Napoleonic Scenario: Vandamme's Assault on the Stare Vinohrady, Austerlitz December 2nd, 1805

(Originally posted on the Home Page Feb 13, 2012)
Last weekend Greg and his lovely wife, Linda, came for a holiday weekend visit to which we all ate and drank to excess and caught up on our sleep. Greg and I also took the requisite time to game like men possessed. On top of a suitably bloody game of SAGA, and reacquainting ourselves with 'Conflict of Heroes' we also played a cataclysmic 'Spearhead' scenario set in the opening hours of Kursk. These were all great fun, but undoubtedly the main event was our Napoleonic scenario based on the French attack on the Allied center at Austerlitz in December 1805.

Historically, Vandame's assault on the Stare Vinohrady was virtually a non-contest. The remnants of the mauled Allied IV Column, composed of six battalions of the IR#23, five severely reduced Russian battalions and their attached artillery, tried to hold the heights, but the French had both the numbers and the quality to quickly overwhelm them. Nevertheless, in reading the numerous accounts of the engagement I thought there were a few 'what-ifs' that  if cobbled together could make a viable, if somewhat asymmetrical scenario. The following is what piqued my interest:

• Scott Bowden's 'Napoleon and Austerlitz' describes the Austrian and Russian contingents as separate actions even though they occurred very close to one another on the Pratzen Heights. I think much of this had to do with both the difficulty of communication between the Austrian and Russian partners along with the fact that the Allies wanted to cover-off as much of the heights as possible. Nonetheless, what if the Allies had drawn themselves closer together to better support one another, would it have helped?

• Bowden further describes that the two Allied contingents did not make good use of the available ground, which had several vineyards below the summit (thus the name 'Vinohrady'). These would have slowed down infantry attacks and pretty much nullified threats from cavalry. Historically the Allies deployed well back from the vineyards, surrendering their advantages to the French light infantry. So what if the Allies had positioned their forces to take better advantage of the available ground, could it have aided their defence of the heights?

• In David Chandler's 'Austerlitz, 1805' he obliquely mentions another unit of Kolowrat's command, Infantry Regiment #24, being in support of IR#23. Reportedly this was a depot battalion of around 400 conscripts, but I reasoned that every man would have helped to spread out the line on the Heights and so included them in my Order of Battle. I also added cavalry support to both sides. The French had access to Boye's Dragoon brigade (which was historically on-hand) and the Allies now have two regiments (Dragoons and Hussars) originally from Liechtenstein's V Column of cavalry and Wodiansky's Advance Guard. So, finally, what if the Allied High Command had released more cavalry assets to the defence of the Heights?

So for our scenario I incorporated the above conjectures and worked with the hypothesis that Kolowrat and Miloradovich have decided to concentrate and coordinate their efforts thereby bringing their forces together - forcing Vandamme to engage them as a combined force on the summit, on advantageous ground of their choosing. 

A map of the rough dispositions of the two armies as seen at the start of the action. 

For our game we used our home-grown rules, 'Food for Powder', which do a very good job of reflecting unbalanced engagements. This battle was actually fairly large for a battalion-level game (24 battalions, 4 regiments of cavalry and 3 batteries of guns) so we played it on a 6x10 surface to give us enough room to maneuver. Some may notice that I did not model the Heights on the tabletop - in my reading it seemed to suggest that the path Vandamme took on his assault was along a very gradual slope and therefore would not have granted much tactical superiority to the Allies so I decided to leave out modeling the Heights for sake of clarity.

The Stare Vinohrady today as seen from Vandamme's initial positions.

For our battle we had John and Dan on the French side, while Greg and Sylvain ran the Austrians and Russians respectively.

Here the French commanders, Dan and John, look on with Stacy (on the right) assisting as umpire.

Greg and Sylvain commanded the Austro-Russian force.

The first turn was fairly quiet, seeing the French move towards the heights along their entire front, including their guns. For the Allies, they stayed in place but were very lucky in their reinforcement roll and an composite brigade of cavalry (Austrian Hussars and Dragoons) arrived on their right flank. Greg formed them up in column of squadrons, with the Hussars leading and the Dragoons in support.

