Old Boys Weekend - Game 3 of 3

The Battle of Neumarkt Sankt Veit, 24 April 1809.

A refight of the action at Neumarkt Sankt Veit (hereafter just Neumarkt) which saw a Franco-Bavarian force led by Marshal Jean-Baptiste Bessières face an Austrian army commanded by Johann von Hiller.  Hiller's numerically superior force won a victory, forcing Bessières to retreat to the west.

For this we used, a slightly tweaked version of Neil Thomas' "Napoleonic Wargame Rules" (NTNWR) as from an earlier trial games (here and here) we all felt they "had something".

The Scenario

The scenario was shamelessly copied from Jemima Fawr's Miniature Wargames Blog (here) - go to her blog for a map - modified slightly for our 6mm troops.  My interpretation of this is shown below, viewed from the south-west, the top left corner, as viewed, being north.  The roads were all frantically cut out of sheets of coloured card on the Thursday before the weekend - not great but, held down with small tabs of double-sided tape, they do the job.  

And again, from the north-east ...

... and a repeat, this time with the crossings named, and the various formations outlined: the Austrians in yellow; Bavarians in light blue; and, French in mid blue.

While the Austrians were intended to have much of their army off-table, a mistake in setting up meant there were fewer troops than there should be on-table at the start.  This was rectified in the game by them magically appearing in the first turn.

I had intended running this as an open game, i.e. all players aware of what was the scenario entailed, but with the Franco-Bavarian army tasked with getting all its troops across the river, before it could withdraw them to avoid the overwhelming Austrian force.  The other players (Steve, Martin and Keith) all however said they would prefer to play knowing no more than the real commanders did.  So, I briefed them on what was known to their commanders, and, as I was also playing, undertook to act in the same way; they're a trusting bunch.

The Battle

This game was very absorbing, and I was very absorbed.  What I mean by this is that I forgot to take many photos so, this will be brief and front-loaded.

My main issue, as the French, was how to get all my troops quickly over the river as they were all jammed around Neumarkt.  Some of my cavalry, no doubt frustrated by this bottle-neck, were already looking to go home (if you can spot them).

Martin, the Bavarian commander, had the opposite problem, with all his brigades, except his cavalry, across the river, widely spread and in danger of being defeated in detail.

At least he had his artillery nicely deployed and waiting for any Austrians who might show up.

And show up they did, some as if magically appearing from nowhere (courtesy of the deployment cock-up noted above).

Back on the other side of the river, my French were caught on the hop, and lost precious time having to get into march columns.  Realising it would take too long to get everyone over the Neumarkt bridge, they sent their guns and one division to cross the bridge to their right (Hundham), and another division and a brigade of cavalry to the bridge to their left (Kinming).  Their cavalry crossing at Neumarkt, thanks to another terrible staff blunder, only moved at infantry marching pace - D'oh!

The Bavarians, by contrast were expecting something of the sort, and not surprised by the appearance of more Austrians, were ready and waiting.

And their guns bid the Kaiserliks welcome.

Similarly, the Bavarian cavalry was ready in march column to cross the river at Hundham with the minimum of fuss.  Hopefully they would be well clear before my forming march columns of infantry arrived to use it.

The Austrians continued their advance and yet more arrived.  The French were still in some confusion, and their cavalry continued to move at infantry speeds - saving their horses?  Also, it was rapidly becoming apparent that crossing at Kinming and Hundham was going to take longer than doing so at Neumarkt, as the bridge there was already clear.  But, order, counter-order, disorder, convinced me it was better to stick to the plan than change it.  Also, the plan would deliver a consolidated French division with cavalry support to both of the threatened Bavarian wings, or so I reasoned to myself.

In the centre the Austrians had parted like the Red Sea to escape the Bavarian artillery.

But yet more Austrians were still arriving.

The overall situation was starting to look grim, with the Franco-Bavarians pinned against the river and many troops still to cross; one French brigade had been marched past the Hundham crossing and was making for the Wolfsberg bridge to strengthen the right flank currently only held by light cavalry.

And just in case it's not clear which side is which, the image is repeated below with a broken red line separating the two sides, Franco-Bavarians to the right and Austrians to the left.

Shortly after the French started crossing at Kinming to stop the Bavarian right flank being turned, yet more Austrians appeared.  This time on the French side of the river and marching towards the Kinming bridge.  Luckily the second French infantry brigade had not yet crossed so it hastily deployed into line, while that in the act of crossing did an about face and retraced its steps.

