320 Wagram - Davout at Markgrafneusiedl (6 July 1809)

Please explain to me where the fords and bridges are located

 

Thank you!
We had a company of three episodes of the Battle of Wagram and the preceding Battle of Raab. The French won all the stages (in this section with a score of 12: 11), except for the final and most important: MacDonald's square was broken. Prince Charles won the Battle of Wagram.

There is a church tile not listed in the terrain setup inventory.

airjudden wrote:

There is a church tile not listed in the terrain setup inventory.

Thanks for reporting this... fixed now.
 

Evert plays the French first and thus gets to start the first game. It looks like the French could easily score a lot of banners for getting units onto the hills, so my Austrians will have to defend hard. (Tricky when they run away quickly and advance slowly!)

After initial skirmishing, first blood went to the Austrians when a lone French Line infantry attacked the lower part of Markgrafneusiedl and fell to its opposite number in the town. That makes the score 2:0 to me with the banner for holding the majority of the town.

Evert continued to attack on the left of the battlefield only to lose another French Line to the defenders' muskets: 3:0.

Then the French cavalry cut loose on the right (Evert played a "Cavalry Charge"), taking out an Austrian Cuirassier and their commander, General Nostitz. That's 3:2.

As the cavalry battle continued, a French Light cavalry fell, then two Austrian Light to make the score 4:4. A "Rally" card let me recover one Austrian cavalry to eliminate an opposing Heavy cavalry and restore some infantry to finish off the damaged French Line infantry on the bridge (left of centre). That's me back in the lead 6:4, but there's very little left on the Austrian left flank.

Evert pressed the French attack on the left again, only for me to use a "Bayonet Charge" to counter-attack and remove a French Line (7:4) The French artillery took out an Austrian Line in exchange. (7:5) And my guys got another French unit, while the Austrian cavalry put the last French infantry on the left into square. (8:5)

Time for the French cavalry to get back in the act: they eliminated the Austrian Horse artillery as they moved into the centre. (8:6) However, the Austrian muskets took out the Light cavalry. And Gen Montbrun. (10:6)

The French attacked across the battlefield ("Forward" is such a useful card). On the right, the French cavalry removed the last Austrian cavalry. Infantry from the centre attacked the town and, with artillery support from the left, eliminated the French infantry holding it and moved in. The French also got a victory banner for their cavalry on the hills while the Austrians lost one for no longer having the majority of the town. This evens up the score at 9:9.

In turn the Austrian infantry re-took the town, eliminating the French unit there, and chased the French cavalry off the hills - 10:8. Evert pushed infantry forward in the centre and took out an Austrian infantry. (10:9) But I reclaimed the banner for the town and removed one of those advanced French units to win 12:9.

Phew! That was quite a fight: 28 turns in just under two hours.

I’ve also posted this report in my BGG blog (with pictures!): boardgamegeek.com/blog/8392/blogpost/180413

My turn to play the French and my starting hand contained two "Cavalry Charge" cards, an "Assault Right" and an "Attack Right". So of course I flung the French cavalry on the right flank against their opposite numbers. First blood to me and the score is 1:1 (Evert has one for holding the majority of the town).

But the Austrian horsemen fought back! Some lucky dice took out General Montbrun as well as his Light cavalry and it's 1:3.

My second "Cavalry Charge" took out two more Austrian Light cavalry (3:3), only for Evert to move up some Light infantry (!) to finish off a Heavy cavalry (3:4). I continued to push forward with the cavalry, but lost the other Heavy cavalry and Gen Grouchy. That's now 3:6.

Evert flung infantry from the centre forward with some joining the fight on the right, eliminating another French cavalry (3:7) and forcing the last one to retreat.

Time for the French infantry to get into it. Attacking centre right with a "Bayonet Charge" eliminated two Austrian infantry: 5:7.

Continuing their attack in the centre, the French infantry took out an Austrian Light infantry (6:7) and occupied the church (in the centre), albeit with a very damaged unit. In response the Austrian infantry eliminated a French Line right of centre (6:, followed by two more as they re-took the church (ignoring my combined arms attack on the right). At least Gen Friant escaped. That puts the score to 6:10 and it's looking grim.

Feeling confident now, a "Bayonet Charge" saw the Austrian infantry take the offensive. This removed a French Line at the cost of a Militia unit (charging regular troops?!). 7:11 and it's nearly over.

Finishing off an Austrian Line in the centre and having some Cuirassiers behind the Austrian lines took the score to 9:11. But a sudden attack on the left saw battered French Light infantry succumb to Austrian muskets: 9:12 and it's all over in another Austrian win.

That was 28 turns (exactly the same as last time) of a hard battle that took just over two hours - a bit longer than last time. And the aggregate scores? A draw at 21:21!

And that's all 20 of the Austrian scenarios played - 40 games in total. Of those 40 games, I won 21 and Evert 19. Looks like we're pretty evenly matched. However, looking at the aggregate scores for the 20 scenarios, I won 11 to Evert's 7 with 2 draws. I guess I do better than Evert when I lose a battle!

We're looking at moving on to the Prussian expansion, which will be new territory for both of us. However, there are a few Austrian scenarios we want another go at first, for a variety of reasons - usually that one of us lost heavily.

I have also posted this report on my BGG blog (with pictures!): boardgamegeek.com/blog/8392/blogpost/175490