Dresden - 26 & 27 August 1813, refight Friday 17 & 24 January 2025

 The battle of Dresden, 26 & 27 August 1813, is the next scenario that Mike and I have tackled from Dr Mark Smith's "Napoleon's Bloody Big Battles" scenario book.  I had played it once before, a number of years ago, as French and really not done well.  This was Mike's first go at the scenario.

Mark has introduced some interesting elements to this scenario - the French have fortified redoubts to occupy, with half a gun in each.  The incessant rain on the first day of the battle means that the river that splits the French right/Austrian left area of operations becomes impassible, so on the French right flank it is about holding/dominating the two bridging points.

I chose French, Mike opted to be the Austro/Prussian/Russian coalition.

The map:

Set up

The whole battlefield - the Elbe is the wide river, lower left.  The Weisseritz is the medium sized river, this is impassible on day 2 and only has two crossing points.  The bright green rectangle is the Gross Garten.  Shedloads of French troops wait to be released into Dresden from the Eastern bank.

The French left, Dresden and it's suburbs lower left, a thin cordon of defenders in the redoubts.  I deployed a 4 block unit and gun as far forward as possible as a "speed bump".

The French right - a couple of redoubts, otherwise just empty of my defenders!

Turn 2

At the end of turn two the French have re-inforced Dresden.  More re-inforcements wait to cross into the city.

The French left wing, with French troops in the Gross Garten buying time.

The French middle - holding off the Russians in the centre, but only just.

The French right - the Austrian advance has stalled and i diverted my reserves here.  Mike has already had one unit go spent.

Dresden city hall - actually it's for a Franco Prussian game, but it gives a bit of grandeur!

Turn 4

By turn 4 the battle was shaping well for the French as night fell at the end of day 1.  On the left, Dresden is a solid wall of French defenders and Mike halts outside the city limits.

In the middle Mike did take a redoubt, but the French & Allies are now racing to put troops on the hill.

On the right, Mike took up defensive positions, whilst my French controlled both river crossings.

Turn 6

At the end of turn 6, two turns after the night interval, the battle was going well for the French.  On the left the city was well defended, mainly by the Young Guard.  For some reason the Old Guard infantry kept failing their movement rolls!

In the middle a to and fro battle developed for possession of the hill, with both sides attacking and then getting repulsed.  This is where I channelled my reserves and aggressive/killer best troops.

On the right the Austrians could only hold on, so both sides did not do much fighting.  The Austrians started to direct their attention to the upstream bridge.

Turn 8

By the end of turn 8 the French left had advanced to take on the Allied right and was regaining the Gross Garten, putting pressure on the Allied middle and trying to retake the hill.

The French right held the Austrian left and blocked the Allied advance on the upstream bridge.

Turn 9

At the end of turn 9 the French had won a decisive victory.  On the left, they were catching and destroying the retreating Allies.  Dresden is now empty of French defenders!

In the middle the battle for the hill continued as the Allies clung on.

On the right the Austrian left held on, but the troops trying to take the upstream bridge had broken and retreated with heavy losses.

Game end

In this game everything had gone well for the French.  The Austrians had low movement rolls and had not taken any redoubts or suburbs early on.  The French "roadblock" unit in the Gross Garten was destroyed, but contributed to the Allied right's slow progress.  

The French re-inforcements deployed quickly and the French right did really well, stopping the Austrian left and inflicting enough casualties early on to stop the Austrians and make them go defensive.

This secure right flank enabled the French to concentrate on the middle and left sectors, where French quality and quantity stopped the Austrians then drove them back.  The French were able to keep moving and ensure that reserves were fed into the weak-spots in the line.  The battle for the central hill was a real to and fro affair, but by the end of the game this position was in danger of being outflanked.

It was a really enjoyable game, my thanks to Mike as a worthy opponent.

Wagram - 5,6 July 1809, refought 20 & 27 Sept 2024

 Mike and I continue to plough through Napoleon's Bloody Big Battles scenario book - this brought us to the battle of Wagram.  In real life Napoleon, having failed to break out at Aspern-Essling, regrouped, built up his forces on the Eastern bank of the Danube and launched a further assault on the Austrians.  The battle was fought on the Marchfeld, a flat plain that was used by the Austrian army for large manoeuvres.  Having been there, it's flat!

Firstly, for the game, here's the map.

The French objectives are the string of villages from Aspern to Rosen.  The village of Deutsch Wagram was where the Arch Duke Charles established his headquarters.  The building still exists and is an excellent museum.   See links to transport here and dioramas here.  I was playing the Austrians and Mike took the French & Allies.

The scenario starts with the Austrians deployed from Gross Enzersdsorf to Markgraf.  The French juggernaut comes on between Gross Enzersdorf and Rutzendorf.

Set up:

End of turn 2  The French advance across the Marchfeld whilst the Austrians, hampered by passivity (-1 on movement) and a lack of suitable generals, move to engage.

End of turn 4  on the left, Davout turns the flank.

Most of the fighting was in the middle, with the French slowly pushing the Austrian defensive line back.  Archduke Charles was under pressure on his right, so tried to deploy his heavy cavalry there.  The Austrian's passivity and lack of Generals meant that the French could move faster and further each go.

Turn 6 by this point, the Austrian left had been compromised and the centre was thinly spread, with a solid wave of French building up.  The Austrians could no longer win, perhaps they could hold on?  Perhaps Archduke John could arrive to save the day?

The pile of Austrian dead on the square hill.  In later years, bits of equipment left behind would go to a museum....

Turn 8  Mike got into his stride now - rolling up my left flank, threatening Wagram itself (bottom left of second picture) and grinding down my centre.

Turn 9 saw the plucky Austrian defenders of Wagram ejected and reduced to spent status.

Turn 10  saw the Austrians still occupying a couple of objectives, but Mike had destroyed a large part of the Austrian army and had gained enough objectives for a win.

The dead pile says it all.

A couple of post battle thoughts:  

• Mike had handled the French well, using his greater chance of moving to stretch my Austrian line.
• The Austrians could not launch (or at least my die throws were not high enough) to decisively break any part of the French line.
• Once Davout had turned my left flank I was fighting on two fronts - which was far from easy.

Once again, a big thank you to Mike - for table, troops and lunch, also a big thank you to Mark for publishing an excellent scenario.

So, that's the Danube Campaign of 1809 wrapped up by the "Ilkley irregulars".  I've not done so well....

But hey, in three year's time it's off to Russia for a Summer holiday and the campaign of 1812, I'll also be the French!!   What could go wrong???

Troops are Baccus 6mm, rules are BBB & the Napoleon's Bloody Big Battles Scenario book.

French Artillery for Fleurus

 Another part of my collection got an upgrade - French revolutionary artillery.  

Foot artillery - I wanted a "ragged" look, so this was done in two ways:

1. I bought Spanish artillery with French guns - the individual figures were mixed in with the standard Baccus French figures - the Spanish don't have backpacks or great coats.

2. I gave some gunners overall trousers in grey or brown to break up the uniformity.

Here are the results

I also needed horse artillery.  As far as I can tell French Horse Artillery wore the Bicorne, the Mirliton or the Tarleton Helmet.  Yup - Tarleton helmet - pretty close to British Horse Artillery.  So I made two bases of French Horse Artillery, basically just British Horse Artillery with a paint job .  The leftover British guns will be going to the Spanish.

So, with a bit of mix and match and a paint job, I've got FRW Foot & Horse Artillery in the right uniforms.