Battle of Gilly 15th June 1815

A big thankyou to Dave for putting on last night's game,it was brilliant! All of the figures used were his(which we don't see often enough!) there was colour,excitement and tension throughout the whole game.

Dave gave me the map for the terrain,and I set the table up as near as possible to it-the bottom photo is the table just before the first move-I was Blucher,and Paul was the "little fella"(Napoleon)-I have two hidden regiments,one in the central wood and one on my right flank wood!

Paul's first attack against the Prussian position begins,with colours flying and drums beating and shouts of "Vive L'Empreur" his battalions swept forward-but the acute observer will have noticed that my light cavalry are also sweeping towards the French lines-hurrah!!!!

As more and more French pour onto the field,my cavalry have done their job,but I am being assailed in the rear,by Dragoons and Cuirassiers-woe is me!-I have exposed my hidden Infantry in the central wood,and gave a volley in the flank of the passing cavalry-they did not like it!!!

My reserves are now entering the fray,as my cavalry try and regroup,however Paul is also getting reserves-Help!!(Dave looks happy!)

A mass cavalry "brawl" is taking place now-clearing the way for yet another French attack-Paul's gunners must have been smoking "happy baccy" 'cos they were causing tremendous casualties on the Prussian infantry and guns,forcing me back at one point-I need my reserves to get into position quickly,or all is lost!(Dave is till looking happy!!)

The cavalry battle in the centre is still on-going,but there aren't as many as there was a while ago(the older persons reading this blog will recognise that sentence from a line in a Lonny Donnegan(who?) song.)
Paul's French are on the move again,but my reserves are in place,and this will be "nippy-tucky"

Look at this for a game!My left is now secure,and my Dragoons are dominating the hill top(for the time being!)-but just look at the number of French troops coming over the stream-"formidable!"

Having beaten off Paul's Cuirassiers,my Dragoons are being subjected to volley fire from the squares-this was to prove a bit too much for them,and they retired(ran away!)
Paul's attacks in the centre intensified,and I really didn't have too much to stem the flow of French troops-or did I? I sent my ADC to a regiment of Hussars to change their initial orders,and told them to sweep around the left flank of the attacking troops,I combined this with a counter attack with some infantry,the result was that the attack was stalled-hurrah!!!

Close quarter volley fire was the order of the day!-this was the French regiment that was caught in the flank by my counter attack,and proved crucial!

Hell's Flames,what a game!!-everything is going on at once,but mainly Paul's last attack is being stopped-he must have thought that he had made the winning move when he swept around my right flank with a fresh regiment-but my other hidden regiment emerged on his flank,and with cries of dismay,they were forced to flee.
By now the French were in a bit of dis-array,and I still held my original positions,although most of my troops were in square,so I was declared the winner(I actually thought a draw would have been the proper result!)

One final photo of this great game-more Dave!!!
Thanks to Dave for putting on such a good game,and thanks to Paul for being such a good opponent-I will now have to go and lie down in a darkened room to recover.
We won't be playing on Thursday,I will have a house full of guests,as my son is getting married on Friday,but roll on Sunday.