YK01 Worgl (1809)

Historical BackgroundAt the opening of the 1809 campaign, Austria...

YK01 Wörgl (13 May 1809)

Designer Notes: Almost no information exists on the battle in English, and contrary to what is perceived, Chasteler only had a portion of his "corps" at Worgl. The scenario was created based on Viktor Schemfil's study of the K.u.K. Armee's operations in Tyrol "Der Tyroler Freiheitskrieg 1809."

The Grenzer blocks represent the 300 Landsturm who fired ineffectively from the slopes of the mountain for much of the battle. The only cavalry Chasteler had was 1.5 squadrons of the Hohenlohe Chevauxlegers under Captain Henrion, which valiantly, but unsuccessfully attempted to hold back the superior Bavarian cavalry.

I look forward to including this new scenario in the next Vassal module releases (v4 & 5). I will take the liberty of substituting Portuguese Line for the Bavarian infantry, as these have identical characteristics to those specified allowing the module features to work without creating special units.

May I ask, was it a conscious decision to use Heavy Cav to represent the Hohenlohe Chevauxlegers (in name at least, a Light Cavalry contingent) ?

Thank you that sounds wonderful.
Yes, the Hohenlohe Chevauxlegers should be classed as light dragoons. For balancing purposes I figured it would be more fun to have them as a heavy unit (the artwork on the Austrian heavy cavalry seems to be of Chevauxlegers anyhows). The Austrian chevauxlegers were quite good (at least O'Reilly and Vincent were). But by all means they are replaceable with the lights. In the Wagram scenario I made I had chevauxleger units represented with proper light cavalry.

Solo game, Austrian victory 6-4. The Bavarians drove back the Austrians on the other side of the river with a short supply card on the infantry and a cavalry assault, though the Austrians withdrew in good order and shot up the Bavarian chevauxlegers. The Bavarian cavalry charged the Austrian left, and though they wiped out the Austrian cavalry, were unable to make further headway. In the center, both sides drew plenty of force marches and bayonet charges. The Bavarians avoided getting entangled in Worgl itself, and made a general advance with all infantry units against the fence line (fortification hexes). Some brutal back and forth ensued, General Minuzzi was wounded, and as the Bavarians began to overwhelm the position, Chasteler drew upon the Lusignan line regiment to counterattack. The Bavarians mounted one final bayonet charge, which was repulsed. Though the Austrians are outnumbered and their troops lesser in quality, the Bavarians don't have the same melee capabilities as the French and are stymied by the stream.