A large battle was fought today between French/Italian and Austrian forces, with a total of thirty infantry battalions, four cavalry units and 4 artillery batteries taking the field.
The French assault began in earnest with the right flank sweeping round the trees toward the Austrian left flank, the centre advancing and the Italians pushing forward on the left, with support from the French cavalry.
The Austrians responded to the french advance with fierce fire almost causing the French centre to buckle under the pressure from the long lines of infantry. The austrian left flank saw Jagers and Grenzers engage with the French voltiguers in the woods but with no real damage was taken by either side. Meanwhile, the Austrians on the right flank braced for the oncoming Italians and sent the cavalry ahead to meet the French hussars.
As the French right flank continued to creep round the woods, and the skirmish battle continuing in the tree line, the French centre threw themselves forward in an effort to break the thin ranks of austrians but they found themselves withering under a hail of musket balls, and the assault was stopped in its tracks. In the left the Italian infantry advanced hard on to the Austrian right breaking a regiment of infantry. The cavalry advanced closer but not close enough to charge…
The battle was reaching it's peak, the lines and attack colums were fighting out their own little battles all across the battlefield. The austrian right stalled the French advance on the left flank, the Austrian centre pushed hard on the French centre, breaking another regiment and shaking another so that it fell back in disorder. The austrian right however, wilted under the pressure of the Italians. Unable to see off the infantry, the cavalry charged at full speed toward the French hussars, but the attack was stalled by a ferocious counter charge.
As the day drew to its close, the French pushed hard on the austrian left, reformed their centre and pushed hard with the Italians, breaking a further two regiments and killing a number of commanders. With the right flank all but destroyed and the left under immense pressure, the Austrians conceded defeat and the French took a hard fought victory.
The game was played in 28mm scale, using the too fat lardies chain of command napoleonic rules variant that is currently in beta.
More pictures here: thewargamingmagpie.tumblr.com