In the second Turn the French brought in their own cavalry in the form of Boye's bigade of Dragoons (under Dan). They deployed on the French right flank, in extended column of squadrons, diagonal to the Austrian cavalry. This choice of deployment had a critical impact in the following turns for both sides as the cavalry had free reign in each of their sectors. Eyebrows were duly raised with this heap of snorting cavalry showing up on the tabletop all at once.

Boye's Dragoon Brigade heading towards the Russian line.

Amongst our group, Sylvain is legendary for his caution so you can imagine the hoots of derision when he began to retrograde his Russians in response to the arrival of the French Dragoons. (As you will see Sylvain had the last laugh as his refusal of the left flank probably saved the Allied line.)

Shown here are three of the five understrength and exhausted Russian battalions that held the Allied left flank.

The third turn was a corker. First thing you have to understand that Dan is the antithesis of Sylvain. I like to think of Dan as the General Haig of miniature wargaming. To Dan's way of thinking 'If the first assault does not break them then the twelfth will certainly do the trick...' As such Dan's French Dragoons duly charged the Russian left flank as soon as they got the chance. Since the charge began from a long distance away (practically in Vienna) the Russian battalions had enough time to form squares. Undeterred, Dan noted that most of the Russian squares were not well-formed (our rules differentiate between 'solid' and 'hasty' squares) and so sent in the leading regiment of Dragoons to see if the Russians would loose their bottle. It was not meant to be. The Russians held their position and repulsed the Dragoons, but not without suffering some casualties and disorder in their ranks.

The nervous Austrian line, jammed full of conscripts and raw troops.

Meanwhile in the center, one French battalion decided to take the bit by the teeth and move ahead of the advance in line formation... While up the slope the two Allied artillery batteries hammered away at the approaching French columns, who inexplicably neglected to shake-out into less target-rich line formations and so consequently paid the price.

Back to the Allied left, Greg noted the impetuous advance of the solitary French battalion with an arched eyebrow, and thought it was too good of an opportunity for his Austrian Hussars to pass up. Greg knew he'd have to 'roll Vegas' to get the requisite moves in order to close, but he rolled the dice hoping they'd be kind to him. Well, the dice gods were smiling on Austria and Greg managed change formation, sound the charge and head for the French battalion.

The Austrian Hussars receive their order to charge...

Several French squares watch apprehensively as the Austrian Hussars begin to move across their front...

Again, as the charge originated from so far away the French battalion had a very good chance to form square. In 'Food for Powder' there are Impetus Dice (good mojo) and Friction Dice (bad mojo). Both Impetus and Friction are drawn from unit quality, officer rating and environmental conditions. Both are rolled simultaneously and you literally have to take the good with the bad (or vis a vis). Well, John rolled well enough with his Impetus dice, but the Friction roll was completely off the register - to the extent that the French battalion continued to trudge along, wondering why the ground was shaking, trumpets were blaring and their comrades to the rear were waving their arms and shouting...

'Ah! Zee target is in sight - Sound ze Charge!!'

A French ADC tries to warn the battalion of its imminent danger...

As John would say later, his battalion 'had the distinct misfortune of being ridden down by the 'flyboys' of the Horse & Musket era'. The only thing that saved the French battalion from complete annihilation was that the Austrian Hussars were at the end of their tether and very fatigued, so the mauled survivors were able to make their escape.

... but too late - the Hussars are upon them!

Turn four saw the French grind forward, closing with the Allied positions while the Russian and Allied guns gutted a French column. Nonetheless, the 1st of the 57th 'Le Terribles' got into action against the Russians and quickly broke a battalion that had been forced into square by the nearby French Dragoons. The French guns were dragged forward 'by bricole' and unlimbered in preparation to punish the tightly packed Russian formations. I'm sure there were many muttered prayers in those formations...

The unlimbered French artillery ranging in on the Russian squares. 

