Blog note: Commands & Colors: Napoleonics – Eggmühl, 21-22 April, 1809 complete

 

Napoléon acclamé par les troupes bavaroises et wurtembergeoises
à Abensberg, le 20 avril 1809, by Jean-Baptiste Debret, a French
painter and student of David, who lived in Paris contemporaneously
to the event (Courtesy Wikimedia Commons).

The Eggmuhl Cycle* is the longest series of scenarios dedicated to a single battle in the Austrian Army expansion set (GMT Games, 2013)† for Commands & Colors: Napoleonics (GMT Games, 2010). It was only after we’d played the Eggmuhl, French Right scenario that I realised the battle was explored across five scenarios, and suggested we tackle all five (non-consecutively). This is why the scenarios appear out of sequence. 

Below is a table of links to the five scenario AARs in their proper order; that is, the order in which they appear in the C&C: Napoleonics - Austrian Army scenario book (pp. 18-22).

We’ve been enjoying playing through the Eggmühl scenarios so much, we’ve decided to look at other multi-scenario battles in other national army sets as well. Next off the rank will be a shorter Austrian scenario set, the Battle of Wagram. Wagram is a shorter sequence, so I’m going to take a different tack with that one, writing up the more manageable three scenarios in a single, extended post.

 

Eggmühl, Day 1, 21 April, 1809

Eggmühl, Day 2, Attack on Eggmühl, 22 April, 1809

Eggmühl, Day 2 (French Left), 22 April, 1809

Eggmühl, Day 2 (French Right), 22 April, 1809

Eggmühl, Day 2 (Alteglofsheim), 22 April, 1809

 

* The scenario sequence isn’t referred to this way, so far as I know, except here at A Fast Game. It’s just a shorthand tool for referencing the five-scenario sequence.

† I would be remiss of me not to mention that, while The Austrian Army is now out of print, An omnibus edition including this and two other national expansions, The Russian Army and The Prussian Army, is now available for preorder at the GMT P500 webpage.

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

 

Over the last few weeks, T and I have been playing twice a week instead of just the usual Monday game. This means I’m struggling to catch up on my AARs for the Eggmuhl cycle of scenarios from the Austrian Army expansion (GMT Games, 2013) for Commands & Colors: Napoleonics (GMT Games, 2010). This post covers the third scenario in the cycle, but our last to play. I will post a short note with links to the five scenarios in the order they appear in the Australian Army scenario book for any who wish to consider them in order.

While it would have been nice to have worked through these in their proper order, it’s fitting that we finish on Day 2, French Left. This is the biggest, busiest battle of the Eggmühl cycle, with the highest Victory Banner count to achieve, well, victory – nine Banners.

Once again, the French player holds an edge in the scenario, with twenty-two fielded units to the Austrians’ twenty-one*, four leaders to three, and a six-card hand-size to their opponent’s four cards. An extra field formation or two is neither here nor there, perhaps, but holding half-again as many order options as your opponent should lend a palpable advantage. T also fielded more leaders – 4-3 – and all of his began the game attached to effectual units. At the end of a four-game winning streak, I felt the chill of failure breathing down the back of my collar.

Initial set-up (neither of us noticed the French being short one Line unit).

The first round was spent by both sides positioning their forces for better advantage. T lead off round two with an order to Attack Center. Three French Line units engaged with the Austrian Line positioned in the town of Unteraiching and the nearby woods. In this scenario, Unteraiching is worth a temporary Banner to the side that hold the town at the beginning of its turn (this is why the Austrians begin the game one Banner up on the French, a small concession against the overall imbalance). The other two towns, Oberlaiching and Obersanding, are each worth a banner to the French if they can take and hold the towns. The French Line struck in melee, losing their advantage to the terrain. At 50% odds of inflicting damage, and the further possibility of causing a rout (rolling a retreat symbol), this should have had a tone-setting impact on the defenders. 

End of round 2.

Instead, the rolls nearly all came up horses and cannons, with only a single block loss to the regiment holding Unterlaising. Return fire saw two of the three units pushed back to lick their wounds. The Austrians replied with a Coordinated Advance, which allowed further fire in the centre, breaking two of the hereto attacking French line (for two banners) and the annihilation of a third that had probed on the French Left into the grange of my Grenzers, hidden in the trees. This would portend the eventual, tragic outcome for the French.

