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| The Old Guard Grenadiers surge forward and succeed in winning the first rounds of melee against the Silesian Musketeers and the Jordis Regiment. Fortunately for me the Young Guard had been forced into square by the presence of my Uhlans in the valley on their flank. |
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| The Guard Marins charge into the Prussian Guards who are reduced to 10 men and removed from play. To their right the Prussian Fusiliers are pursuing the 24th ligne. |
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| Having seen off the Silesian Hussars, the Guard Heavy cavalry charge down my Russian Musketeers who had only just rallied the previous turn. |
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| The French pile on the pressure against the Russian Grenadiers defending the Village. |
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| I decided to pull back my Uhlans from the 'Valley of Death' but the French guns had them in their sights and managed to force a rout. |
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| The threat to the Young Guard was therefore removed. |
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| Matthew's order map for the final move - Turn 14. |
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| The Guard Light cavalry charge forward trying to emulate the success of the Heavies but are thwarted by a square of the 1st Silesian Landwehr. |
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| To their left, the Guard Marins charge into the Prussian Fusiliers and disorder them. |
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| The second rounds of melee on Windmill Hill see the Allied line break and crumble in full rout. |
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| Marshal Vorwarts can see that the game is up - not even a recount of VP's can save his army. |
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| The Swedes arrive on the scene but its too little too late. |
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| The men of the match on the Allied side were the Russian Grenadiers who remained on table for the full 14 turns - surely a record? |
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| The French artillery were never quite able to bring their fire to bear effectively due mostly to the broken lines of sight presented by the hilly terrain. |
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| The Emperor rides up onto Windmill Hill to congratulate the Guard. |
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| The table at the end of play. The French won 17.5 to 16.5 on points however it wasn't really as close as the point score suggests as the Allied army was extremely battered and the only remaining units with good morale were all 'C' grade. My thanks to Matthew for a most enjoyable game. |
What an unmitigated tale of woe in this instalment. I guess that's what happens with all that Garde wandering about - but once again the wily Crown Prince seems to have saved his men to fight another day, preferably against an outnumbered, C-class opponent.
ReplyDeleteA most enjoyable and colourful report
ReplyDeleteStephen
Excellent game I've enjoyed following its course .
ReplyDeleteRob, with my artillery reduced and line of sight blocked the Guard had an easy ride - the OG suffered no casualties at all! Blucher has ridden off to look for Wellington.
ReplyDeleteGreat stuff once again Ian, I just can't help studying the glorious photos.
ReplyDeleteA cracking Battle IAN- Thanks for posting it all up- certainly admire your Hinton Hunt armies- well done there. Regards. KEV.
ReplyDeleteHmm, I find myself in complete agreement with Rob, except that I would back the Silesian Landwehr against any adventurist Swedes.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful spectacle this has been. Well done, Ian and Matthew. I have loved every minute. Now, off to paint Landwehr.....
Most entertaining mini-series. I've really enjoyed this! Thanks for sharing your photos of your beautiful soldiers.
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone - glad you enjoyed it!
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for inviting me to do this, Ian. The whole scenario was brilliantly conceived and it was an absolute hoot to play through it. Every move was a cliffhanger! On top of that you must have sent me about 100 of your stunning photographs. I had to be very disciplined to stop myself from just gazing at these rather than drawing the maps.
ReplyDeleteI must give this a go sometime on the Hinton Spieler!
Best regards
WM
WM is just getting out of hand. Someone needs to check his winning streak! In all seriousness, what a fantastic looking game. I was glad to see some Der Kriegspieler lancers in there (the Silesians?). Seeing how well you were able to paint those up, gives me some hope that I will be able to manage something similar out of my own. Thanks for providing the entertaining spectacle. I know from experience how much work it is to photograph and write up these battles, but they are so fun to read about and see the beautiful pictures!
ReplyDeleteBest,
David
Clearly too many coats of varnish on those Guard figures, they're damn near bullet proof!
ReplyDeleteFantastic looking game (and when I get my eyes fixed I am going to tuck into some more Napoleonic figure painting).
WM, it was a fun game and we learnt a lot about how to manage a play-by-email set up. It has also given me food for thought for some fine tinkering with the rules. You were a worthy winner!
ReplyDeleteDavid, I can't claim any responsibility for the brushwork on my Prussian Lancers as these were actually painted by WM!
ReplyDeleteMatt, yes three coats was clearly at least one too many!
ReplyDeleteVery inspirational!
ReplyDeleteMay I put up a pic or two and link to this post?
It is inspiring me for my own project.
Alex
I was just admiring your brushwork again when I took a closer look at the windmill in the first picture. That is a heck of a first step from the doorway of the tower!
ReplyDeleteAlex, sure no problem!
ReplyDeleteDavid, well spotted, I left off the staircase as it would be very vulnerable to breakage in the heat of battle. The miller will just have to stay in there!
ReplyDeleteThat was a sensational game Ian. You must have experienced that joy and loss of a good game completed?
ReplyDeleteAlways a joy to see your figures and especially so to see them en masse and in action.
Plans for the next?
Regards, James
Great stuff! May I ask what rules you used for it? The figures are lovely, and it was a perfect looking old school game.
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked it - the rules are my own and still a work in progress!
ReplyDelete