The Corlears Hook Fencibles played the June 14 1809 battle of Raab using our new rules, Bonaparte Waltz. It is played on a 9 X 13 hex grid, like Command and Colors or Memoir '44. We played the game twice, switching sides between games. Tom and Ken played Eugene's French while Rick and I played Archdukes John and Joseph for the first game. The Austrians have a good defensive position behind a muddy-banked stream that would disorder any troops crossing except at the two bridges. But they are outnumbered and outclassed by the French, since a good number of their army are Hungarian Insurrection and Landwehr troops. We used mostly Austrian line troops in the game, with a few odd things thrown in. No, I don't have the right motley troops painted up. The French army of Italy was portrayed by my 1814 French army, with Bavarians standing in for Baden troops.
The French came on and attacked my left. It held for a bit but then gave way under pressure. I didn't have enough activation points to re-order my cavalry. Once the French got across the stream in strength, my flank crumpled.
Some Insurrection cavalry was cut off and retreated to the left, away from the rest of the army. They were chased off the field by a bunch of French cavalry. Then the French re-ordered and began to close on our center. They made a surprise attack on the knoll (played a surprise card) near the farm and carried it.
We put in a strong counter-attack (with some cards that gave us more assault dice) that caused some losses but was driven back.
Meanwhile, the French left came on and fought their way over the bridge on our right.
We were in serious trouble, one unit away from breaking and we had a number of very shot up units in easy reach of the French. We threw in the towel. Game time was 5 PM. We probably would have folded sooner if the French hadn't chased the Insurrection cavalry. It was time for dinner.
Over dinner it was decided that the Austrians needed more activation points. We increased them by 50%. The French still had more, what with the larger army and the better staff system. After dinner Rick and I commanded the French while Tom and Ken had the pleasure of commanding the Austrian force.
I attacked on the French right with cavalry, horse artillery and some infantry. Tom's dice were hot, dealing out hits. What results I got were retreats but enough Austrians stood their ground to send my attack back.
We reorganized and came on again, with similar results though this time I caused some serious losses to the Austrians before being repulsed. Around this time Ken had to leave, so Tom ran the whole Austrian force.
In the center, the Austrian massed their artillery and began working over our center.
More French guns were deployed and the artillery dueled for much of the rest of the game.
My third attack got over the stream but the Austrians put in a strong counter-attack that dissolved a French dragoon brigade. We licked our wounds.
Meanwhile Rick started attacks on our left, seeking to capture that bridge. He got over the stream and was then thrown back.
But now Tom's dice ran cold and ours heated up. The French artillery started getting the upper hand in the center, dealing out hits to guns and infantry alike. My horse artillery came into its own, finishing off a shot-up Austrian infantry brigade that was holding the bridge opposite me. There were a lot of Austrian units that only needed one more hit, and the Austrians were getting near their breakpoint. There were a lot of French hits, but only a few units would go with one more. Tom began to fall back on both flanks. His idea was to get his right into the village there and his left onto the hills behind his center, with his grenadier brigade holding the walled farm in his center. If he could hold for 4 more turns he'd squeak out a victory.
He almost made it. But as he fell back, I used two "on the double cards" to come over the now unguarded bridge and catch him. I moved an infantry and a cavalry brigade adjacent to him with horse artillery support. But before the attack could go in the horse artillery got a hit and that removed the infantry brigade. On the next turn Tom almost made the hill. Our left flank was over the river and had captured the bridge with a cavalry charge, but the French there were very disorganized by the fighting, while the Austrians had made it back to the town. We drew another "on the double" card. That allowed me to catch up to the Austrian infantry brigade that hadn't made it back to the hills. Again, my horse artillery blew the fragile unit away before the infantry and cavalry could assault. This put the Austrians over their breakpoint and the game ended with another French victory. They made it to 6 PM. But this was closer than the first game.
The first game took 2 hours and 20 minutes to play 11 turns. But it was the first time Ken had seen these rules and it took a while to explain them, making the first turn longer than usual. The second game lasted 13 turns and was slightly under 2 hours.
You will note there are no pictures of the French winning the second game. No surprise there, as most of the photos are Tom's. The lesson is you must photograph your own triumphs.
The game is nearly done. There were suggestions to streamline the activation points that sound good. There is a weather change card that needs some work. But the base rules seem sound and the card decks are close to complete.
goes to sea with the Terrain Mat.
