310 Eggmühl - Day1 (21 April 1809)

310 Eggmühl - Day1 (21 April 1809)

An incredible performance by Rosenberg who annihilated Lorencéz brigade. The rest of the Austrian Army was virtually destroyed, losing 39 blocks to 23 French, but nearly every French casualty counted towards a Banner. Austrians 6-5.

Evert plays the French in our first game. The first few turns see us both manoeuvring our troops. I got most of the Austrians into a defensive formation while covering the approach to Obersanding. Evert's French advanced slowly.

And then a "Bayonet Charge" saw the French infantry surge past Obersanding and give the Austrian right a thumping. First blood was the battered Austrian Line infantry under Archduke Charles: pinned against the edge by the initial attack and then finished off. Charles fell with his men, so the score is 0:2 to Evert's French.

My response forced French infantry to retreat into the town, so that's 0:3 on Evert's next turn. Oops!

The French left continued attacking, taking out two more damaged Austrian infantry. That's 0:5 and the game's only just started!

With my artillery chipping away, Evert moved the infantry out of Obersanding (losing that banner) to continue his attack and removed another Austrian Line to keep the score at 0:5. With another French unit moving into the town, I had one turn left.

And a Combined Arms attack by Austrian infantry and artillery (and some luck with the dice) removed a full-strength French Line to save my blushes: 1:5, then 1:6 when Evert reclaimed the Obersanding banner.

Wow! Just 17 turns (eight for me, nine for Evert) and 40 minutes' play in which the French left just overran the Austrian opposition. Evert was lucky to have a continuing supply of left flank cards. While I was on the back foot after that initial "Bayonet Charge". My challenge now is to do better than that when I play the French. That's a tall order!

I’ve also posted this report on my BGG blog (with pictures!): boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/165416

Evert and I face off for the re-match and it’s my turn to play the French. Following Evert's example, I attacked on the left. A "Force March" card let me throw General Barbanegre and a strong force of infantry forward and occupy Obersanding. That'll be the first victory banner on my next turn. Probably.

Evert attacked my right flank where the sides were already close enough for musket fire. I countered with a "Bayonet Charge", pushing the Austrians back. With a couple of right flank cards now in my hand, I was able to continue this attack. However, Evert had left flank cards to respond with, so there was quite a fight with both sides taking heavy casualties. First to fall were Austrian General Hohenzollern and his infantry sheltering in the woods on the edge of the battlefield. With the banner for holding the town, the score was 3:0 to me.

Evert used the Grenzers in the centre to finish off the Light infantry I'd retreated into the woods - 3:1. Retreating more battered units, I pushed back the Grenzers and removed what was left of an Austrian Line to make it 4:1.

Action then switched to the other flank as the Austrians attacked Obersanding ("Force March" isn't so effective for the slow-moving Austrian Line infantry). Gen Barbanegre's troops opened fire (I had a "Fire and Hold") and eliminated an Austrian Line, pushing the other attackers back. 5:1 and just one more needed.

Evert's weakened Grenzers popped out of the central woods to try to finish off the remnants of French Light infantry hiding in the woods right of centre. That was a 50:50 chance that didn't come off and the Grenzers fell to the Lights' Battle Back. 6:1 and a second overwhelming French victory.

I did not expect this scenario to be such a decisive French victory. Twice. (The stats show the French winning 60% of games.) And the scenario is a draw between Evert and me as the aggregate score is 7:7.

We're now halfway through the Austrian scenarios, so that's 20 games played. Evert is clearly doing a better job as he's won 12 to my eight. The combined scores for each scenario are much closer: 4:5 to Evert with one draw. Next up: more Eggmühl.

I’ve also posted this report on my BGG blog (with pictures!): boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/165503