Big Napoeonic Game 14.10.12.

Last night saw a tremendous Napoleonic game devised by Dave,and involving,18 regiments of infantry ,8 regiments of cavalry and 5 gun batteries per side,all figures provided by Dave and Michael,this was a spectacle that Cecil.B.Demille would have been proud of!!

Brian,Dave and I were the Prussians and Russians,whilst Michael and Paul were the Neapolitans,Wertemburgers,French and Saxons

 

   This first photo shows the Prussians on their ridge,tasked with holding "windmill hill" against  the French and allies, until the Russians could get into a position to cut the Allies in half by capturing two vital bridges.

This shows my left flank,Paul is putting me under so much pressure,that if I had been a bunch of grapes I would have turned into a glass of wine!!

I needed the Russians to turn up and divert some of the pressure.

The Russian arrive,however so do the rest of the Saxon/French army.The village in the background saw some serious fighting,and Michael used his Lancers well, to force Brian into square.

This is agood shot of Brian's squares being threatened by Saxon Lancers,the village is being "stormed" by Dave's infantry; he was beaten back the first time but persisted,and the melee went on for quite some time,before the Saxons were victorious.

This photo is of my "grand battery",which I had to form to stop Paul's attacks on my right flank,both side used their artillery to good effect,and caused alot of damage which would have a profound effect when morale was called for later on in the game.

This shot shows Dave's third (?) attack on the village, Michael was forced to send more troops into the "fray" just to stabilise the situation,this tied down vital regiments,so although the Russians eventually lost the melee,they actually did a good job!

This shot is of my left flank,where a wood saw the heaviest fighting,between Paul's Neapolitans and my Prussians,we eventually had a brigade each in the woods,either meleeing or fire-fighting,what a tussle!!

Now here's agood move!! My light cavalry moving forward to force Paul's advancing French columns into square,Paul's gunners must have thought it was their Birthday or something,what a target they presented!! Result inevitable!!!!!

This photo shows Michael's guns opening up on Brian's squares,with devastating results,this was acrucial part of the battle,and two of the squares were forced to give ground,however these are Russians and don't give up too easily!

At this crcial part of the game,I decided to "unleash" my reserve cavalry,and sent them onto Brian's left flank,where the Saxon's were in danger of meeting upwith Paul's troops,I had to stop them merging,and,after a couple of near run melees,just managed to win, and drive the dragoons off the board.This was the end of the game,and we had achieved our objective of capturing the two vital bridges,thus preventing Napoleon from marching onto Berlin.

The title for this photo is......THE VANQUISHED !! actually it's Paul and Michael !!

we all enjoyed this game,roll on Thursday, and roll on Michael's next visit.