Battle of Austerlitz

 

This was a game we should have played during the summer, but with one thing and another it was put on a back burner. I have always had a fascination with the Battle of Austerlitz and it was my first boardgame I ever brought when I was still at school. We played it similar to a campaign, when counters entered combat on the map, we transferred the game to the tabletop game in my bedroom. Like all campaign games though I don't think we ever ended it.

 

 

View from the French side before the Armies arrive.

 

For the table with it being Christmas I decided to go with the snowy look, however after laying the white cloth over the hills you couldn't really distinguish between the flat and raised parts. I had some some cork granules that they use in Spain to make Nativity scenes and spread this on the flats parts to represent the partly melted areas. The hills are left white to look like they have been covered in snow. This is a very cheap and effective way of modelling landscape that can be easily transported and reused for other battles.

 

To simulate the early morning fog I borrowed an idea fron the website of the Wargames Centre and had 3 levels.

 The first (Dense Fog) reducing visibility to 4BWs and also reducing movement to 4BW.

The Second (Fog)  visibility 6BWs and movement 4BW

The Third (Mist) visibility 10BWs and movement restricted to 6BW.

 

 The Pratzen was clearing on a 4,5,6. the areas North of the Pratzen on a 5,6, everywhere else on a 6. This is rolled after each defenders turn after movement and the visibility would improve by one level on the result of the one die roll.

 

Steuart had the honour of rolling for the weather but for the first few moves he rolled under 4 so there was no change, so we amended this rule in case we played the battle again. second roll add 1 to the dice, third roll add 2 to the dice and so on.

 

To simulate the forces not being able to see each other we used blinds to represent each unit. For this I used playing cards that were the same size as a 4 base unit and on the face side I stuck a small plastic bag that contained a small card with the units details. When units were spotted by enemy units they are turned over and replaced by the actual unit. I included 8 dummy blinds for the French and 4 for Coalition these represented mounted light cavalry scouts that could still able to spot and be mistaken by the enemy as units.

 

 

The French blinds are deployed

 

We had six players altogether, so myself, Jose and Steuart played the French side and Toni, Salva and Kiefer played the coalition. I was in control of the French left and commanded Lannes' V Corp and had the Cavalry Corp under Murat in reserve. Jose commanded the centre and had Soult's IV Corp with the Imperial Guard in reserve. Steuart held the French right flank with the I Corp and the Grenadier Division in reserve, also he had Davouts III Corp hopefully reinforcing him during the day. We also placed all our dummy blinds on the extreme right flank to hopefully make the enemy think there was a large force there.When we finished placing our blinds we left the room whilst the coalition placed their blinds.

 

                                                The Coalition Players deploying their ¨blinds"

 

The Coalition were classed as the attackers and moved first, we noticed that the forces facing Stueart was quite large, so we thought they may have believed our decoys. Steuart moved the dummy blinds as ordered over the frozen lake and on towards the village of Satschan. The weather was rolled and it was below the score needed so it was still dense fog.

 

 

The first units were sighted on my left flank where the French Infantry unit deployed in the village of Bosenitz spotted a Russian infantry unit supported by Cossacks emerging from some woods.

 

 

Also on my flank the Infantry in the village of Blasowitz found themselves surrounded by the Russian hordes, another French infantry unit caught in the open quickly managed to form square, before a Russian Dragoon unit could charge them.

 

 

In the centre, Jose quickly advanced the IV Corps on to the Pratzen heights and even took the village of Pratzen without resistance.

 

 

On my flank I realised by holding the villages my units were strung out and could not be all under command at the same time. Even though I still held the villages I felt they could fall at anytime and so I ordered Murat and the reserve cavalry forward to push the Russians back.

 

 

The view of the whole Battlefield from the French left flank.

 

 

On the French right flank our little ruse with dummy blinds had been discovered and Steuart was forced to retreat over the frozen Lake. It was now discovered that he was up against the Russian Imperial Guard and still no sign of Davouts III Corp.

 

 

French and Russian Infantry face each other over the frozen lakes of Satschan.

 

 

 

               Murats Cavalry charge starts to get stalled due to lack of space to manouvre and the village of Blasowitz  falls to the Russian troops under Toni.

