Some Abysmal Evening

Well, not exactly. The title of this post refers to two things: (1) We played a FoB2 battle in which both armies had Abysmal decks and commanders and (2) the Austrians performance in the battle.

Yes, we played game two (of three) this past Saturday night of the 1809 Austrian Napoleonic campaign. And, yes, the Austrians did not do well.

We actually had a plan, and in hindsight, should have stuck to it - but we didn't. We won the "Deployment" roll so strongly that practically the entire French army was deployed before any serious committal of Austrian soldiers. The trouble was that the French deployed where we did not expect them to - and we had to amend our deployment plans on the fly - which did not work so well for us.

I have to tip my shako to Greg Rold and his team's excellent plan, deployment and execution. That channel of terrain was well screened by the town and protected your flank attack and Terry got the job done! If we Austrians had done "the box" after all, the battle may have ended up differently - so, we actually have a "what if" in our tabletop history now!

The highlight of the battle was something we don't often see: two grand batteries and a large cavalry battle!

The French grand battery was taking a good toll on the Austrian infantry and even destroyed an Austrian battery. It was during this time that the Austrian grand battery was maneuvering into position. Once there, they broke up the French grand battery destroying two thirds of it.

The French cavalry, sensed an opportunity to sally forth into no man's land and perhaps take out the Austrian grand battery - using the shadow of the hill for cover in the final approach. Naturally, the Austrian cavalry had to counter this threat. So we ended up having seven cavalry units (3 Austrian and 4 French) fight multiple melees. Each side had its moments, but in the end, after some tough melees, the French horse prevailed. I am not sure if Greg would have sent the battered cavalry forward towards the grand battery, especially after the battery fired upon them and forced them back after the end of the horse-on-horse battle...but...it sure would have been fun to see!

With both sides a little hamstrung by the Abysmal ratings in command (and deck) it was a little interesting. Each side had 6 Lull cards, so there was a lot of opportunity for snatching a free card during the battle. Commands didn't always move as fast as desired. For me, I liked this and think of it as a strength of the rule system - reducing your ability to control things!

Even with all that, and the low-rated commanders, the battle did not drag on - the game was not slowed. We completed the fight in right around 3 hours of actual gaming. That's with about 50 units in play and two Abysmal decks too!

Anyway, thanks guys for the battle - here are some pics of you all and the miniatures.

 

 

Austria, 1809 – Game One

Saturday evening we fought the first battle of the new three-game campaign set in Austria 1809. Chris, Greg C. and I command the Austrian forces while Greg R., Eric, John and Terry command the French and Bavarian forces. I am acting as the Austrian commander in chief and Greg R. as the French commander in chief.

In this first battle, I wished to act on the defensive – being passive on the field – and allowing the French to attack us. I also wished to spend morale points on some earthworks. After bleeding the French a little, we’d go over onto the attack in the next battle. There were two problems with my wish for the defensive however…

The first issue was that I was unaware of the topology of the field. My fault, I left the map sheet at Brent’s. So, when I arrived to survey the field, there was a central hill that would have dominated the defensive position.

The second issue is that one of the Austrian commanders is not keen on defense. He, Greg, really did not like the idea of being passive. That’s cool, my command, unlike the real Austrian command, is not an aristocracy…so, after much debate, I opted for a defensive posture that could swing onto the attack given circumstances.

Unbeknown to us all, was a third factor that rendered an Austrian defense undesirable. The French army was not rated very well for the fight and their commanders had also opted for a defensive posture. One small French command had not yet arrived at the field when hostilities began, and the defensive-natured terrain was on their side of the field.

So the armies deployed for battle – the Austrians deployed conservatively with a plan to take and hold the central heights while fighting defensively on the flanks. The French deployed along 2/3 of the field in a string defensive line guarded by artillery…but…with one strong-looking striking force. The French commander deployed a division of Bavarians (4 infantry units and 1 artillery unit), a division of French (3 infantry units) and a division of Cavalry (4 cavalry units) along their far right flank in a position to smash into the Austrian left. The Austrian left was held by the division I was commanding (2 infantry units, 2 cavalry units and 1 artillery unit) and had only open terrain to stand in. This flanking attack would turn out to be the point of decision in the battle.

