Valmy, 20th September 1792, refought Friday 9 May 2025

 Mike and I fought Valmy last year, as can be seen here.  This time we swapped sides and I was the Prussian army - driving deep into France and heading for Paris, to stamp out all this egalitarian nonsense!  Whatever next?!  Mike was the glorious French - "les blancs et les bleus"* - desperately hoping to stop the invaders with a mix of steady regulars and enthusiastic volunteers.  

The French were aided on the day by dysentry in the Prussian army, so the Prussians all get rated as passive.  At this point the Prussians are the best army in Europe...  so have a reputation for winning to uphold.

Here's the map - orientated the same way as the following photos.

The Prussians need to take the Valmy ridge, two villages and the big hill to the north, the French need to stop them.....

Set up photos:

The right side

The middle:

The left - with the Prussians lined up ready to storm the French

Move 2

By the end of move 2 the Prussians had moved forwards, but the passivity caused by illness meant the attack was unco-ordinated.  Mike took this opportunity to start his long range shooting...

Another view - Mike built a solid line across the ridge and into the village at the bottom of the photo.

There is a photo of the right hand side of the battlefield, but as there are no troops on it, I decided to save space and not include it.

Move 4

By the end of move 4 the Prussian middle had attempted to take the ridge and failed.  The Left hook (top of picture) had gained ground but not fast enough or causing enough French casualties to break through.

At the bottom of the photo you can see the Prussian right hook - moving slowly towards the defended village.

Move 5

Scattered Prussian units show how the left & middle fared.  The Prussians did storm the ridge but in a haphazard sort of way.

At the bottom of the photo you can see the lack of progress as the Prussians still haven't managed to charge the French defending the village.

Move 6

At the end of move 6 the Prussians were running out of options and troops.  The left hook (top of picture) had not worked.  The surge (middle of picture) had finally broken through, however the surviving infantry units were now sporting bright blue counters to show that they were spent.  The Prussians did get their cavalry to charge through the middle and take the village of Valmy.  At the bottom of the picture the right hook had, once again, failed to land.  

Move 7

At the end of the game it was a clear French victory.  The Prussians had not taken Valmy ridge or the hill to the north (top of picture).  The Prussian cavalry failed the French counterattack on Valmy village and were removed from the sole victory objective they had taken.

The whole battle had taken place in the left hand third of the table.  A decisive victory to Mike and the revolution.  

Conclusion

We have played this twice, with the French winning both times.  The passive Prussians and lack of Prussian command & control really plays a part.  

As Prussian I could not get a co-ordinated attack going, arriving at the French line in penny packets and without the odds to get a decisive combat victory.   

Mike used his artillery to good effect, driving my batteries off and causing casualties.  

When I was able to get stuck in to melee, I didn't win big enough to break the French, whose counter attacks caused sufficient casualties for my units to go spent.

Our conclusion was that it's a hard battle for the Prussians to win.  

Having said that, give it a go, see if you can do better with the Prussians than Mike or I.  It's a great game, at 7 turns not too long.  If our efforts are anything to go by, it could easily fit on a 2 x 4 foot table!  The middle and right thirds were hardly touched!

Figures Baccus 6mm, I used Mike's Prussians and Mike used my collection of French Revolutionary figures.....

*If you want to know more about French infantry stands for 1792, look here and also here