I took the precaution of photographing some of my phenomenally good rolls as proof for
the guys in my Wednesday group, who otherwise wouldn't believe I was capable of such.
These were all melee rolls against French Infantry units.

-----

Note: dear reader, it is at this point that my memory of the proceedings begins to faulter for a couple of rounds. On this particular night I was subject to a nasty headache that while not debilitating, was quite distracting. I remember parts of rounds, but none in full. I remember that the hilltop battery on my Left weathered Cavalry attacks from two sides intent on dislodging the guns from their redoubt, and I think my retaliatory rolls sent both into retreat (I don’t think it was during the last round with the French-played Cavalry Attack order, but I couldn’t swear it wasn’t). Nor did I have the presence of mind to take board-state photos at the  the end of every round, which I’ve got into the habit of doing.

End of round 5. I'm pretty sure.

I took some paracetamol when I first arrived at T’s, but they took a little while to kick in. I must have been feeling more myself by round 6, as my memories of the last two rounds are somewhat clearer – I remember at one point being surprised when I notices I was ahead by a couple of banners. The coffee probably helped as well (I’m a great believer in the restorative benefits of caffeinated beverages, and T always has decent coffee on hand).

To wit, I don’t feel I can take any credit for the win. I think it mostly comes down to T’s poor card-draws – something he again bemoaned throughout the session – and his continuing abysmal dice-rolls. I do remember picking up two more banners but not the situations in which they occurred.

Entering into the sixth round – technically the very end of the fifth, with a lucky card draw, is where we can return to the action at hand with some clarity of memory (and photographic evidence).

-----

End of round 6 (more confident of this one).

A fortuitous draw of a Bayonet Charge order game be the necessary tools to close the battle. A Take Command - Center order allowed me to whittle down one more French Line unit that had bravely/foolishly ventured deep into the Austrian lines. T’s Cavalry Charge lead to some mayhem on the French Right, bagging him two more Banners – one depleted Line and one of my Cavalry – at the cost of few blocks from his own horse. The French had finally found their dice mojo (a technical term – look it up). But this proved to be too little too late.

Unterlaiching (left) and Oberlaiching both remained in Austrian control for
the duration of the game. Unterlaiching, only just.

The Bayonet Attack order put four French Line units – two single block, two half-strength units within striking distance of my forces. Playing the order, three of them fell (though the attached Leaders in two cases both escaped to their lines). The battle was over, the Austrians – against all expectations – victorious.

It took just seven rounds for the Austrians to blunt the French advance, with a final score of 9-3 in the Austrians’ favour. The Austrian losses were heavy; among the Infantry overall losses amounted to over four units’ strength, though only two Line and one Light Cavalry unit lost all cohesion. The French seemed incapable of landing a definitive blow, and it cost them the battle in sort order.

End state. Eighteen of twenty-one Austrian units still present
on the field (barely in some cases).

The battle was over much more quickly than either of us anticipated, especially after the previous Attack on Eggmühl taking ten rounds to reach a five-Banner threshold. It should have been a closer game. From the beginning, T conducted his troops admirably as the orders to hand would allow. And the end he became reckless, making Cavalry charges into the trees and ordering troops deep into the enemy lines. But overall, his tactics were solid. Once again, though the dice gods ignored his entreaties, and instead blessed me with rolls of which I have rarely seen the like.

Austrian losses - it wasn't as bad as it looks.

French losses - yeah, it was as bad as it looks.

 

Order cards played, in order played (French to the left).

*The eagle-eyed may have noticed a discrepancy here. T had set up the game before I arrived, and I only gave the board a cursory look -over before we started play, so we both missed it, but the French side was down one Line unit on their back line, just inside the Center on their right. I only noticed this prepping the photos for the post. The way the game played out, with the orders each side drew and committed, I don’t think their presence would have been the pivotal factor tipping victory into French hands.

 

 

State of Play: Commands & Colors: Napoleonics – Eggmühl, Day 2 – Attack on Eggmühl, 22 April, 1809

 

 

Eggmühl, Castle Schloss and the bridge, collective worth two
Victory Banners to the French.

