Vintage Leipzig (Part 1)

We finally got the chance to play Vintage Leipzig yesterday and it turned out to be every bit as good as the Waterloo game we played last year. Roy did an amazing job of organising and hosting the event not to mention the fact that he knocked up an entire 14 unit Austrian army in the space of 6 months just for this game!

We had eight players which worked out exactly right for the number of commands available and we managed to play eleven turns taking events to a satisfying conclusion. The rules as always were my own set ‘Muskets & Marshals’ and there were well in excess of 2,700 Hinton Hunt figures spread over the two tables.

To make more sense of the following photos and narrative you may want to take a look at my Planning Vintage Leipzig post before you read on.

At the pre-game briefing we divided up the commands and I ended up with Marmont's corps. This was a tricky role as my force of 10 battalions was oposed by some 17 battalions of the enemy. This is the north table showing the initial deployment of my corps.

This is the centre of the French line on the south table between the villages of Markkleeberg (on the left) and  Connewitz (on the right). Roy had a cunning plan to denote the built up areas with A4 sized sheets of MDF. Under my rules only one unit at a time can occupy a BUA.

This is the view across both tables from the extreme right flank of the allies on the south table. In the foreground (stretching to the wood) is Benningsen's Russian corps. On the far side of the room is the north table.

The other half of the allied line on the south table. These are Schwarzenburg's Austrians some 16 battalions strong supported by 6 cavalry regiments and numerous artillery batteries.

These are the Russian cavalry regiments and artillery on the flank of Benningsen's line. As always Roy has a limber for every one of his guns - not many wargamers can boast that.

And these are the Austrian cavalry on Schwarzenburg's flank - the Hinton Hunt Austrian hussar has to be one of the best figures Marcus ever produced and they look simply stunning en-masse. Nice limber too.

Back to the north table - this is Blucher's Army of Silesia. My recently completed cuirassiers are tucked away in the back row behind another unit of cuirassiers that Roy managed to magic up from somewhere.

Part of Augereau's command in the centre of the south table. You may recongnise my Swiss and next to them the 105th ligne. The Swiss managed to maintain their reputation as keen fighters by losing at least half their number in this game.

Now what sort of fiendish weapon do the allies possess that could cause so many casualties to one of my Saxon battalions supposedly safe behind our lines?

Yep, you guessed it!

And here are the Poles on the right flank of the French line on the south table. We had 4 units in czapka (at the far end of the line in this shot) and very smart they looked. As you can see Poniatowski made a rare trip out from my display cabinet to take command of these brave fellows.

These are more of Augereau's men advancing in a rather determined looking fashion to try and secure the villages for the French.

This is Macdonald's corps viewed from the left of the French line. His infantry have already secured Markkleeberg in the distance while his cavalry thrunder forward to meet the Russians.

A general view along the south table at about turn 4. The Russians and Austrians are advancing as both sides try to secure the villages. In the foreground a cavalry clash seems iminent.

The splendid Splenys advance behind two other splendid Austrian units on loan for this game. The flags of these two units are wonderfully painted Clayton cast-on ones.

Russian infantry press on towards Markkleeberg. The unit in the centre rear is the only unit of Russians in my collection the remainder of the units shown here are Roy's.

The Swiss have taken Connewitz. Meanwhile the Poles seem to be making a bit of a ragged advance towards a solid wall of Austrian infantry.

This is another view of the centre of the south table from the French side. Those are my own cuirassiers and carabineers riding past in the foreground - I'm not sure where they're going.

A cavalry battle is finally underway between Macdonald's troopers and those of the Russians. This fight was to continue all day with more and more reserves being drawn into it on both sides.

On the north table Blucher seems to be sending half his heavy cavalry over to support Bernadotte on the left. These are dragoons and cuirassiers from Roy's collection.

A rather colourful cavalry melee - Saxons collide with my recently completed Prussian dragoons. As I remember the dragoons got the better of this clash. Behind the cavalry is a field of Swedes (that was a joke waiting to happen) as Bernadotte aka Roy moves to turn Marnont's flank.

Not a great moment for my cavalry as Roy charges the Brandenburg lancers into my DK combined cuirassiers/dragoons and sends them packing.

Near Markkleeberg, having gained the village, the French have stopped advancing and have formed line ready to receive the Russians with a volley.

Ah, so that's where they were going - into the fight for Connewitz.

The view from behind Macdonald's lines as his infantry deploy. In the left distance you can see the fast developing cavalry melee.

The Poles confronted by rather a lot of Austrians. I'm not quite sure what Poniatowski was up to but fortunately Schwarzenburg never did press home fully on this flank. The allies seemed intent on capturing the villages on the south table rather than attempting to take Leipzig itself.

This seems to be of much more interest to Schwarzenburg - Austrian infantry about to storm Connewitz.

The French however are not going to take this lying down - forward the 105th!

The continuing cavalry battle - the French cuirassiers to the left are part of the reserve. Napoleon chose to drip feed his reserves into the battle rather than to bring them all on in one place. This was probably a wise decision.

The Russian guns blaze away in support of their cavalry. Things are definitely hotting up!

To be continued.