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Marching Eagles - Waterloo AARI chose the Quatre Bras historical scenario. I particularly enjoy small scenarios that I can complete in one evening. The battle options I chose were - All options and Normal FOW. I played the French who have the more challenging position needing to attack. Event cards introduce an element of unpredictability so I have included them in the Options screen. First turn and -Turn 1 - I chose to be aggressive and charged my Light Cavalry up towards Quatre Bras whilst pinning down the Nassau battalions near Grand Pierrepont Farm and in front of the woods with 3 squadrons of Lancers. My first cavalry unit charged and overran the artillery battery defending Gemioncourt. Seeing that the Dutch Light Infantry had not formed square near Gemioncourt, I charged in the second Light Cavalry unit but the enemy formed square before contact was made and no impact occurred.Turn 2 - I moved up the 93e Ligne (3 battalions) to Thyle and encountered resistance from enemy light infantry / skirmishers. I also moved up a horse artillery unit to Grand Pierrepont farm and started to bombard the Nassau units that had formed square in that area. The 3e and 63e Ligne moved to the left of Bois de Bossu and began a fire fight with a battalion of Netherlands Line infantry. I also moved up the 2e Corps Reserve Artillery to strike the Dutch square near Gemioncourt. The combat round resulted in my French Line Regiment suffering at Thyle but the artillery pounded the Dutch square into destruction at Gemioncourt. My horse artillery at Grand Pierrepont was also successful against the Nassau square causing a loss of 1 Strength point and ultimately they routed resulting in further losses. A reasonable start for the French Turn 3 - Encouraged by my early successes, the 5e Lanciers charged in at Grand Pierrepont farm and caused further losses to the disintegrating Nassau square. The remaining troops of the 2e Nassau regiment surrendered to the lancers. The 1ere Chasseurs charged into Quatre Bras but were hit by the Belgian Foot Artillery unit in the area and suffered losses. The 4e Legere moved up to Materne Pond where Wellington was in the area. The 6e Lanciers carried on North of the woods leaving the Netherlands infantry to be cleared by my French Line Regiments.The 1er Chasseurs overran the Belgian artillery at Quatre Bras but were now Shaken and needed to retire. The 4e Legere encountered the 28th Orange-Nassau Regt who were in square (presumably aware of the French Light Cavalry in the adjacent areas). This gave the French sharpshooters an easy target and they caused considerable losses on the Nassau unit. The Netherlands battalion on the left of Bois de Bossu routed and this cleared the way for a French advance. However, the Dutch Hussars moved down to intercept my lancers which resulted in a stand-off. I guess the Hussars had a change of heart. Turn 4 - French reinforcements arrived in the form of the 6e Division. This timely arrival should help me push on to take Quatre Bras. Unfortunately I received the 'Imperial Indecision' Event Card -This turn I concentrated on moving my scattered forces up to the front line.British infantry moved into Thyle to support the Dutch Jagers already there. This was too much for the 93e Ligne and having suffered more losses the Regt routed. Enemy Light Dragoons charged into Quatre Bras and pushed out my 1er Chasseurs. The French 6e Lanciers attacked the 6th Dutch Hussars and drove them from the area North of Bois de Bossu.Turn 5 - I decided to send the veteran 5e Lanciers in to Quatre Bras in an attempt to drive out the 5th Belgian Light Dragoons but they were ready and counter-charged. My Lancers suffered the loss of 1 Strength point. I had now assembled 2 artillery batteries at Gemioncourt ready to pour destruction into the Quatre Bras area.The British Guards advanced past my routing 93e Ligne and clashed with the newly arrived 1e Ligne of the French 6e Division The French infantry just forming into Attack Column suffered badly. The 2nd Brunswick Hussars charged into the French 6e Lanciers and a tough struggle followed. Fortunately, my 4e Legere at Materne Pond had more success and eliminated the remains of the 28th Orange-Nassau Regt. Turn 6 - I charged the cuirassiers of the 11e Cavalry Division against the British Guards who quickly formed square. I also brought up a battery of Horse artillery to the same area.An epic cavalry struggle now ensued around Quatre Bras and North of Bois de Bossu.Turn 7 - The Victory Status showed the battle was still in a 'Draw' condition. This scenario only has 10 turns; I needed to secure Quatre Bras to win the game. My Lanciers at Quatre Bras were spent and needed to be brought out of the fighting but the French 6e Chasseurs had recovered at Gemioncourt