The Attack on Eggmühl is the second scenario in the Eggmühl cycle from the Austrian Army expansion (GMT Games, 2013) for Commands & Colors: Napoleonics (GMT Games, 2010), and marks our fourth game in this disjointed, out-of-sequence play-through. This scenario portrays the heart of the action, though it’s one of the (potentially) shorter scenarios at a win threshold of just five Victory Banners, but gaining all five will take some work for either side. There are only nineteen units on the whole board. The Austrians begin with a temporary banner for holding the majority of the combined Schloss Castle and Eggmühl-town. The French forces need to cross the Grosse Laaber to engage the sparse Austrian forces; the whole length of the Grosse Laaber is fordable, but that still means each unit needs a second movement order to extricate themselves from the river-hex. There is a bridge withing ranged fire distance of Eggmühl; capturing this bridge will earn the French player a permanent Victory Banner.

Napoleon was intent on capturing the town of Eggmühl in order to split Charles’s army in twain, breaking their lines of communication. It was a small but significant part of the battle. This was accomplished, but only after a protracted effort on the part of the French, facing dogged resistance from the outnumbered Austrians. Taking the Bridge on the third attack allowed the French to bring more pressure onto the town.

Opening state. The Austrians are few and far between.

The French seize the moment and move first. With so few units on the board, this situation is one where a bad starting hand can take a toll. Even with a one-card hand-advantage (five to four), T again struggled to get his fellows moving in a coherent manner. From the outset, T wanted to get his Line troops up into workable positions on his Right flank. For the Center, it’s going to come down to a frontal assault; not ideal with just Light troops, but he does have artillery for support. It’s doable because if the lack of Austrian troops generally, and the fact that a full third of my forces are in “Reserve” on the Austrian back-line. For a five-Banner game, I’d anticipate a duration of roughly eight to ten rounds, on average (play Commands and Colors six or seven hundred times and you start to get a feel for these things). If I’m going to use any of my turns to engage the troops proximate to the enemy, I’m probably not going to get the Reserve units into the fight at all.

I began the game with a handful of orders for the Left Flank. Having just three units in the entire flank, I thought this would be sub-optimal, but as it happened, this was where T chose to channel a lot of his effort. The river is fordable, but that means units must stop mid-stream, where they become targets for any enemy unit with a clear line of sight.

The game begins with the Austrians holding one temporary Victory Banner of majority control of the combined Eggmühl village and Schloss Castle (if the French forces took the village, the Austrians would lose the Banner, and if their troops were subsequently pushed out of Castle Schloss, the Banner would go to the French). T’s first move was to take the bridge, earning him a permanent Victory Banner, and evening the game.

T recognised the Austrian Left (French Right) as a potential weak spot. This was where his forces were most strongly concentrated, and my defences were thin (a fact I was only too aware of myself). His opening gambit was an Attack Right Flank order, bringing the bulk of his Line troops up into a position to attack the Austrian guns.

Early thinning on the French Right.

The guns held the advantage of high ground, which would prove crucial when elements of the French Line reached melee positions. Foot Artillery are no slouch in close combat, and I saw off a couple of attacks, gaining a couple of Victory banners in the process.

T’s first (and only) Victory Banner came from taking possession of the bridge in the second round. For this he paid a price. Lacking orders to move that unit into the town, I eventually moved the adjacent Grenzers into Eggmühl and successive rounds of ranged fire took out the bridge-capturing Light regiment (though their Leader escaped unscathed).

Marching into the mouth of fire.

T had a hard time of it herding his remaining Light (Center and Left units) into action, but eventually got them up to the riverbank to lay down fire on my defending Grenzers. An opening arrived when persistent fire reduced my right-most Grenzers, forcing them out of the forest with a retreat result, but again, with the cards available, T was unable to take advantage of this (I should note I was equally unable to rally the Grenzers back into their forest position for the remainder of the game.

