnais - Vigorous}
1x Elite Ligne Brigade
3x Ligne Brigades

II Corps {Drouot - Artillery Commander}
1x Elite Ligne Brigade
3x Ligne Brigades
1x massed Heavy Artillery Unit

III Corps {Poniatowski - Hero}
2x Polish Ligne Brigades
2x Ligne Brigades

IV Corps
4x Allied Infantry Brigades (Italian)

V Corps
5x Conscript Ligne Brigades

VI Corps
4x Light Cavalry Brigades

Austrian
I Corps
1x Avant Garde Brigade
1x Veteran Grenz Regiment
2x Veteran Infantry Regiments (1 with attached artillery)
1x Conscript Infantry Regiment
1x Landwehr Regiment
1x Hussar Regiment
1x Massed Medium Artillery Unit

II Corps
1x Avant Garde Brigade
1x Veteran Grenz Regiment
2x Veteran Infantry Regiments (1 with attached artillery)
1x Conscript Infantry Regiment
1x Landwehr Regiment
1x 'Other Cavalry' Regiment
1x Massed Medium Artillery Unit

III Corps
1x Avant Garde Brigade
1x Veteran Grenz Regiment
2x Veteran Infantry Regiments (1 with attached artillery)
1x 'Other Cavalry' Regiment
1x Massed Medium Artillery Unit

Reserve Corps
1x Grenadier Regiment
1x Cuirassier Regiment
1x Insurrection Cavalry Regiment
1x Massed Heavy Artillery Regiment

Initial deployments looking from West to East from Stadtsden along the
Muhlenau Road to the Neiderheim Road and Kopperberg Woods

The French had isolated the Austrian III Corps bringing them to battle at 3:1 odds pinned along the Neiderheim- Muhlenau Road. The road is dominated at its junction by the Kopperberg Woods and other than Muhlenau and another small village (Stadtsden) to the east, the battlefield chosen by the French was relatively open and sweeping terrain, ideal for sweeping reserve moves.

The Austrians deployed within Kopperberg Woods hoping to delay the French advance to allow their Reserve Corps to arrive from the West and with a bit of luck I Corps was hoped to arrive from the South to threaten Muhlenau and the left flank of the French forces.

Austrian II Corps was isolated in its garrison at Karlseck and even with a full days march was still unlikely to put in appearance during the battle.

Turn 1 and decent Momentum gained by the French allows the Light Cavalry Corps
to use the open flank to good effect bringing them into striking distance of the
Neiderheim Road. French I Corps and elements of V Corps close on Kopperberg Woods
whilst two Polish Brigades from III Corps make good progress towards and through Muhlenau.

The French were deployed in strength with I Corps pinning the Austrians in Kopperberg Wood. IV Corps and the Poles of V Corps were between Muhlenau in support of I Corps and the Light Cavalry Corps were north of the Stadtsden - Muhlenau Road poised to make a sweeping reserve move to threaten the rear of the Austrian forces and the Neiderheim-Muhlenau road.

II Corps supported by the remainder of III Corps were garrisoned in Neiderheim within easy march distance of the battlefield and threatening the right flank of the Austrian position.

III Corps Austrian Cavalry having hoped to stall the French Column moving North of the stream
decide to withdraw in good order to protect the Neiderheim Road and the rear of their forces in Kopperberg Woods.

The French opened the battle advancing swiftly towards Kopperberg Wood. Deployed in depth, the French had the potential to both support the assualt by I Corps on the woods whilst still securing the open ground at Muhlenau where Austrian reserves were expected.

The Cavalry Brigade continued to press towards the exposed flanks of the Austrians and the Polish Brigades of III Corps pressed on along the Muhlenau road completing the movements to pin the Austrians within a small deployment area.

French IV Corps uses a Reserve Move to move to the South of Muhlenau to greet
any early Austrian Reinforcement column arriving on the French flank. The Poles
in Muhlenau push through the village to give support to the attack on Kopperberg Wood.

The Austrian Reserve Corps arrived early in the battle boosting Austrian numbers and securing the open flank which was being threatened by the French Cavalry Corps.

The fighting develops as the first exchanges of skirmish fire are witnessed all along the fringes of Kopperberg Wood.

The Austrian Reserve Column arrives as reinforcements from East of Neiderheim.
They take up supporting positions behind III Corps.

The Austrian Cavalry shake out in chequer-board fashion along the Neiderheim road. Still outnumbered, the Cuirassier and Insurrection Regiments feel confident of holding their own against the French Lights.

The Austrian Reserve Columns arrival prompts a French response.
The French Cavalry Corps halts its advance to widen its frontage.

French i Corps and supporting elements of V Corps begin the assault on Kopperberg Wood.
Polish Troops press forward along the Muhlenau Road.

As the assault on Kopperberg Wood develops casualties mount on both sides but French numbers soon begin to count as the Austrian line begins to waver.

Austrian artillery proves a tough nut, decimating a French Conscript Brigade and rebuffing an infantry assault with relative ease.