and were ready to charge into Quatre Bras. I gave the order to charge - for France and Napoleon !The 5th Belgian Light Dragoons were eliminated. Only 2 battalions of Nassau infantry remained in the Quatre Bras area.I moved Comte Reille (French commander) to the West of Bois de Bossu to coordinate the attack in that region leaving Marshall Ney to push towards Quatre Bras.The French 6e Lanciers ultimately routed under the pressure of 6 enemy cavalry squadrons. The 4e Legere were ordered into the area of Haute Cense Farm. Wellington brought into the same area the Light infantry of the Brunswick Corps to assist the Belgian Line infantry. Close combat followed. Turn 8 - I charged the 8e & 11e Cuirasseurs into Thyle forcing the Dutch Jager to form square. This gave me the opportunity to move in the 92e Ligne from the adjacent woods and strike hard. The 6e Lanciers were pulled out of the cavalry combat leaving the infantry and artillery to protect the Western side of Bois de Bossu from an Anglo-Allied counter attack. As the French lancers rushed for cover behind their infantry and artillery, the 6th Dutch Hussars followed up and were hit by a French Horse artillery battery. Losses resulted in the 6th Dutch Hussars also routing. I moved in to Quatre Bras a fresh unit of French Light Infantry (1e Legere 6e Inf Division) who promptly cleared the remaining Nassau troops from the village. This gained temporary Victory points and moved the game status to a 'Minor Win' for the French.Turn 9 -The artillery had to be re-supplied this turn. Previous key actions had left them low on ammo. I now began to push units beyond Quatre Bras in an attempt to secure the crossroads. i still had not cleared the Dutch Jagers from the village of Thyle and this was preventing a 'Major Victory'.Following the retreat of the 6th Dutch Hussars, the 2nd Brunswick Hussars launched an attack towards the French Horse Artillery battery West of Bois de Bossu.Turn 10 - last turnJust as I thought I had secured a 'Minor Win', Wellington (Computer AI) pulled a master stroke. In a desperate attempt to prevent the French from controlling the Quatre Bras area, he ordered the Light Infantry Brigade of the Brunswick Corps to charge the village. They did and my Victory point score dropped to a 'Draw' status. Fortunately, I had assembled a strong force of French in the Quatre Bras area - 2e Legere 6th Inf Div, 108e Ligne Regt 5e Inf Div and a battery of foot artillery. - a total of 8 battalions. The Brunswickers crashed into the solid French force and after a heated encounter, routed from the village suffering the loss of 2 Strength points (equivalent to 2 battalions). My Victory status sprung back to a 'Minor Win'
Marching Eagles - Marengo AAR - Part 1I chose the Castiglione historical scenario as this scenarios contains all the elements of Napoleon's genius. Of course I was going to be the French player The challenge was to repeat Napoleon's success.The battle options I chose were - All options and Normal FOW. Event cards introduce an element of unpredictability so I have included them in the Options screen. First turn and -Turn 1 - FOW in play resulted in only a few Austrian positions in view. I needed to move my cavalry forward to scout the area in the open plain around Medolano. First order was to move the 20e Dragoon Regiment (2e Cavalry Div) to the defile in front of Monte Medolano backed up by the 24e Chasseurs. General de Brigade Beaumont was moved into an area suitable to command the 2e Cavalry Division. These moves revealed little new in terms of the Austrian positions. I needed to move the infantry forward on the ridge with the remaining Command Points.The Light Infantry of the French 3e Division moved in Grole with General Augereau. The 17e and 22e Legere of the 1e Division moved up to Castel della Spada. The 32e and 75e Ligne Regiments moved towards Porte Rosse finally revealing 2 Austrian infantry Line battalions stationed there.Suddenly Austrian artillery opened up from a fortified position near Solferino on my advancing Light Infantry of the 3e Division. Immediately afterwards, the Alvinczi Infantry Regt 19 of 3 Line battalions attacked the same French Light Infantry just North of Grole in the woods and vineyards. A fire fight broke out. Austrian guns also fired at the French 20e Dragoons from a fortified position on Monte MedolanoTurn 2 - The 20e Dragoons were ordered to move round Medolano and charge Austrian positions in the open plain. They overran an Austrian field artillery battery but suffered heavy losses in the process. At this point I decided to bring the full force of the 2e Cavalry Division in to action, charging the 1e Hussars against an exposed Austrian Line Regiment located between Medolano and the ridge. They immediately formed square. This gave me an opportunity to move up a horse artillery battery to pound the Austrian square.I moved a combination of Light and Line Infantry from the 3e Division up to Barche di Solferino and encountered more Austrian resistance. Finally with the last of my Command Points, I launched an assault on Porte Rosse with 6 Line Infantry battalions. The Alvinczi Infantry Regt 19 made progress against the French Light Infantry at Grole and Austrian artillery bombarded the 20e Dragoons who now found themselves isolated and surrendered to the local Austrian infantry unit.The Austrians counter attacked with their cavalry in the plain. 