302 Günzburg (9 October 1805)[OT2024 - Round Five - 1st game]
French(Azzy_23) 2 - Austrians (toganalper) 7

302 Günzburg (9 October 1805)[OT2024 - Round Five - 2nd game]
French(toganalper) 2 - Austrians (Azzy_23) 7
Hard games for French.
 

302 Günzburg (9 October 1805)[OT2024 - Round Five - 1st game]
French(A) 7 - Austrians(RiverWanderer) 5

302 Günzburg (9 October 1805)[OT2024 - Round Five - 2nd game]
French(RiverWanderer) 6 - Austrians(A) 7(6+1)

Two great games with an excellent opponent. It is always a pleasure to play with Mark.

Match 1
Gonzo (Austrian)  7
Dawnreader (French)  3

The battle started with french moving their right flank. Austrian army started with Le Grande Manoeuvre (best card in this scenario in my opinion), evacuated central forces from the island, and reinforced their right flank. Then Austrians builded a wall in the center and right with their troops, leaving small forces to cover on their left. French got heavy fire barrage on their left, tried to advance on both flanks with bayonet charge and lost 3 line infantries with the general from the next Austrian attack. Then light cavalry also add some serious issues on French right side. And last banner Austrians got with grenadiers eliminating the whole light infantry in melee in one go.

Match 2
Dawnreader (Austrian)  7
Gonzo (French)  6

Second game started with Austrians losing their light infantry on the island with general. Shortly after that French force marched on the other side of the river on their right. And then it was time to Austrians to force march their troops from the center towards the flanks: French troops lost their first line infantry on their right flank. But immeadiately eliminated grenadiers in fierce melee on the same spot in return. An Austrian cavalry charge with support of infantry led by general brought 2 more kills on the same flank, but they are still behind - 4:3 in favor of French. Austrian army commenced Le Grande Manoeuvre on french left trying to get VPs for the crossing of the river. And they killed one more line infantry and got some artillery fire in return on grenadiers. One more french light infantry goes down in the bloodshed, and French are playing bayonet charge in critical moment! And they are so close to success with two kills (grenadiers and light cavalry) It's 6:5. But Austrians are playing Counter-attack and eliminating one block line infantry along with the general.

Thanks Joe for two great games!

Match 1
302 Günzburg (9 October 1805)

Javelinthrower (Austrian) 5 banners won
FoxK (French) 7 banners won

Reading the comments to the map beforehand, I learned that there seems to be a consensus: Austrians can almost never hold the left flank if the French have the cards, and the right is better left untouched. I saw that personally, as FoxK played almost back-to-back cards that allowed him to cross the bridge and move out of the marshes and into the city. Eventually I managed to push back, but by that time my flank was annihilated. The first two turns saw my centre leader shot at and instantly die due to impassible terrain. On the right flank I couldn't respond as there were no units and there were no cards to move them from the centre. This was one of the most frustrating matches, as it seemes that the map is set against the Austrian side and it takes even a little luck for the French to totally win. Still, FoxK played very well and the match was decided by dice during the last two turns, when he survived the attack and gained two objective banners.

Match 2
302 Günzburg (9 October 1805)

FoxK (Austrian) 2 banners won
Javelinthrower (French) 7 banners won

Again, I could not believe the cards this game. Unlike last time, this time the Austrians could easily move all the reserves on both flanks, as well as evacuate the centre. Having built the impassible line along the river, the Austrians seemed to secure the victory beforehand. Faced with no alternative, I was forced to try building up the order for crossing the bridges as well. On French right, Aus. agressively crossed it first, but lost blocks in skirmishes and shootouts. In the centre I moved the artillery and also started moving one by one, bombarding all the while. Remarkably, it was this reckess assault with cav leading the way which paid off. Aus. tried one again to be agressive (I trapped my cav) and attack on two flanks. That's when I finally answered with special cards: Fire and Hold and 2 (I had 3) Leadership cards. I cleaned out the garrisons and took both centre bridges, and so managed to snatch the victory through sheer luck - or, rather, unluck of my opponent. If at any point he could order 2 or more units in the centre I would've lost without chance. Still, now I don't feel so bad because of the 1st match ridiculousness 



 

sduke12 vs EZPickens, Match 2

Winner, Austria, (EZPickins) 7 banners and 8 blocks lost
Loser, France (sduke12) 5 banners and 18 blocks lost

This game ended when the French made their only assault of the game on Reisenburg and were hit with two devastating Infantry Combat First cards.

