State of Play: Commands & Colors: Napoleonics – Eggmühl, Day 2 (French Right), 22 April, 1809

 

 

Reader, the drought has broken. T and I have played our first Monday Night game (albeit last Tuesday) in close to four months. The reason for returning to this tradition is related to the reason there has been such a long break. This may be the subject of a Blog Note in the future; while it’s good to get back to gaming on the regular, the circumstances are the stuff of a George Eliot novel, and loom over the table like a thunderhead.

We were supposed to meet the week earlier, on the last day of the first Quarter – this obviously didn’t come to fruition – but when I asked then what T would like to play, a new game or something familiar, his reply was, “Something I can WIN”. This week we played has T’s house, so I suggested he set up a Commands & Colors: Napoleonics (GMT Games, 2010) scenario from either The Spanish Army (Expansion 1 - GMT Games, 2011) or The Austrian Army (Expansion 3 – GMT Games, 2013); scenarios from both sets tend to feel weighted in favour of the historical victors, being the French in nearly every case.

Opening state.

I arrived to be greeted by the sight above, the French Right flank of the Battle of Eggmühl (or Eckmühl), the second day, 22^nd of April, 1809 (the day and month, at least, coinciding with my birthday). We kind of tore through the Austrian scenarios when we first got our copies because The Prussian Army expansion came quite soon after the release of the Austrians and we'd been looking forward to that one most of all, but we did play all of the scenarios at least twice.

Eggmühl was a big, sprawling battle fought over an extended front, and the French Right is the fourth of five scenarios in the Austrian Army expansion are devoted to diverse parts of the battle. The French were the larger force overall, and this is reflected in this scenario. The French have eighteen units and four leaders, compared to the Austrians with just sixteen units and three leaders. The French player also has a hand-size of six cards to the Austrian player’s four. The situation of the scenario calls for the French player to be aggressive, pushing every advantage; he will gain a permanent Victory Banner for each unit he can manage to march over the Austrian back line (off the far side of the board).

Claude, who decided I was in need of an Aide de Camp for the battle.

The Austrian player has some good defensive terrain and the enlarged Line infantry units, but he also has the negative qualities that come with commanding the Austrians. In melee, those five block units are a match for the French line, but they’re flighty – the unit will retreat to spaces for each retreat it cannot ignore, either from the presence of a Leader or from being supported on two sides.

The game began on a hopeful note for the Austrians; the French brought blood and fury down upon the Austrians on their left and right with a Bayonet Charge, but fortunately the Austrians replied in equal weight. Neither side clamed a Banner, but the Austrians gave nearly as good as they got. I countered with an Assault Right Flank. Having such a small hand, I decided I couldn’t afford to bring any of my rear-most troops, ordering only those within shooting range of the Line and Artillery along the ridgeline. This earned me the first banner of the game, with a French Line unit whittled down in detail by consecutive attacks. As it turned out, this early success wasn’t a harbinger of victory for the Austrians.

By the third round, T moved upon my works in his Heavy Cavalry, which he had been nudging into up, completely routing two of my weakened Line units (and taking two banners), and wreaking havoc among the other units on my right. I responded with a Cavalry Charge, which matched my Light Cavalry with his Heavy, taking out all his mounted units (except for an attached Horse Artillery formation that had been left behind in his attack putting may one banner ahead in the count.

The offending French Line unit, just before it advanced into the hex
"vacated" by the fleeing Grenzers.

I only managed one more banner – another reduced Line unit – before T began his systematic march to victory. A Literal march in on case; as mentioned earlier, the Special Rules for the scenario stated the French earned a banner for each unit moved off the board over the Austrian base line. T managed this, but not before using the Line unit (reduced to three blocks) to force a Grenzer Light unit to make a tactical advance to the rear with two retreats, thereby eliminating it, then adding insult to injury by advancing after battle into the units vacated space, which put the canny French on my baseline, ready to advance over the very next turn (as part of a Recon In Force order).

After dealing carnage with his Give Them Cold Steel order in the turn six (which brough us up to six-all), T was able to pick the low-hanging fruit of a couple of single block units remaining defiantly in the field with an Attack Centre (three units ordered), to claim my last two Victory Banners and the day for the French.

End state. Claude offered his sword, which was refused.

An eight-banner game resolved in just seven turns, eight to six. Having taken more than half the number of banners required for victory, my honour was satisfied, and the surviving Austrians slipped away with the diminishing light, to regroup and prepare for their next encounter at Aspern-Essling, a mere month hence.

 

“The difference between tragedy and the tragic is inevitability.”

̶  Willy Russell, Educating Rita

 

There are those who complain that C&C scenarios are often tragically unbalanced, giving little opportunity for the historical loser to gain a win. If I was among these folks, I might point to this scenario as proof. I don’t think this is true, though. T and I have played nearly every scenario in the canon at least twice* – each playing each side over consecutive weeks – and often the same player would win both games. As I’ve suggested elsewhere, I think there is a danger in seeking perfect balance in wargames. I was pretty pleased to get to six banners in an eight-banner game. Eggmühl, French Right might be weighted somewhat in favour of the French, but what of it.

I’m more interested in (an admittedly rather schematic) historical reconstruction than a game of chess dressed up as Napoleonics. I played a fairly uneven game, partly because of the cards dealt, and I think partly because we haven’t played anything in four months and had misplaced my mojo. I could possibly have done more in my left by pulling my Line units into forest cover or cajoled my Grenzer Light Infantry units up off the base line and int the battle at all (the tyranny of section Order cards). In the end though, T worked the situation admirably with the tools at his disposal, rolled a lot better than me, and earned the win. It was close enough to be a tense game. Win or lose, I’m here for the challenge. And the fun.

 

* I'm pretty sure there are two or maybe three EPIC scenarios we haven't yet got around to playing even once, maybe another one ot two we have only placed a single time. All of the Army scenarios have hit the table at least twice int he last sixteen years, and some of the Peninsula battle we've played maybe a dozen times.

 

Claude once more, stoic in defeat, but planning for a triumphant return.