The rest of the battlefield at this point is shown in the image below, the leading units of the newly arrived Austrians (actually my Prussian figures masquerading as Austrians) can be seen just on the edge at the bottom right of the image.

At this point it was clear that retreating back across the river was the only safe option for the French and Bavarians, but was it even possible now?  The Austrians weren't helping as they started to press harder in the centre to make any withdrawal hazardous at best - we hadn't been placing smoke for musket volleys but the units in the image were exchanging fire.

On the French right around Hundham, the recently crossed infantry brigade continued to advance to cover the withdrawal of the light cavalry and the guns who were already making back towards the bridges.

On the French left, they had actually gone onto the attack to try and keep the Austrians [Prussians] from taking the bridge at Kinming.  The first French infantry brigade successfully drove back the enemy brigade at bayonet point several times, while, through the most egregiously lucky dice rolls, escaping all harm from the musketry of the second enemy brigade (again a shocking lack of smoke in the picture).

While this was taking place, the French light cavalry (Hessen-Darmstädt Chevauxlegers?), in the absence of the infantry that was to have crossed at Kinming to join them, had to sacrifice itself in taking on the Austrian infantry to protect the Bavarian's flank.

Their sacrifice was followed by that of the gallant infantry brigade that had been fighting to hold the Kinming bridge.  In its weakened state, after eventually routing the opposing infantry brigade, it was attacked and routed in turn by some Austrian light cavalry (Uhlans).

Unfortunately, at this point we had to call time and agree the outcome.

The bridge at Kinming was still heavily contested and not really available to either side to use, but with the French light cavalry destroyed trying to hold off the Austrian infantry, the leftmost Bavarian infantry brigade was about to be rolled up from the flank.

Similarly, their brigade on their right flank, while holding its own against the Austrian brigade to its front, would soon find itself outflanked after the Bavarian cavalry brigade to its right was driven off (cavalry do not fare well attacking fresh infantry frontally).  Also, the enemy infantry to its front was about to be reinforced by a brigade of grenadiers.

To add to the Bavarian's troubles the French on the right flank, despite having only just crossed the river, had, almost all, managed to withdraw back across the river using both the Hundham and Wolfsberg bridges.  This left the Bavarian cavalry exposed and unsupported, other than by the French artillery now safely deployed on their side of the river.

A quick look at the casualties removed, and we agreed that the battle had largely replicated the historical result, albeit with both sides taking heavier losses, a not unusual finding with most sets of wargame rules. 

Post Mortem

While we had not 'finished' the battle (although we had a clear result), and much time was spent manoeuvring rather than fighting, we agreed that it had been an interesting scenario and an enjoyable game.  And what's more, the difficulty manoeuvring brigades through a fairly cluttered environment, was judged to have given a real sense of the command and control problems in trying to get one's force where needed, when required.

In short, we all felt that these rules, despite their inherent simplicity are a very effective set and we will undoubtedly be playing them again.

Gaming Weekend - Pt.2 - An Austrian Waterloo

After Friday's gladiator games, on the Saturday morning we dug out Steve's delightfully sculpted Waterloo terrain for a 6mm clash between the French ...

... and the Austrians (at Waterloo?).

This game was a follow-up to our first attempt (Link) to use Neil Thomas' Napoleonic Wargaming Rules (NTNWR) with 6mm figures, but using a brigade of 4 units, each of 4 bases, to represent what is a single unit in the rules.  As we're still tweaking, Steve commanded the French and Martin the Austrians (including a few of his beloved Bavarians) while I took notes on anything we felt wasn't right and suggestions for changes.

After two turns the table looked like this ...

... I like to think this looks like a Napoleonic battle, or at least a contemporary print of one.

In the foreground of the above, the French heavy cavalry ...

... and their Austrian counterparts ...

can be seen facing off against each other as they protected their infantry who were in a foot-race to occupy Hougoumont.  Beyond that, the French columns can be seen advancing (left to right) to the attack ...

... while the Austrians seek to take up a more advanced defensive position[1].

And, in the far distance, at the top right, the Bavarian cavalry are seeking out an opportunity to turn the French left flank.

Inevitably, it was the cavalry on both flanks that first came to blows.  The honours were roughly even with the French heavies prevailing ...

.. while their lighter brethren were bested by the Bavarians.

Observation 1: heavy cavalry combat is more lethal than that between lights as they throw twice as many dice in combat.  I see no reason why an even fight between two bodies of heavy cavalry (HC) should be bloodier than one between light cavalry (LC).  Also, cavalry on cavalry combat usually results in few losses until one side ends up being pursued by the other.  I propose making all cavalry fight on the 'default' one combat die per unit (like LC) when fighting mounted opponents of the same type.  I am also considering making defeated cavalry rout, removing the option to simply fall back facing their opponent when defeated.

