OT 2018 Round 5

Game #1:

soul1st (Prussian): 2
Stanislav27 (French): 9

A hard-fought battle, which was decided in the French right and centre. The French left around Wartenburg saw very little action.

Twan's Prussian forces started the battle very well. They put pressure on the French position at Bleddin and managed to kill off Franquemont with a long-range artillery shot (1d + subsequent lc2). Luck swiftly swung the French way afterwards, however. The French utilized their light cavalry to check the deadly Prussian formation on the Prussian right. With one cavalry charge (and another one later in the battle), the French horsemen devastated their Prussian counterparts. Fortunate dice and cards also allowed the French to withdraw their depleted units without losing cohesion (in total, I managed to withdraw four 1-block units away from the front line and to my rear).

Twan sought to shift his forces from the centre and right towards the centre and centre-left with his Light Infantry proving very efficient from their outpost next to the marshes. However, the French made good use of a Forced March and a few powerful tactician cards to seize the initiative in the centre. The French grenadiers were a devastating force until they met their heroic end at the hand of the Prussian skirmishers.

In the end, the battle again swung to the French left, where the second cavalry charge further weakened the Prussian formation. The coup de grace came from the excellent French Light Infantrymen who charged and dispathed the pesky artillery battery that had commenced the battle so successfully for the Prussians.

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A very entertaining and tight battle. The scoreline does not reflect the state of affairs very well, since so many of my units were close to destruction. I was just fortunate to be able to take them away from harm and that Twan's cards and dice did not allow him to kill them off. Twan is an excellent opponent, and I very much look forward to the re-match.

Game #2:

soul1st (French): 5
Stanislav27 (Prussian): 9

Just like the first battle, the second one was a thrilling and closely fought affair.

Twan's French forces sought to implement an audacious plan, drawin my flank forces in by withdrawing before hitting me with a hammer-blow led by his grenadiers in the centre. I started with a bunch of scout cards and originally planned to pummel Bleddin with an artillery battery, but the crafty French withdrawal denied me the opportunity. In the end, the tactics cards I drew through "scouting" proved highly efficient, however. Likewise, I was lucky with my lc1-rolls, killing two leaders in that fashion.

The French attack in the centre was thwarted with the eager, but isolated French grenadiers falling to a combined arms attack by Prussian Light Infantry and artillery.

In the French left, the Prussians were advancing methodically, but very slowly and that sector of the battlefield saw very little action.

Instead, it was on the French right, where Twan mounted some very entertaining and effective counterplay. With multiple turns focusing almost exclusively on cavalry (including a Cavalry Charge (FR) - Cavalry Charge (PR) - Counterattack (FR) sequence), the French chasseurs à cheval destroyed the entire contingent of Prussian cavalry in addition to an artillery battery. The battle was even at this point, with the Prussians mouting an ineffective resistance on the French right rather than focusing elsewhere.

That mistake was rectified once the French cavalry force ran out of suitable targets on the Prussian left. The Prussians pushed forward in the centre, killing a severely weakened unit of French Infantry and occupying Wartenburg. The French launched a brave but ultimately unsuccessful counterattack on both Wartenburg and Bleddin. The Prussians held on, however, winning control of the battlefield.

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Thanks a lot to Twan for two great battles that were close. No doubt, I had the greater luck in terms of dice rolls and Tactics Cards, but Twan never gave up and kept fighting with guile, creativity and determination. A most worthy opponent whom I hope I shall meet again on future fields of battle.

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(We started the logfile a bit late)

Game #2:

Mark (French): 5
Giulio (Prussian): 9

Again a long and tactical game. As expected, the French cavalry attempted a breakthrough in the right flank but it did not work so well. The game went on with progressive depletion of troops on both sides. But Prussians field a larger army, so in the long run, this is beneficial for the Prussians. At the end the French resistance on the right was minimal and the Prussian managed to take the village for one victory banner. If you are interested, there's a new episode of the McGilchrist 's School of Napoleonic Tactics when Mark surrounds one Prussian cavalry unit by moving a Line out of the village leaving a garrison there. I can tell you that this caught the Prussian general totally by surprise. If I had been a judge, I'd have granted him a victory banner just for the idea. The dice, alas, did not support the bold move.

looking for game results by the end of this weekend please.

Game #1:

ToganAlper (French): 7
RiverWanderer (Prussian): 9

A long, cat and mouse, battle of attrition, with most banners hard-won; just one single-attack wipe-out and one Leader kill in the whole game.

The French Right flank was the focal point throughout the game, with the Prussians soon battered and their cavalry almost exhausted by the initial French infantry and cavalry assaults. When the smoke cleared (briefly), it looked as though fresh French cavalry would dominate the flank and keep the Prussians at bay. Then a timely Grand Manoeuvre brought Prussian reinforcements from the centre and drew half of the French cavalry away to follow the more tempting targets, allowing Prussian infantry a chance to fight their way across to Bleddin, securing the flank at last. Lucky and unlucky die rolls abounded on each side. In the end game, French coordinated action in the centre set up their potential victory but the Prussians hung on just long enough to get a final run of luck to win the day.

Thanks to Togan for a very close fought game. I look forward to round 2 on Sunday.




Technical note, we encountered some Vassal fun whereby sometimes a card would disappear from my hand. Eventually, we twigged that this was linked to when Togan draw a Command Card and we fixed it by re-syncing me to him. In future, if this happens, I would say the player who last drew should resync and then both players draw a card. If at game start, I would exit and restart the game. Perhaps someone has come across this bug and can give better advice,

Game 2

RiverWanderer (French): 9
ToganAlpher (Prussians): 3

Once more, the opening action was on the Prussian Left. However, the French held back on that flank and the first assault came from the Prussians in the centre. After this was repulsed, the Prussians advanced in force on their Left and so began the main struggle in the French right & right-centre part of the battle-field which continued for the rest of the game.

The Prussians had repulsed French cavalry around Bleddin but a unit continued to cause trouble working with French infantry in the centre. Meanwhile, on their right flank, the Prussians suffered heavily from ranged combat by roving French Light infantry.

In the final stages, bold attacks by Prussian forces across the board managed to snag a couple of depleted French units but in the end the French were able to maintain their lead (albeit with one particularly lucky French volley). One banner from victory, French units in the centre survived another Prussian assault in a good position and counter-attacked to take the win.

An interesting instance of this scenario for its action across most of the board. Thanks to Togan for a good game.

Apologies, Dan and I played this early in the month and I forgot to submit. I have been pretty busy lately, so I will report result and not much on the play by play, as that can be seen on the replay if desired.

Game 1
Greg O (Allies) 9 banners
Cavie (French) 8 banners

This game was a dog fight, started with vicious exchanges on the left, with lots of cavalry action. Then the game shifted to the center and that battle came down to a couple of rolls either way.

Game 2
Greg O (French) 9 banners
Cavie (Allies) 1 banner

The French pushed it hard and the cards and dice where in support of that approach and it was a hard game for the Prussians.