As the battle unfolded, Chris’ Hungarian division, with no opposition before it swept forward and seized a small town to anchor it’s right while facing left to pressure the end of the French defensive line. Near the end of the game, the Hungarians began to dislodge the French line while losing the town to some French troops arriving late onto the field.

Because of the positioning of the French artillery, we abandoned the desire to take the central heights. Instead, Greg used it to screen the advance of an infantry division to support the Hungarians. This division included our best troops – a unit of converged grenadiers.

Greg’s other division did not undertake much movement due to a combination of circumstances. First of all, the aforementioned French artillery dominated an expanse of open terrain eliminating the possibility of any advance without undue losses. Secondly, the commanding officer of the division was not well rated, resulting in some delay and inflexibility. Thirdly, with a French/Bavarian force likely to crash down upon my division and roll up the flank their positioning was good for support.

In fact, this division would lend valuable support to mine – and – formed a small hedgehog of squares on a ridgeline when it looked as though the French cavalry may be in a position to exploit matters.

As mentioned earlier, the big French force possibly targeting my division was to be the point of decision. Indeed the French players said that they moved ahead with the attack given that my small division was outnumbered almost 2:1.

So, the attack commenced. The Bavarian infantry moved ahead in lines, supported by Frenchmen on their left that moved through some very dense woods (Class-III). The French cavalry followed closely behind the Bavarians in attack columns.

My plan to deal with the attack relied on two things: common sense and fate. I determined to form a line with my two infantry units with the artillery in the center of this line. I wanted to be sure that I remained out of musket range of the woods – to deprive the enemy of this valuable cover. Behind this line, I formed my cavalry (cuirassier and dragoons) into attack columns packed in just behind my leftmost infantry unit. I hoped that I could do some damage with musketry and cause some opportunities for my cavalry. I assumed that my division would be wiped out and that my job was to drain energy from the enemy so that Greg’s division could save the flank.

The Bavarian infantry rounded the woods and came under artillery fire from my line. I was lucky enough to catch the Bavarian artillery in limbered status and drove it from the field before it could see any action. It then appeared that the French and Bavarian infantry wished to coordinate their attack on my line, and that would be a wise decision, because the Bavarians halted and did not advance further on two opportunities.

Once ready, the Bavarians advanced – pushed on by the French commander – it turned out that they came on unsupported by the French infantry anyway. The Bavarians – the worst rated division in the French army this evening – fought well, earning the respect of their Germanic enemies, but were ineffective. The field in this area became a swarm of furious melee actions. In the end, one of my infantry units held its ground in spite of tough losses. The other unit lost few men but did give a little ground. But the star of the action was the artillery battery – it won two melees with infantry! As the Bavarians fell back my line was hurting, but intact…but the Bavarians were reduced by half with their remaining units battered severely. They played no further role in the battle.

At this point, disorganized French infantry finally began to pour out of the woods. My rightmost infantry unit fought hard but was forced to fall back, exposing the brave artillery battery to a flank attack which destroyed it. The French infantry also destroyed my leftmost infantry unit. My cavalry struck back routing a French unit from the fight. Greg rushed in an infantry unit to stem the French infantry advance and did indeed halt them. My remaining infantry unit, still in good shape was allowed to fall back.

The French cavalry then showed up. My cavalry, outnumbered 2:1 and a little worn from action with the infantry stood little chance. My dragoons sold their lives dearly and allowed the cuirassier to stop one thrust. On the ridgeline behind the melees, we formed a couple units into square – there was little to prevent the French cavalry from riding up at this point. My division was reduced to one slightly worn infantry unit and one expended cuirassier unit. The unit Greg sent in was also slightly worn.

At this point, the circumstances were present for the French to seal the deal – but – they had run out of army morale points and lost the battle. They had suffered too many losses in the battle. The Austrians had only three morale points remaining.

It was a fun fight. I expected to be in a “quiet sector” of the field and instead was the target of the attack! My division was almost destroyed, but inflicted the same losses on two enemy divisions…and…my losses would have been a little more severe without the timely support of Greg’s division.

