The Battle of Bertrand von Bassett’s Farm, 1808

John and I played a game last Friday, using the opportunity to give my new Napoleonic units a baptism of fire. The game was set in 1808 in Southern Sweden, and featured a defending force of Swedes, aided by a small British contingent, trying to throw the attackers, Spanish, Danes and the Kingdom of Holland back into the sea. John was the Swedes and we used GdA 2. The Swedes had deployed three mediocre brigade's of infantry along the main line, with one of cavalry on the right, and were supported by a brigade of British. My lot were deployed with the Danish cavalry on the right, then the Danish infantry, the Dutch in the centre and the  large Spanish contingent on the left, with their cavalry on my extreme left. I’d classed the Spanish as recruits which was a bit harsh given that these troops were professional soldiers and arguably the cream of the army. Most of the Swedes were classed as reservists.

The battlefield from the east, the invaders on the left.

The Danes. Looking pretty.

Swedish jäger and infantry in the farm/village.

The K of Holland brigade looked very business like as they trudged forward. When they weren’t hesitant that is.

The Spanish infantry made a right mess of deploying and with hindsight I should have ignored the built up area completely.

Denmarks finest - hesitant in turn 1, and again later in the game.

Facing the Danes were the best two Swedish units, a battalion of guard and another of grenadiers. 

And again, advancing rather menacingly towards the stalled Danes.

John had to put two battalions into square due to the presence of the Danish cavalry brigade.

Danish hussars and light dragoons. No way were they going to charge formed squares but I could have gone around them I suppose.

The Danes finally got moving and took the high ground.

A general view of the centre of the battlefield. The Dutch can be seen rushing forward.

The Swedish and Spanish cavalry clash! It was only ever going to go one way but the Spaniards held on as best they could. The good thing about the ‘fictional’ back story to this game and the forthcoming campaign is that I can field a reasonable amount of Swedish cavalry. They’re not very good, but they’re better than the Spanish is all I can say.

The Spanish del Rey cavalry are supported by the Almaza dragoons and the Villavicosa Dragoons. Did them no good against the Swedish Lifeguard and they were pushed back in retreat.

The other half of the Swedish cavalry brigade was outflanking my cavalry and were ready to pounce.

The Spanish got completely tangled up trying to deploy before attacking the village all the while taking losses from the enemy artillery and the garrison.

The Barcelona light infantry on the left were taking heavy losses.

Meanwhile the Dutch charged the Swedish centre, and made it into contact.

The retreating Spanish cavalry about to be overwhelmed.

And here they are being overwhelmed by the flanking force and driven off the field.

The Danes charged forward but a very lucky (not for me ) volley resulted in a double six, so as well as the casualties John rolled on the destiny table, throwing an 11. That spelt disaster for me as the brigade command staff were deemed to be casualties and the whole lot faltered! Bum!

The Dutch mad it into contact thanks to the Swedes managing a score of four, (fire discipline). Sadly in the melee it all went t*ts up and the Dutch recoiled.

The Swedes sending the Spaniards packing outside the village.

At that point it was clear that the Swedes were winning/had won. I had lost the Spanish cavalry and the Danes were faltering. My allied conglomerate were defeated but they won the prize for the prettiest army by a country mile.

We were rather rusty as far as GdA2 was concerned but it all slowly came back. Another few games and the rules will be clearer. They certainly gave us a good game, and I still prefer them to other rulesets, even Black Powder, and with reflection Valour and Fortitude, both ‘simple’ sets but lacking flavour. Anyway, I am a butterfly when it comes to rules so my favourites will have changed again by the next game.

General d’Armee 2 - First Game. Somewhere in Poland.

 Saturday saw us try out General d’Armee second edition here at the Burrow. It was a fictional encounter but with some tenuous similarities to Pultusk and even Freidland, insofar that the Russians were deployed with an impassable river and only two bridges at their backs. There were lots of them though. 

