Victory Results:
 40 %
Record a victory for BOTTOM ARMY  60 %
Total plays 103 - Last reported by RiverWanderer on 2023-11-30 20:22:07

Haslach-Jungingen - 11 October 1805

Historical Background
Mack, now surrounded at Ulm, made a bold attempt to break out eastward along the northern bank of the Danube. Dupont’s 1st Division was outnumbered and in danger, yet was all that stood in the way of the Austrian army’s escape. Instead of retreating, Dupont choose to make a stand and hoped to convince the Austrians that he had a greater force by launching a series of holding attacks. He ordered Rouyer’s light infantry to move quickly and succeeded in capturing the village of Jungingen.
The control of the village and the surrounding woods rendered Mack’s powerful cavalry force ineffective. Through the afternoon, as the engagement progressed, Mack came to believe that the French force he was facing was indeed the advance guard of a larger force. Ever cautious, Mack did not commit his reserves, and forfeited his last chance to escape.
During the night, Mack retired back to Ulm and Dupont also withdrew, leaving Ney and Murat to argue about who was responsible for placing Dupont in such a dangerous position. Dupont was regarded as an outstanding division commander by the end of the campaign, and was later rewarded with command of a small army when Napoleon first invaded Spain. His surrender at Bailen ended his military career.
The stage is set. The battle lines are drawn and you are in command. Can you change history?

 

Set-Up Order

Forest 8
River 5
RiverBend 3
RiverBendBridge 1
RiverFord 2
Town 3
Church 1

 

Battle Notes

Austrian Army
• Commander: Mack
• 4 Command Cards
• Optional 2 Tactician Cards

Line Infantry Grenadier Infantry Light Cavalry Cuirassier Heavy Cavalry Foot Artillery Horse Artillery Leader
7 1 1 2 2 1 2

French Army
• Commander: Dupont
• 5 Command Cards
• Optional 4 Tactician Cards
• Move First

Line Infantry Light Infantry Light Cavalry Heavy Cavalry Foot Artillery Leader
4 2 2 2 2 4

 

Victory
6 Banners

Special Rules
• The three town hexes of Bofinger and Jungingen, form a Temporary Majority Victory Banner Objective worth 1 Victory Banner for the side that occupies the absolute majority of these hexes at the start of the turn. When all three town hexes are occupied, it is worth 2 Victory Banners instead of 1 (Temporary Majority Victory Banner Turn Start)

• The Danube River is impassable.

• The stream is fordable and there are no movement or battle restrictions at the two fords.

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miketodd replied the topic:
4 months 1 week ago
Austrians carry it easily 6-1. Horse artillery remain anchored at Jungingen, while neither side's cavalry are effectively deployed. Austrian right flank mostly uneventful.
LARS replied the topic:
3 years 3 months ago
Austrians came within one French Light Infantry block of winning. Dupont carried the day thanks to a timely Bayonet Charge 6-5.
Michalxo replied the topic:
4 years 7 months ago
We played again today. French won 6-1 today. Very swingy scenario. Battlefield smoke, Cavalry charge and a bit of help with dice.
Michalxo replied the topic:
4 years 7 months ago
Another win against odds for Austrians. 6-2 (taking 2 leaders, one with double-swords.)
Pretty interesting scenario overall. Very dice prone (like any other scenario? :) )
javore replied the topic:
5 years 9 months ago
6-5 btw
javore replied the topic:
5 years 9 months ago
I did not expect the French to win, but they did. The Austrian did everything right and even had good cards. The French were just lucky with the dice (two flags eliminating a line infantry with a leader attached). It was funny, though. Worth repeating.
General Eble replied the topic:
6 years 4 months ago
Forgotten I had played this nearly 4 years ago. Played it again tonight swapping sides with the French winning both times. An easy victory first game 6-2 with 1 banner from occupying 1 town hex for most the game and chewing up the Austrian cavalry after an unsuccessful charge. The second game was much closer with the Austrian up 4-1 after blowing away the French infantry on their right and occupying a town hex to counter the French taking the church. Then the French Cavalry charged the Austrian artillery and weaker infantry units over a couple of turns to take the game 6-4.
Nightgaun7 replied the topic:
9 years 9 months ago

GG wrote: I played twice French side and I'm surprised that so many of you won with them? How do you manage that? Even with 1 less card, the Austrians are more numerosous and if they play cautionly, advancing their enormous masses on their right ... How can they loose?

I tried once to send all the French units on the right ... Smashing the right and taking both town hexes ... My opponent did the opposite and in this turning race he won because 2 of my left units were reached by is right masses & cavalry! But maybe this is the solution? Balancing everything French to the right?

