Intercontinental Tournament - 2022

   

Round 5 Game 2, Grossbeeren
 Steve T, Prussians 10 banners taken, 29 blocks lost
 Josiah, French 6 banners taken, 45 blocks lost
 The battle again was largely for the centre, with the French advancing towards and into the windmill and the Prussians generally standing off and shooting with cannons and musketry, particularly weakening the infantry on the French left that was attempting to flank the windmill. Memorable incidents were Borstell’s LC being eliminated by French infantry first strike; while later the heroic Prussian militia lancers, attacked from nearly all sides by weakened French infantry, destroyed 6 blocks and 2 units, and somehow just survived. The French high-water mark was with a bayonet charge past the windmill (4-8, with 27 blocks lost each), but there were now too many weakened French units in the front-line, and the resulting melee led to the destruction of many of these and the French re-taking the windmill on the last turn (10-6).
Thanks to Josiah for another tough game and good humour when the dice weren't with him.

Log files attached

Log files attached second attempt!

Renaud rjvonline (Allies) 10

vs

John EZPickins (French) 8

It was a close one! John made an attempt towards the 2 VP hexes he did not hold at the start but it was beaten back, with the Prussians occupying the windmill, but not the hill, so the French retained their 2 south location VPs. On the Allied right/French left the artillery rules, or would have liked to. The Prussian artillery focused on the French infantry whereas the French artillery focused on the Prussian artillery. The French infantry was pushed back, but did not die until a mid-game 1 die roll vs 1 block killed the line. The Prussian artillery survived for a long time. A Bombardment even failed to kill the one battery reduced to 1 block, but it did die soon after. Eventually the French artillery was pushed back, and not much more happened on this flank. On the right side, the French brought their cavalry and managed to nearly roll up the Prussian flank (which did its best to withdraw and delay the onslaught as it was numerous but fairly weak in quality) but then ran out of cards and their attention was caught in the center where the Prussians finally occupied the hill by moving their foot artillery there. The French prepared for a bayonet charge, got hit by Fire and Hold, but proceeded nonetheless. Their Grenadiers reduced to 2 blocks did manage to take and then hold the windmill, but then lost their lives defending it as the Prussians played a Forced March to bring their own grenadiers into the mix and take it back. Late in the game, the Prussians used their reserve infantry on the left to clean up 2 weakened French infantry units and another one near the church. The French Counter-Attacked (but failed to realize that one of their units would not be able to battle) and failed to kill a 1-block Prussian LN, and soon after both of their units in that vicinity were killed, leaving the Prussians to breath hard in relief.

The return leg is to be played tomorrow.

Round 5 Game 1
Gonzo (French) 10 banner
Gileform (Prussian) 6 banners
Prussians win art duel on their right and advance to engage, but run out of cards on that flank while the French draw only cards on that flank, eventually eliminating it with combined arms of cav and inf.  Prussian left and center advance while French hide behind towns and both sides attrition some.  French attack from Left flank into center town beside hill gains the last banner on unit and leader kill, leaving Prussians with two banners for having one of the VP hexes.  Well played by aggressive Andrey, but lack of cards doomed him.

Round 5 Game 2
Gonzo (Prussian) 10 banners
Gileform (French) 4 banners
French start game with 2 bombardments, getting his art in front blasting away, killing an art and inf and moves art next to town and hill VP hexes in center of Prussian position.  French up 2-0 ready to take all 4 VP hexes.  Prussians LGM puts art on hill, MI in town, and lines up cav behind.  The wheels fell off for the French with minimal hits repeatedly on the MI with no flags.  Prussian hand and dice must have used up all my luck for an entire year.  Two Cav charges, 2 commands, rally, leadership, forced march, several combat cards incl 2 inf fire first and art cannister later, the French center is no more.  Thanks to Andrey for a good match and good humor to weather that storm.

Round 5 - part 2

Renaud rjvonline (French) 10

vs

John EZPickins (Allies) 4

As the French I decided to only seize the two VP hexes on my side of the battlefield, not go for the other 2 and only move my FA forward to have pot shots at any Austrians moving forward, which did not really happen. all the action therefore was on the flanks. On the left French flank the classic artillery duel resulted in each side having 1 FA reduced to 1, and then the French lost theirs, but a cavalry attack against the Prussian artillery eliminated not only the reduced Prussian artillery unit but also the full strength unit! However, a second attack by the French lancers on the Prussian cavalry failed miserably, and the French lost both cavalry units in quick succession, but not only the Prussian cavalry failed to kill the French horse artillery, but one of them was eliminated on the battle back and the other was eliminated at range in the next turn.

Meanwhile on the French right, there was a lot of skirmishing and a cavalry attack by the Prussians, but both sides kind of ran out of steam.

Finally, a desperate attempt by the Prussian grenadiers and 1 unit of Landwehr failed to score any elimination, and next turn the French grenadiers destroyed their opponents for a 10-4 victory including the 2 VPs for a majority of hexes (2 to 1, with 1 hex unoccupied).

Thanks for two good games.

Round 5, game 1. Grossbeeren.

Allies (Prussians), Brad Jessup; 5 banners.
French, David Horts; 10 banners.

The battle started with the french trying to consolidate their positions on the town of Grossbeeren. The prussians soon went for the windmill and the strategic hill in the middle. Both powers entered into a fierce fight for the control of the area. Prussians pushed heavily in the center due to a force march. The french had to turn up their both cavalry units to stop the massive attack. These finally were killed, but left the prussian center full of infantry units in square, which was a serious ballast for the rest of the battle. The french then took advantage on that circumstance to regain the control of the area of the village and the windmill, and the 2 banners that gave them the victory. 


Round 5, game 2. Grossbeeren.

Allies, David Horts; 10 banners.
French, Brad Jessup; 6 banners.

The french started going forward in the center due to an LGM card. They took the windmill and the hill. The situation was very dangerous for the prussians so these responded shooting and damaging seriously those forwarded units, that had to retire some hexes. The french then traced a strong line in the town of Grossbeeren, and rearranged the center, while in their left started shooting their artillery units, causing several casualties. The prussians moved slowly towards the center field and took some good places to hold the position. Then the battle moved to the flanks. The french achieved to end with the prussian right flank artillery. But the allied cavalry units on that section took care of them, decreasing their fire power. In the french right flank the blues advanced going up the hills and killing a light unit. But the prussians militia lancers counterattacked together with infantry units, and pushed down the mountains those units. In the center the french were losing a lot of blocks due to the ranged combat fire, and, although they managed to break the status quo with the cavalry, it wasn't  enough to change it, and finally a bayonet charge allowed the prussians to get the last banner.

Neither Brad nor me could save the logfile of the 2nd game, so here I leave the photo finish of the match. Thanks Brad for the 2 enjoying matches.  

 


 

coming up to deadline folks, 6 unplayed pairs of matches by my count

I could be wrong, but I think the top 8 spots are claimed regardless of the outcome of those remaining games.