I look forward to the next fight. This time I do know what the field looks like! The field is gonna be a tough fight. My army does have shovels in the train, Greg hopes we never use them – but – since the enemy is also reading this post, we’ll keep everyone in suspense!

Austrian and French movements in the battle...

The next battlefield!

Final Battle of Three Campaign Battles

Last Saturday evening, we completed the third of three games in our Napoleonic Campaign in Spain using Field of Battle (Second Edition). The campaign is a simple system of three scenarios where the two field armies compete. The primary effect from one battle to another is two-fold: (1): The loss of Army Morale Points in a given battle against the general pool of those points for your army. (2): The elevation/degradation of some units and commanders based upon events in the just completed battle.

For each battle, to work out the battlefield's topology, the orientation of it to the players and and bonuses/penalties for the Fate Tables, Brent devised some cards that illustrate a given battlefield. The players then worked thru a series of actions that lead to additional battlefields appearing, the orientation of the field changing, etc. So, before we would leave, after the evening's battle, we'd know what the "lay of the land" will be for the coming battle.

The battle on this evening (4/21/2012) was one of the strangest and one of the best battles we have enjoyed. The French forces assumed that they had an advantage in army morale points given the disaster last battle for the Allies (an assumption that was correct). Also, one Allied command was late to the fight, and we won an extremely aggressive option in deployment zones. So, we decided that we'd be aggressive and go on the offensive. The hitch? Well, the field was bisected by a Class-III river! Getting across that is a beast, so it would likely divide the field into 2 halves, with a battle only in one half. Also, we lost the Fate rolls for other things and practically had to deploy our entire army before the Allies had too.

So, we deployed aggressively on our left flank, occupying some town sections on the river with easy distance of the only bridge over the river. Also, we then massed in the center and prepared to cross the river under fire no matter the cost. Our right flank would be anchored on the river bank with a small brigade and a little artillery. If the Allies seriously tried something here it could only be a diversion - surely they'd contest our river crossing instead of attempting that flanking maneuver.

So, we deployed, showing our hand, and the Allies did something a little unexpected...they deployed a little timidly, in my view. Anchoring their flank on the woods was a sound decision, but they placed no troops to challenge the river crossing. They had great depth in their position, but only 1 gun battery within range of the river and no infantry with 18" of the river at the crossing points we would use. We steadily advanced, not launching the main assault until all assault units had crossed the river.

My job was to get part of my command across the river and into the woods to try to get pressure on anything there so that is does not flank the assault. The other part of my command was detailed to stay on our side of the river, but to advance and engage any enemy troops appearing at the woods edge. In my job, I think I did pretty well...better than I normally have performed...but, yes, my commander was the only command casualty of the fight (I always get a commander killed, and there is no end to the good-natured ribbing I get for that!).

Some British Highlanders appeared at the edge of the woods, and my artillery really whacked them! When I got some troops across the river, I encountered them again as well as some British Rifles - and with one of John's units - we hammered these fellows. We actually had an opportunity to turn the allied flank here in the woods. But, as the Gods of War are fickle, events allowed some Portuguese to get into position to stabilize the flank.

Meanwhile, John and Chris diligently herded their troops across the river, got reorganized, and launched the main assault. I wonder that if the allies had been a little more aggressive could they have hurt us as we crossed slowly and in disorder? I suppose so, routing units crossing a Class-III river lose a UI when they cross, this could have been bad - but - the allies would also have been in a more exposed position and taking some losses too. I cannot fault them for standing in a strong line with protected flanks and toughing out a fierce brawl at close range.

In the end, the French won. We ran out of chips first though, and spent a little time where both armies were giving and taking one or two chips to each other. In the end, the Allies got the Army Morale Card when out of chips and lost the roll. The French had 1 chip in the bag.

The overall campaign was narrowly won by the French by a score of 3 Campaign Morale Points to 0 Campaign Morale Points.

On to the pics (taken with my iPad 3)...oh, next campaign starts in May. Austria 1809. I'll be an Austrian commander!

The map!