Part 2 of the 2nd warm up game

We were all looking forward to concluding this game immensely. Then I discovered the existence of a GdA FAQ & was somewhat flummoxed - it seems I don't frequent the more fashionable online forums where I could have discovered this for myself. Country Bumpkin or what?

Anyway this 11 page document was swiftly printed off & we spent the first hour or so at Marauder HQ drinking beer & going through this line by line. Happily much of this is clarifications or errata & it seems we have been playing things correctly. There are a few new rules which add to the game without changing it, nothing earth shattering though! We also had the Allied Orbats & deployment map to ponder... basically we three plus ex Marauder Rich will be the Allies with some guy called Dave Brown as C-in-C plus an enigmatic character called "Ru".

"We're doomed Captain Mainwaring !"

We go the WHC tomorrow - Tony is keeping his cool.
No sign of infantile over excitement at all.

Once we were satisfied with these we cracked on with the game but ran out of time to properly conclude the engagement. We may not bother finishing it, we had two weeks of fun & relearned the rule set just in time too - result! Although I'd like to play it out to be honest.   

Things hotted up in the centre & on the French left but remain largely inconclusive. The French right, having saved it's own arse last week, went over to the attack & even withstood another assault from the Brigade of Grenzers. Whilst ascendant the French are not yet dominant here either.

The following pictures are snapshots of the action with captioned commentary...  

Austrian LDW push through the grave yard to get at the Nassauers on the central objective.

The Austrian right is slowly advancing on the Swiss brigade who have deployed to repel them.
To the left the Saxon brigade finally wakes up & moves off to attack the hamlet beyond the wood.

Austrian 12lb position battery fires in support of the advance.
All the Austrian batteries are Elite miniatures, but this one is special, it's painted by Pete Morbey owner of Elite.  

The Saxon attack screened by the wood is safe from enemy fire for now at least.  

This marked the high water mark of the Austrian assault on the hill. This attack was repelled but the French cavalry, so ideally placed, failed to turn this into a rout - shameful really!   

Here 2nd class French muck advances in support of the dragoons whilst this Austrian battery takes pot shots at them.

Good shot looking over the French right, across the hill to the battle in the centre.
Space is such a luxury!  

These Grenzers made a brave effort to mount another attack going so far as to drive off a veteran battalion of Legere only to expose themselves to some close range cannon fire.
Eagle eyed readers will note that most of the skirmishers on both sides are Austrian jaeger models. Some idiot left the voltigeurs at home... je suis un twat!   

The thin green line?
 "Hold your fire lads, steady..."

Two Austrian brigades are converging on the Nassau & Portuguese Legion troops, scary stuff!
From left to right, Front Rank General  & ADC, Elite Minis Portuguese Legion, Perry Minis Nassauers, Perry plastic Swiss skirmishers, Elite Nassauers. Everyone seems to be rubbing along nicely, they all hate the Warlord Austrians of course.

The centre & French left is coming to life at last - it seems we have a battle to fight.

The French dragoons attempt to break through & wrap this up before tea time...

They bounce after taking heavy fire from a ballsy Hungarian grenadier battalion in line.
The cavalry commander should be shot, oh wait that's me!

The French left must now face an attack, no supporting battery or dragoons here. The Neuchatel battalion supports to Swiss lines. The Swiss were still mercenaries this time if I recall.
Far away an Austrian 12lb battery punishes & taunts them with long range fire.  

The Saxon attack columns closing on the Austrian lines near the hamlet. Crunch time will be next week.  

We wrapped it up there. This game, whilst small, is still tense & it's great to see a fraction of our collections on the table top again. GdA is a very entertaining system to play, which is lucky because I am playing it for the next three days with my best mates at an amazing venue with an even bigger collection of toys & beer filled evenings. 

What could possibly go wrong?  

A rare shot of your host in his natural habitat.

