And now the re-match between Evert and me and my turn to play French. Like Evert (and history) I immediately threw infantry into Jungingen town on the right. I also advanced infantry towards Böfingen, but the Austrians drove them off.

I bided my time and eventually took Böfingen despite some bad luck with the dice. Evert promptly demonstrated his better luck and Austrian infantry eliminated the Frenchmen holding the town. That makes the score 1:1 (as I get a banner for holding the majority of the town hexes).

Further fighting around Böfingen killed off the French infantry under General Marchand (1:2), though he escaped. Things quietened down as the Austrian infantry lined up on the left of the river and occupied Böfingen. Meanwhile, the Austrian cavalry was pushed back by the French right.

I used a "Bayonet Charge" to throw infantry against the cavalry on the right and Grenadiers in the centre. However, this vacated Lungingen, so the score went to 0:2. And it did not work out well. The Austrian Horse artillery eliminated a French Light infantry on the right (0:3), but were taken out themselves by French cavalry (1:3) with Gen Ferdinand leaving the field. Another banner came the way of the Austrians as they now held more town than the French: 1:4.

A "Cavalry Charge" from Evert saw the Austrian horsemen gang up on the French Lights - that's 1:5. Then the French Heavies got in on the act, taking out one Austrian Cuirassier for 2:5 and an infantry went back into Lungingen to deprive Evert of the banner for the towns: 2:4. At the same time French Light cavalry attacked on the left.

Having chased the French cavalry back, Evert got lucky. Attacking in the centre, Grenadiers and Line infantry took on Line infantry and Foot artillery and wiped them out. Three dice, three artillery hits - that's a 1/216 chance!

And that's a win for the Austrians (and Evert): 2:6. And the aggregate score is an embarrassing (for me) 3:12 to Evert. It was a longer game as we were both more cautious: 32 turns over 90 minutes. A good scenario, though, with opportunities for both players.

I’ve also posted this report on my BGG blog (with pictures!): boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/161959/battle-of-haslach-jungingen-2

Evert played the French, so moved first. Following historical precedent. he pushed French infantry forward on the right to grab part of Jungingen town - and a victory banner next turn (and the score's 0:1).

I moved up the French cavalry and snuck the Lights past the town to force French Light infantry into square, while the French in the town drove back the Austrian Horse artillery.

I hit the French Foot artillery in the centre with the Austrian Cuirassiers, but Evert countered by occupying more of the town centre-right while his Light cavalry savaged mine.

Time to pull my cavalry back on the right and occupy Böfingen on the left before the French did. Evert promptly attacked the town and the Austrian Line infantry demonstrated their Achilles heel - retreating at double-time. Taking the town gave Evert a second banner in due course - 0:2.

Evert advanced the French across the board, his Light cavalry on the right taking out my Horse artillery while the Heavies put the Austrian Grenadiers into square in the centre, However, he moved one of the infantry out of Jungingen, so the score's still 0:2.

The fighting continued (Evert's "Rally" card was effective for once) and my Grenadiers fell, as did the Austrian Light cavalry, cornered by their counterparts. 0:4 and the Austrian left flank is no more.

The Austrian Cuirassiers ganged up on the French Heavy cavalry, but they survived, while my right flank forces attacked Böfingen, which also hung on. A "Bayonet Charge" saw Evert counter-attack around Böfingen and eliminate an Austrian Line while re-occupying Juningen centre-right. That's 0:5 with another banner coming Evert's way at the start of his next turn.

My last gasp attempt to push the French out of the town failed, but I did finish off the French Heavy cavalry to make the final score 1:6.

That was painful, but at least it took less than 90 minutes for 25 turns - Mark B's 'Combat Assist' function on Vassal really speeds up the game. I'm sure the Austrians could win this one. Maybe Evert will demonstrate that in our re-match, but I do hope not.

I’ve also posted this report in my blog on BGG (with pictures!): boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/161897/battle-of-haslach-jungingen-1

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.

Austrians came within one French Light Infantry block of winning. Dupont carried the day thanks to a timely Bayonet Charge 6-5.

We played again today. French won 6-1 today. Very swingy scenario. Battlefield smoke, Cavalry charge and a bit of help with dice.

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? )

6-5 btw

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.

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.

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.

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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.

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.

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.