Having achieved a significant milestone this week, I can now claim to be a source of sage advice and ancestral wisdom.
It is essentially this:
Someone be a love and put the kettle on please?
Having achieved a significant milestone this week, I can now claim to be a source of sage advice and ancestral wisdom.
It is essentially this:
Someone be a love and put the kettle on please?
I set up ALL THE TERRAIN last weekend intending to have a game, but between, prepping stats for the tractors, fatigue and being distracted by the plastics arriving, I didn't get to it until this weekend.
Used the "Quar of Command" notes and "Cocking Up the Mud and the Blood" to have the Coftyrans assault the Crusader trenches. The Coftyrans got twice the Support Points, opting for a all the tractors, a towed field gun and two barrage elements. "Cocking Up the Mud and the Blood" lets you build a preparatory artillery plan. You can apply artillery fire to try and cut the wire, counter battery fire (interdicts the SOS Barrage), and shell the supporting trenches to delay deployment. The defenders can pick an SOS Barrage with two pre-plotted targets.
Terrain set up covering a 6.5'x4.5' area |
Royalists get some initial good command dice rolls with useful activation and a few double turns. A section finds a gap in the wire and pushes up to the first trench |
Crusader deployment is frustrated by falling Royalist heavy artillery. They only get one section into each forward trench |
Defenders take casualties and shock |
Royalist right hand section advances under fire |
Royalist left wing section advances |
Draepkindl arrives a bit late to support the assault |
MMG team lays down supporting fire, but keeps jamming. Any automatic weapons would jam if they rolled more 1s than 6s |
Crusaders get their mortar set up |
Some heavy support finally successfully deploys |
Royalist right in the woods taking fire from the H11 section opposite. Casualties and shock are piling up. |
With the artillery lifted the Crusaders get their Heavy Shotgun teams deployed. |
HSG on right shredding Royalists opposite |
The mortar only has 3 FP, but it ignores cover and got a good hit on the center section trying to rally, killing two and breaking them a second time. |
H11 section and an HSG effectively holding the left hand trench |
Another HSG and the bomber section effectively holding the right hand trench |
Right hand section with 7 shock and down to four ryhflers! The Coftyran commander used a couple of pigs to remove shock from the center and right sections. |
Coftyran field gun loses the firefight against the Crusader HSG |
Game over, quar! 2 ryhflers and 7 shock. Center section is broken by mortar fire |
One year and eleven days (but who's counting?) since I first fan-squealed about the plastic Quar, I finally have some in my hot, grubby paws.
A second Heavy Shotgun team for the Crusaders |
A mortar team. Actually, I do have a second mortar team still to assemble, but in the accessory packs I got a 3rd mortar and two mortar packs, so I will do them with some plastic figures. |
Two more LMG teams. Which gives me a start on the firepower for a second platoon, if I'm being honest. I suppose the 3rd mortar team does too. |
Finished the Royalist HMG gunner. That monopod support takes a bit of patience to assemble, so it got left to the end. |
Royalists. 2 1/2 infantry sections, HSG team, 2x HMG teams, officer, cook, 2x snipers, cavalry troop, 4x tractors, 2x towed guns |
Crusaders: 2 1/2 infantry sections, 2x HSG teams, mortar, 4x LMG teams, 3x officers, sniper, messenger squirrel handler, stretcher team, sapper, cavalry troop, 5x tractors, kite |
As faithful podcast listeners know, I am in a second Play By E-Mail (PBEM) campaign hosted by Wendy. And as everyone, including my opponents know, I am commanding the Bavarian army, which formed Napoleon's VII Corps.
I will endeavor to keep this updated more frequently.
Theater of campaign |
This time I dutifully read my briefing and spent the week pondering my initial deployment. My analysis, as I outlined to Napoleon's HQ, was that the threat to Davout around Ratisbonne was greater than the threat to Munich. So I deployed my infantry divisions to cover the three northern crossings, while the cavalry screened to the south and burned bridges.
Initial deployment 16 April 1809 |
The first communication from the Emperor, which fortunately arrived at 8 am on the first day of game time, promptly turned this upside down. "Defend Munich!" were the orders. And he outlined a grand strategy of crossing at Munich and taking the Austrians in their left flank.
Gallopers are thus dispatched hither and yon, and the closest divisions begin marching immediately, or noonish, allowing time for orders to arrive, camps to be struck etc.
Moves afternoon of 16 April |
Ordered movements for 17 April |
The Cavalry Division should be at Landshut to cover my northern flank. 1st Div also at Landshut en route to Moosburg. 2nd Division at Moosburg en route to Freising. And 3rd Division about a 4 hour march from Munich.
That was the carefully thought out plan, at any rate.
A turn or so later, I am informed that 3rd Division at Landshut, has been threatened by at least a Corps since 6 am. More gallopers are dispatched. Everyone is told: "Move. Move now!" I don't expect to stop the crossing, but if 3rd Division can delay and then retire towards me, that'd be great. Then I'll have all 3 infantry divisions together threatening the Austrian flank.
Hopefully, the cavalry division can circle around the Austrian bridgehead and join me by the 18th.
I'm getting reports from cavalry patrols all day (stalwart chaps those Bavarian troopers) of large Austrian columns crossing at Moosburg and Freising.
But 3rd Divisions holds out heroically at Landshut and I reinforce them with 2nd Division as evening falls on the 16th. "Super!" I think.
The 17th dawns quietly only to find that a Corps of whitecoats have marched up from the Moosburg crossing.
Well poop.
I manage to extricate myself, thanks to Imperial troops marching twice as fast as the Austrians and I get all four of my divisions together on that unnamed Y-junction just to my north east. The Austrians pursued. I elected to "fight a delaying action" which forces the enemy to deploy and then while they regroup I'm getting out of there. Stupidly I designated my cavalry as rearguard, thinking their horses would allow them to elude the whitecoats easily.
Being exhausted and attacked by Austrian heavies, they broke and galloped up the Isar river like a pack of panicked sheep. I took the rest north towards Ratisbonne and Davout, fighting a second delaying action around Neufahrn as I went. I then stopped at Eggmuhl and sent staff officers to gather in my cavalry. They finally arrived in the small hours of the morning and needed 24 hours rest to be ready to fight again.
So I spent the next campaign day, at 2 hour weekly turns, sitting at Eggmuhl, patrolling south, east and west while my cavalry recovered from their fit of vapours. I was briefly menaced by some Cuirassiers and Grenadiers, who then sloped off westward after making rude gestures at my pickets.
All this day I'm getting no dispatches from Davout or Imperial HQ or anyone and I'm just alone in the dark wondering where the war went to. Late in the day I heard some artillery fire from around Abensberg as Vandamme, and possibly Davout, set about thrashing the Austrian 2nd Korps.
After 24 hours of sitting on my hands, I decide "Right well, since everyone seems to have forgotten me, I'll push south to Landshut and try to get in behind the Austrians!" After four hours of marching I bump some Austrians.
So I sit and wait, figuring I'm at least keeping these divisions from heading north west to the big fight around Abensburg. I finally get some messages as well. Vandamme and Davout are going to be pushing the Austrians towards Landshut and can I be ready to pounce?
Morning of the 20th I attack a Division of Cuirassiers and a Division of Grenadiers guarding the Landshut bridge.
1er Div west | 2e Div center | 3e Div east |
west | center Cuirassier Lichtenstein | east Grenadiers |
Orange squares are battle sites. As you will note, there's an awful lot of Austrians waiting for me at Landshut. |