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"Eve of Leipzig, 15 Oct 1813" All Cavalry AAR
Waterloo Games in Mechanicsville VA hosted its first Warlord "Black Powder" 28mm Napoleonic's game on Saturday25 July.
This ALL CAVALRY battle is based on the "Eve of Waterloo" scenario found in BP II page; 162.
My goal was to have each player bring and command their own Brigade of Cavalry form a nation that fought at Leipzig in 1813. I was pretty successful, in that out of 9 players five brought multiple Cavalry Brigades and enough to supply more than need for the game.
The Order of battle was:
Allied Division: 1ea BDE Russian Cuirassier; 1ea of Russian Dragoons w/ a Cossack Regt attached; 1 BDE of Russian Hussars; 2ea BDE of Austrian Hussars; 2ea Horse Batteries; 1ea Btn of Russian Jaegers
French Division: 1BDE of Cuirassier; 1ea BDE of Dragoons; 1BDE of Hussars/Lancers; 1BDE of Saxons Cuirassier/Chveau Legers; (Saxon's had to roll to see if they remained with French or switched side to the Allied cause! They rolled and fought with the Emperor)
2ea Horse Batteries; 1ea Btn of Italian Light Infantry (Saxons had to roll to see if they remained with French or switched side to the Allied cause! They remained and fought with the Emperor)
(The Light Inf were in the ruined church on top of the hill and Jaegers were in the village. Their job was to take pot shots at idle Cavalry within range. No shots were taken as there was no idle cavalry in the battle)
Each BDE commander was randomly given a "Commanders Attribute: pf 108, BPII. Groans were heard from the two commanders who selected the "timid" cards! They then rolled for Staff ratings…these ranged from 7-9.
Divisional commander's both rolled for a 6 rating. And had an added house rule that they were given a "wild card" chit. That would be allow them to re=roll any dice roll from their side once anywhere on the field of battle (ex: Command roll, morale, HtoH etc…)
Terrain notes: The River cost ½ movement and the Swamp cost ¼ movement. If a charge move was taken through ether there was a chance they may go into disorder by charging through the terrain. Only a Cavalry Regiment in "Deep Formation" could chare across the bridge. No Cavalry movement in woods. Fields were scenic only.
Turn 1: The French started with the Light BDE on the field. Unfortunately it failed its command roll… this seemed to be a French problem as the Saxons and Dragoons also failed so each only moved 18" due to formation. Only the French Cuirassier moved forward towards the bridge 3x moves.
Allies seem to have the same command issues as the French and only the Russian Light Bde advance 3x moves. (Both sides ad good Commanders. Only one Austrian Regt had a Staff rating of 7 and a timid commander! There was one Russian commander rated as an 9 and Two French were 9s. The rest of the BDE Commanders were 8s) All entered the game in Deep formation or in the French Dragoons case in March Column… Don't blame the GM for bad command rolls!
Turn 2 The French Div CMDR orders the Cuirassier to stay put and defend the bridge and wait for the rest of the division. The Light BDE moves up to support but the Saxons fail their Command roll again. (This is when the Saxon Commander realizes he is "Headstrong" and if first to move in Division received a +1 to his command rolls! GM says "read your own charts and stats!!!") The French Dragoons also fail so the DIV Commanders uses hi re-roll options since he is within 12" and they fail again! So the Div Commander uses his wild card chit and orders another re-roll. This time the dragoons get 3x moves and gallop up on the left flank towards the river and goes into deep formation to support the Cuirassier. .
Allies counter with moving the Russian Light BDE to the Bridge but its Horse Battery Blunders and moves off to the right towards the village! Dragoons and Austrians move forwards with one of the Austrians Light BDE taking up position behind the woods near the swamp. The Russian Cuirassier get 3x moves and take up position near the bridge and supports the Hussars.
Turn 3: The French decide to move all their forces into line along the river. The Saxons move first and deploy alongside the French Light BDE. Their Horse battery unlimbers on the church hill and fires, killing one Russian Hussar. The rest of the French move up into the river's edge some in line and others in deep formation a few of them on "reaction orders".
Allies: The Russians strike first when the Cuirassier attack across the river. The French Cuirassier counter charge and they meet on the French side of the bridge. The French rolled badly and took 4 casualties vs the Russian 1. The French Cuirassier they rolled a 3 for Break test and routes off the board. This cause the supporting Dragoons roll, and had to retreat back one move! The Russian commander decides to do a breakthrough charge but when realized this opened a French react counter charge on his flank decided to fall back across the bridge instead.
Turn 4: Both sides charged and counter charged across the river and bridge with neither side gaining advantage. The Russians were able to deploy both Horse batteries and fired upon the Saxons Cuirassier causing 3 hits and shaken.
Turn 5: French: The Saxon commander ask his Divisional Commander to fall back due to artillery but was refused. In turn he moved his Chveau Legers in front of the heavies as cannon fodder and rallies one casualty on the Cuirassiers. The Saxon Artillery starts prolonging down the hill. The rest of the force makes a few attacks but with no gain!
Allies: The Cuirassier and Dragons make a joint assault over and near the bridge but rolled bad when hand to hand (HtoH) started. The Cuirassier lost on Regt and sent two other reeling back two moves! This allowed one French Cuirassier to breakthrough charge across the bridge and hit an Hussar unit that reacted and counter charged. The Hussars lost and were sent back in retreat. Sending it back in retreat. The French heavies fining themselves out of support fell back across the bridge.
Turn 6: Both sides again make charges and counter charges across the river and bridge. The Russians taking the brunt of the casualties. Only bright spot was the Russian artillery hit the Saxon Chveau Leger and heavily and cause them to go shaken!
Turn 7: The French Dragoons make a supported assault across the river sending the Russian Cossack fleeing (routed off) and their supporting Dragoons retreating back but their BDE Commander is killed in the charge. The French are feeling confident!
Allies: The Austrians now make their bug attack on the left flank (near and in the swamp) The Austrians Hussars charge through the swamp (going into disorder due to a bad roll) and hit the "shaken" Saxon Chveau Legers at the halt. Then the HtoH rolls…the Austrians took 5 casualties to ZERO casualties to the Saxon's! Talk about your heroic Saxon Cavalry! (The GM reminded the Allied Commander about his wild card chit…but he held on to it!)
Turn 8: The French Cuirassier and Dragoons make joint charge across the river and bridge, none go disorder) and hit the defending Russian Hussars. The Allied Divisional Commander selects to join to the combat giving the Russian two more HtoH dice. But the HtoH rolls are terrible for the Russians. It is here the Divisional commander uses his wild card chit…but the HtoH re-roll is even worst! To add on to the disaster the Allied Division Commander is killed in battle! Over by the swamp the Saxon Cuirassiers charge across the swamp (without disordering) and hits the Austrian Hussars. The Austrians selected not to countercharge to maintain their support. This made no difference as the Saxon defeated and routed the Hussars and its supporting regiment!
Allies: With the collapse of the Allied Division on the field of battle the GM called the battle an overwhelming Victory for the French!
Viva Le Emperor!!!!
Kudos go out to all the BDE and Divisional Commanders
What a FUN scenario. It was my first ALL CAVALRY fight. Out of the 9 players, 5 had Black Powder experience, 3 limited and 1 played for the first time. All said they had a great game. All the players' figures were beautiful and enhanced the scenario. I look forward to running this again and perhaps at a 2021 Game Convention????
goes to sea with the Terrain Mat.
