Friday 27 March 2020

Marshal MacDonald carries the day at Eisdorf

A photo just to prove to Paul that I never shifted anything to my advantage during the hiatus...maybe
I should have gotten closer Youngy but hey...I know you trust me old chum.
Well we got around to finishing the Action at Eisdorf scenario from Dave Browns excellent General De Brigade scenario book “Imperial Sunset 1813” with house modifications made for GdA.  What a battle!

From previous posts you would recall that this action forms part of the Battle of Lutzen in 1813. The French have 15 turns to capture the village of Eisdorf for a victory and if it can also demoralize or break three Russian brigades then a glorious victory. The Russians need to hold the village at all costs.

The French Brigade of General Fressinet prepares the first assault on the village

The French of General Gerard have had a tough time of it against Kapustins Jagers and artillery supports however these Ukranian Cossacks have been largely onlookers.  Its all about to change quite rapidly

The Italian horse artillery on the right, correct models in place this week, are having a tough time of it. The three
casualties you can see are all self-inflicted fatigue from poor rolls and to add insult to injury they have just gone
low on ammunition with that wonderful double 1.  Can they redeem themselves?

"Come on Lads - we can do it!"

The action continues to develop on the French right as General DE Brigade Zucchi leads the Italians forward
against General Ivanoff's command

A view down the table - looking good

The French column of the 6th Line has become unformed from an unfortunately times Discipline Test

The Russian defenders have copped a hiding however we got the casualty calculations wrong as they are in a BUA
so all casualties should be halved.  Oh well...


The 1st battalion of the 6th are no more.  Cossacks roll an 11 and the French a three.  Goodnight Eileen!

Zucchi looks on as the Italians prepare themselves to assault the enemy

A wider view of the action on the Russian left/French right


I love Elite Miniatures figures en masse

The Russians of  Generals Ivanoff and Schachafskoi look well prepared

The French take the village - though we did get things wrong here and in the subsequent Russian counter attack. 
We went through the charge procedure instead of straight to the melee.  Oh well we got it right the
third time at least to illustrate that even old dogs like us can learn new tricks!
The French legere reserve under Simmer advance

We did this wrong as well - French repulsed from the village without fighting the melee.

In the aftermath of the column disintegration on the left the French scramble to maintain the assault

The French skirmish screens do their best.  In retrospect the Russians will feel that they did not utilize their brigade
screens nearly enough - next time.

Paul has done a wonderful job with his Russian army

The brigade artillery of Gerard finally makes its way to the front lines to support the attack

Another view of a bad dream!

The French try and regroup in the centre for another  rack at the Russian Grenadiers now in garrison

Those pesky Jager still are causing all kinds of heart-ache on the left
A view from the Russian right down the battlefield

Two columns of the 11th Provisional Regiment go in to the assault on Eisdorf

The Italian line battalion at the bottom of shot has forced the 4th Jager to retreat

The Russian Grenadiers are evicted from the BUA after two rounds of fierce hand to hand combat.  It was ugly folks. 
The second round saw the Neapolitan Grenadiers ( here represented by Kingdom of Northern Italy Grenadiers)
reinforce the combat.  I have mistakenly put them in the village rather than the lead unit - this was rectified. 

The Italians under Zucchi try and force the issue

The Ukrainians fall back to the Flosgraben and prepare for any attacks coming over the ridge.  By this time the French of Gerard's are well and truly spent and hardly able to sustain a hardy defense let alone a bayonet driven assault.

Going Hesitant barely helps by the way!

The French feel like the tide is turning in their favour.  The Russians bring up their reserve artillery from the
Grenadier Brigade of General Konovnitzin and bring fire to bear.

Still hesitant...poor old Gerard!

Even that fresh line is out of range of hurting the Ukranians

Action continues across the field of battle

Another view of the action around Eisdorf


On the French right the 14th Legere are preparing to bring their bayonets into the game


The 4th Russian Jager reforms near the woods

RUSSIAN COUNTER ATTACK!!


Italian Counter-counter attack on the other side!

French Legere charge the Russian lines of Musketeers

Slightly out of sequence however the Tobolsk Musketeers have been forced back demoralized opening teh way for the Russian Grenadiers to perhaps contemplate a counter attack...will they do ...wait...we all know they did.