The tensest part of the battle, through was the French right (my left). Twice I had some success with the Artillery’s ranged fire, reducing and eventually destroying the right-most Line unit (at the bend of the river), and twice I managed to fend off melee attacks, once eliminating the whole attacking unit with return fire. The Line infantry in the left was almost more of a hinderance than a help, getting pushed back tice with retreats, and taking a block damage each time for its trouble (Austrian Line retreats two spaces for each Flag result – professional, yes; disciplined, not so much).

End of round 8.

By the tenth round, it felt like to exhausted boxers taking wild swings at each other, the French clipping blocks off various Austrian units, and the Austrians wearing down Line and Light units that get to close with effective fire (my rolls were, by and large, conspicuously better than my regular form). The hammer fell at the bottom of the tenth round (though there was every likelihood of it not); T played Elán, which allows the player to roll dice equivalent to his hand size, with the resulting symbols allowing a unit of that type to be ordered, and Flag results giving the player this choice of units to order (sabres result in no orders). He had four Infantry results, which split between his remaining Right Flank units and the Light fighting across the river and the bridge, attacking Eggmühl, and the already depleted Grenzer unit on the riverbank. Some unit reduction followed, but the French couldn’t land a definitive punch.

Discussing tactics with Aide de Camp Claude.

I didn’t hold a lot of hope, or any useful cards. Another good round would give T the opportunity to make good on his attritional gains in the last couple of rounds. I used a Leadership card to order the remaining single block Grenzer unit on the riverbank to attack his reduced Light on the other side. That gave me two shots (number of blocks plus one die in ranged combat) to remove that unit and take the game. I rolled two Infantry symbols and victory (once again) went to the Austrians.

End state. I'm not sure what T was doing straddling two hexes in the Eggmühl  attack.
Some times you only notice these things after the fact.

I spite of the score – 5-1 – had I not scored that last banner, the French were in a good position to snatch victory; pushing me out of Eggmühl and taking the town would have removed a Banner from my lead, and neither of the Grenzers in or adjacent to the woods were likely to survive another attack. But I’m venturing into the territory of what-ifs that tend to bore me after the game is over, so I will demure and take the victory.

Cards played French to the left (inside column then outside).

After another successful action, Claude poses for a portrait commemorating the victory.

State of Play: Commands & Colors: Napoleonics – Eggmühl, Day 1, 21 April, 1809

 

 

Austrians spoiling for a fight.

Continuing our unintentionally confused run through the Battle of Eggmühl via the conduit of Commands & Colors: Napoleonics (GMT Games, 2010), we went back to the beginning, with the meeting engagement on the first day between Marshal Davout’s probing force and elements of Archduke Charles’s Austrian forces. If you’re joining us for the first time, this is the beginning of the Eggmühl cycle, but it’s actually the third game played – we only decided to play all the scenarios after completing the fourth and fifth (the AARs for which can be found here, and here). These scenarios are featured in the Austrian Army expansion (GMT Games, 2013).

For these scenarios, your loyal correspondent will be playing the Austrian side, on balance, the historical losers of the battle. My brother-in-law and long-time opponent, particularly in regard to Commands & Colors – I refer to him as T to maintain his anonymity, due to his notoriety in his own field of expertise – will be ordering the French.

Going into the match, the French have alight advantages in regard to force – one more Infantry unit than the Austrians, three of those Light units, already in the trees, to the Austrians’ single Grenzer shirmishers, and two artillery batteries to the Austrian’s single hilltop battery), and hand size (five cards to the Austrians; four). The French also start first. The Austrian Line infantry has a little more staying power (five blocks instead of the usual four for Line units of other nationalities, but when forced to retreat, they fall back two spaces, reflection their poorer discipline and morale. The Austrian forces are all along the backline with little room to manoeuvre, so their first priority is to get at least some units up and into the fight.

Opening set-up.

But the first move went to the French, A Probe Right Flank order brought two of T’s Line up to engage with my forward-most line unit on my left. Fire (and blocks) were exchanged, but to no clear advantage. The Austrians saw them off with Flag rolls (it was only a probe, after all). I answered with a Force March order, getting all of my Centre Infantry units up off the baseline (Austrian Line and Grenzer units retreat two spaces with each unignorable flag, so you don’t want to be caught on the back-line in a fight).

