Duel on the Danube - Part I

Still stung by the outcome of the 1806 war with France, Friedrich Wilhelm III dispatches a corps to support the Archduke Charles in the 1809 campaign.  With Vienna in danger and the right flank temporarily secured by the Danube, the armies move into contact.  The Prussian army is still on their 1806 footing so flexibility and leadership will not be on the allied side.

Rules are Empire.  This was planned from the start as a two day battle with copious food, beverages and the ever-present American football in the background.  We started on New Years Day and expected to finish the next.  Best laid plans and all, but more on that later.  Click to big-up the pictures

The scene before the troops arrive on table looking
in the general direction of distant Vienna.

Prussian under Möllendorf and Austrians under the Archduke arrive.
Another corps is some time distant.

Cavalry loaded on the right, facing Poles.

Austrians gazing on Oudinot's corps.

Deployed and ready for action.  We naturally lose every roll for
first impulse.

The Austrians fielded two divisions of line troops and a small
elite element.

On the right the Austrian cavalry typically held a slight advantage
over the Polish uhlans.

The French facing the Prussian occupied a village and it environs,
determined to hold the flank.

The long view, with Vienna somewhere behind the camera.

The Polish cavalry valiantly charge but are consistently beaten.

In the middle the troop density limited the cavalry opportunities.

The Prussians fielded 36 battalions in three musketeer and an
advanced guard division.  And lots of cavalry.

Aggressively closing.  French dice are hot and little progress is
made at first.

Fierce fighting in and around the built up areas.  Just off camera
to the right the French have set up a crossfire killing ground.

After (game) hours of hard fighting the Prussians finally break
thruogh and rout several French battalions.

In the center, spearheaded by the 10e Legere and "Terrible" 57e
the French are making it hard on the Austrians.

 The French forces are all on table except for the cavalry reserve (sigh), while the other Austrian corps has not yet arrived.  Except for the Prussians we have to dig our heels in and hold.

While you can't see "Napoleon's" face, he seemed satisfied.

We stopped for the day, intending to finish at noon the next day after four or five game hours, one of which saw no contact.  The French division driven from town has a very tough determination test coming up, subtracting 60% (by my calculation) from their roll and a conscripted German division in line behind it.  It is expected that the French cavalry horde will come on, along with the missing Austrian corps.  Alas, one key player took to bed sick and we were not able to continue.  With TundraCon, the game day we host coming (see next posting) and other schedule conflicts we hope to finish on the 30th.  We could have used another player or two as we frequently had to sit and wait to either administer or accept beatings.  A big part of not wanting to start one player short on day two.

I'm playing with the Prussians.  The 1806 force has been building for some time and this is their second outing and I just have a few units still to paint.  Using battalion guns is new to us and so far I really like them!  Helps a bit with being a "regimental army" under Empire.