Suvarov in the Alps: Game 1

Yesterday saw the first outing for my French and Russian 1799 armies. Conrad had returned an army corps-worth of 1866 Prussians that had been on loan so it seemed like a good opportunity for a game. We played down the length of the table, with my new 'Alpine Peaks' and 'Devil's Bridge' in the centre, crossing a largely impassable river. The Russian objective was to capture and cross the bridge, drive off the French and be in a position to exit the north table edge.

The Russians army was made up of a battalion of Jager (in two small units), four battalions of combined grenadiers, one battalion of fusiliers and four battalions of musketeers, supported by a battery of artillery and a bunch of Cossacks. There was also the remote chance of a brigade of Austrian cheveau-leger appearing as a flanking force. Facing them were (as it happens) too many French. On the wrong side of the river was a small ad-hoc brigade made up of a battalion of French legere, and a battalion each of the Polish and Helvetic Legions, the latter being a 'large' unit. Due to arrive from the North and East were two further demi-brigades of infantry (11 more battalions!), two batteries of artillery and a weak brigade of chasseurs a cheval.

The Russian commanders were generally above average, and Suvarov and Bagration were given a rating of 9. The infantry were also much harder than their enemies as I made them tough fighters and stubborn but they had no first fire. The French were broadly average with the exception of one demo-brigade which was rated veteran and had slightly better stats than their mates.

The Russian army 

 Cossacks!!!! Suvarov dismounted many of his Cossacks and gave their ponies to the artillery and supply train.

 Russian artillery. In reality these should have been ex-Piedmontese mountain guns but they are as yet incomplete still on painting table as I need some pack ponies to finish the battery.

 The Helvetic Legion 

 The commander of the French advance guard.

 The Devil's Bridge

 As the Russians entered the table the exposed French brigade to their front  deployed to hold them for as long as possible.

 The Russian advance guard, made up of elite grenadiers and jager engage the French but are momentarily held up.

 More Russians appear and march around the French flank.

 And yet more Russians.....

 The Russians were taking their time getting rid of the French delaying force, allowing Gazan's and Molitor's demi-brigades time to arrive.

 The Polish Legion had been driven off with ease but the Helvetic Legion held up the Russians for four rounds of melee before they were taken in the flank and destroyed along with the remainder of their demi-brigade.

 Gaza's infantry marching up the mountain pass towards the bridge.

 They deployed (if deployed is the right word) at their end of the bridge.

 They took fire from Russian musketeers posted on the opposite side of the river and while ineffective, it did disorder them.

 Russian grenadiers poised to assault over the bridge.

 ....and the Russian reserve marches on.

 The Russians climb their side of the mountain track and charge across the bridge, destroying the French defenders immediately. The supporting French passed their break test but were driven off and broken but another Russian bayonet charge.

 The French horse artillery arrives.  I must get the limbers finished but I was focussed on getting the wurst wagon done!

 French chasseurs a cheval arriving at the tail end of the column.

 The French and Russians battle for control of the alpine track leading off the bridge.

 The horse artillery wurst wagon and the battery commander.

 Russian reinforcements wending their way up the track towards the bridge.

 On the right flank the Russians had attempted to the only other crossing place on the river, a small ford, but were beaten to it by a larger force of French and first halted then driven back, with heavy losses on both sides. The Russian artillery prevented the French from exploiting the withdrawal.

 The Russian's final attempt to clear the bridge ground to a halt as losses mounted and battalions were forced to retreat.

 The Cossacks gave up the fight (not that they actually did much anyway) and started looting the village.

I enjoyed the game as did Conrad. We whistled through it and managed 16 turns between 11:00 and 3:30 which is pretty impressive. We both agreed that the Russians had been trounced and that they were in no position to continue their valiant attempt to cross the river. On reflection, I got the timings wrong for the arrival of the French reinforcements, and once they were all on the odds were stacked against the outnumbered Russians, so they really never had a chance, especially as they were delayed for so long by the French advance guard. The Russian flanking move never materialised so the Austrian chevau-leger brigade that was expected to appear on the French flank clearly got lost or were distracted by the von Trapp family and joined their singalong! Where the rules didn't quite work we just made it up as we went along. For example, troops in march column don't fight very well but how were they to fight their way over the bridge? We decided that although the figures might look like they were march column they were in fact in an attack column while they occupied the mountain features. That worked well enough. I also used three models to represent each battery, and each model had the usual 3/2/1 dice so there was the potential for some serious bloodshed. Thankfully this never happened and the artillery, while quite deadly, wasn't too powerful, in this game at least!

Tomorrow Robbie is coming up for a game so all I have to do is re-set the figures and so forth and print out some new Orbats. With a few less Frenchmen included which is a shame but I did get everything battle ready on the table yesterday, part from the Austrian cavalry who OUGHT to have arrived!

French Revolutionary War of the Second Coalition:Suvarov in the Alps game set up

Well, I've set up my table for this week's game(s) set during Russian General Suvarov's campaign in Switzerland as he retired from Northern Italy to join with the army of General Korsakov. I shall be using Black Powder with hopefully the right attributes given to the troops involved. Although there's not a Toblerone in sight it looks reasonably like Switzerland according to the missus who lived there for a while,  but I've not given the table an additional liberal dusting of baking powder or snow scatter as it might interfere with players' breathing like it did last time I used it. The scenario is a tough one for the Russians who must attack across some dreadful terrain to continue their march through Switzerland. There's about a dozen battalions on each side plus some cavalry and a bit of artillery. I will post a picture of the terrain in the morning with a bit of luck.

Leuthen refought. Frederick demands a rematch.