After receiving some desultory skirmish fire from the Kopperberg Woods,
I Corps show the Hapsburgs how skirmishing should be conducted. 

The Austrian Insurrection Hussars impetuously charge the French Lights and the
Cuirassiers lend their weight hoping to blunt the French Cavalry Corps impetus.
III Corps cavalry pounce on an isolated Polish Infantry Brigade but are repulsed
even though they caused significant casualties.

Unable to control the impetuos nature of the Insurrection Hussars the Austrian commander is obliged to throw his Cuirassier Regiment into the fray. A Polish Ligne Brigade not in square also proves to be too tempting a target and Austrian Cavalry crashes into hand combat inflicting heavy casualties on the Poles. Having not broken the Brigade, the Austrian cavalry retires in good order back up the Muhlenau road to rally before a second bite at the cherry.

Having lost their combat and half of their men, the Insurrectio retire pursued by French Lights
who charge the exposed artillery. The Cuirassiers fare better pushing back the French Lights.

Unsurprisingly the Insurrection Hussars prove brittle even against Light Cavalry, however the Cuirassier more than muscles-out the French Light Cavalry. A swirling mass of cavalry engage in combat, the engagement swinging back and forth along the Neiderheim road.

Austrian artillery once again rebuffs a close assault as French lights crash into a Heavy Artillery unit.

The battle for the woods continues and casualties mount on both sides. Cavalry clashes
continue East of the woods between the Reserve Cavalry and the French Lights. Meanwhile the
French IV Corps moves to support the assault on Kopperberg as the remainder of
V Corps arrive with  the CinC to bolster the Garrison at Muhlenau.

The Austrian III Corps defence of Kopperberg Woods begin to falter as
French weight of numbers begin to take a toll.

The Austrians in Kopperberg Wood begin to buckle under intense pressure whilst French reserves are ploughed into the swirling melee.

The III Corps Avant Garde and Veteran Infantry rout from Koppoerberg woods under intense French pressure.
Having already lost the Insurrectio cavalry following their rash assault, things are not looking healthy for the Austrians.

French I Corps and supporting elements of III and V Corps pile on the pressure

Austrian Cavalry from III Corps see off a unit of French Lights but leave themselves
desperately exposed. It was that or suffer the ignomy of being charged in the rear by infantry!

The French Light Cavalry Corps, supported by the Polish Infantry of III Corps (pressing along the Muhlenau road) finally crack the Austrians defending the Neiderheim Road leaving the rear of the Austrian Forces in Kopperberg Wood dangerously exposed.

French Lights run down the exposed Austrian Cavalry and another Veteran
Austrian Infantry unit in Kopperberg Woods routs under building French Pressure.

End game. As Austrian reinforcements failed to arrive and as III Corps defence of
Kopperberg Woods crumbles, the French pursue.

As units break in the woods, the French press forward securing a victory. The Austrians fought hard and outnumbered 3:1 held on until midday in the hope of reinforcement from I Corps which dd not materialise.

The scattered remnants of a dogged Austrian defence make for the Neiderheim Road.
The French Cavalry Corps is all but spent - too weak to follow up as the Austrians leave the field.

Nationalist and republican Reinforcements

Several odds and ends to flesh out my SCW CoC collection.

Field Guns, nationalist and Republican Standard Bearers, Tanks, Armoured Cars and Tiznaus

Blucher Eye candy - Battle of Zellerode 1809

Pre-battle Campaign

Scharnhorst

Scharnhorst is a pre-game campaign system which generates even more Fog of War within Blucher. Both players start with an agreed number of points with which they must build their armies. Once the army build is complete, both commanders allocate forces to four Columns which then move on a map eventually reaching the stage where a battle is fought between the opposing armies.

As most of my games are fought solo, I approached a good friend to see if we could work out how to use Scharnhorst to create a battle I could then fight solo without having an ‘all-seeing eye’. We came up with an old school solution – Play By E-Mail, which I have to say worked really well. 

I chose both starting forces (in hindsight I think it would work even better if Nick had done this) and then Nick and I created our columns, informing each other by email and/or text of our moves. Sadly in my eagerness to get the campaign underway I didn’t pick up that moves are alternate by Column until late in the play, however the end result was achieved and a very enjoyable solo game followed.

I certainly think this method would work well ahead a week or so before an actual game night so that no actual game time would be lost.

Positives:

• ·         PBEM is well suited to the Scharnhorst system
• ·         Adds to the FoG of War
• ·         Leaves more time to play the actual battle when done by PBEM

Room for improvement:

• ·         Opponent should decide the army build
• ·         Don’t forget IGo-Ugo by columns!

Nick and I have been gaming together for years so there’s a high level of trust between us. PBEM would need to be moderated by a third party for competition style play.

Background to the Actual Battle

French forces have been massing on the Austrian border for weeks. Incensed at this sabre-rattling the Austrians have mobilised to meet the threat head on.