I am contemplating a tasteful 2019 Calendar.
Pictures of me.
Signed copies available.
This is "Miss December".
Thoughts?    

I'll do my best to report back with loads of pictures, witty anecdotes  & detailed analysis. 

Will I bollocks!

Best wishes,

Jeremy

2nd warm up game for General d'Armee at WHC

Hi again,

this is a rarity isn't it? Two posts in a week!

I like to think the Austrian Hussars & Uhlans bivouacked here overnight. Here we find provisions for men & mounts. The officers kicked the farmer & son out into the night & partied with his wife & daughters.
It would a "last supper" for some.       

I adjusted the table from last week & we roughly doubled the figure count, enough for a two week game - that's all the time we have left before our trip - Gulp!

The aim was to get the rules right & start to nail down some tactics. More importantly to relearn how BIG battalions & brigades fit into tabletop space, how they move & deploy correctly. Napoleonic battlefield maneuver is literally about "time & space"; it's very easy to create bottlenecks, screen your own guns, miscalculate travel time from A to B, support distances etc etc.

This engagement should be seen as part of a larger battle boiling around the area off table (possibly in 1809). Each has approximately one Corps with inherent artillery & cavalry. Both sides have competing objectives to give a narrative dynamic & structure to the battle i.e. a reason to fight & die. This is much more satisfactory than just blowing chunks out of each other! I'll cover these objectives below as they crop up.

Austrian deployment.

The Austrian extreme left. A light cavalry brigade leads a brigade of  predominantly Hungarian infantry with artillery of screen to the right. Their objective is the hill in front of them.   

The centre is held by two smaller infantry brigades. They are tasked with capturing a road junction in the French rear lines out of sight behind the church and cemetery.    

The second Austrian brigade in the centre. Their foes gather in the distance...

This light brigade consists of jaegers & chasseurs. One battalion lines out on the crest the other two shelter in dead ground.
The brigadier doffs his hat to you, say "hello". Where are your manners? 

These grenadiers will occupy and hold this hamlet which is a vital objective for the French.  

Looking down from the hill crest at the gathering Saxons. This small brigade covers the flank of the hamlet. Another Brigade with attached 12lb foot battery covers the other side - no pics available as yet.       

The two central Austrian brigades set off, one around each side of the church to converge on the junction behind it. 

The Austrian commander directs operations. This dapper dandy wears the uniform of Insurrection Hussars.
The Kurassier's horse has fallen asleep; it's rider waits silently for orders before galloping back to the regiment waiting in reserve. Will they fight this day? 

French deployment.

These fellas will fight today - very soon. French brigade of dragoons, we kept these to 24 strong, the 32 strong "large" regiments might unbalance a small game like this. That hill is their objective... 

French infantry brigade to the left of the Dragoons. They are tasked with taking & holding that hill. The attached battery will cover their advance & soften up the opposition.  

The French centre is held by this Nassau brigade with attached Portuguese Legion & some Swiss skirmishers.
A mixed bag!
They are defending the road junction form the Austrian central attack.    

This French foot battery attached to the Saxon brigade which is ordered to seize that hamlet in the distance. 

A French brigadier & ADC. Notably the ADC is one of the last miniatures I ever painted.
Barry Hill did the other chap & all the infantry, literally thousands of them!!! 

Elite Miniatures horse battery attached to the brigade of Dragoons, this proved to be a vital asset.

Amazing command vignette from my collection. Trent Miniatures models painted as senior staff of the 5th Hussars.
Bruch work by Tony Laughton, based by me.

Action on the French Right - it all gets a bit buttock clenching...

Chris in Command of the Austrians had ordered his cavalry brigade & two infantry brigades to advance & capture the largish hill on his left flank, my extreme right. My forces were very slow to get started so were wrong footed by the sheer speed of the Austrian "surge". Before my boys had finished morning coffee there were Uhlans with pointy sticks threatening my 2nd class brigade & my cavalry were unprepared for the attack which looked imminent... to make matters worse a few dirty great big 48 strong columns came over the horizon. Basically I was caught with my knickers down!
   