While the cavalry on both flanks were whittling each other down over several turns, the French voltigeurs (open order light infantry) won the race to Hougoumont; occupying it just as the Austrian infantry rocked up[2].

The resulting Austrian assault on Hougoumont was repulsed with loss.

In the centre, the Austrian guns were still advancing to get into position, while the French guns, taking advantage of 'Wellington's ridge' (La Haye Sainte in the background) were already starting to inflict losses[3].

While the light cavalry contest was dragging on, ...

... the heavy cavalry fight, courtesy of their higher lethality, had ended leaving the victorious French heavies unopposed.

This in turn forced the Austrian infantry that had been rebuffed from Hougoumont to form square or face the consequences.

The French infantry, in the centre, had still not reached the Austrian line ...

... which had now shaken itself out into some sort of order and finally got their guns into action.

The much-anticipated infantry clash did not take place; the French brigades (units) being unable to close as the rules do not allow formed infantry to charge formed infantry unless they are stronger i.e., they have more units.  

Observation 2: without a significant artillery advantage this makes it difficult to put in an attack that is strong enough to go in after advancing through the enemy's artillery and facing defensive musketry.  I haven't formulated any rules mods for this yet, and maybe I'm okay with it as is.

After realising their attempt to whittle down the Austrians was only going to be a case of mutual annihilation the French chose to pull back to their ridgeline, ...

... take up a defensive position, and challenge the Austrians to attack if they fancied their chances were any better.

The French, were heavily influenced in their decision to not press on by the presence of the Bavarian cavalry (at the top left table-edge in the above) that were now wandering unopposed in their rear having finally disposed of the last few French chasseurs à cheval.

With the Austrians declining the invitation to attack, the battle ended indecisively in a draw - not surprising for a contest between two, supposedly, matched forces.

Post Mortem

Overall, I felt the rules gave a convincing game with few exceptions.  First, expanding on the two observations made in the narrative above: 

Observation 1: in addition to the earlier comments, the cavalry combats dragged on far longer than I would expect.  The rules say the defeated side in a combat chooses to retreat either half a move facing the enemy or full move facing away from the enemy.  The former means the cavalry just bounce off each other and then try again.  The proposed rule to make defeated side (not if a draw) in a cavalry vs cavalry mêlée do the latter (I shall call it 'rout') solves both these issues.

Observation 2: while I agree with the rule writer's view that formed infantry will be unwilling to close with formed infantry unless they believe they have an advantage I think troop quality to be as important as numbers.  Here I propose that higher quality units would, only for the purpose of determining whether they will charge, be treated as having an additional unit for each level of quality they are higher.  For example, an elite brigade charging a levy brigade, being two levels higher, could still charge even if weaker by one unit.  Poorer quality brigades wishing to charge would ignore any quality difference i.e. they just take account of numbers.  I may even allow generals, attached to chargers, to be counted as an additional unit.

Additional observations.

Observation 3: limbered artillery getting the same, generous, saving rolls as deployed artillery seems very wrong.  This is a simple fix; just reduce the effectiveness of their saving throw when limbered, but I need to give some thought as to how much to reduce it.

Observation 4: the rules are unclear as to whether brigades (units in the rules) can, or should, split their fire between targets to their front.  I am leaning towards enforcing the ±45° arc of fire for each unit (base in the rules) but otherwise letting them choose their target.

Observation 5: there appears to be nothing stopping brigades / units fighting to the last man / figure or 'hit'.  These remnants, especially cavalry, will find it easier to slip through gaps and to get round behind the enemy and be a severe nuisance.  I propose that any brigade reduced to one unit may not attack and must retreat to avoid combat that would result in the enemy throwing three times as many dice in combat.  They would retreat before contact in the opponent's turn such that they do not impede the opponent's move.

Observation 6: on more realistic terrain, like that we used in the above game, not allowing cavalry and artillery to at least pass through woods and towns (impassable in the rules) is very restrictive.  The proposed change is that such troops stop on reaching the terrain, then in their next turn, just one unit is placed on the other side.  In the turn after that it is joined by the rest of the brigade, and can move off in the next turn after that.  The single advance unit that passes through first, if engaged, fights on its own (discount the rest of the brigade).  If it does not win the mêlée it must retreat to rejoin the rest of the brigade which takes a morale test.  This passage will not be allowed if the terrain is occupied by enemy, but is allowed if occupied by friendly, formed or light, infantry.  Only one brigade may pass through in a turn.