In the center Greg knew his victorious Hussars were desperately exposed and winded so he committed his remaining cavalry, the Dragoons to try to cover their retreat.  This turned out to be a little Pyrrhic as the Dragoons were shot to pieces by every French battalion's voltigeurs on their 'Death Ride' to the Hussars' support. Nonetheless, the exhausted 'flyboys' of the game managed to get extricated and began their ride back to Austrian high command to present the French colours they had captured.

Kolowrat receiving the news of the capture of a French eagle.

I'm sorry I cannot give a final account of the scenario as this is where we decided to break for the evening (we spent a lot of time laughing, eating and drinking.) Nonetheless, we looked over the field at 'halftime' and surmised that while the French had certainly been rebuffed in a few areas they were still in an excellent position on the Allied left flank to start an envelopment with combined arms. The fragile Allied line composed of reduced battalions and conscripts had not yet been truly tested and it would be touch-and-go to tell how it would turn out for them. It was really anybody's game.

Looking from the French left across the battlefield.

It was great fun, and all of it due to an excellent bunch of guys to game with. I extend my thanks to them all for making the night so entertaining. A special thank you goes to Greg and John who both travelled great distances to attend and brought many beautiful toys from their own collections in order to make the game that much more colourful - bravo! 

I had such a good time that I'm already planning for the next Napoleonic weekend...

When Things Go Boom - The Conclusion

"Soldiering is easy, Jean-Louis. You see, we just follow these big red arrows..."

When we last left the village of Boom, its defenders (The 23rd Royal 'Welch' Fusiliers) were  girding their loins, preparing to be attacked by three battalions of French infantry, supported with all the possible trimmings (a frothing Marshal Ney, two generals of brigade, three battalion commanders, two pioneer companies and Yvette from the Divisional Brothel).

After the charges had been declared the attackers next needed to determine if their resolve would hold in order to allow them to follow through with the charge. The two battalions from Sylvain's brigade passed with aplomb, their drummers taking up the 'pas de charge' and his columns moving forward at the quick step. 

My lone battalion, on the other hand, completely sh*t the bed and sat around like a bunch of striking Parisian transit workers, smoking Gitanes and reading 'LeMond'. As you can imagine I was not impressed.

Anyway, the Brits, watching the French come up held their bottle and let them have a dose  of musketry and canister at close range.  The French took the casualties, gritted their teeth and stormed the village. The ensuing first round of combat was a pitched battle with handfuls of dice being thrown. The British had the advantage of defending the village but they knew that they could not trade casualties with the more numerous French. The dice did not come through to give the British the definitive victory and so the result was a draw. Casualties were suffered on both sides and a second bound was set to be fought. 

The French immediately storm Boom again with the two battalions that they have at hand. The combat in the streets is furious but the British get the definitive upper hand and Ney is forced out of the village.

A bird's eye view of the second assault.

The French spend time to regroup and bring up a third battalion with its assault pioneers to add weight to the assault. Charge checks are passed and Ney goes in again! 

Ney taking reserves up to support the assault and to meet his fate...

Over the next two bounds, the increase in French numbers and the incessant whittling down of the British garrison begins to tell. Finally the defense, harried beyond measure, entirely collapses under the weight of the assault.  Ironically, in the final turn Ney is killed in the last spasms of vicious street fighting. 

The victory points are tallied and it is determined that while Louis and his royal court has escaped, a significant number of British are still trapped on the wrong side of the River Rupel. It is a hard won French victory and Ney can rest assured that his death will be remembered as a glorious one!

As a footnote, we played this scenario once again using a modified version of Black Powder. The big difference in this replay is that the British were provided with a small detachment (two squadrons) of KGL Light Dragoons which created havoc with the French advance, ultimately destroying an artillery battery before they were brought to ground by a regiment of Dragoons. Nevertheless, the French finally forced their way past the British defense screen and  began their assault Boom en force.

The French enter the Belgian flood plain on their approach to Boom.

KGL Light Dragoons crest a hill and charge a battery of French artillery - and survive!

The Rifles hunker behind a stone wall and harass the French with long-range fire.

