Mark put on a little Grand Armee bash last Thursday - Poles trying to hold up the Austrians in a famous delaying action whose name I forgot instantly but involved myself and Mark trying to hold on against overwhelming odds.
The battlefield was dominated by the key feature - the river - which had only 2 crossing points (causeways more than bridges) and 2" either side was mud and slow going. Luckily we didn't have to play this historically (where the Poles started on the Austrians' side of the river then had to try and cross to safety before the Austrians mashed them up. Instead, using all our military strategic powers (when I say 'our', I mean 'mine' as Mark left deployment to me) we simply split the forces in two with a mobile reserve in the middle, cannons pointing down the causeways and infantry and cavalry poised to strike at anything daring to cross.
The plan worked like a dream. As the Austrians pushed forward on our right Mark transpired to roll 1,2,2 - which meant 'run away'. Luckily our mobile reserve rushed forward (with the C in C leading it by the nose) to close the causeway Mark had left open. Had the Austrians got across then it could have been the shortest Grand Armee battle in living memory. Luckily we held them up and Mark's troops sheepishly returned to their positions.
On our left my very fragile command structure was put to the test and one of my commands managed to go on the attack - then ran back when the Austrian cavalry showed up. We simply lined up the cannons on opposing banks and our superior shooting made their guns retire. This meant that Russ could either charge the causeway or continue to have his strength chipped away. He chose the former but running cavalry into grapeshot is not ideal and his numbers were whittled down - then the Polish cavalry attacked in turn. After much pushing and shoving the Austrian cavalry retired out of range - which suited me.
Russ and John found our disposition damned unsporting (a bit like Arsene Wenger complaining about teams who defended too deep thus preventing his team from playing pretty football). Historically it may have played differently (i.e. the Austrians could have caught us as we were trying to cross the river) - but given free disposition we did the sensible thing - as Russ and John would have had the boot been on the other foot.
John continued to pound away at Mark so we kept the C in C on his side of the battlefield to provide close control at the key point of the battle. Our strength was getting run down, but the opposition were suffering more and they eventually retired, leaving the Poles battered but unbowed.
For me and Mark - a happy victory. For Russ and John - a deeply frustrating one.
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Our deployment - come and get it!
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| Mark showing off his new iPhone. |
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| Russ and John. Look at their happy, smiley faces! How they're enjoying this experience! |
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| The Austrians make their first foray on our right... |
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| ...and promptly scare off all Mark's troops! The brigade by the town is my reserve coming to the rescue by closing the bridge before the Austrians can cross. |
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| In the nick of time we shut the door and the Austrians have to do it the hard way. |
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| Which basically means dying in their hundreds in Polish mud as cannister and grape punch huge holes in their ranks. This is apparently how the battle ended up once the Poles had crossed to safety. Of course, if I'd been in charge... |
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| The Happy General - I love it when a plan comes together! |
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| The final push on our right. They just can't get through and jack it in. |
