At OWS we have been steadily working our way through Napoleon's biggest and bloodiest battles, using scenarios designed by our OWS comrade Mark. I haven't been able to play all of Mark's games but have enjoyed a few: Borodino, Wagram, Friedland.
This week's epic was Aspern-Essling (1809). Napoleon had established a bridgehead across the Danube north of Vienna, with the villages of Aspern and Essling as its bastions; the Austrian army converged on it; two days of bloody fighting ensued. Both sides lost over 20,000 men; the French avoided being driven into the Danube, but failed to break the Austrians, so they withdrew. Napoleon had to wait until Wagram six weeks later to finally win the campaign.
Our game turned out a bit worse for the French. It didn't look that way initially. The Austrian army was mostly rated Passive and had hardly any Generals represented on table. Consequently many of its units were slow to move off the start line (indeed a couple failed to get into action all game - clearly they were held back prudently in reserve). This was compounded by impressive lack of coordination among us Austrian players, as John promptly deployed his line to mask my batteries. Banter abounded: my exasperated line to an Austrian comrade was 'you're not fighting the Seven Years War now'. Best one on the French side was when Crispin asked Mark J (aka Napoleon) something to the effect of what was he going to do with his troops, to which Mark replied, 'I think you'll find that technically they're all my troops'.
Nonetheless, we got our act together sufficiently to take Aspern at dawn on Day 2. French reinforcements were making their way across fitfully, thanks to the Austrians sabotaging their pontoon bridges by floating down burning ship-mills. Desperate French efforts to counter-attack foundered as precious heavy cavalry masked their own guns and were sacrificed in vain. The battle ended in a clear Austrian victory.
It did seem a bit tough for the French, with a lot depending on their luck or otherwise with the reinforcements' arrival dice. On the other hand, there were perhaps a few things they could have done differently. Regardless of the outcome, it's an interesting battle and was a distinctively different game, and one which we are all keen to try again.
Full blow-by-blow AAR with lots more photos on Colin's blog here.
(We are not the first to try Aspern-Essling with BBB. A group in Virginia fought Day 1 a few months ago. See Manteuffel's AAR here.)
(Edit: and another group a few months before that as well. See the Pushing Tin blog here.)
Finally, as a side-note, here's an obscure historical nugget. My main focus lately has been the Hungarian War of Independence of 1848-1849 (my book on the Winter Campaign is in press right now). The Austrian commander during the Winter Campaign, Feldmarschall Windisch-Graetz, fought at Aspern-Essling as a junior cavalry officer. I bet you didn't know that.
This week's epic was Aspern-Essling (1809). Napoleon had established a bridgehead across the Danube north of Vienna, with the villages of Aspern and Essling as its bastions; the Austrian army converged on it; two days of bloody fighting ensued. Both sides lost over 20,000 men; the French avoided being driven into the Danube, but failed to break the Austrians, so they withdrew. Napoleon had to wait until Wagram six weeks later to finally win the campaign.
Dawn on Day 2: a mass of French reinforcements has arrived overnight (left of picture),
but Aspern (by the wood, mid-pic) has fallen to the Austrians' dawn attack.
The two little discs by the wood are overturned General figures, where Napoleon and one of his marshals are having to hastily decamp as they are surrounded by routers and Austrians.
Our game turned out a bit worse for the French. It didn't look that way initially. The Austrian army was mostly rated Passive and had hardly any Generals represented on table. Consequently many of its units were slow to move off the start line (indeed a couple failed to get into action all game - clearly they were held back prudently in reserve). This was compounded by impressive lack of coordination among us Austrian players, as John promptly deployed his line to mask my batteries. Banter abounded: my exasperated line to an Austrian comrade was 'you're not fighting the Seven Years War now'. Best one on the French side was when Crispin asked Mark J (aka Napoleon) something to the effect of what was he going to do with his troops, to which Mark replied, 'I think you'll find that technically they're all my troops'.
Nonetheless, we got our act together sufficiently to take Aspern at dawn on Day 2. French reinforcements were making their way across fitfully, thanks to the Austrians sabotaging their pontoon bridges by floating down burning ship-mills. Desperate French efforts to counter-attack foundered as precious heavy cavalry masked their own guns and were sacrificed in vain. The battle ended in a clear Austrian victory.
It did seem a bit tough for the French, with a lot depending on their luck or otherwise with the reinforcements' arrival dice. On the other hand, there were perhaps a few things they could have done differently. Regardless of the outcome, it's an interesting battle and was a distinctively different game, and one which we are all keen to try again.
Full blow-by-blow AAR with lots more photos on Colin's blog here.
(We are not the first to try Aspern-Essling with BBB. A group in Virginia fought Day 1 a few months ago. See Manteuffel's AAR here.)
(Edit: and another group a few months before that as well. See the Pushing Tin blog here.)
Finally, as a side-note, here's an obscure historical nugget. My main focus lately has been the Hungarian War of Independence of 1848-1849 (my book on the Winter Campaign is in press right now). The Austrian commander during the Winter Campaign, Feldmarschall Windisch-Graetz, fought at Aspern-Essling as a junior cavalry officer. I bet you didn't know that.
It was a great game, speaking as an Austrian, of course. The French were hampered by their re-inforcements (or lack thereof) and the Austrians, despite being passive and having no Generals to inspire the troops (well, only 2 who were linked to the reserves, & Archduke Charles as c-in-c), managed to launch a swift and well co-ordinated attack. I even managed to roll some good dice!
ReplyDeleteWe are planning to refight it - possibly with the players swapping sides. Stay tuned!