Marlburian game 11.1112.

Last night we didn't have a good game.......we had a great game!!
Basically both sides were the same strength,at 17 infantry regiments,12 cavalry regiments and 3 gun batteries.The scenario was very simple;both sides had a position to hold,the enemy were to capture those positions,plus there was a marsh in the middle of the table,and that was to be an objective to hold too.

Brian and I were in control (?) of the allies,consisting of Danes,Prussians,Dutch and Austrians,whilst Paul and Dave were in control of the French,Bavarian and Spanish troops.

This is the over-view of the table,with the Allies on the left and the French on the right,the French had a village to defend,whilst the Allies had a sort of Manor house to defend.

This is shot of the French village,manned by Bavarians,Dave elected to advance from the village,which upset my plan to attack/melee with his troops,instead we had to fire-fight!! sneaky devil.

This is the French centre,because both sides were equal in strength,we had to attack: Dave and I seemed to spend the whole game firing at each other,substituting lines and taking morale tests,great stuff and very tense.

This is Paul's command on the French right flank,he faced Brian,and was tasked with not only taking on Brian's cavalry but also capturing our Manor house,a formidable task!!

The Allies right flank,a mixture of Prussians and Austrians,I had planned a feint with two regiments of cavalry,followed by a mass attack on the Village,Ah dreams,dreams,dreams!!!

This is Brian's flank,our left,in the Manor house are his newly painted Danish guards, and in the background his numerous cavalry,I don't know if I've mentioned this before,but in a previous game he didn't handle his cavalry too well,HOWEVER, tonight he redeemed himself and did exceptionally well,my hero !!

This photo is of the Allied centre,showing the marsh,and the difficult oblique approach,this was the centre of fighting throughout the game.

Move one was just like the start of the Grand National,horses thundering all over the place,and infantry moving forward,guns blazing etc.
This shot shows Paul's magnificent attack on our Manor house,Brian is just about to lose his gun battery, and his Danish guards are about to be assailed,come on Brian, hold on ,you can do it !!

Oh dear,did I speak too soon? Brian's newly painted Danish guards have been "ejaculated" from the Manor house! Come on Brian,reform and get back in there,you can do it!

My Prussians advancing towards the French village,this was a real slogging match,Dave threw some good dice to keep my high morale rating troops in check,to the point where I had to change lines, and let my Austrians have a go,Dave also change lines and put a French brigade in to hold this vital position.

Paul and Brian conspiring against me, I know they are.Actually they are discussing a fine point on tactics,if any query comes up in our games we stop for a couple of minutes and work it out,no rule books,just good plain common sense,and historical knowledge,failing that we just punch each other !!

This shot shows the newly painted Danish guards re-taking the village!! I knew you could do it Brian,I had 100% faith in you.This was atremendous part of the game,both sides were dangerously low on morale and fighting capability,and the final melee could have gone either way,fabulous wargaming,played in a fantastic spirit.

The epic cavalry battle on the French right flank,this was so tense and exciting,both sides throwing in Squadron after Sqadron,Regiment after Regiment,dice throws going both ways,this was wargaming at its very best.

This is the second assault against the French village,my Austrians did ok against the French guard,however on the left of this part of the battlefield,things were not going my way...

Dave and I fire-fighting,with Dave's cavalry about to ride Dutch guard down,this was agood move by Dave who had "husbanded" his cavalry,whilst I had squandered mine,he beat me in a straight melee,and when I "retired" he had command of the flank,and game over for me,although on the other flank Brian was still going strong.

A Scots regiment in Dutch pay tries to stop the Spanish troops from claiming the marsh,an unpluggable gap had appeared to the right of our Manor house,and with my flank about to be rolled up,we decided that the French had the better position,and they were declared the winners,however in this game there were no losers,it was by any standards a great game.

Roll on Thursday.