A view of the French left flank from the Coalition side. The village of Baseonitz against all odds is still holding and the French Artillery on the Santon (in the centre of the photo) rain hot lead on the Russian infantry attacking it.

 

Finally the French are driven out of Bosenitz and the Coalition forces begin to outflank the Santon.

   In the centre there is still heavy fighting with the French Imperial guard being thrown into the battle on the right hand side.

Finally Murat's Cavalry begin to make a breakthrough.

 

 

Also Davout's III Corp finally arrives on the French right flank but has a hard job on its hand, because Salva's Russians have  begun to outflank them.

 

                                   Murat's cavalry push the Coalition forces further back and threaten to                 breakout, although Toni still has a few cavalry units still in reserve.

      With the Russian artillery bombarding it from the flank "The Santon" has finally falls.

As the "Sun of Austerlitz" begins to set it comes evident that even though the French are holding its own in the centre on the Pratzen heights, there are no more reserves to throw in and take advantage of the position.

The Russian Imperial Guard now begins to support its allies on the Pratzen Heights and finishes off the last of the French Imperial Guard and with it the hope of a French victory.

Conclusion

This was a very enjoyable game with the players wanting to play it again another time. There were a few things I would have done differently. The fog due to steuart's low rolling wasn't changing and so we changed the rules after a few moves to keep adding +1 each time we rolled. We had used the Lasalle rule of throwing for the commander's vigour and Tactics that gave very disappointing results for the French, in hindsight for game balance it would probably be better to start the French commanders on fixed +1 and just roll for the Coalition Commanders.

The command rule for Lasalle made it difficult to have everybody under command at the same time on a large table. An idea for next time is for and deployed units in villages to be  classed as independent units and they may take the recovery test, also they are classed as under command in combat.

 I also found the blind rule worked very well and will definitely use it again and will incorporate it in my "Gettysburg rules".

Special thanks goes to Juan Marcos and Miguel for lending us some of their figures even though they could not make it, hope you both  will be able to join us next time we play.

Special Rules

Fog

Visibility is set with three levels,

 The first (Dense Fog) reducing visibility to 4BWs and also reducing movement to 4BW.

The Second (Fog)  visibility 6BWs and movement 4BW

The Third (Mist) visibility 10BWs and movement restricted to 6BW.

 The Pratzen was clearing on a 4,5,6. the areas North of the Pratzen on a 5,6, everywhere else on a 6. This is rolled after each defenders turn after movement and the visibility would improve by one level on the result of the one die roll +1 each time roll accumulative until the fog clears automatically.

Deployment

French Deploy First, they may deploy upto the town of Pratzen. The Russians Deploy second 8BWs from their side. To simulate fog each side uses Blinds when they are spotted by the enemy they are replaced by the actual units.

Davouts French 3^rd Corp is a reserve and will appear as in normal Lasalle rules. At a predetermined point on the board.

Each army has a number of dummy blinds that can be used to confuse the enemy when spotted they are removed.

Special Rules

Generals and commanders can only move up to  12BWs in any direction.

Limbered artillery can not on  purpose move within 4BW of an enemy unit.

Streams and lakes are frozen and units may move across them with out penalty, however artillery may bombard lakes if the lake receives 10 or more hits, the ice is broken. If any units were on the lake when the ice broke they are considered lost and the lake is considered impassable.

Austrian and Russians must use the Linear tactics:

Infantry in Attack Column may not charge and all units require their full movement allowance to change formation, regardless of what formation they are in.

Victory Conditions

Either the destruction of an Army or at the end of the game total up the points of each town that is controlled by either side (They must have a unit deployed or occupying the town area). The Side with the most points wins.

 Order of Battle

 

French Order of Battle

Commander  Napoleon

Imperial Guard   Marshal Bessieres Command Range 6BWs

2 Guard Units Valiant/Experienced/SK2/Guard

1 Old Guard Cavalry  Valiant/Experienced/Guard/Shock
1 Horse BTY 2 cannon/1 How Medium

I Corps  Marshal Bernadotte Command Range 8BWs

7 Veteran Inf Units Reliable/Experienced/SK2

Reserve BTY   3 cannon/1 How  Heavy

III Corps Marshal Davout Command Range 6BWs

2 Veteran Inf Units Reliable/Experienced/SK2

1 Dragoon  Unit  Reliable/Experienced/Pursuit.
1 Light Horse BTY 2 cannon/1 How Light

IV Corps  Marshal Soult Command Range 14BWs

10 Veteran Inf Units Reliable/Experienced/SK2

1 Chasseur Unit   Reliable/Experienced/Pursuit
1 Hussar Unit    Valiant Experienced/Pursuit
Reserve BTY   3 cannon/1 How  Heavy
Horse BTY     2 cannon/1 How  Medium