With his second order, T also played a Force March, bringing up the Infantry on his Left and taking possession of the town of Obersanding. This should have earned him a temporary Victory Banner, but I hadn’t conferred with the scenario notes before starting, and it slipped T’s mind in the excitement of play. Had he been able to take the town of Oberlaichling on the Austrian back-row on my Left, that would have given him a second, but I wasn’t about to let that happen. I replied with a Recon in Force order (one unit ordered in each sector), plinking at enemy units on the flanks. Not much to show for it.

End of round two. The French take Oberlaichling, earning them a permanent
(but unclaimed ) Victory Banner.

Round three was where things began to get interesting. T tried to gain the advantage with a Take Command Right Flank order, allowing his Leader to order up to three adjacent units. Unfortunately, this meant a single intact line unit (Lorencz attached), another reduced to a single block, and an Artillery battery. Choosing to play it safe, T made a ranged attack with the reduced unit and the battery, for no gain. I countered with a Flank Attack order (two units each in the Left and Right sectors. This resulted in my first two Banners of the game, picking the low-hanging fruit of a single block Line unit in each sector, and reducing another on my Left.

End of round three. So far, no visitations from Aide de Camp Claude.

Over the subsequent couple of turns the French continued to chip away at the Austrian defenders but couldn’t make a definitive strike anywhere on the board. The Austrians on the other hand managed to gain two more banners in audacious exchanges that – statistically – should not have come off. After two consecutive wins in the previous games, I wasn’t trying to lose the this one, but felt I could afford to take some chances instead of playing it safe. T had some headaches with his card-draws; he played two Cavalry Charge orders nearly consecutively, in spite of fielding no cavalry – merely ordering a single unit each time but to no advantage (poor rolls will take a toll on even the best card performances).

At the opening of round seven, T played the best card in his hand, and the one he’d been pinning his hopes on. Assault Center allowed him to use one of his native strengths – superiority of hand-size – to activate up to five units in his Centre section to attack; except only four units survived in the centre by this point. Preferring not to take too may chances, T chose to use Ranged Attacks where he could, but only managed to reduce different units' cohesion by a block here and there. I responded with a Probe Center order and tried to chipped-away at a couple of his Line units. When I drew what would be my last card, I was sure the game was over.

End of round seven.

I think T had lost heart a little by this point. He played another Cavalry Charge (it’s always a bitter irony when the side that doesn’t have any cavalry or artillery seems to draw all the Cavalry Charge or Bombard orders). Another ineffectual ranged attack. Then it was time to drop the curtain.

Bayonet Charge. I needed two Banners to put T out of his misery. I ordered three Line (two reduced to three blocks each) and one Grenzer unit into melee, each against a single block Line or Light formation, and one lone Leader in my Right. The leader evaded capture, but each of the infantry units were eliminated quite convincingly.

End state.

The final result was a 7-1 victory to the Austrians, not historically accurate, but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t satisfying. The French managed to hold Obersanding for nearly the entire game, resisting fire from two sides, but failed to get close to Oberlaichling.

I fully expected the French to take the game at the beginning of play. Advantages, though small, can play an outsized role in a game like Commands & Colors, but they are not all there is to it. The dice gods can deny your best efforts, as they did with T on the night, coupled with his self-reported poor starting hand and card-draws. Sometimes it’s just the wrong night to be the favourite.

Cards played in order; French (right two columns) moved first.

 

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

 

 

 

Monday’s game saw our return to Commands & Colors: Napoleonics (GMT Games, 2010) and to the Battle of Eggmühl. The battle features in the Austrian Army expansion (GMT Games, 2013) is covered over the course of five scenarios; with Alteglofsheim being the last. T sets them up; I just show up.

The situation is an interesting one. It takes place toward the end of the day; most of the Austrian army is in retreat, with a rear-guard screen provided by Schneller’s Cuirassiers and Stutterheim’s Light Cavalry brigades. A battery of Austrian guns is on the board at the start, covering the retreat of the bulk of the Austrian army from an elevated position outside the town of Alteglofsheim, but they’ve been ordered to limber and withdraw ahead of the advancing French. What resulted was a clash between two battle-weary heavy cavalry forces, the smaller supported by a relatively fresh light cavalry, clashing in burgeoning night, until breaking off before the light was completely lost.

