Quite some time ago we started (and eventually finished) a five-game mini-campaign based on the scenarios presented in Neil Thomas' useful book One-Hour Wargames. The campaign premise is set out here, but basically the idea was to create a sequence of more or less logically linked games drawing from a branching set of possible scenarios.
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| Württemberg Jäger zu Pferd Herzog-Louis (Warrior Miniatures, 15mm) |
The campaign was supposed to be a Napoleonic one, but other periods did creep in. The four scenarios leading up to this one played (in sequence) were:
As I had lost Scenario 07, Geoff got to choose the last game (Scenario 19) and elected to be Red, possibly because, quoting the book's description of the situation, this is what Blue (me) would have to deal with: "The Blue general is defending two river crossings from what he thinks is a numerically inferior Red force. His complacency will be shattered when an additional Red contingent arrives in the Blue rear area." Shattered you say? We'll see about that...
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| OHW 19 : Deployment and Manoeuvres |
The scenario required that the Blue army (my 15mm Württembergers, all by Warrior Miniatures) start with two units confined to the road in the south-east corner of the table until Move 7, with four units to be deployed within 6 inches of the river. Red (Geoff's Austrians) would commence with no units on the table initially, but with three starting on the north side of the map on Move 1 and then three more units appearing from the west on Blue's side of the river at Move 6.
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| Initial deployment |
You'll note from the map that we actually started with seven units each so that we could have some light infantry and artillery, and also that I had forgotten how to spell Württemberg. The rules we used were WRG 1685-1845, still going strong after all these years. Anyway, the game opened with the Austrians marching rapidly to contest the bridge.
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| The Austrians advance to the bridge |
Meanwhile a regiment of Austrian infantry crossed the ford to the left of my position, intending to bolster the units that would inevitably 'surprise' me as they appeared from the west.
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| Austrians ford the river |
Full of enthusiasm, the Austrians charged across the bridge crashing into the Württemberg 1st Line Regiment (with the yellow flag), as the other Württemberg regiments prepared to step in and support.
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| Austrians charge across the bridge |
The Austrian charge managed to push back the 1st Line Regiment but it was not broken. Meanwhile, the Austrian flanking force had rapidly arrived, supported by the infantry that had crossed the ford.
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| The Austrian flank attacked develops |
The Austrians continued to push forward aggressively, probably hoping to shatter the Württembergers, as their infantry charged across the bridge into the halted 1st Line Regiment whilst the Austrian cavalry crashed into my artillery and my Jäger zu Pferd (mounted jägers).
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| The Austrians attack on all fronts |
Mixed results for the Austrians however. In the centre, the Austrian heavy cavalry easily swept away my artillery and pursued them off the table to the east. However, the combined firepower from the Württemberg 1st and 4th Line Regiments completely destroyed the Austrian infantry that had managed to cross the bridge, leaving an Austrian general isolated on my side of the river. Meanwhile the fighting continued between the Jäger zu Pferd and the other Austrian heavy cavalry unit.
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| Mixed results |
Unfortunately for the Austrian cavalry still on the table, they were forced to flee after being bested by the Jäger zu Pferd, aided by some nifty flanking fire from approaching light infantry (Jäger zu Fuß).
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| Austrian cavalry flee beyond the blue zone |
It turned out that things were not going well for the Austrians, with all of their cavalry off the table (or about to be) and having lost a regiment of infantry already. However, the Austrian infantry that had crossed at the ford was still active and needed to be dealt with. So, having driven off the Austrian artillery on the other side of the river, the Württemberg 5th Line Regiment (Blue flag) turned to face this threat.
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| Württemberers realign to the flank |
Despite the 5th Line Regiment taking casualties, the Austrian infantry were being effectively boxed in by the Jägers, with nowhere to go, except to their rear, which is where the Jäger zu Pferd had ended up, having pursued the Austrian cavalry off to the west. Meanwhile, the other Austrian cavalry that had followed my artillery off the table earlier had reappeared, but were about to be fired on by two regiments of infantry.
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| Endgame (nearly) |
At this point the Austrians conceded the game, realising that they were outnumbered on all fronts and that they could not achieve the victory condition of ensuring no Württemberg units remained within 6 inches of the river by the end of round 15.
Overall, this was quite an interesting encounter which probably could have gone either way. The Austrians were aggressive and tried to coordinate their assaults but were unlucky and often flanked, which weakened their attacks.
