A week or so before Christmas, nephew Tom and I fitted in a on Vassal. We went for this scenario as the stats say it's a very even fight. As always, we used the Tactician cards and Tom drew the French.
After some skirmishing in the centre, Austrian infantry under Generals Hohenlohe and Rosenberg advanced on the right to engage the French Light infantry under Gen Fririon holding the Long Garden. The Light infantry fell, Gen Fririon escaping, and the Austrian Line under Hohenlohe took the garden. {A "Force March" card brings me the first banner to make the score 1:2 - remembering the French have two for holding Essling.}
As French artillery softened up the Austrians on the left, Hohenlohe and his men had to retire, having run out of ammo {Tom used a "Short Supply" Tactician card.}.
The Austrians continued to press on the right, Line infantry pressurising the French Lights in the woods right of centre. The Austrian Light cavalry trampled Gen Fririon on their way to thumping their opposite numbers and then occupying the Long Garden. {2:2}
The French Light infantry in the woods right of centre fought off one Austrian Line, which was then finished off by the artillery. But the next Austrian Line infantry eliminated the Lights to occupy the woods while the Light cavalry trotted out of the Long Garden to finish off the French horsemen and then force a reinforcing unit of Light infantry into square {shown by the yellow flash on the unit and that's 4:3}
The only problem for the Austrian Line infantry was that they were under the muzzles of the French artillery and a combination of the guns and French Line moving out of the town obliterated them. {Tom was lucky with his Combined Arms dice and that's 4:4.}
The Austrian infantry finally came off the hills in the centre, attacking the French positions in and around the Granary. Both sides lost a Line infantry unit, but the Austrians got into the Granary. {A "Bayonet Charge" gives me an attacking opportunity and the score's 5:3 as the French lose their majority of the town hexes.}
Continuing their attack, the Austrian infantry finished off the battered French infantry in the Granary (General Valery escaping) to take the whole thing into Austrian control and eliminated the infantry under Gen Boudet on the other side. This General scarpered too. {7:3}
The French advanced on the left, immediately allowing them to re-take part of the Granary with the loss of the Austrian infantry holding it while the French cavalry got in among the infantry outside. {7:4}
And then the Austrian cavalry charged home, chasing off the opposing horsemen and then destroying both French artillery units on the left, while harassing the unattached Gen Valery in the centre. {My turn for the lucky dice to get the artillery and that's a win 9:4}
For once I was able to attack with cards in my hand to continue that attack, first on the right and then in the centre. While Tom struggled with right flank cards in his hand after all his units in that section had gone. That was my most decisive win for a while, but we'll see how well I do when it's my turn to play the French.
Pevans