On Thursday I organised a refight of  Leuthen using Honours of War. Robbie brought Dave Jarvis along, and Dave brought some very nice freshly-baked contraband in the form of some muffins. John was unable to make it unfortunately so Robbie played the part of Charles of Lorraine while Dave was Frederick and I was Zeithen. Those of a superstitious nature might have been interested to see that I had unwittingly given Robbie my mug depicting a scene from the Battle of Leuthen. Worse still, Dave had a Rossbach mug although I did have Hohenfreidberg. (Check them out on Amazon). The actual anniversary of the battle is on Monday 5 December but none of us were free on Monday, despite us being gentlemen of leisure. It's such a busy time being retired.

We've done this game a few times now (5?) using both HoW or Black Powder. In every occasion it's been a hard slog for the Prussians who have only managed to scrape a couple of marginal victories. I have always used the scenario described in Charles S Grant's Wargaming in History Vol 4 (without the table shift) which has always seemed to feel right in terms of troops numbers etc so I can only lay the blame for the Prussians lack of success on generalship, usually mine, of less than Frederickan quality. For this game we dispensed with the bounce through rule as I reckoned that the snow would negate the effect significantly. I've made an attempt at 'wintering up' the photos by fading them significantly using the app. on my computer. I've not yet mastered how to put falling snow into the pictures but I think they don't look too bad, and it certainly looks cold.

The battlefield at the start, with the Bavarian/Wurtembergers retreating having been driven out of Sagschuttz, closely pursued by Prussian horse.

Rot Wurzberg in the churchyard supported by other Austrian units as the Reichs troops retire.

Anhalt Dessau's troops enter the fray.

Dave's advance guard was slow in, er, advancing but my Cuirassiers on the right wing moved forward to threaten the retreating Reichsarmee units (representing the Bavarian and Wurtemberg contingents). The Prussian hussars in the centre seemed rooted to the ground and failed to respond to Robbies Austrian hussars who were sweeping round our left flank. Our main body arrived under Anhalt-Dessau and immediately thrust forward towards Leuthen. The reserve under Forcaide was delayed for a turn although the artillery did arrive on time,  it was very slow to deploy. Indeed if it were not for the two regiments of Prussian hussars sacrificing themselves the as yet unlimbered artillery could well have been overrun by the Austrian hussars who got dangerously close to doing so! But I am getting ahead of myself.

 Rot Wurzberg leave the safety of the churchyard. Why?

Meanwhile the Prussian cuirassiers take on the Reichs troops, already depleated following their ejection from Sagschutz. The Reichs battalions (two of them) are broken.

 In the foreground the Prussian horse are massed ready to take on the Austrian cuirassiers to their front. What followed was to follow was a most sanguinary combat with both sides taking a hammering.

 The surviving Reichs troops withdrew on Leuthen and formed a line of sorts to face the oncoming Prussians.

 Anhalt Dessau and Forcade's brigades enter the table and advance rapidly towards Leuthen.

 Serbollini's cavalry advance against the Prussian right.

 In the Prussian centre things are getting a little out of hand and confused. The hussars are being battered by the Austrian guns and are not getting their orders, the artillery is slow in unlimbering and the infantry is attacking too quickly and piecemeal. Grrrr! 

 The infantry in the centre clash. In a furious round of shooting and an impetuous bayonet charge both front ranks are shattered, which was not part of the plan if you were a Prussian.

 The Rot Wurtzberg regiment pays for stepping out of the churchyard and break as they face a brutal charge by Prussian grenadiers. They gave as good as they got as the already battered grenadiers are also broken.

 A large gap had appeared in the front lines of both armies, ripe for exploitation.

 The Prussian right wing cavalry were fighting a slow loosing battle against the more numerous Austrians, and despite some success, several units had been broken or driven back.

 In the centre the Prussian Guard successfully broke into Leuthen, driving off the Reichsarmee battalion that was taking refuge there.

 Another battalion of Prussians attacked the church although their supporting battalion was broken.

 The Prussian right is starting to buckle under the pressure.

 By this time the only Prussian brigade remaining unscathed was that of Forcade, who were making short work of the surviving Reichsarmee battalions whilst keeping one eye on the cavalry battle on their flank.

 The Prussians finally broke into the churchyard. Would they be in a good enough condition to hold it? No. A rapid counter attack by the Austrians drove them back out again.

 The Prussian left wing cavalry under Dreissen made their appearance on the flank of the Austrians, but the latter were able to turn and countercharge. Both sides took heavy casualties and the Prussians failed to break the Austrian horse.

 More Austrian cavalry appeared facing the battered Prussian left wing.

The main Prussian artillery battery had finally got into action and was starting to make its presence felt among the Austrian infantry and cavalry to its front. But it was too late.

By this time the Prussians had reached their army break point, due largely to the gradual disintegration of the cavalry on both flanks and the piecemeal infantry attacks in the centre. Frederick threw in the towel (well Dave and I agreed that we'd messed up). Then again we were well aware where we had gone wrong so there was something positive to drag from the debacle. Yet again the Prussians had failed to gain a crushing victory, and didn't even manage a minor one. Maybe next year. It was a good result and a hard fought game and credit must go to the Austrians for more than holding their own. The rules worked well, certainly we were starting to remember them much better, certainly better than the previous week. The 'house rule' we have reducing the range of effective canister feels right and the decision to ignore the bounce through rule for this game had no impact although if the Prussians had been able to get their artillery into action sooner it would have been useful. I'm much happier with the rules now. My one reservation is the fact that cavalry melees tend to be mutually destructive especially as one fights them until there is a result in one game turn. 

What next for Frederick? He falls back, passing the wreckage of his artillery and cart loads of wounded men.