EPIC18 Dresden (27 August 1813 - French Counter Day 2)

Historical Background
By nightfall on August 26 most of the Allies' initial gains had been wiped out by successful French counterattacks. With the fighting temporarily at an end, Napoleon had gone back to the king of Saxony's palace to plan for the next day. That night torrential rain soaked the battlefield. Neither army could make large-scale redeployments. The emperor planned a double envelopment of the Allied flanks, while the Allies planned on attacking Napoleon's center, which would play right into Napoleon's hands. The second day opened at 6 am with Mortier and Ney pushing Wittgenstein's Russian and Prussian soldiers out of Blasewitz Woods and driving through the Grand Garden. The French tried to take the village of Grund, but were repulsed three times. On the French right the stage was set for one of the greatest cavalry actions of the Napoleonic Wars. Murat marshaled his horsemen into two lines and advanced. His cuirassiers first smashed into some Austrian hussars and drove them back in disorder. General Mesko's Austrian Division was the next target. Mesko's troops stood their ground at first by forming squares and sent the French cavalry packing. The respite was short, for the French cavalry soon returned with a horse artillery battery that unlimbered at close range and destroyed square after square. Demoralized, hungry and exhausted, the bedraggled Austrian troops on the Allied left began to surrender. In the center Saint-Cyr and Marmont were hard pressed, but they held their ground. When the fighting died down in the late afternoon Napoleon fully expected to finish the coalition army in a third day's fighting, but the Allies had had enough. Schwarzenberg ordered
a night retreat.
The stage is set. The battle lines are drawn and you are in command. Can you change history?

Battle Notes

Coalition Army
* Commander: Schwarzenberg
* 4 Command Cards
* 4 Tactician Cards

  

French Army
* Commander: Napoleon (Iconic)
* 6 Command Cards
* 6 Tactician Cards
* Move First

Victory
15 Banners

Special Rules
* The Coalition player gains 1 Temporary Victory Banner for each Redoubt hex occupied at the start of the Coalition player’s turn.
* The Coalition player gains 1 Temporary Victory Banner for each town hex of Dresden and/or Friedrichstadt occupied at the start of the Coalition player’s turn.
* The French player gains 1 Temporary Victory Banner for each of the following town hexes occupied at the start of the French player’s turn;
  Nauslitz, Plauen, Raecknitz, Strehlen and Grund.
* The French player gains 1 Temporary Victory Banner if there are no Coalition units in the Grand Garden at the start of the French player’s turn.
* The French player gains 1 Temporary Victory Banner if there are no Coalition units in the Blasewitz Woods at the start of the French player’s turn.
* The Elbe is impassable except at the bridges.
* The River Weisseritz and Stream are also impassable after the night of torrential rain, except at the bridges.
* Pre-Battle Mother Russia Roll rule is not effect.

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