Austerlitz 218th Anniversary Game, but not the Ridley Scott interpretation.

Saturday 2 December 1805. The day of Austerlitz, Buonaparte’s greatest victory. Saturday 2 December 2023. Austerlitz the refight. Will history repeat itself or be overturned?  Mike had organised the game, using his extensive collection of 1/72 miniatures, held on a cold snowy day just like 218 years ago, and nine of us arrived to play with Mike umpiring. I’m not going to bore anyone with the story of the real triumph or debacle that was Austerlitz depending on who you were fighting for, so here are some photos and a brief narrative which should explain how the game panned out. Mind you, I was on the allied right so have no idea what was going on in the centre let alone the left! 

The allies advance off the heights. Most of our army were required to do so forth first three turns.

Richard’s command was destroyed so he was allowed to hog the radiator.

Bagration on the allied right.

Looking along the allied line from the right.

Me as Bagration.

Prschibishowski’ troops advance, and beyond them is the Russian guard.

Lichtenstein's cavalry under my command on the right. This was not a good location as we were facing lots of French infantry and artillery in quite a compact space.

The French facing our right flank.

The same French crossing the stream to attack my troops on the right. 

The French reserve cavalry, poised facing our centre.

Our left flank - it was along way away from my corps.

I'm not having a nap. Honest! But I am thinking of the venison casserole one of the guys made for us dinners.

Bagration’s corps, supported by Lichtenstein’s cavalry begin their advance.

The extreme right flank of our army.

Davout arrives on Kollowrat’s flank, putting an end to any aspirations of capturing Sokolnitz.

Our flank being rolled up.

The allies putting a brave face on for the camera.

The following are more of the battle as it developed.

The French reserve cavalry smash through the Austrians in the centre. Three battalions were swept away.

The end!

Paul and Richard’s commands on our left had been brutally destroyed. Our attack led by Dom and Nick was stalling due to heavy losses and my advance had ground to a halt in the face of overwhelming numbers of French infantry and artillery. So, after nearly six hours of fighting the French were able to claim a victory, although a victory not nearly as decisive as in the real battle (so say us defeated allies).

This proved to be an excellent game and a great way to spend a snowy Saturday in December. The French commanders (John H, John the Red, Alex and Nick?) were a formidable team, or at least they were a more formidable one than us. Paul, Richard, Nick, Dom and me were faced with a bit of an uphill battle (actually a downhill one) against far superior Frenchmen. I am beginning to feel the love for Absolute Emperor as a set of rules (a bit), insofar as they work quite well with large games such as this. They’re quick and easy to pick up, even if some of the rules and mechanisms are a little odd, to my grumpy ‘I remember when I were a lad…….’ brain at least.

Big thanks to Mike for setting up and running the game and for letting us play with his lovely 1/72 scale collection, and to everyone for making it such an enjoyable game. Of course a big thanks also to Dom for his succulent venison casserole, and everyone else who contributed home made bread, cakes, biscuits and even roasted vegetables to keep us going.

Please note Sir Ridley that there were no frozen oceans, entrenchments or camouflaged artillery anywhere on the table.

The Battle of Almonacid, Central Spain, 1809

 On Saturday we gathered in the Burrow for a Napoleonic game, organised by Mike using his extensive and gorgeous collection of 1/72 scale figures. The battle chosen was Almonacid, fought between the French and Spanish in central Spain in 1809. Click HERE for more information. We used ‘Absolute Emperor’ with a few house rules. Mike umpired, Shaun and Neil were the French, while John, Nigel and me were the Spanish. The Spanish had to hold on for 12 turns without loosing two divisions to win. The French had to crush the Spanish. 

Our plan was to hold in the centre and maybe when the time was right counter attack on the left and right flanks. Of course the Spanish command and control was nowhere near as good as that of the French, and our troops were outclassed and outnumbered. Much of the army were militia but when we tested for their abilities most ended up being classed as seasoned rather than militia. This was very fortunate and perhaps a great influence on the outcome.

For some reason the photos have been scrambled up out of order. I don't think it matters,  but I shall let the readers be the judge of that.

The Spanish centre at the start of the game.

The battlefield.

This time from the other end. The Spanish had garrisoned the town with a grenadier battalion.

The French attacked all along the line. Pressure was being continuously put on the Spanish centre, but it held. Just. The French eventually captured the town but on our left their attack on our division holding the hill was held and eventually rolled up when the Spanish reserve swung round to take them in the flank. The Spanish cavalry even held their own against their French counterparts. Here a some photos of the action.

The French dragoons in the centre were contained by a combination of cavalry and infantry who prevented them from punching through the Spanish line. 

We played through till gone 4pm, and the outcome was a Spanish victory of sorts. The centre was holding, the left had stopped the French attack and our reserves had rolled up the French right flank. On the French left they’d finally driven the Spanish out of the town but were being funnelled into too narrow frontage to make best use of their superior numbers, and Nigel’s fresh division from our right was moving up to support our centre. It was an incredibly tense and hard fought game, with both sides being laughed at by the dice Gods throughout the game, but maybe the French were laughed at most. The rules worked really well and provided us with a great game. Mikes collection is superb and just shows what you can do with the vast array of 1/72 scale plastic figures available these days; and what’s not to like about a Spanish Napoleonic army?

 Two things to take away from the game were a question over why the French didn’t use their cavalry to outflank our army rather than being used as battering rams in the very congested centre, and that I should not have had two chocolate doughnuts AND a slice of Shaun’s birthday cake!