Super. The terrain looks great and the layout is immediately recognisable as the Le Cateau battlefield. The report and the photographs provide a concise but fascinating overview of the game.
It is interesting to see how the Germans struggled against the BEF line, once the latter had recovered from the flank march. I found the same thing when playing Le Cateau with GWSH as well – some photos here:
link
This got me thinking about how the Germans achieved their decisive victory over the British right flank. Elsewhere along the British front, it was difficult for the Germans to make significant headway. But the BEF was undone on the heights overlooking Le Cateau. I checked the terrain again. The trenches that the British occupied on the right were dug behind a small hill. This meant that the British infantry and guns could not see the Germans crossing the open ground on and around the Roman road that passes through Montay en route to Reumont. The German infantry, machine guns and artillery were able to get well forward because of the defilade.
The German advance along the Montay-Reumont road was facilitated by two other important factors. One was the abandonment of Le Cateau by the British forces as the Germans entered the town. The opened up the whole area on the British right flank to enfilade fire from the town and nearby. The other factor was the ability of German heavy guns to get forward onto the forward slope, in the opposite direction from Le Cateau. These guns were in defilade from the BEF line on the higher ground but the gunners had a perfect view of the British positions near the crossroads above Le Cateau. The heavy battery was able to take the trenches and British 18 pounders in enfilade from the opposite direction.
As a result of this research, I modified the Le Cateau right flank battlefield map in the recently published GWSH supplement on the Battle of the Frontiers. The small hill is now represented on the map and makes a significant difference to the game.
This is what I find so fascinating about GWSH. If a game plays out significantly differently from the real thing then it suggests that other factors may have been involved. Several times this finding has led me to research battles, uncovering new insights in the process.
Robert
