1809 Austria v French & Hessen-Darmstadt

Richard points to the point where he’d like to be before being handed the light cavalry brigade. He fought the good fight!

Wednesday night saw another great play test of Dave Browns GDA2 rules with Chris, Peter and Richard playing their part whilst I umpired and steered the rules and queries as umpire for the battle.  

Both Chris and Peter are incredibly talented painters, incredibly talented, and to see their wonderful  figures on the table is always a treat.  The scenario required Massenas Corps to push through the Austrian position south of Essling. This is a fictional game /scenario however the orders of battle from both lads are historical which is always the best from our perspective.

Chris loves his gloss varnish and so do I. Wonderful troops.

Lots of lovely terrain 

How good does that look lads?

Peter has some wonderful 15mm terrain

A wonderful looking resin  model

Excellent view of the centre of the battlefield 

Love those CigarBox mats

French horse artillery and Light cavalry

Peters lovely Austrian figures line the field

Austrians under command of Richard await their orders

Hessen-Darmstadt brigade 

The garrison awaits the assault. I’m sure that those bayonets are loopholing like never before

A view across the field. In this scenario the Austrians were defending and were able
to deploy up to halfway across the table 

The French assault starts to take shape around the farm

French cavalry encounter their Austrian counterparts 

Skirmishers battle it out. In retrospect those cavalry should have
forced the Austrian jagers back away from their threat 

Austrian defensive lines set up in preparation 

The most important aspect of these games is to work through the rules and provide feedback to David n the changes. It’s a great set of rules and will be spectacular when published later in the year.

Another view of the Austrian position and the French advance 

Austrian Jagers with a plethora of targets

Austrian Grenadiers held in reserve look like they won’t be required tonight 

So how did the battle go?

The French through all they could muster against the farm and the Austrian position on the small ridge and were repulsed across the front. The light cavalry, as already mentioned, fought hard however ultimately were forced off the field and their attached cavalry battery dispersed.

When we called stumps the Austrians were not going anywhere and the French and their German allies were unable to bring enough force to endure a breath through. In retrospect they need an additional  brigade at least however it was a test game so mission  accomplished.