2 squadrons of the Erdody Hussar Regt 9 charged the French 1e Hussars to relieve pressure on their infantry in square but they suffered badly at the hands of the French. A further Austrian charge by 8 squadrons of Hussars against the French 24e Chasseurs North of Medolano resulted in the loss of 1 Strength point for the French.Turn 3 - I needed to halt the Austrian Hussars North of Medolano so with Beaumont in the area, he sent in 7 squadrons of Hussars. Unfortunately the Austrian cavalry counter charged and in the ensuing melee many French Hussars were lost. Another Strength point down. Meanwhile the French infantry and artillery on the ridge continued to advance but now were encountering determined resistance around Solferino.The Austrian artillery on Monte Medolano continued to hit the French cavalry. I needed to take that fortified position quickly before more cavalry were lost.The French attack on Porte Rosse had stalled even though I had sent in 6 battalions against 2 Austrian battalions. The Austrian high position and fortified walls of Porto Rosse held back the French. The French Light Infantry attacking Castle Tower near Solferino had made better progress and weakened the Austrian Carlstadt Grenz Infantry Regt. The Austrian Hussars North of Medolano split into two forces intent on conducting a flanking attack but 2 squadrons routed and suffered significant losses halting the attempted flanking attack on the French Hussars.Turn 4 - The time was 09.30 and General de Brigade Fiorella of the French 4e Division attacked the Austrian rear. Napoleon's trap had sprung but a little early and the main French force was still heavily engaged against the Austrian front line units. Fiorella will have to do as much damage as possible on his own. Accordingly Fiorella sent in the 5e Dragoon Regiment against the Austrian second line. The Dragoons routed an Austrian position battery but not before loosing 1 Strength point.Turn 5 - 10am - Napoleon now released his strike force to take Monte Medolano and the Austrian guns.Steady fire by the horse artillery battery of the 2e Cavalry Division took its toll on the Austrian square (Mittrowsky Infantry Regt 40) and ultimately the surviving Austrian infantry routed. The 1er Hussar Regiment then charged in and eliminated the routed infantry.The 10e & 22e Chasseur Regiments moving past the Medolano defile charged the Archduke Joseph Hussar 2nd Regiment and routed 3 of its squadrons. Meanwhile, at Porte Rosse, the Austrian commander, Wurmser (Computer AI) responded to my assaults on the village by initiating a flanking attack with 4 Line Infantry battalions. To counter this threat I moved in 6 battalions from the 2e Infanterie Division plus a foot artillery battery. These troops gave the Austrian flanking move a bloody nose and 2 Austrian battalions were lost. The assault on Porte Rosse continued. I also brought in to the fighting around Grole, 3 battalions of the 18e Ligne Demi-Brigade 3e Division. These fresh troops pushed the Austrian Line infantry out of the woodlands and vineyards around Grole and secured the road to Barche di Solferino where the French Light Infantry was in action.Napoleon's strike force (Army of Italy Reserve) moved forward with a battery of horse artillery rushing to the defile and setting up counter battery fire on the Austrian guns at Monte Medolano.Light Infantry sharpshooters eliminated the Carlstadt Light Infantry Regt at Castle Tower near Solferino.Considerable fighting occurred on turn 5 and as the initiative was with the French there was only just sufficient Command Points to address all the key areas on the battlefield.Turn 6 - Imperial Indecision Event Card - My elite and veteran units were not allowed to move this turn.The Event Card forced me to move my attention to the 5e & 6e Infanterie Divisions just arrived from Castiglione. These units were moved up to support the attack on Solferino and the adjacent Austrian fortified position. Napoleon's expected attack on Monte Medolano was temporarily stalled. Fiorella's 4e Division moved passed S.Cassiano and linked up with Beaumont's 2e Cavalry Division in the open plain.The Austrians made further attacks on the surroundings of Grole and 2 infantry battalions penetrated further along the road