"Choosing a Napoleonic Battle" Topic

I thought I might re-post this here. Responses on LAF and TWW gave me a number to think about – I think Aspern & (part) of Austerlitz are current front runners but, within the parameters outlined, we're still up for suggestions:
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"Choosing a Napoleonic Battle for a Show Game — Suggestions Welcome!
Our group runs two wargames Shows each year, with a major group project for each. Following this year's WW2 game, which took the better part of twelve months to build and prepare, we're considering a Napoleonic game for one Show late next year.

This time around, we'd like to concentrate on using existing figures and terrain, rather than embarking on another major building and painting project.

We're looking for suggestions for a large, historical Napoleonic battle that would make a good Show game, with several hundred figures on the table and a genuinely competitive premise. Ideally, it should offer both sides interesting tactical challenges and a result that isn't a foregone conclusion.

Our available forces are:

French: a substantial collection, including the Imperial Guard, two Corps of Line infantry and a Cavalry Corps.
Austrians: access to a large army through one of our group.
Russians: a medium-sized force, including approximately 20 infantry battalions, with supporting cavalry and artillery.
We're therefore open to either a French-versus-Austrian battle or a French-versus-Russian/Austrian Coalition engagement.

We'd prefer mid-to-late Napoleonic Wars, principally because this is a better match for the uniforms in our existing collections. We're not necessarily looking to reproduce every formation in a historical order of battle, but we'd like the scenario to be recognisably based on a real battle and to retain its essential character. This creates useful talking points with the public.

A few things we'd particularly welcome suggestions about:

Which historical battles lend themselves to a large, visually impressive tabletop game?
Which offer a good balance between historical authenticity and competitive play?
Are there particular sectors of larger battles that would work especially well?
Are there battles that could be adapted to our available forces without requiring a substantial number of additional figures or terrain?
We're still at the brainstorming stage, so all suggestions are welcome. If you've run or played a particularly successful Napoleonic Show game, we'd be especially interested to hear about it.

Thanks in advance!"

Lieberwolkitz, at the Battle of Leipzig sounds made to order, though some prussians might be more representative.

Liebertwolkwitz is an interesting suggestion, particularly given the scale of the cavalry action. Our lack of Prussians seems rules to rule it out, even though the Allied force also included Russians and Austrians. However, we'd need to look at the historical order of battle and how much of the action we could represent with our existing collections.

My chief reservation is that, we want to make use of our substantial French infantry force as well as the cavalry.
It certainly is a fascinating battle but does not meet our stated parameters well.

Why bother? The stated requirements and the forces available give you Austerlitz, Aspern and Wagram. The "mid to late" preference narrows this to Aspern and Wagram--and even Wagram would call for an Italian army not on offer. You could flip a coin if you wished, but you'd need one with two heads. The time to give yourselves other options was much earlier.

Old Russian joke:

"Is it true that there is Biblical precedent for socialism?"

"Yes: when God made one woman, and then told Adam 'choose yourself a wife.'"

"The time to give yourselves other options was much earlier." I'm not sure what you mean by this – the 2027 Shows start in late 2027 as indicated. Time enough?

I agree that Austerlitz, Aspern-Essling and Wagram are candidates, but I don't think those are the only options. What about Dresden or Leipzig in 1813, or La Rothière and Arcis-sur-Aube in 1814? All involved French forces against Coalition armies including Austrians and/or Russians. Indeed, Arcis was just suggested over at TWW & I am consulting sources to see if it is a viable candidate.

We're deliberately exploring possibilities at this stage. The aim is to find a battle that fits our available collections, lends itself to a large Show game and offers a competitive scenario, rather than simply choosing between the most obvious candidates.

That's why I was hoping this forum, like LAF & TWW, might suggest some less obvious possibilities as well. But thanks for your input.