I hope to try out these rules again soon to see if these proposed modifications deliver the desired effect.  Watch this space.

Notes:

[1.]  Doing this in the face of an imminent French attack was risky, but necessary to avoid fighting in their deployment area and suffering from the bane of all wargames, the table edge!

[2.]  The Austrians had set out in line, and only changed to column en-route.  Had they been in column when deployed they might've got there first.

[3.]  We had finally realised that in NTNWR only the troops and guns of the player whose turn it is can fire (with the exception of defensive fire when charged).  This was why we had found artillery and musketry overly bloody in earlier games.

Spanish Windmills

Intrigued by my first game with the simple (simplistic?) Neil Thomas Napoleonic Wargaming Rules (NTNWR) I had another game, this time, with John (my usual CoC opponent) and using my vintage 20mil Naps.

John took the French.

And I took the Spanish.

In NTNWR terms the two sides were:

French in Iberian Peninsula 1808-1814
1 General 2 Line Infantry, Close Order, Musket, Average 1 Veteran Infantry, Close order, Musket, Elite* 1 Veteran Infantry, Close order, Musket, Elite** 1 Voltigeurs, Light Infantry, Musket, Average 1 Lancer, Average 1 Hussars, Light Cavalry, Carbine, Average 1 Artillery	(1).  Artillery hits on a roll of 4-6. *Light Infantry regiment **Imperial Guard with attached general

Spanish 1792 - 1815
1 General 2 Militia Infantry, Close Order, Musket, Levy 2 Regular Infantry, Close order, Musket, Average 1 Light Infantry, Musket, Levy 2 Peasant Militia, Light Infantry, Carbine, Levy 2 Horse, Heavy Cavalry, Levy 1 Artillery	(1). Infantry may not adopt Attack Column Formation.   (2).  Spanish Horse: Roll 1d6 per base when fighting cavalry Roll 2D6 per base when fighting infantry Defend as Lancers (n.m.e. cav +1D6 / base)

These are different to the lists in NTNWR as, one, I didn't have the right troop types, and two, the Spanish are so penalised that I added a couple of guerrilla units to help even up the odds.  The stats for the latter were those for Peasant Militia taken straight from the Portuguese list.

Also in this game I was trying out a few house rules, but the only two that actually came up in the game were:

Artillery Fire: at long range infantry in line benefit from a 6+ saving roll.  I felt that round-shot against line should not be as lethal as against columns and squares.

Morale tests: if failed, the Unit loses a hit for every pip the d6 roll (with modifiers) was short of the pass score e.g. if the pass score is 4+ and you roll a 2, you lose 2 hits.  In previous games the loss of whole base for every morale failure had very quickly reduced units to ineffectiveness.

The two armies do their IPB and try to stare each other out prior to deployment.

We took it in turn to deploy two units each until the both 'armies' were fully deployed.

As I suspect is usual for these games, the need to prevent your opponent exiting units off your table-edge, meant we were both pretty spaced out across the width of the table.

John won the die roll to determine who went first and let me start the game.  On my left the Burgos regiment advanced towards Windmill Hill while further out El Rojo's band was moving to occupy the nearby wood.  In the centre, wanting to reposition the Princesa regiment I formed them into March Column (they aren't allowed to form Attack Column and Line formation is very clumsy) and then moved my Light Infantry ('Vountarios') forward to occupy the small wood.

At the same time El Húsar's men moved towards the church and my dragoons set out to go right flanking.

Slightly taken aback by a hit scored by my artillery on the 44th Ligne, John only advanced his line fairly cautiously, his hussars staying on the high ground while his Voltigeurs made a dash for the church.

His artillery proved to be out of range of most of my units, so he turned his battery towards the church where the Spanish were being more aggressive.  

In my next turn, El Rojo's band entered the small wood by Windmill Hill, which was to be their home for most of the battle.

And, El Húsar's band occupied the churchyard and unleashed a volley into the face of the advancing Voltigeurs.  

As I typed the above, I realised this was an error as they can only move half distance and fire and, looking at another photo (see below), they must've made a full move.  In the background another mistake in progress can be seen as I pressed forward with my dragoons against John's hussars, although this was a tactical error and not a rule transgression.

The French continued to play it cautiously, and as Suchet with the Imperial Guard Fusilier Chasseurs held back out of range ...

... the Voltigeurs dropped back out of carbine range from the guerrillas in the churchyard, and the hussars, not wanting to come off the hill to fight my dragoons fell back on using their carbines, but again without effect ...