The Russian objective was to avoid being driven into the river of course, and to capture and hold the crossroads, church and central bridge. The French were tasked with taking the same objectives thus denying them to the Russians and also to drive the Russians into the river. This was only a divisional sized battle, with seven Russian and six French brigades. The Russian commander turned out to be a ‘commissariat’ level general, ie pretty rubbish, but it didn’t seem to have much impact on the game

Mike (CinC) Nigel and Dom led the Czar’s finest on this occasion while Shaun (CinC), John and Nick were the French. Neil offered to umpire so I kept an eye on things at the opposite end of the table to Neil and also ensured we all got fed at lunchtime.

The scenario dictated that the Russians deployed first, which they did,  but they kept three brigades off table in reserve, including all their regular cavalry and their grenadiers. The French also held back a brigade of cuirassiers and their light cavalry. As this game was set in 1807, the French were nearly all classed as veteran. The more numerous Russians (especially in cavalry and artillery) were a mix of grenadiers, line and recruits. Their artillery were all large and classed as veteran to give them a bit of an edge.

I always used to enjoy GdA1 so was looking forward to this game, and I was not alone in wanting to see what changes had been made in this revised version of the rules.

The Russians look on as the French begin their attack.

The French right wing at the start of the battle. The skirmish screen are all resin 3d prints.

The Russian centre and left wing, which were quite lightly held by two brigades, totalling eight battalions or so and two batteries of artillery. As noted earlier they were facing the bulk of the French army. Would they hold?

John’s brigade in the centre as it begins its advance.

Shaun’s French light cavalry brigade, two of its regiments at any rate. The other unit, the 4th Hussars, is out of shot to the left.

Dom’s Russian heavies. They crossed the pontoon bridge and moved on towards the French left. Behind can be seen some Cossacks and horse artillery.

The view from the ‘garden end’ showing how the Russians have turned the French left flank, although the elite jäger battalions on the left didn’t move beyond that point for the entire battle. Don’t know why.

An example of Nigel’s unfortunate dice rolling. This was a shot of canister with his large battery at a French column. Double 1 meant they ran low on ammo (again) and received a fatigue casualty, all again!

My new unit, the 3rd Hussars, under fire from Russian jäger, while in the background is a battalion of the Gardes de Paris.

The Russian cavalry are piling the pressure on the French left. Just visible top right is the French 3rd Hussars who are a very vulnerable and exposed position, with Russian dragoons to their rear. Fortunately for the French the hussars were able to escape the trap by adopting the cunning ruse of failing a discipline test and being forced to retreat.

Cavalry action developing on the French left.

The French 4th Hussars about to defy the odds and drive back the Russian dragoons, more than twice their strength.

The French on the right attack the Russians facing them.

On the Russian left their infantry were under great pressure, especially as there was a river to their rear! This battalion attempted to charge the Tirailleurs du Po. They were not successful.

The French attack in the centre.

….and their attack on the extreme right, which was successful in pushing the Russians back but at the cost of one battalion routed as it attempted to charge the Russian line.

In the centre elements of both armies were closing. Both sides were taking casualties from artillery fire, although the usually effective Russian guns were not performing well on this occasion.

The Russians held back a brigade of infantry and all their regular cavalry. With only a single bridge in the centre and a pontoon bridge on their right this was their only way across the river so it took a while for the reinforcements to arrive where they were needed..

The St Petersburg Grenadiers emerge onto the table as they cross the bridge.

The French light cavalry brigade attacked the Russians before they could cause any mischief in the centre.

Shaun’s outnumbered French light cavalry charged the Russian cuirassiers and held them. They also forced the Russian dragoons to retreat.

Russian grenadiers readying themselves to assault the churchyard.

The Russian’s last chance was to capture the churchyard so Mike launched the St Petersburg Grenadiers into the attack, all three battalions of them.

The St Petersburg Grenadiers managed to drive the French out of the churchyard.