To make a long story short, the assault lasted for four turns, but the telling lack of a preparatory artillery bombardment and the stalwart British defense in the plain, had a significant impact on the final assault. Though the combat was protracted and bloody the British held long enough for the army to evacuate (along with Louis' royal court) and the guts were finally ripped out of the French assault with Ney and the survivors being thrown back. As a twist of fate, it is the British commander, Frederickson, who is killed in the last turn - right at the point of his victory. How apropos considering the result of the last scenario!

Following are a few shots of the assault.

 

Thanks to all the guys that came out to make these games such great fun - I look forward to our next bash!

Battle Report: 'When Things Go Boom' - The Great Retreat from Waterloo

Last week we played a game based on a hypothetical scenario I dreamt up which is based around the premise that the British had been defeated at Waterloo and were in the midst of falling back to Antwerp in order to be evacuated by the Royal Navy. The retreat has hit a bottleneck at a pontoon crossing of the River Rupel, just below the village of Boom (yes, that's its real name). To stave off the pursuing French the British have prepared the village for defense by tasking a composite brigade to hold as long as possible. For further details on the scenario feel free to check it out here in the 'Past Games' section.

A few weeks previous I had put on an earlier edition of the same scenario for friends up in Saskatoon using 'Black Powder' which turned out to be good fun. You can read Tim's excellent report of that game here on his blog. To change things up I decided that for this replay we were going to us 'Republic to Empire' as several of the guys here have copies of the rules and wanted to get a better sense of them.

Dan took on the defense of Boom by the British while Sylvain and Stacy each took a reinforced French brigade each. Stacy had an attached regiment of Dragoons while Sylvain commanded the Divisional Artillery Battery (8pdrs plus howitzers).

This was the battlefield as seen from the French entry position.

...from the British perspective ('Boom' is in the foreground).

...and finally an overhead image.

I gave the option to Sylvain and Stacy to deploy the French guns forward along with a single infantry brigade in order to conduct a preparatory bombardment of the village. The downside of this would be that the British would get some extra time to evacuate the army, the French guns would be at greater risk of counterbattery/skirmishing fire and the second French brigade would have to follow on later. After some deliberation they decided against this in favour of entering the table as a cohesive force and assaulting the village as soon as possible. 

Wanting to see if he could force the French to waste time in deploying early Dan positioned the 95th Rifles in open order far ahead of Boom in a stone-enclosed field. The 28th Foot were arrayed in a large wood near the village's flank with the idea that it could provide support if needed. Between the 28th and Boom Dan deployed two sections of Royal Horse Artillery (6pdrs and howitzers) to cover the main approach to the village. The 23rd Royal Welch Fusiliers along with a section of Foot Artillery (9pdrs) were given the honour of holding Boom to the 'furthest extremity.'

Here we see the 'Royal Welch' deployed in Boom with a couple sections of RHA on the outskirts and the 28th in the woods.

Sylvain and Stacy knowing they were 'on the clock' set up both of their French brigades in attack columns with the artillery limbered up and moving forward.  Ney  took a central position just  in case he needed to shivvy any of the new conscripts along.  All in all the French were arrayed to roll ahead with as much force as possible.

Initiative went to the French for the first turn and both brigades ground forward. As they had extra Maneuver Points (MPs) to spend Sylvain decided to use an Exploitation Move in order to move his guns further forward and get them unlimbered for action (at medium range to the village). Stacy was completely unflapped on  seeing the Rifles to his front and ordered his columns forward, intending to pin the 95th down and destroy it by sheer weight of numbers. 

The French columns deploy voltigeurs and advance on the British

Dan's (British) seemed satisfied with his situation and so let his side of the turn lapse. (Dan forgot that his Rifles had the range to fire at the advancing French and so missed an opportunity to deal out some damage early.) 

The initiative for the second turn went to the British and Dan again held his his position and his fire - nerves of steel indeed! 

Stacy's French brigade begin to close in on the 95th. The dragoons are a bit bottled-up to the brigade's rear...