towards Castiglione. Napoleon's tactics were working, pulling the Austrian units out of their defensive positions in a counter attack. Now is the time to hit the Austrian infantry in the open terrain.Heavy fighting was occurring across the whole battlefield. The French guns at Grole made the advancing Austrian Line infantry pay a heavy price for their dispersed uncoordinated attacks. The fire fight in the open area South of Porte Rosse ended with the outnumbered Austrian force being defeated. The cavalry clash North of Monte Medolano continued but only the equivalent of 2 squadrons of Austrian cavalry now remained. Finally after 2 hours of fighting around the Castle Tower near Solferino, the area was secured by the French veteran Light Infantry of the 1er & 2e Division.Turn 7 - 11am - The counter attacks made by the Austrians had cost them dearly and their army had suffered significantly more losses than the French. As Napoleon said - now is the time to launch an all out attack.Marching Eagles - Marengo AAR - Part 2Turn 7 - General de Division Despinoy now arrived with the 4e & 5e Demi-Brigades. This was Napoleon's reserve. They were quickly marched up towards Porte Rosse.Fiorella's 4e Division is seen below attacking the rear of the Austrian army.The Austrians suffered heavy losses this turn. Hurried counter attacks against Fiorella's 4e Division were mauled, the Austrian Lancers (Meszaros Uhlan Regt 1) disintegrated as they charged into the 7e & 13e Hussar Regiments and finally the isolated infantry battalions in square South of Grole broke up and surrendered. Porte Rosse finally fell to the French with the remaining Austrian infantry fleeing down the road towards Peschiera.Turn 8 - Although Monte Medolano and its fortified position was isolated, the Austrian guns continued to fire on the French cavalry moving around the Mount. The 3 battalions of French Grenadiers advanced slowly on Monte Medolano due to the limited Command Points available.To my surprise Solferino was abandoned by the Austrians and General de Division Laharpe moved in the Light Infantry of the 1er Division to take over the area. 2 Austrian infantry battalions were now isolated North of Barche di Solferino.Turn 9 - Fiorella's 4e Division now moved into the contested area of S.Cassiano and the Grenadiers launched an assault on Monte Medolano. The Austrian artillery in the fortified position at Monte Medolano mauled the French Grenadiers moving on their position. Without a flanking unit to take out the artillery, a frontal assault was always going to be costly.Turn 10 - The Austrian front line was now cut off and isolated by the French.The French now held S.Cassiano and had reached a 'Minor Win' Victory status. I moved elements of the 5e & 6e Infanterie Divisions to help the Grenadiers take Monte Medolano. Infantry of the 1er & 2e Division cleared the road North of Porte Rosse and were ready to advance on Peschiera to cut off the Austrian army line of communication. A further assault on Madonna della Scoperta began by Despinoy's 4e & 5e Ligne Demi-Brigades. The Austrian army had been all but defeated by 13.00 hours on 5th August and those units not trapped by the French advance began to retreat to the North. The 39e & 85e Ligne Demi-Brigades of Fiorella's 4e Division launched an attack on the villages of Scarnadore and Cavriana.Turn 12 - 13.30 hours. The Austrian blocking force at Madonna della Scoperta were now surrounded just as the Austrian relief force of General-Major Bajalich (5,000 men) started to arrive from Peschiera. However, the French army was reaching exhaustion with its morale down at 31%. Napoleon knew there would be little effort from his men to chase the defeated Austrian army. The key now to achieving a 'Major Victory' status was to force the surrender of those Austrian units trapped in the pocket formed by his army.Numerous Austrian units began to surrender and a detachment of Hussars from Bajalich's relief force overran the forward French foot artillery battery. As 8 infantry battalions appeared from the North (Bajalich's force) it became difficult for the forward elements of the French army to hold them back. Cavriana was still held by a battalion of Grenadiers and a foot artillery battery. They were holding out on the hope that Bajalich's force would break through to their position and relieve them.Turn 13 - 14.00 hours - Monte Medolano fell to the French. The remaining fortified position near Solferino was surrounded and an Austrian surrender was expected any hour now. Bajalich's relief force realised the futility of its efforts and retired orderly to Peschiera rallying as many fleeing Austrians as they could. The battle was effectively over now although skirmishes would continue until dusk. Napoleon had won a great victory.
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