Battle of Altenrode - The Game

With the generals arrived and refreshed with tea and chocolate biscuits we adjourned to the Hinton Hut where I assigned commands. Nigel would play Archduke Charles (well of course he would), Tony would play Barclay de Tolly and I would take command of the entire French army until such time as Goya might arrive to assist me. It was a cracking game so let's get on with it.

On my left I immediately pushed foward the Swiss and the Poles with the aim of taking Altenrode. At the same time Nigel also advanced from the other side of the village and we had our first action with the Austrian Uhlans getting the better of my Chasseurs.

Meanwhile Nigel employed his trademark tactic of ordering his men to mill around - presumably to confuse the enemy?

Over on my right Murat was also advancing his infantry and another cavalry clash was developing on the extreme flank by Grunwalde.

A general view of the table after the first turn. The troops on the back table edge are designated as being in reserve and cannot be used until turn 2.

With Goya in temporary command the Swiss have taken Altenrode but not without loss as you can see. That pesky Austrian horse artillery battery was to be a thorn in the side of the French all day.

Murat moves the 25th and 33rd ligne across the Lindenbach Stream in the hope of taking Falkendorf. In the distance a mass of Russian and Prussian infantry are closing in on Grunwalde.

A view of the same action from the extreme right flank of the French line. My Lancers have just delivered a blow against the Silesian Hussars while the 57th "Terribles" move to secure Grunwalde. The Guard horse artillery are taking pot shots at the Pavlograd Hussars.

More expert milling about from Nigel. The Toskanas have ridden forward while the Vienna Volunteers hang back in the rear. The Grenzers however are have a crack at taking Altenrode.

Do I need to say it? Even more expert milling about from Nigel. As you can see here "Wellington's Tree" has deployed to the Konigshohe and has temporarily been renamed the "Archduke's Tree".

Gulp! Tony has an awful lot of Russo-Prussians moving up in a menacing manner. Most worrying of all this column contains the Silesian Landwehr.

This Prussian Guard with their toilet brush hats are moving up from reserve - Tony means business.

The Grenzers have been beaten off in their attack on Altenrode (foreground) while my men are about to occupy Falkendorf (middle gound). At this point Goya had to leave and I was back to fighting single handed.

The Swiss can always be relied on to put up a good fight which is ironic really.

French columns getting their feet wet as that mass of Russo-Prussians bypass Grunwalde.

The 57th have taken the village but they are surrounded by a sea of green and grey clad enemy infantry.

Lesson #1 in 'what not to do with cavalry'. In a moment of over confidence I brought the 8th Cuirassiers forward from reserve to charge the Pavlograd Hussars forgetting that the Russian guns could get off some rounds of canister - which they did ouch!

The 10th legere have occupied Falkendorf but Nigel has finally got his act together a brought his huge column of Austrian infantry up to the village.

The 57th are ejected from Grunwalde after a spirited attack by the Odesa newbies and the Silesian Landwehr. Meanwhile the other newbies the 6th Jagers are mixing it with my 1st legere.

The Austrian guns did some terrible execution all day from their position on top of the Konigshohe.

A general view of the table at about turn 6. The Austrians have just ejected the Swiss and taken Altenrode! 

Here is that infernal contraption again! Tony was doing a fair bit of damage with this until I realised that we hadn't been playing the Rocket rule properly and we were forgetting the 'stray rocket' bit. After he then took out three of his own men he decided not to fire the thing again.

This is not good - the Austrians have taken Falkendorf...

...and the Odesa Regiment has taken Grunwalde.

The 4th Hoch-Und Deutschmeister are firmly in control of Falkendorf and with all those supporting units they're not going anywhere.

But on the plus side - the 85th ligne have just retaken Altendrode.

This is how the game would have looked in 1972.

Oh dear, my right flank has collapsed. The Empress Dragoons, 5th Lancers and 45th ligne are all routing.

A final fling of the dice (well almost) - I assemble what's left of the cavalry for a ride against the Austrian guns.

The Allies control Grunwalde and Falkendorf giving them a hefty 20 VPs.

Lesson #2 in 'what not to do with cavalry' the Austrian guns have blown away the Horse Grenadiers - it's all over.

The table at the end of Turn 8. Final VP score 18 to the French and 34 to the Allies.

It was a really enjoyable (if somewhat exhausting) game that upon reflection was probably weighted too much in favour of the Allies. It was quite different from some of our previous games in that it was predominantly an infantry action backed up by more artillery than usual. The cavalry action until the last couple of turns was all on the flanks.

My thanks to the visiting generals for making the trek up here and to Mrs S in the field kitchen supported this time by the Archduchess.

The rules as usual were my own Muskets & Marshals.