French Fail to Hold the Flag High in 1814

Today it was a trip over to Writtle for a Napoleonic game put on by Mike using his French army and Alan's Austrians. 

 Lots of people there today! I had a count up at one point and there were over 30 people involved in games. The stage was pulled into service as was the back room.

 Our game was set in 1814 when France had been invaded by most other European Powers

 The forces of the Austrian Empire had been caught off guard by Napoleon and needed to withdraw their army to safety on the far side of the River Seine

Some units began the game on the far side of the River but the bridge provided the only crossing point.

                            Hungarian Regiment marching forward to provide a rearguard.

                               Austrian regiments do the same at the other end of the table.

                                                  Napoleon looking confident!

                              Hungarian Troops defending the approach to the bridge.

 Steve moves up the French Heavy Cavalry while Mike (acting as Ref) and Bob discuss a fine point in the rules.

                         The French Cuirrassiers bear down on the Austrians so they form square.

                                       The Old Guard advance on the French right.

                                   Can the Austrians resit the French Heavy Cavalry?

                                               The Old Guard look confident today.

              All games underway in the rest of the hall but no time to have a look at the moment.

   One Austrian regiment face the Heavy Cavalry and the other is under fire from the French artillery

   Grim faces on the Austrian side as the regiment disintegrates under the French attack.

                                            The Old Guard continue to march forward.

 There has been little happening on the French left as they fail to gain the needed command dice to activate. As this was my command I decided not to photograph the inactivity until there was some action. Here are they are finally moving to the attack.

 The Austrian line is still intact and the bridge is still open for the retreat. Things are not going well for the French.

                          The Old Guard find themselves under concerted Austrian attacks.

As my troops were not doing that well I decided to photograph some of Mike's troops. These Hussars are actually retreating to reform. The Dragoons had already been lost!

                                                    French divisional commander.

                                               Heavy fighting in the centre of the table.

                                                       The Hussars have returned!

                 More French troops moving forward but their attacks lack a concerted effort.

They do, however, look formidable

                             Can the Old Guard break through and save the day?

      Clearly the French on the left are not creating the hole in the Austrian lines that is needed.
(Me again! Not a good day in the field for me. I may be demoted to making the tea for Napoleon so as to be of some use)

The game draws to an end as the Austrian begin the retreat. The Old Guard have cleared the way towards the bridge but the Austrian Army has managed to slip away.  A good game today using the Black Powder rules. Many thanks to Alan and Mike for the use of their superb figures. Thanks to Mike for planning and running the game. I would happily play the scenario again and hopefully do better.    

More Fire and Fury Regimental

Just after Christmas Steve, Terry and I were invited to take part in a game of  Fire and Fury put on by Rafael using his impressive figures and terrain.

               The game was based on the action at Henry House Hill in the First Battle of Bull Run

                   I took command of the Union forces and Steve and Terry took over the Rebels

                                                     Henry House from the Union lines

                         The Fire and Fury Regimental Scenario book full of excellent detail

The Rebel commanders look confident.

Union reinforcements hurry towards the sound of the guns

                               Lots of Rebels appear through the woods in front of the hill

                                       Rafael sorts out the confusion in the centre of the table

                                           Union forces prepare to throw back the Rebels

General Jackson is deciding how best to send his forces into the attack

                                           More Rebels push forward on the Union left

                                  The Union reinforcements are still moving up to the front line.

                                                            Yet more Rebels advancing

The Union Artillery are taking a toll on the Rebels

                                            Serious faces all round on the Rebel side

   Rebel cavalry have come round the back of the Union artillery but the veteran gunners see them off

                                   The Rebel cavalry retire to think through their next attack

Overview of the game showing the Union Front line running from the Henry House to the main road.

                                      Hand to hand fighting to save the hill from the Rebels

Reinforcements still on the way

                                           Union guns charged again by the Rebel cavalry

                                       The Rebels feed more and more troops into the centre

Union line forms on the road

                                                Henry House about to fall to the Rebels

                                  Serious thought going into the next stage of the Rebel attack

                              Steve Dix leaps into action. Too fast for the camera of the news reporter

Climax of the battle on the hill as the union forces are surrounded on three sides and heavily outnumbered. Given the odds stacked against the Union troops the only way for them to survive would be if they threw a 10 (which they did) and the Rebels threw a 1 (which they did!)

The problem however was that the Union army had lost too many units and the Rebels had a lot of their forces still in good shape. Lots of Union individual successes but not enough concentration of forces to win the game. Worth playing again! Well done to all involved and especially to Rafael for hosting the game and providing lunch!