A couple of years ago we did a refight of Eggmuhl, one of the first large scale field battles of the 1809 campaign in Bavaria and Austria. The elite French III Corps of Davout together with Deroy's Bavarian division were ordered by Napoleon (despite Davout's remonstrations) to attack a superior Austrian enemy around Eggmuhl, with Napoleon mistakenly believing that this was a mere secondary force. In reality it was a consistent part of the Archduke Charles' main Austrian army. Realising his error too late to stop the attack, Napoleon rushed to Davout's aid, despatching Lannes and loads of heavy cavalry to force the well defended bridges over the Grosse Laaber. The game scenario picks up the baton at this point.......
All
figures are 6mm Heroics and Ros. Game rules used are Age of Eagles, an
offshoot of the extremely popular ACW Fire and Fury Rules. I tried to
take most pictures from a stationary position in an attempt to create a timelapse effect but I admit the camera was a bit too distant from the
action and the result is not exactly brilliant since most subjects are
just too far away. Anyway, here goes.
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| Initial dispositions with French nearest camera |
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| Austrian massed defenses around Ober Laichling and Vorberg Heights |
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| Austrian defenses along the Grosse Laaber, anticipating an attack from the South |
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| The French advance commences with caution |
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| Austrian cavalry approaches the French left under cover of woods |
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| The advance continues, with Deroy's Bavarian division approaching Unter Laichling |
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| The Austrian cavalry continues to menace Davout's left |
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| Deroy's Bavarian division in all its glory |
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| Meanwhile, wary of the cavalry threat, Davout takes a more prudent position |
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| Austrian massed guns on the Vorberg |
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| The Bavarians wheel to position themselves for the assault |
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| The Bavarians (centre) reach the outskirts of undefended Unter Laichling |
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| While the Austrian cavalry continue to threaten Davout's left, the lead elements of Lannes' troops appear in the far distance across the river |
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| Undefended Unter Laichling is easily overrun by the Bavarians. Now for the hard part.... |
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| Surprisingly, the Austrians abandon their defensive positions and charge downhill into the Bavarians. A secondary attack catches the massed Bavarian division in a pincer movement |
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| Taken by surprise, the Bavarians manage to repulse the main attack but retreat in disorder elsewhere. |
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| With the Bavarian assault temporarily blunted, the Austrians retire up the heights and take up their original defensive positions |
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| Davout's infantry are held in check by the Austrian cavalry preventing them from pressuring the Austrian centre |
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| Undaunted, Davout's elite infantry advance in serried ranks and blast away at the cavalry at close range |
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| The Austrian chevauxlegeres are forced to retire. In the centre the assault on the main Austrian defences commences |
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| The French now have more room for maneuvre and form up for the assault |
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| The first assault on Ober Laichling is easily repulsed, Deroy's Bavarians being badly mauled in the process |
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| Pressure now builds on the Austrian left as masses of troops appear on the south side of the river |
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| The Bavarian assault on the Vorberg resumes while the French infantry continues its cautious advance in the foreground. |
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| Once again, the Austrian defenders advance down the slopes in an attempt to pre-empt and disorganise the French attack. In the background the Bavarians press on uphill. |
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| Around the village of Eggmuhl the battle for the bridges intensifies. The defenders are hard pressed against vastly superior numbers. |
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| The battle rages in the centre, down in the valley and up on the heights |
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| The Bavarians finally make headway on the Vorberg while down the valley the French are forced to retire in disorder |
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| With both sides attacking and counter-attacking the situation in the centre remains extremely fluid |
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| Finally succumbing to the pressure from across the river, the Austrians throw in the towel and commence a gradual withdrawal |
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| The French keep up the pressure all along the line, attempting to transform the Austrian orderly retreat into a rout |
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| There's still fight in the Austrians though as another counterattack in the centre attempts to prevent Davout from cutting the army's line of retreat. |
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| The Austrian field commander, Rosenberg, has successfully extradited most of hia army but is forced to abandon some of his defending units to their fate. And that's where the game ended with nightfall approaching. |
The game lasted 14 moves and although a tactical French victory, it was deemed an Austrian strategic one since Napoleon's main objective of crushing the enemy eluded him and Charles lived to fight another day. All in all an enjoyable and challenging scenario for both sides which broadly followed the historical events of 1809 where the Austrians succeeding in giving the French the slip but at a higher cost. Gamewise, the French also found it extremely difficult to force the bridges but in real life resistance was quite quickly overcome and Lannes deployed on the north bank much earlier on in the day and was able to harass the Austrian left much more effectively. So history has been rewritten up to a certain extent but only partially !
