HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The Affair of Néry was a skirmish fought on 1 September 1914 between the British Army and the German Army, part of the Great Retreat from Mons during the early stages of the First World War. A British cavalry brigade preparing to leave their overnight bivouac were attacked by a German cavalry division of about twice their strength, shortly after dawn. Both sides fought dismounted; the British artillery was mostly put out of action in the first few minutes but a gun of L Battery, Royal Horse Artillery kept up a steady fire for two and a half hours, against a full battery of German artillery. British reinforcements arrived at around 8:00 a.m., counter-attacked the Germans and forced them to retreat; the German division was routed and did not return to combat for several days. Three men of L Battery were awarded the Victoria Cross for their part in the battle.
https://www.britishbattles.com/first-world-war/battle-of-nery/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affair_of_N%C3%A9ry
Germans
• Command Cards 4
• Combat Cards 2
• HQ Tokens 3
• Reserve Artillery 2
• Personnel 0
• MOVE FIRST
British
• Command Cards 5
• Combat Cards 3
• HQ Tokens 4
• Reserve Artillery 2
• Personnel 0
Victory - 3
• 1 Medal for each unit eliminated.
Special Rules
• There is no No-Man’s-Land shelling roll.
• The Ravine is fordable
CAVALRY UNITS
Cavalry is a Battlefield Soldier unit of 4 figures
Cavalry can move 0-2 hexes, using the costs on the Cavalry Terrain Chart
Cavalry battle (3)-2-1
After a successful Close Combat, cavalry may gain ground and is eligible to battle in close combat a second time during the turn.
Lancer cavalry gain 1 die in Close combat when attacking a unit they didn't start adjacent to.
Cavalry retreat 1 hex per flag
CAVALRY TERRAIN CHART
| Terrain | Move | Battle Into |
| Bridge | 1 | Normal |
| Bridge (Damaged) | Impassable | Normal |
| Building Rubble | Stop | Close Combat Battle into two less dice |
| Buildings | Stop | Close Combat Battle into two less dice |
| Bunker / Fort | Impassable | Close Combat Battle into two less dice |
| Church | Stop | Close Combat Battle into two less dice |
| Countryside | 1 | Normal |
| Countryside (War torn) | Stop | Normal |
| Forest | Stop | Close Combat Battle into one less dice |
| Fortified position | as per other terrain | as per other terrain, No benefit |
| Hill | 1 | Normal |
| Mine Crater | Impassable | Close Combat Battle into one less dice |
| Shell Crater | Stop | Close Combat Battle into one less dice |
| Trench | Stop | No benefit |
| Waterway | Stop | No benefit |
| Wire | Impassable | Close Combat Battle into one less dice |
At dawn on 23 August, a German artillery bombardment began on the British lines; throughout the day the Germans concentrated on the British at the salient formed by the loop in the canal. At 9:00 a.m., the first German infantry assault began, with the Germans attempting to force their way across four bridges that crossed the canal at the salient. Four German battalions attacked the Nimy bridge, which was defended by a company of the 4th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers and a machine-gun section led by Lieutenant Maurice Dease. Advancing at first in close column, "parade ground formation", the Germans made easy targets for the Irish riflemen, who hit German soldiers at over 1,000 yards (910 m), mowing them down by rifle, machine-gun and artillery fire. So heavy was the British rifle fire throughout the battle that some Germans thought they were facing batteries of machine-guns.
The German attack was a costly failure and the Germans switched to an open formation and attacked again. This attack was more successful, as the looser formation made it more difficult for the Irish men to inflict casualties rapidly. The outnumbered defenders were soon hard-pressed to defend the canal crossings, and the Royal Irish Fusiliers at the Nimy and Ghlin bridges only held on with piecemeal reinforcement and the exceptional bravery of two of the battalion machine-gunners.
To the right of the Royal Irish Fusiliers, the 4th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment, and the 1st Battalion, Gordon Highlanders, were equally hard-pressed by the German assault on the salient. Greatly outnumbered, both battalions suffered heavy casualties but with the addition of reinforcements from the Royal Irish Regiment, from the divisional reserve and fire support from the divisional artillery, they managed to hold the bridges.
The stage is set, the battle lines are drawn, and you are in command. The rest is history.
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Personnel | ||
| Germans | 5 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 12 | - | - | - | Move First | 3 (Elite, Officer (max 1), Marksman or Forward Observer) |
| British | 5 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 1 | - | - | 2 (Marksman or Officer (max 1)) |
Germans roll for No Man's Land shelling
The Canal is unfordable
British add any 2 Special Personnel (Marksman or Officer (max 1))
Germans add any 3 Special Personnel (Elite, Officer (max 1), Marksman or Forward Observer)
On the morning of 26 August, the Germans arrived and heavily attacked II Corps (General Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien). Unlike the Battle of Mons, where the majority of casualties inflicted by the British were from rifle fire, Le Cateau was an artilleryman's battle, demonstrating the devastating results which modern quick-firing artillery using shrapnel shells could have on infantry advancing in the open. The British deployed their artillery in the open, about 50–200 metres (55–219 yd) behind their infantry, while the German artillery used indirect fire from concealed positions. With the guns so close to their infantry, the British had unintentionally increased the effectiveness of the German artillery-fire, because shells aimed at the British infantry could just as easily hit the British artillery.
The British 5th Division was positioned on the British right flank, on the southern side of the Le Cateau–Cambrai road between Inchy and Le Cateau. A "hold at all costs-mentality" was evident in the 5th Division on the British right flank. According to the German official history the IV Corps commander, Sixt von Armin, issued an order at 11:15 that turned the regimental- and brigade-level fights into a centrally coordinated battle but there is no evidence of German command and control above the divisional level. 75 percent of IV Corps troops were in contact before they received this order and the rest never made it to the battlefield. The IV Corps commander did not control the other half of the German forces, II Cavalry Corps, which fought independently.
Holding their ground despite many casualties, the British right and then the left flank began to break around midday, under unrelenting pressure from the Germans. That night, the Allies withdrew to Saint-Quentin. Of the 40,000 British troops fighting at Le Cateau, 7,812 British casualties were incurred, including 2,600 taken prisoner. Thirty-eight guns were abandoned, most having their breech blocks removed and sights disabled by the gunners first.
The stage is set, the battle lines are drawn, and you are in command. The rest is history.
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| Germans | 5 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 11 | 1 | 2 | - | Move First |
| British | 4 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 6 | - | 3 | - |