By this time we had played about a dozen turns and the Russians were hanging on, technically winning, but we had to call it a day as night fell.  A minor Russian win was declared.  Of course if everyone had brought all their reserves on who knows what might have happened. If Nigel had thrown better dice, and he could not have thrown worse, the French attack on the Russian left would probably have been repulsed, but……

The game was great fun and I do like the changes that have been made to streamline and/or simplify the rules. They’re easy to grasp, and there were  several players who had never played GdA1 and most of the others had not used them for ages. The rules nicely presented and even the four-sided QRS seemed less troublesome to navigate through.

An excellent day of gaming in excellent company. We are having another smaller game this Friday, which I am looking forward to.

Russo-Swedish War - Battle in the Snow

John came round yesterday for a game so I thought I’d inflict another Russo Swedish War battle on him, this  time using General d’Armee. 

Before I go further, yes I know that there’s far too much cavalry for the war but they’re my toys and I can do what I like in the privacy of my own home. They also look rather nice and that’s that. The scenario was a simple one, this time with the Swedes launching a counterattack after their previous victories over the invaders. John drew what was to become the short straw and took the Swedes. There were ten battalions of infantry, four half battalions of jäger and three ‘batteries’ of artillery. They also had two dragoon regiments. My Russian defenders had a cavalry brigade of three regiments and a battery of horse artillery, and two brigades of infantry, totalling 12 battalions and a battery of foot artillery. Russian batteries were 12-guns strong so each of my batteries has six models! Not such a big deal in General d’Armee thankfully, and as it turned out not such a big deal for the Swedes either!.

The photos illustrate how the game developed. Hopefully my narrative makes everything clear. For reasons I’ve still yet to fathom Blogger has randomly reordered the photos but most I hope are now where they belong.

The Swedes on the right, faced with a numerically superior enemy, must attack.
 

This brigade held the Russian right.

My very first shot of the game and I threw a double one. Low on ammo and a fatigue casualty!

The elite Savolax brigade attack the Russian right.

The Russians facing the Finnish jäger took heavy losses, but their return volley was impressive. A throw of double six, so even on the inferior shooting line the Finns took several hits. Better still I rolled double one on the destiny table, thanks the the double six, and the enemy brigadier fell off his horse and took flight, causing the brigade to falter!

Both armies close towards each other in the centre. The white shapes track the route of a frozen river. Will it hold?

The Russian cavalry brigade really had nowhere to go thanks to the terrain, and was restricted to making the odd short advance when they weren’t failing to activate.

The Russians counter attack in the centre.

The Russian centre slowly advancing.

We actually had a cavalry combat when my Uhlans and the Swedish dragoons clashed. The Swedes were victorious and forced the Russian cavalry to retreat.

Slightly vulnerable Russian jäger with the Swedish cavalry looking rather too close for comfort. 

The retreating Savolax brigade failed two faltering tests but being elite the worse that could happen was to keep retreating. They did eventually rally and rejoined the battle.

The outnumbered and valiant Swedes attack in the centre. 

Russian dragoons waiting impotently behind their artillery.

The cuirassiers before they made several attempts to cross the frozen river. They eventually made it and charged the Swedish dragoons but failed to defeat them decisively.

John conceded defeat at this point and began to pull his forces off the table. The terrain and general slug-like speed of the Russians meant that no effective pursuit would be likely. Had the Swedish Savolax brigade on their left not faltered I suspect they'd have driven my right flank backwards thanks to the pesky and very effective Finnish jäger as one of my battalions had taken 10 hits and was on the verge of breaking.

It was a difficult one for the outnumbered Swedes but not impossible to pull off but not impossible. The Russian cavalry had nowhere to play and our artillery was particularly inefficient. One half battery had four casualties, ALL as a result of suffering fatigue casualties! They’re all off on a manual handling course in Archangel shortly. Nevertheless it was an enjoyable game even though it took a little while to get back into General d’Armee. 

Battleground show in Stockton tomorrow so no game but I will have some photos.