The Legere force the Russian musketeers back on the left

The Italians look to attack the Jager on the extreme left of Paul's, I mean General Wurtemberg's,  line.


The Russian Grenadiers outside Eisdorf rout a French column and continue on their way.

Russian line of defense

Another out of order shot but hey, it looks OK to me.



The Italians have routed the Russians and opened up the Flosgraben on the right of Eisdorf

The moment the French are routed by the Russian Grenadiers

The Grenadiers of Konovnitzin are now exposed and the Russian High Command feel that they have done all they can to keep the French at bay.  A general withdrawal is signaled and the day belongs to Marshall MacDonald and the French.
With the capture of Eisdorf and the impending taking of the crossing of the Flosgraben, the Russians must cross the stream taking 1D6 casualties per unit as per the scenario rules.  We didn't do that but the overall effect would be devastating for the Russian corps.  The artillery may well be able to save a battery however it may be touch and go for the rest.

Great game, great scenario from Dr. Brown and a fantastic set of rules in General D'Armee.  I cannot recommend them highly enough!

21 comments:

  1. Great photos and commentary Carlo. Thanks for a thoroughly enjoyable game in every sense. Looking forward to the next one!

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    1. Thank you so much Paul. It was so much fun playing a wargame again with someone who I engaged in my first ever Napoleonic battle when we both 13!! How old are we mate. Looking forward to the next one.

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  2. Fab table packed with troops, Carlo. Super game!

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    1. Thank you very much Jonathon. It was a great fun game and that was the main thing. Hats off to Dave Brown for a well written scenario.

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  3. Now THAT is a wargames room1 Wonderful! Great looking table and game too.

    Best Regards,

    Stokes

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    1. Thank you so much for your kind comments Stokes. I am a very fortunate chap with a very understanding and supportive wife and two lads who like to come up and enjoy the space, paint some figures and occasionally push the miniatures around the table. Much more of that this year and for many to come...that's a solemn promise.

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  4. Thanks for this series of reports and all the wonderful photos, quite a treat. Best wishes Chris

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    1. Hi Chris and so wonderful to hear from you. I hope that picturesque northern part of England is treating you to all its wonderful beauty in this isolation period. I hope that you're all so well and my very best to yourself and Kevin when you speak to him.

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  5. Excellent photos Carlo and a wondeful looking game. I greatly admire / covert your collection.

    Richard

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    1. Hi Richard and thank you once again for all your lovely comments and great enthusiasm for the posts. They make the effort very much worthwhile. Perhaps a journey to The West sometime after all this madness may be in your wargaming plans. Always welcome.

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    2. Thanks Carlo. That would be great.

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  6. Great pictures and write up, Carlo! Enjoyed it a lot.

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    1. Thank you very much Richard. It was a tremendous amount of fun.

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  7. Great looking pics and the game sounded like it was full of punches.

    I agree with above as well, it’s a spectacular Wargamer attic you got there. 😀

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    1. Thank you very much Stew. It was a great game with lots of to and throe. Yes when we renovated I was given teh go ahead to build this addition as a fully fledged second story so very fortunate indeed.

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  8. I am delighted: from the battle and the atmosphere as a whole! Superb sight!

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    1. Thank you so much for the kind comments as always. Im very much enjoying your latest posts as well by the way!

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  9. Great looking game and a really good commentary Carlo - inspirational- i'll have to look this one up and try it out.
    well done

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    1. Thank you Kerry for popping past and commenting - always greatly appreciated. I really think Dave gets the scenarios so right through the victory conditions and the overall balance and opportunity for both sides to pull out a win. This was a very good fight.

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  10. Wonderful Carlo. Even if the forces of continental oppression did carry the day!! 😇

    A nice realxing diversion while working from home as have all the Eisdorf posts. Wait ... hold on ... did I just put "while working from home" on a public forum?! Please ignore. A-ha-ha.

    Salute
    von Peter himself

    https://vonpeterhimself.wordpress.com
    http://vonpeterhimself.com

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    1. Hi Peter - yes you did! Thankfully this was a Saturday afternoon and a Friday night affair so I am innocent of all charges. Glad you spotted that Calpe Prussian battery in the first post. More getting to the table this year mate I promise!

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