We had some issues with Vassal which messed up the file.

Game 1
Gileforn, (French): 3 banners
Craterus, (Austrian): 7 banners.

Game 2
Gileforn, (Austrian): 7 banners
Craterus, (French): 3 banners

In both matches, french went out in a rush, and both in one and the other, they managed to dash against the austrian walls. The unique difference is that, as well as the first of them spaned more than 2 hours, in the 2d, Andrey needed less than one hour to break down my ilusions of glory...  

Thanks Andrey for the 2 matches !


 

Match 1
Melake (Austrian)  7 banners won
gheintze (French)  3 banners won 

Match 2
gheintze (Austrian)  7 banners won
Melake (French)  4 banners won

In both games the French struggled to make headway against the strong austrian defense. 

sduke12 vs EZPickens, Match 1

Winner, Austria, (sduke12) 7 banners and 27 blocks lost
Loser, France (EZPickens) 5 banners and 36 blocks lost

This game see-sawed back and forth as the Austrians fought the French over the crossing sites. The French were able to cross on their right and rout the Austrian forces there, but Austria put up a tough fight on the French left and in the Center held the high ground and inflicted many casualties.
Both sides killed an enemy leader.

French casualties exceeded the Austrians by game end and Austria was able to retake a town and garner the 7th banner needed. Great fun and the rematch will see if sduke can figure out a way to crack the tough Austrian defense.

10 days until the end of the Round, so please get your matches played and results reported.

10 days until the end of the Round, so please get your matches played and resulks reported.

Results of Round 5 rematch between gdnuke and gomjabbar:

First game gdnuke wins as Allies 7-5. Second game gdnuke wins as French 7-4. Both games were closer than the score indicates with tense moments as geographic objectives changed hands.

This was our second pairing and was lots of fun despite having no impact on the outcome of this tourney.

Log file attached

Round 5 Game 2
Austrians – Steve T; 7 banners taken, 36 blocks lost
French – Jim F: 5 banners taken, 39 blocks lost
This was a long, slow battle with feints and attacks up and down the front, with both sides trying to wring every last bit of advantage from terrain, units and cards. Very close and it could easily have gone the other way. It’s the first time I’ve beaten Jim in four games, he is a very challenging opponent, and a pleasure to play against!
Battle began with the French attacking the island, with the loss of the Austrian battery and a very lucky escape for the shattered Austrian lights (0-1). My Austrians brought their cannons forward to the centre ridge and both sides were moving reinforcements toward the French left. The French LC here seized Reisenburg but were repulsed by an Austrian bayonet charge. An Austrian attack into the central island took two banners (with one for all four towns making 3-1), but the French reorganised with LGM and destroyed or repulsed the attackers (3-2). There followed limited but unsuccessful French attacks on both flanks (4-2). On their right, the French appeared to be preparing a forced march two hex advance across the bridge by a pair of LI with leaders (looking at the log file I can see Jim didn’t have this card – nice bluff!) – so my two infantry units attacked first: with one destroyed and one driven back (4-3).
After further manoeuvering, both sides had amassed some strength on the French left. My Austrians attacked and were defeated (4-5) and the French advanced across the Danube here and occupied the bridge on the other flank, holding three of these and threatening an extra banner. The Austrian reply destroyed two French line (6-5), reoccupied a Danube bridge, and in the following turn destroyed the nearby one block French art (7-5).

Match 1

David (Austrian) 3 banners won

Michał (French) 7 banners won
 
 

Match 2

Michał (Austrian) 7 banners won

Dawid (French) 5 banners won
 

Match 1, Gunzberg

Jim (Austrian) 7 banners won

Steve T. (French) 6 banners won

Steve jumped out to an early lead, crushing my forces on the island and generally kicking butt. Over time, the Austrians started to climb back into it. The Austrian forces are really quite powerful, with plenty of grenadiers, those big 5 block infantry units and 3 artillery.

The French were still mostly in control, but a couple of dice rolls that could have ended the game did not, and the Austrians launched a bayonet charge to try and steal a win. Somehow the dice gods smiled and Steve's French were narrowly defeated. I told him at the end I stole it and should have worn a mask. If you play through the log file, you will see what I mean. I'm sure he is looking forward to the return match.