... the red hit marker on the dragoons, visible in the above photo, was from his artillery.

On the other flank the 3e Légère commenced a long-running firefight with the Burgos regiment, while his lancers dared the guerrillas to leave the safety of the wood.

With the action now hotting up the number of photos taken dropped right off, and the narrative will no doubt skip a turn or two here and there.

In my turn, apart from several bouts of shooting, the dragoons charged the hussars, and despite the penalties Spanish cavalry suffer under the rules, and the Hussars' uphill advantage, pulled off a draw which means the defender, in this case the French hussars, has to retreat. 

Unfortunately, the hussars bounced straight back in the following turn, charging my dragoons and still with the slope in their favour.

Both units can be seen to be depleting quite rapidly.  This was because we forgot there are only 2 figures on a base and were removing double the correct number of casualties at this point.  Anyway, this time the dragoons lost and had to retreat.

Elsewhere the various firefights rumbled on, on Windmill Hill, and ... 

... at the churchyard, where the Voltigeurs could fire in perfect safety thanks to the superior range of their muskets.

Several turns now passed with the Spanish desperately trying to attrit the French by fire as they manoeuvred.  One of these manoeuvres saw the Guard Fusilier Chasseurs backing away.  

Alas, the cries of 'La Garde Recule' proved premature as they were simply repositioning in order to advance on the gap between the large wood and the church.  Meanwhile, as the hussars, having finally eliminated the Spanish dragoons, advanced around my right flank behind the church.

If the guerrillas moved back to harass the hussars the Voltigeurs would be able to get into the churchyard and engage them on equal terms (both would benefit from saving rolls for cover).

In the centre the French were approaching ever closer, but had now shaken out into line to reduce artillery casualties and prepare for the inevitable firefights ...

... and the first round of the Windmill Hill firefight was drawing to a conclusion. 

The threat of the lancers, still sat on the hill, kept El Rojo's guerrillas pinned in the wood, which seemed like a good trade-off to me.

But eventually the Windmill Hill firefight had to end, and with my Burgos regiment destroyed the Princesa regiment stepped up to take their place, ...

... supported on their right flank by the Coraceros (cuirassiers) who eagerly moved up eyeing the 44e Ligne who had been badly shot up by my artillery.

Then a series of very good shooting dice rolls saw the 46e Ligne greatly reduced, not helped by calamitous morale roll that removed even more figures.

In his turn, John's general, Suchet, joined his lancers and moved them across to support his infantry, surely too late for that?  He also continued pushing the hussars along the ridge to my rear and the Imperial Guard through the gap between the small wood and church.

My Coraceros then charged his infantry but bounced off!

And in the following turn John's lancers got in some early practise for Waterloo, hitting them in the flank.  

With my cuirassiers eliminated, I lost the plot for a bit, didn't see the obvious and failed to take any precautions.  John didn't miss the opportunity and his lancers ploughed on into the Almeria regiment in another flank charge.  Oops!

Surprisingly there were still some left after the dust settled.

But while that was taking place, the Guard had reached my reserve, the Guadalajara regiment, and, urged on by Cambronne, charged straight in.  

OMG!  My guys actually won, and pushed the Guard back.

This put the Guard in an awkward spot where the Guadalajara regiment could shoot them up together with my artillery battery that had pivoted around to face them in my previous turn - a rare piece of foresight on my part.

With lancers busy running over much of my army, El Rojo's guerrillas left the woods to massacre the few survivors of the 44e Ligne.

The lancers responded by turning back and forcing the Princesa to form square to avoid yet another flank charge.  The following photo shows my next move with the remnants of the Almeria regiment trying to catch the lancers between two fires.  This was promptly seen off by the French artillery who managed to eliminate them completely.

So, everything now turned on whether the Guadalajara regiment and the Spanish artillery could stop the Guard from breaking through and exiting off my baseline.  They failed, only just - one more hit and would've done it.  But nothing now stood between the Guard and Madrid.

I was left with nothing but light infantry, guerrillas and my artillery, but given where the lancers were now, the latter were clearly not long for this World.

So, the Spanish admitted defeat and we shook hands after what was an enjoyable game.  The rules might be simple so keep it light and fun.

Post Mortem

The old-fashioned fight to the finish with few troops left on the table at the end is perhaps something that can be addressed as it feels a bit OTT.  Other than that, the real issue we had was how units retreat from a combat leaving the victor standing, often exposed to other enemy units.  Perhaps a pursuit option?  Who knows, that's all for another day.