GG


From my two plays, it seems to me to come down to a wheeling fight, as each side tries to advance on their strong side. The French are definitely outnumbered overall, so they need to make strong use of their cavalry on the Bofingen side to pin down Austrian infantry and let the French infantry get to work. One option which I have not yet explored but which seems like it might bear fruit is to send the French infantry on the right to the center to help the French left, either engaging the Austrians or forcing them to bottle up around Bofingen and impede their own advance. Remember that Austrian line infantry cannot advance as fast as French line with certain cards, and hope you get one of the ones that lets you jump forward and hit a couple of his units hard before the Austrians can mass up. In every game the cards will to some extent dictate the course of things, but this battle seems especially prone to it.
GG replied the topic:
9 years 10 months ago
Deleted
Nightgaun7 replied the topic:
9 years 10 months ago
In the first game, the Austrians launched a daring cavalry assault around Jungingen, hoping to sabre the French gunners and the light infantry in the open ground between the church and the woods. Unfortunately, the assault was not as successful as hoped, but the French were nevertheless bogged down for a while, cavalry being forced to move through the town thanks to infantry squares on either side of the Jungingen town hex. Meanwhile, Bofingen saw a slow Austrian attempt to capture the town pushed back by the French line infantry. After the lines met, the French steeled themselves for the bayonet work and hacked down hundreds of Austrians. A few Austrians stubbornly held out while the rest retreated, but were eventually overwhelmed by the the mass of Frenchmen.

After a while the French got themselves sorted out around Jungingen, and pushed the Austrian cavalry back while the Austrian Grenadiers and some Line tried to move across the stream to help. As his cavalry fell back from the town, the Austrian commander recognized the desperate situation on his left and ordered his guns to limber up and make a forced march. Thus bolstered, the Austrian left prepared for a duel of cannon. Before they could make the weight of fire felt, though, the French pushed hard around Bofingen, and the overall position was deemed untenable.

It was one of those games where the cards have a plan for you - out of 11 movement cards, 6 were for the Austrian left, and three were for the center. As the Austrian commander, I was forced to try to make it work, and it just didn't. If I had had another few turns, I might have eked out a win, but c'est la guerre.

In the second game, in which we switched sides...

The French, cautious in the face of masses of Austrian infantry around Bofingen, moved cautiously. The line advanced a little, cannon in the center moved forward to prepare positions for a long fight, and the lights moved to capture the church. The Austrian commander, seeing this, force marched nearly his entire army towards Bofingen. The French responded with a smattering of cannon fire against the advancing troops, while consolidating around Jungingen. Feeling secure int he face of this indecision, the Austrians continued their drive forwards, and the sleepy French left was shocked to see a solid line of white-coated troopers marching forwards from the Danube to the stream. Overcoming their surprise, they attempted a counter-attack but suffered against the superior Austrian numbers and retreated.

Around Jungingen, meanwhile, the Austrians trotted forward as the infantry before them moved, and seized the initiative long enough to catch the French skirmishers on open ground. They managed to form an ad hoc square long enough for musketry from the town to drive off the attacking Austrian horse. The French horse then launched their own charge, with the lights - having navigated the woods - cut down the gunners. As they did, the French heavies careened into the milling Austrian cuirassiers. As the bloody fray continued, the French lights saw their struggling fellows and rode into the Austrian rear. Thus trapped, the cuirassiers broke.

The French left, however, was in serious peril. With over half the infantry dead or wounded, and the Austrians readying for another push, Tilly gathered his horse and rode past the guns and the reeling infantry to delay the Austrian horde. They formed squares, and fire from nearby battalions brought down many French troopers, but the Austrians lost the momentum for a vital few minutes. Heartened by the cavalry's attack, and inspired by a glorious speech from Marchand ending in repeated cries of "Toujours l'audace!" the remaining French infantry fixed bayonets and slowly ground forward. Pushing back the Austrian battalions in line in front of Bofingen, who were surprised at the fierceness of the depleted French infantry, the French then fell on the Austrians still in square. After repeated volleys from short range and continued pressure from Tilly's heavy cavalry, the Austrians broke, and the day was won by the French.

In this game, the French had two Recon in Force to start the game, while the Austrians had two Forced Marches. That really dictated the flow, with the French lacking cards to respond and hoping to relieve the pressure by swarming Jungingen. Unfortunately the French left buckled from repeated hammer-blows before the Austrian commander turned his eyes to the troops barricading the church and town. Eventually, however, I managed to get the cards I needed and countered, and the French line managed to get their revenge. What won the game, though, was wiping out the cavalry Ferdinand was attached to around Jungingen and then killing him, giving me six victory points a turn before the left was overwhelmed by the number of Austrian line. Had I not won when I did I would probably have lost another 3 units on that side.
Achtung-Panzer replied the topic:
10 years 2 months ago
Really enjoyed this game which the Austrians won. Though the French occupied the towns they became graveyards as the Austrian cavalry surrounded the LI on the French right and a LGM card placed LN and Artillery around the French LN on their left.

Great game and a fun scenario.
General Eble replied the topic:
10 years 2 months ago
Played this against Master Chief and it went down to the wire. Won by the Austrians 6-5 after the French were up 4-2 thanks to occupying the 3 town hexes. The Austrians countered with a strong advance by their infantry with artillery support on their right while numerous cavalry charges on their left were repulsed by the French Lights in the other 2 town hexes.
Eventually it came down to a war of attrition and the superior long range firepower of the Austrians as blocks and banners were exchanged and forced the French to move out of the town hexes to have units to carry on the attack. In the end that is what won it as the French lost both banners for the town and then 6 whole units.

Maybe we both have to work on our tactics and play but either way it was fun and happily replay this one as either side.