Mike Stanley (scipio1zama) – Austrians – 7 banners – won
Nickolay (Lornlane) – French – 4 banners
Another long (but exciting) game started with a French attack in the center, followed by a Cavalry Charge that quickly led to the demise of the Austrian forces on the island – FA, LT and the leader D’Aspre.  Exchanges of ranged fire also took out a French LN on their left.  A LOT of maneuvering followed which saw the Austrians gain a banner for town control (briefly lost then regained) and set up good defensive positions.


Meanwhile, a massive build-up of French forces on their right flank totaling 8 units portended what was to come.  The Austrians moved their two LC to that flank, which later turned out to be a decisive decision.  A French Force March launched the climactic battle, marching up to the bridge, marshes and woods and doing some damage to the Austrian LN in Leipheim.  But the Austrians had just drawn an Assault Left card, and were able to launch cavalry and infantry attacks that put units in square and put 3 hits each on two French LN. 

The carnage continued, the French eliminating the Grenadier and reducing an Austrian LN to one block and another to 2 blocks while capturing the town.  But the Austrians maneuvered to put three French units in square, and eventually eliminated 2 LTs, a LN and the leader Lefol, while recapturing the town.  The final event was an Austrian Bayonet Charge which ordered a single unit – a 2-block LN attacking a 2-block French LN in Square and rolling 2 hits for the 7th banner.
Nick only joined the wargaming community last year, and this tournament has been his first experience with C&C Napoleonics, but he played both games like a pro and made the contests fun and challenging!

match2 viridolas france  5  
             philippe autiche 7

35 turn long game turn,,,,,french unit had pushed on the left but few infantry first card helped austrian unit to stand.and as rally card coming in the austrian side, the balance lucky reach towards me and i suceeded with artillery after a long shot time...

match 1 viridovilas austrian 6 39 block losses
              philippe     france    7 29 block losses

more 2h played ,34 long turn,,,with french slow move without baionnet or march forced,,,and used a lot bombard card with lucky dice along the game...austrian missed some match ball when 6/6 ,,it was a deal match as good card to austrian and good dice for french,,,,dice won card ....my log was over? i ve just final save.
 

Mike Stanley (scipio1zama) – French – 7 banners – won

Nickolay (Lornlane) – Austrians – 6 banners


Long game saw fighting move from section to section, trading shots, slowly trading kills, no significant breakthroughs or brilliant maneuvers, just a real slugfest.  Score was 1-0, 1-1, 1-2 (Austrians occupied 3 towns, never relinquished this banner), 2-2, 2-3, 3-3, 4-3, 5-3, 5-4, 6-4, 6-5, 6-6 and finally 7-6.  49 turns were played – for a 7 banner game!

Match 2
302 Günzburg (9 October 1805)

Mark McG (Austrian) 5 banners won
Renaud (French) 1 banner won - conceded

No luck for Renaud here, after an initial blaze of glory chopping down the LT stuck on the island, the French struggled, with the Austrian artillery dominating the island.
A French cavalry charge ran into a timely drawn Cannister, and short of some ART killing dice, it was done in the centre except for the Austrian firepower.

On the French right, the initial French leader assault was checked, and then cavalry cut down the falling back Line and ldr. A promising force march across the bridge failed to deliver a result, and was cut to pieces and was struggling.
On the French left, the Austrians got to the town first, and the flank settled to a stand off.

With 3 towns, 2 French dead and 2 French leaders dead, vs 1 Austrian LT eliminated, Renaud hoisted the white flag, and it probably had very little left in it. I was likely enough to kill 2 units in my next turn.
 

Match 1
302 Günzburg (9 October 1805)

Renaud (Austrian)  5 banners won
Mark McG (French)  7 banners won

Game opened with a bang with the French making a Grand manoeuvre on both flanks, and the Austrians counterattack lifting off the first unit attacked, and nearly the second.

The French centre attack on the island was thrown back, and facing a massive hit deficit, the French dug in for a long battle. The island became a no man's land, and the flanks a stand off.

The Austrians then made an attack on their left, which looked dangerous, but fluffed an important roll and when the dust settled, the French remained in the town, and the unit losses had equalized. At this point the French grenadiers ventured across the river to the island, and in a do or dare, charged across the island to the bridge, eliminated the artillery in the town and took a town hex, relative safety.

With 5 units now across the river, I could afford to lose 1. I did, and almost a 2nd, but standing at 5 banner apiece, I could claim 3 extra banners for units across the river (2) and 3 towns (1 banner).

A 2 hour match, leaving me sweaty and drained at the end.. though that could be the COVID.