Stacy's French duly continued their advance.  His voltigeurs were arrayed forward and began to give harassing fire on the partly concealed 95th. Sylvain fired his battery at the Rifles in support but the stone enclosure shielded them from most of the roundshot. Sylvain made sure to keep his infantry roughly in line with Stacy's so as not to get separated and to provide support if needed. He also didn't want to allow it to get too far forward and mask the guns which would start bombarding the village.

Voltigeurs cover the advance of their compatriots in the columns. The Rifles are beginning to sweat a bit at this point...

The French took the initiative in the next turn and Stacy's brigade began to close in, preparing for an assault on the Rifles' position behind the stone wall. The 95th bagan to take telling casualties from the combined skirmish fire of the three French battalions. Dan has the Rifles fall back to the rear of the enclosed field thinking he may have a forlorn hope on his hands. On the other flank Sylvain acknowledges that the situation with the Rifles is being addressed and so has his gunners re-lay their cannon on the village of Boom.

The 95th forms square hoping to make a dash for the trees in order to escape the French advance (the treeline is just off camera, about 8 inches away)

In the next turn Stacy's voltigeurs cross the stone fence and push into the field to better close with the Rifles. The French 2e Dragoons, which are finally provided a clear path to the front, are now frustrated by having to maneuver so close to the stone field. As they don't have a clear charge-line to the 95th's line they move instead trying to get into a better position.

The French battery switches target and starts to pound the village in preparation of the assault.

  

Dan realizes that with three battalions of infantry and a regiment of cavalry bearing down  that the jig is up for the Rifles. He decides that they must try to leg-it back to a woodline several hundred yards to his rear. He knows he can't make it in one move so hopes he can roll well enough for his command to get halfway and then form square. He will then pray to get the initiative for next turn so he can attempt to sprint the rest of the way to safety. Its a long shot but he really has little options open to him. He rolls well enough to get out in the open and to form square - half way there!

Now comes a very important roll for initiative. If the French seize the initiative they can simply pin  down the Rifles in their square with the dragoons while blasting it apart with the three advancing battalions of infantry. Lady Luck holds out for Dan and the British get the initiative! Its not over as Dan needs to get a good command roll for the British so the Rifles can not only break out of their square but also make a mad dash for the woods. Again, he rolls exceedingly well and manages to extract the 95th out of a very sticky wicket. 

With Stacy's French now advancing closer to the village the British artillery opens fire on the 51er Ligne causing it to fall back from the galling canister fire.  On top of this  growing chaos, rockets now begin to arc into the battlefield from a Royal Horse Rocket Battery that has deployed opposite of the river, offboard. (Note: To reflect the extreme inaccuracy of these weapons both sides get to pick targets each turn, rolling for deviation.)

The French brigades soak up the casualties with great aplomb and continue their advance. The dragoons see the British horse artillery deployed outside the village and decide to initiate a charge. Upon hearing the sound of the cavalry trumpets the artillerists see the danger, realize that their position is compromised, and so decide that their expertise would be best served on the other side of the river (i.e. they kick up their heels, abandon their guns and run like hell). The cavalry take some fire from the defenders in the village but pull up from their charge quite satisfied with themselves. This leaves just the one section of foot artillery defending the village.

Sylvain continues to bombard the village but realizes that at this range his guns will probably not reduce it quick enough to assist the first assault. (Note: In hindsight Sylvain realized that if he had unlimbered his battery at close range he would have had a much better chance of discomforting the defenders more with his artillery fire. Good to know for next time.) He then shakes out his brigade into line, diverting one to pin down the 28th Foot which is deployed outside of Boom while the others start their final advance on the village. Stacy tasks the 19e Ligne to winkle out the Rifles while its second battalion angles towards the village.


The British hold tight with all battalions firing measured volleys at the French inflicting some casualties. The dragoons come under canister fire from the foot section in the village and they decide to retreat to the rear.


The 19e charge the Rifles and a furious close combat occurs along the wood's edge. It goes to three successive bounds due to their being no clear initial victor, but finally the 95th preservers by forcing the 19e to pull back. Nonetheless, both battalions are so mauled in the action that they are now basically combat ineffective.

