406 Halle - Afternoon (17 October 1806)

406 Halle - Afternoon (17 October 1806)

For clarification!

Both river rows are part of the "Saale" river and fordable!

This one have a good gameplay.
I had now 3 close, but French victories.

So i looking forward, if this rating stay indeed as outbalanced, or will change to balanced after 30 games

But i would prefer this scenario before each 4 Banner scenario!

This scenario looked interesting due to the fact that the Prussians could gain VP for getting off the board on the French left. Since I was strong there compared to Judd’s forces I thought I might have a shot at getting some off the board. However, there was the Funckengarten in the way, and Judd’s light troops. Sure enough, Judd got his light units over there quickly causing problems for me. An attack of Funckengarten and the French left only weakened my forces with no real hope of exiting the board.

Meanwhile, Judd seemed to be massing his troops in the middle. I knew that might mean a bayonet charge. I got a few troops up on the ridges. Sure enough, Judd hit me with that card, but I did not break. I was able to return some fire that stopped him. He then ran out of center cards, and I was able to pepper him with volleys and cannons. He was disorganized and had to fall back a bit. Some of his troops ended up in the town of Halle on the French right.

I kept the fire up hitting his troops on a regular basis. One the French right the hottest territory was the woods northeast of Halle. It traded hands 3 times. He was really weak there and I planned to charge down with my light Cav and hope to get two kills. However, as we broke for the night he had several Cav units within striking distance of my center line. There was also one weak unit in the line as well. We had a week between playing again, and I kept thinking: “He has the Cavalry Charge for sure.”

Sure enough his first play for the second night was just that. My line broke and there was no real hope of winning at that point.

This scenario had a lot of drama to it. The battle for the Halle Woods was the best part for me. One mistake I had was thinking I could exit the board so quickly. It might have worked, but should have planned it more carefully. I also learned that if Inf units just sit in towns, they still have a good chance of being slowly worn down by Art. That strategy was working, but the French Cavalry saved the day! Just like the actual battle no less.

Interesting to see how NightOwl3 played this one. We played it twice, French victories 8-5 and 8-3. No Prussians made it off the table in either game, with only 4 cards they will be fortunate to have the number of right flank cards they need, and the French Lt Infantry by the Funckengarten are strong. The centre section proved to be the dominant sector in both games, where it was won or lost. The lure of getting off the table maybe cost the Prussians, if those units were used to add weight to a centre attack it might have been a better strategy.

Vittoria Francese 8-5. Battaglia lunga e combattuta. I prussiani di Natzmer scendono verso le vie di fuga rallentati solo dai leggeri francesi asserragliati nel giardino. Intanto i leggeri schierati nel villaggio di Bolerg escono e creano scompiglio sull'ala destra francese eliminando un'artiglieria e un'unità di linea. I francesi grazie ad una "Grande Manovra" spostano truppe dal centro all'ala sinistra per bloccare le vie di fuga ai prussiani. Visto che il centro rimane inattivo anche i granatieri prussiani si muovono verso l'uscita conquistando anche il Funekengarten. Un contrattacco francese alla baionetta proprio nei paraggi del giardino elimina i pochi superstiti prussiani e decide le sorti della battaglia.

Prussians had the initiative for the first half of the battle advancing strongly on their right wing. The Funkengarten changed hands three times lastly in the hand of the Natzmer and a full strength line unit. The Prussians had advanced their artillery to support the push on their right but a timely cavalry charge destroyed two batteries. On the next turn Bernadotte launched a bayonet attack on the Prussian center which broke the line. Final tally: French 8 Prussians 5 (including Rivaud).

It was my turn to play the French first and I immediately started moving my cavalry left to cover the Prussian exit route. A lack of right flank cards meant Evert couldn't do much about this and advancing on the other flank left him with two very battered infantry units.

A "Bayonet Charge" saw the Prussians surge forward in the centre and attack the French troops in the walled garden centre-left. I countered with a "Force March" to bring the French infantry forward in the centre. General Dupont and his men removed the lead Prussian infantry (opening the scoring: 1:0). Only for the Prussian Grenadiers to take out the infantry and the General: 1:2 is the score.

The French infantry responded with their muskets and eliminated one of the damaged Prussian Light infantry on the right. So the score's tied again at 2:2.

Evert finally got the Prussians moving on the left, forcing what was left of the French infantry out of the walled garden. However, this put his infantry in range of my "Cavalry Charge", which saw two Prussian infantry go into square. The Prussian Horse artillery between the two squares took on the French cavalry, but bit the dust. That's 3:2.

This was followed by tit-for-tat blows in the centre, the French losing a Light infantry, the Prussians two Line (including one of the squares): 5:3.

Skirmishing on left and right followed, the Prussians taking out a French Light infantry on the left but with two infantry of their own in square again. (5:4) The Prussian cavalry had some success on the left, too, finishing off some French horsemen. (5:5)

Advancing slowly across the rivers on the right, the French infantry then attacked, wiping out the Prussian left flank (the one remaining infantry unit) and attacking into the centre to eliminate another infantry. (7:5)

The French foot pressed on to take out another Horse artillery. And that's the game 8:5 to my French. It was a good fight, but the French cavalry (mostly) did the business. The game took 27 turns and nearly 90 minutes.

I’ve also posted this report on my BGG blog (with pictures!): boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/185280