As most wargamers and readers of this blog probably know, Dresden (1813) was one of the biggest battles of the Napoleonic Wars, with over 300,000 men engaged. This makes it a must-do for any serious grognard. Mark Smith duly obliged and ran a game of his BBB Dresden scenario for us.
Just as the historical battle was fought over two days, so was ours. In our case it was two remote sessions on successive weeks. Consequently the French command changed at half-time, with Colin taking over from Crispin as Napoleon to fend off the allies commanded by me and Graham.
It's very much a battle of two halves. On Day 1, the French are outnumbered but have all their best troops on the pitch - including the entire Imperial Guard - with which to prevent the Austrians, Russians and Prussians gaining a foothold in the suburbs around Dresden. On Day 2, both sides are reinforced, but the allies gain guards and grenadiers to stiffen them against the French counterattack.
For Day 2, Colin inherited something of a traffic jam, with the French army virtually all in the semi-circle of Dresden and its suburbs. On the French right there was some space to breathe and a chance for Marmont to break out and threaten the objectives behind the Allied left wing. Unfortunately for him, stalwart Austrian defence and some lamentable French movement rolls meant Marmont never managed to eject Gyulai from Friedrichstadt. This in turn impeded French efforts to attack in the centre towards the bridge at Plauen and caused losses in precious French cavalry who were exposed to fire against their rear. On the allied right, late in the piece the French did attempt to send some troops around the flank against the objective at Seidnitz, but this was too little too late, as by then the Russian heavy cavalry was there to counter this. Added to the mix were some lethal allied firing and combat dice at a couple of crucial moments, wiping out potent French cavalry formations.
Real-world fatigue on the French side meant we couldn't play the last turn, so "at that point we called it": Mark's assessment as umpire was that it would probably be an allied win, though with a reasonable possibility that the French might have taken enough objectives to salvage a draw. Given what I think was a decent allied plan plus some help from the dice, that seemed a fair result.
Reflections:
Claustrophobia! The high troop density provided a very different feel from more open battles. With so many units packed into a narrow frontage, the French especially suffered from masking their own guns and struggled to attack out of the difficult terrain of the city in anything like a coordinated manner. Whenever either side attacked, instead of sweeping manoeuvre and knockout blows, it was more like two boxers in a clinch exchanging repeated body-blows. Every attack left the attacker disrupted and vulnerable to a counterattack, and the troop density meant there was usually a second enemy line ready to deliver one. Real punch and counter-punch.
Despite the compressed front line, the nuances of terrain and different troop types meant there were still plenty of tactical decisions to be made. It was pleasing that BBB produced the right level of granularity to achieve that but still fight a big-picture grand battle.
Guns that aren't firing are guns wasted; putting them in the right place to start with is crucial. Napoleon was an artilleryman. He knew.
The fog of war of remote gaming. Colin overlooked units that were behind houses. For our part, a couple of times Graham and I advanced our cavalry into range of enemy guns that were off-camera. These were minor frustrations that actually enhanced the game in a sense, in that such blunders are a feature of real battle and it is more realistic than our usual perfect 'helicopter view'.
The time-inefficiency of remote gaming. With Mark having to dance around the table carrying out moves for all of us one at a time, and having to explain what we could see or do, it took us two evenings to not quite finish a game that could comfortably have been concluded in a single session if we'd all been round the table. But it's still way better than no game at all.
How nice to have a battle where you legitimately field the entire Imperial Guard! (Mind you, they were seen off by my iron Landwehr.)
Great game, very atmospheric. Big thanks to Mark for laying it on.
***
If you enjoyed this AAR, you can use the 'Napoleonic' label on this blog or search by year label (e.g., '1813') to find reports of our other Napoleonic BBB battles.
Nice to see a BBB Napoleonic game again Chris. It certainly did look congested and your post game thoughts made for very interesting reading. Certianly getting your guns into the right position is a must from say the SYW onwards. If you don't, it's very hard to correct once the battle is underway, as I've learnt to my cost over the years!
ReplyDeleteEasier said than done, of course. In our pre-battle planning, Graham and I agreed to mass three artillery units on the ridge east of Racknitz. Then on Turn 1 I promptly sent my Russian guns east of the Gross Garten, to be played on by French redoubts that might otherwise not have had a target. It seemed a good idea at the time! Graham must have been scratching his head.
Delete"The fog of war of remote gaming. Colin overlooked units that were behind houses. For our part, a couple of times Graham and I advanced our cavalry into range of enemy guns that were off-camera. These were minor frustrations that actually enhanced the game in a sense, in that such blunders are a feature of real battle and it is more realistic than our usual perfect 'helicopter view'."
ReplyDeleteHow very apt! The sort of decision you read about and think "whaaaaaaaaaat? No one would do that!" but that happens all the time in real life from all sorts of reasons :)
Yep - we just had to laugh and say philosophically "c'est la guerre" (or, on our Allied side, "so geht's im Kriege" or something like that) - fortunes of wargaming!
DeleteA really interesting report of what sounds like a great game. The troop density on late Napoleonic battlefields and masking of guns is a real problem/challenge in wargaming recreations. Gotta keep them firing lines open!
ReplyDeleteRegards, James
For sure! And having that coup d'oeil to identify where to mass your grand batteries so they dominate the ground the enemy just has to march across ...
Delete