The 19e and the 95th clash in the woods.

The British continue their harassing fire on the massing French, waiting what they know must come. By this time in the game the British have evacuated 67 'factors' of refugees plus one 'factor' of Louis Royal court. They will have to hold out for at least a few more turns  and/or maul some French battalions to claim victory. Its going to be tight...


For the French the moment of decision has arrived. Sylvain wisely orders his two French battalions that have been tasked with the assault to form attack columns, compressing their frontage in order to allow as many into the attack as possible. Stacy's remaining battalion also moves itself into position. Both French brigades bring up their respective assault pioneers for their help in the attack. And if this wasn't enough, Marshal Ney, plus the two French brigadier generals move to each of the columns to inspire the men with their direct leadership in the assault.

The British fix bayonets and the artillery load up double-canister...

One can just hear the drums and fifers sending the French forward into their desperate assault on the village!

Good Golly! Will the French succeed in storming the village? Or will we see the British repel the attack and hold out long enough for their comrades to escape? The suspense is thick in the air! You've paid for the whole seat but you only need the edge! Tune in later this week for the exciting conclusion of "When Things Go Boom"! 
:)

Battle of Raszyn, 6mm Fast Play Grande Armee (FPGA)

I wanted to try some small-scale stuff for a change and so pulled my 6mm collection out of storage and we had a small game of Fast Play Grande Armee (FPGA). The scenario was based on the 1809 Battle of Raszyn which is somewhat unique as it is a Napoleonic battle where the French were not one of the main combatants. The background is that as part of the Austrian strategic plan for their 1809 campaign they wished to quickly knock the Poles out of the war so as to have greater freedom on their flanks for future operations against the French and their German allies. Historically the Poles were caught flat-footed, so I decided to have two players control them to reflect their more scattered command. Dan volunteered to run the Austrians and so Stacy and Sylvain had the honour of defending Poland from sausage-eating, lederhosen-wearing tyranny.

FPGA has a mechanism whereas each turn can last between 1 and 4 'pulses' (determined by a die roll) which makes time rather elastic and adds a bit of friction and nail-biting for the players. In this scenario the game length was set at 5 turns and the Poles definitely wanted the sun to go down as soon as possible so the full weight of the Austrian attack could not be brought to bear. As it turned out poor Dan had to watch as the first 3 turns melted away with only a pulse played for each. The Austrians were barely at their assault positions and the day was getting late! Feeling the pressure Dan threw a cavalry brigade over a ford on his right flank, hoping to occupy the opposite town and force a bridgehead before the Poles could move to block his efforts.



The Austrian hussars made good inroads initially, moving over the river to the opposite bank, but while they were waiting for infantry support the Poles quickly moved a cavalry brigade, supported by artillery, to throw them back.



It was then a race to see who would be able to get infantry into the town for control of this part of battlefield. The Austrians had a moment of hesitation (reflected in a bad control roll) and the Poles stole a march and made it into the town to set up a hasty but firm defense.



The remainder of the game was spent with the Austrians trying to force their way across the river at three crossing points but with no real success.

There were several cinematic moments in the game. One of which was when a Saxon General who was commanding a brigade of elite Saxon grenadiers (allies of the Poles), safe in his town sector position at the central bridge, got his blood up (i.e. Epic Fail on the control roll) and decided to launch an unsupported assault across the bridge to 'run those Austrian rascals off'. In our mind's eye we could see the Saxons stamping across the bridge in a route-step march column, colours waving, with orders from their brigadier that they go in with muskets unloaded and only use the bayonet. Little did they know that there was a MONSTROUS Austrian brigade across from them with no such romantic notions who let them have it with point blank musket fire. Lets just say there were many grenadier bearskins floating down the river a few minutes later.

Nonetheless, this bright spot aside, the Austrians just could not shift the Poles in a meaningful way and the battle ended as a bloody but solid Polish victory. I had streamlined the skirmish rules a bit which seemed to work well, but the artillery still needs to be tweeked in order to be made more lethal as it just doesn't have that 'killer-of-the-battlefield' feel. Next time!