V Corps  Marshal Lannes Command Range 7BWs

6 Veteran Inf Units Reliable/Experienced/SK2

1 Hussar Unit    Valiant Experienced/Pursuit
1 Division BTY  3 cannon/ 1 How  Medium

Grenadier Division  General Division Duroc Command Range 6BWs

3 Elite Inf Units  Valiant/Experienced/SK2

Cavalry Reserve  Marshal Murat Command Range 8BWs

2 Cuirassier (+) units  Valiant/ Experienced/Shock

2 Dragoon units  Reliable/Experienced/Pursuit.
2 Hussar units    Valiant Experienced/Pursuit
2 Horse BTY   2 cannon/1 How  Medium

3^rd Coalition Order of battle

Commander  General Kutusov

Russian Imperial Guard  Grand Duke  Constantine Command Radius 10 BWs

4 Guard Infantry units Valiant/Experienced/SK1/Guard

4 Guard Cavalry  units Valiant/Experienced/Shock/Guard
1 Position BTY 4 Cannon/1 How Heavy
1 Horse BTY 3 Cannon/2 How Med

Advance Guard Russian Army  Lt Gen Bagration Command Radius 11 BWs

2 Jager Units  Reliable/Exp/SK1

3 Musketeer Units  Reliable/Exp/SK0
1 Cuirassier Unit   Valiant/Experienced/Shock
1 Dragoon Unit   Reliable/Experienced/Pursuit
1 Hussar Unit  Valiant/Experienced/Pursuit
1 Cossack Unit   Shaky/Irregular/Pursuit
1 Light BTY 4 Cannon/1 How Med
1 Horse BTY 3 Cannon/2 How Med

Advance Guard of Gen Buxhowden Marshal Von Keinmayer Command Radius 6BWs

2 Grenz Units  Valiant/Amatuer/SK2

1 Austrian Hussar Unit  Valiant/Experienced/Pursuit
1 Austrian  Uhlan Unit   Reliable/Experienced/Pursuit/Lancers
Cavalry BTY Horse 2 cannon/1 How Med

First Column   Lt Gen  Dokhturov Command Radius 9 BWs

5 Musketeer Units  Reliable/Exp/SK0

1 Grenadier Unit  Valiant/ Experienced/ SK0
1 Cossack Unit   Shaky/Irregular/Pursuit
1 Horse BTY 3 Cannon/2 How Med
1 Position BTY 4 Cannon/1 How Heavy

Second Column  Lt General Langeron Command Radius 8 BWs

1 Jager Unit  Reliable/Exp/SK1

4 Musketeer Units  Reliable/Exp/SK0
1 Grenadier Unit  Valiant/ Experienced/ SK0
1 Dragoon Unit   Reliable/Experienced/Pursuit
1 Horse BTY 3 Cannon/2 How Med

Third Column  Lt Gen Przebyszewski Command Radius 6 BWs

1 Jager Unit  Reliable/Exp/SK1

3 Musketeer Units  Reliable/Exp/SK0
1 Horse BTY 3 Cannon/2 How Med

Fourth Column  Lt Gen Kollowrat Command Radius 6 BWs

4 Austrian Infantry Reliable/Experienced/SK1

6 Russian Musketeer Units  Reliable/Exp/SK0
1 Grenadier Unit  Valiant/ Experienced/ SK0
1 Austrian BTY Horse 2 cannon/1 How Med
1 Position BTY 4 Cannon/1 How Heavy

Fifth  (Cavalry) Column Lt Gen Liechtenstein  Command Radius 6 BWs 

2 Austrian Cuirassiers units (+)   Valiant/ Experienced / Shock

1 Russian Dragoon unit   Reliable/ Experienced / Pursuit
1 Cossack Unit   Shaky/Irregular/Pursuit
1 Austrian BTY Horse 2 cannon/1 How Med