The Alteglofsheim scenario on paper looks to be weighted toward the French player, with a superiority in unit numbers (thirteen to ten), Leaders (three to two) and artillery (two to one). The scenario offers more options to the French for gaining Victory Banners through means other than eliminating units in combat. For us, the battle promised to be short – a mere five Victory Banners – but as with the generals fighting the historical action, out options would be limited; each player had only four cards to their hand. In keeping with habit of long standing, I dealt two four-cards hands and let T choose (this is, of course, not an option when the hand sizes are irregular). In this scenario, the Austrian player goes first.

Alteglofsheim, opening set-up.

As it happened. The hand I’d been left with offered an easy first point; the Bombard order offers two options for up to four Artillery units. It always seems a waste when you only have one available unit for a multi-unit order, but I wasn’t going to look too closely at this gift horse. With Bombard, it’s always tempting to pummel an enemy unit with its plus-two dice punch, but I had my orders to withdraw the artillery (as mentioned in the introductory paragraph – “Save the guns!”). The second option is to move your Artillery units up to three spaces (subject to terrain restrictions, of course). A clear path allowed me to move my single Foot Artillery to the Austrian baseline, ready to march off the board in a subsequent turn.

The French attack began on their Right flank (my left, where I was weakest, hand-wise). Where the Austrians could secure a Victory Banner by simply moving my Artillery off the board, The French player will gain a Banner for every unit they can get off the board over the Austrian baseline. While the French Cavalry can choose to fight or dash, the Austrian mounted troops’ only option is to dissuade the French through martial means. The order allowed T to get his Light Cavalry across the river and into striking distance of my less numerous light horse.

On their second turn the Austrians played Recon in Force, allowing the removal of the retreating cannon. That marked the first Banner of the game. On the left I was able to activate one of my Light Cavalry to intercept T’s incursion, battling on after the besting the first squadron to put both to flight, retreating across the stream with the loss of a single block each. All round, a good start, but I didn’t think I’d be able to maintain the momentum. The French countered with an Attack Center order, bringing up his Cuirassiers to attack my forward-most heavy unit, pushing it back bloodied (two-block loss). The battle would mostly be fought in the Center, with blows traded throughout.

A successful counter-attack drove one  squadron into retreat and isolated
a depleted Cuirassier formation.

I responded to T’s last order with my own Attack Center, rallying Schneller’s Cuirassiers to a counter-attack and building – throughout the game I think I only picked up a single Order Right Flank card, which ended up unused a defensive line. I couldn’t make any definitive action on my Right Flank, though couple of cards ordered units in all sectors, which proved enough. I was fairly confident T would ignore his Left, focussing on the middle action, were he could wreak the most damage.

For a handful of turns, the initiative swung between the two sides. T scored two Victory Banners in successive rounds. I, in turn, whittled down the strength of his units with uncharacteristically good rolls (mostly in response to T’s attacks), but was able to deliver a decisive blow only once.

The match was over in six and a half rounds. With my seventh card – Leadership – offering two successful attacks on severely depleted French units (each down to a single block) on the Austrian Left and Center, though Nansouty – attached to the reduced Cuirassiers – managed to evade capture.

After day's last light; end state.

Alteglofsheim is an interesting scenario. I’m curious to revisit this as the French player, but we have two more Eggmühl scenarios to play through to finish the cycle. Turn limits aren’t a part of a Commands & Colors game, but I think in this instance a turn ceiling of, say, eight rounds might help the players focus and deliver a more historically consistent outcome.  

In retrospect, the Austrians got lucky, rolling some solid defensive reactions and taking early banners and managing to hold the French Cavalry in engagement. If the game had been more of a stalemate, the French would almost certainly have been able to get two or three units off the board, tipping the balance and almost certainly taking the game.

T and I have been playing long enough to gain some insight into the other’s style of play; I know he will almost never shy away from a fight, particularly with his Cavalry, even when a surer course of action presents itself. Gallant perhaps, but I fear it cost him the day.

Orders played. The two columns left are the Austrian orders, French to the right.
The consecutive Forced March orders activated single Horse units. I'd never
see two Forced March cards in a majority Infantry battle.