Here's how it looked. French 2nd class muck in the foreground with Uhlans breathing down their necks. Austrian Hussars threatening my dragoons who have rapidly deployed their horse battery. Two Austrian infantry brigades are converging on the hill top opposed only by a few skirmishers as my brigade hadn't even got up the slopes yet! 

Same situation as above - different angle. The Austrians have even deployed a foot battery - see top right of centre.

Down in the front line. This Elite Miniatures horse battery attached to the dragoon brigade is facing a charge immediately after deploying.
"Load canister & FIRE!!!"  (try saying that in an "Allo Allo" French accent - go on).

A turn later & disaster is averted.

This tricky situation played out as follows, in no particular order; the big Austrian column was stopped dead in it's track & unformed by the horse battery firing cannister. The Dragoons pulled off a charge against the Hussars who counter charged, the heavier cavalry & numbers carried the day as the Hussars retreated & the Dragoons took the ground. This exposed the flank of the Austrian infantry brigade. The Austrian Uhlans charged the front of two fresh French columns who fired delivered deadly volleys at the lancers who were driven off fleeing to the rear. Some remarkable luck has saved the position.
Phew.
For now. 

The battle in the centre.

French foot battery fires at Austrian infantry as they advance across open ground.   

Jaegers out front sniping & hiding. Landwehr in the middle. Generals at the back... "Leading".

This fellow has the right attitude - charging the Frenchmen with only a feathered hat in hand.
"HUZZAH!"
These Hungarian Grenz are advancing on the hill top objective too, this is still going to get messy. 

Hmm, another case of leading from the rear. LDW on the attack.

Austrian Grenadiers hold this deserted hamlet from the French for whom it is an objective.
Some patriotic soul has dusted off a Hapsburg Imperial eagle - "Screw you Boney"!  

This handsome chap is the Brigadier who leads the Nassau brigade. Front Rank models painted by Tony Laughton.

The action in the centre begins. The Austrians seem to be winning the skirmisher battle. Two Austrian brigades are converging from around the church. A Nassau battalion forms line for greater fire effect.   

A "target rich environment" for this French battery. 

The Austrian central attack is developing. The brigade to the left is late to the party due to disruption from French artillery fire at long range. This is a good historical outcome in my view. 

Other shots & angles.

Over view of the battle for hilltop. There is still everything to play for - real ebb & flow stuff as a second assault builds.

Delayed but still determined; Austrian foot round the church yard & see their objective for the first time behind that Nassau battalion in line - this will be bloody. The French battery which punished these troops is top centre. 

A parting picture as the battle rages across this meaningless hill top. More guns move up...

That's your lot for this week, we aim to finish this on Tuesday so I may get a conclusion up next week.

General d'Armee are a brilliant set of rules in our opinion. Things "happen"! Battles look like the maps & paintings you see in reference works & museums. 

The command decisions you make have a real impact BUT the Fog of war can still cause command paralysis. You must have a plan & then stick to it - maintenance of aim.

Historical deployment & doctrine give you the best chance of wining. For example, the initial Austrian attacks went in without any softening up of the enemy, there was no build up. So, charging a fresh, formed up enemy with artillery support is deadly & unlikely to carry the day. Had the gamble paid off however he would have won the game in about four turns & be remembered over ales for years to come. Sometimes fortune favours the brave - that's why we play these games to a certain extent.   

You may well ask "What about the Saxon & Swiss attack on the French left?"

Good question, the truth is it never really started. Those two brigades spent most of the game hesitant! One must assume the orders weren't correctly translated, the ADC killed or captured, the generals might have been reluctant to attack, ground conditions were poor, who knows. may be next week it'll hot up?  

This has been a real pleasure to play & write up. Hope you enjoyed it? There's more to come.

Best wishes,

Jeremy