John,
So the Austrians deployed with a gaping 2 mile wide gap between their two corps. Did something in the rules compel them to do that, was there a plan that went wrong, or was it something else?
Entirely player decisions. Neither the rules or the scenario drove them towards that end. The two Austrian Commanders coordinated little after forming their initial plan. Both intended to attack the French as far forward as possible. Hiller was to take the left wing and Hohenlohe the right. If anything was faulty about this plan, it was that both seemed to assume they could fight separate battles in a vacuum, which was possible, but not what occurred.
Hiller took his korps forward as quickly as he could and then deployed within artillery range of the French with his advanced elements. This was risky but Vandamme did not counter at this point so it worked out for the moment. Subsequently though, Vandamme did strike as Hiller was deploying his line infantry division, and the Austrian Avantgarde Brigade was not enough to protect it from the French combined arms attack. This was made worse when the Austrian hussars were struck in the flank by St. Sulpice's cuirassiers – who exploited that large gap between the two Austrian korps.
Hohenlohe had also agreed to fight as far forward as possible, but instead of occupying the crossroads between the two woodlots, he decided to move to the north end of that area, moving one division through the woods. Smartly, he deployed earlier, so that when he moved on Lannes he was prepared, however, Hiller was in the process of collapsing about 20 minutes after Hohenlohe had engaged Lannes with his lead division – Lindeneau's Grenadier Division.
The attack of the Austrian grenadiers had real promise and might have at least temporarily offset the initial damage done to Hiller, but as Hiller's line division wasn't entirely in place when it was hit, he had no defensive line to regroup around. The Austrian grenadier division also balked and halted at contact when Lindeneau was taken off his horse and stunned, causing confusion in the division.
Once Hiller's korps was in retreat, Saint Sulpice's cuirassiers turned left. Had Hohenlohen not ordered both divisions to withdraw back the direction they came, the grenadiers might have been taken in the rear by the French cuirassiers.
The gap between the Austrians was so large because Hohenlohe shifted north a good mile, but also because his chosen path of advance was substantially slower. Meanwhile, Hiller advanced so directly, and effectively ignored his right flank becoming exposed.
-TWC
thewargamingcompany.com