Determined to gain an upper hand, the Austrian CinC massed reconnaissance units in force under the very able Cavalry Hero Keinmeyer and chose to make his move from West to East across the Northern Germany Campaign Map.

Despite out-scouting the French, the Austrians found themselves brought to battle on less than favourable terms over a very barren battlefield dominated by the town of Zellerode which is flanked on three sides by minor rivers. Furthermore some very clever manoeuvring by the French CinC had brought about another real threat – that of a flanking reinforcement march.

With fewer Campaign Victory Points in hand, the Austrians needed to break the French Army and rout them from the field to win. The French simply needed nightfall to arrive before the Austrians could achieve this to secure their own crushing campaign victory.

Austrian Forces

CinC – Martain

1^st Division (Map grid B4) – Led by Bellegarde (Hero)

Avant Garde Bde, Veteran Infantry Bde, Grenadier Brigade, Cuirassier Bde

2^nd Division (Map grid C4) – Led by Keinmeyer (Cavalry Hero)

Avant Garde Bde, Conscript Infantry Bde, Landwehr Brigade, Hussar Bde

3^rd Division (Reinforcements arriving at Map grid B4)

Avant Garde Bde, Conscript Infantry Bde, Landwehr Brigade*, Cavalry Bde

*Did not make the battle – delayed arriving

4^th Division (Map grid B4)

Veteran Infantry Bde, Grenadier Bde, Cavalry Brigade, Massed Foot Artillery Brigade

Assigned to Reconnaissance:

Keinmayer, III Division Avant Garde and Cavalry Brigade

French Forces

CinC – Bellame

1^st Division (Reinforcements arriving at Map grid D4)

Elite Infantry Bde, Ligne Bde, French Model Allied Infantry Bde, Light Cavalry Bde*

*Did not make the battle – Garrisoned in Zuckerritz

2^nd Division (Map grid B5)

Elite Infantry Bde, Ligne Bde, French Model Allied Infantry Bde, Light Cavalry Bde

3^rd Division – led by Ney (Hero) (Map grid C5)

Ligne Bde x2, Allied Infantry Bde, Heavy Massed artillery Bde

4^th Division (Map grid C5)

French Model Allied Infantry Bde x2, Allied Infantry Bde (garrisoned in Zellerode), Light Cavalry Bde

Assigned to reconnaissance:

2^nd Division Light Cavalry Brigade

The Map and the actual Battlefield

Final positions on the Campaign Map.
Columns 1 and D did not participate in the battle.
Column B and 4 were reinforcing columns.
The actual battlefield is outlined in red with Zellerode in C5

The battlefield of Zellerode

How the battle of Zellerode was won

Having declared the battle the French got to move first. Safe in the knowledge that the only way the Austrians could win the campaign was by breaking the French force before nightfall, Bellame was more than content to sit back and wait for the Austrians to come to him.

Martain, knowing that Bellame knew he could only lose the campaign by being broken set about doing just that. Worryingly for the Austrians there was also the very real threat of a French Reinforcement on their own right flank.

The Austrians would need to be sharp and sought to assault the French left flank whilst feigning towards Zellerode and the French right.......

Initial deployments. French in the foreground.

French right flank

French right flank

Austrian right flank feignting towards Zellerode whilst
 protecting the expected French reinforcement route

Battlefield view from the South 

The Austrian left flank sallys forward

The Austrian left flank marching towards the French right

The Austrian feignt towards Zellerode 'top down'

The French left flank

The French line North of Zellerode. French Heavy Artillery opens fire!

Austrians close on the French centre - the French artillery is causing casualties

The view from the East.
In the far West Austrian Reinforcements enter the fray but are too far away to be identified

The Austrian reinforcements use a reserve move to threaten the French right,
however the Austrians in the middle are finding it tough to get to grips with the French
due to their skirmishing lines proving very effective

Austrian Reserve. The ploughed fields would make like tough for the Austrians

The battle of the french right becomes a pivotal focus. Austrian losses are mounting

The French left flank has lost a unit retired due to losses from the Austrian Artillery but holds firm

At midday the French Reinforcements arrive to the Southwest of Zellerode and immediately
bring the Austrian right flank to bear with the advantage of numbers

The Austrian right flank begins to buckle

Flanked and outnumbered the Austrian right flank wavers

With time against them the Austrian centre mounts a desperate assault against the French lines

Weight of numbers favour the Austrians. Even the presence of Ney does little for french chances

The French centre buckles. Ney Holds the line but numbers will surely tell for the Austrians?

The Austrian right crumbles, Grenadiers being run down by French Light Cavalry. HUSSAH!!

Having despatched the Austrian Right flank, the French Left flank regroups.

Ney's command is pushed back as one unit routs across the river.
The Austrian follow up is almost exhausted. To the North and the French
right flank, the Austrian advance is checked with appalling casualties.

Despite an Austrian breakthrough in the centre, French reserves
press against the exposed Austrian right hoping to roll up a flank

With the Austrian's in disarray, even the Garrison at Zellerode sallys out to join the battle.