Saturday 3 May 2014

Battle for Gorodeczna 1812

A unique Napoleonic battle without French Troops 

Austrians and Saxons held off by the Russians during the 1812 campaign 


Gorodeczna 1812 - Refight in 6mm using Age of Eagles

http://napoleonicscenarios.weebly.com/uploads/2/3/7/7/2377799/gorodeczna_1812.pdf

Forces - Austrians and Saxons (forming the Southern wing of the Grand Armee) vs Russians.  Game starts 11.00 hours. 

Initial Deployment - Russians

00.01 - Battlefield overview. The Liasnaja river cuts the field in a North-South direction. Villages are Paddubno nearest camera and Gorodeczna further North. Russian defenders deployed on high ground opposite Paddubno.





00.02 - Closer view of Russian forces, infantry and artillery covering the approaches across the river with cavalry reserves massed in the rear. Dark areas in the centre of the Russian deployment are marshes.





End of Turn 1 - 11.30  

01.01 - Reynier's Saxon Corps appears on the field to the South of the Russian positions.





01.02 - Closer view of Reynier's Corps. Le Coq and von Funck's infantry divisions approach the Liasnaja river supported by artillery.




End of Turn 2 - 12.00

02.01 - Reynier's Saxons continue their advance but get disordered fording the river.  In the meantime, Zachmeister's cavalry appears further South in the woods, having forded the river off table.  In foreground, the Russian defenders shift their positions slightly to contrast the approaching invaders.



02.02 - Reynier's Saxons get their feet wet.


02.03 - Zachmeister's cavalry division approaches from the South.


End of Turn 3 - 12.30

03.01 - Bird's eye view of the field. The Saxon advance continues in the South, hampered by a difficult river crossing and wooded terrain. On left, the Russian cavalry is sets off at a trot towards the Saxon forces.  To the right, the lead elements of Schwarzenberg's Austrians appear at Paddubno and are immediately greeted by a deafening bombardment from two heavy Russian batteries.


03.02 - Reynier's Saxons approaching from the South, skirting marshland.


03.03 - Russian cavalry sweep southwards in droves, Pavlograd hussars to the fore followed by Lithuanian Tartars and Dragoons. In the centre, Russian artillery redeploys.


03.04 - The situation on the Western edge of the field. Siegenthal's division is immediately under fire and incurs its first casualties from the Russian bombardment.


03.05 - Close up of Siegenthal's division. Bolza's massed brigade can be seen with a disordered marker, having borne the brunt of the Russian guns.


End of Turn 4 - 13.00

No photos taken (shame on me !) but basically the Saxon advance continues but at a slower pace in view of the Russian cavalry movements.  Opposite Padubbno, Siegenthal's division remains under bombardment and incurs further damage.

End of Turn 5 - 13.30



05.01 - Four thousand Russian cavalry swarm across the plain, stopping the Saxon advance in its tracks. Further South, Zachmeister's cavalry finally starts debouching from the woods and forms into masse to contrast the approaching Russian dragoons of Lambert's division.  On the heights Russian infantry and artillery form a defensive line.


05.02 - View of the battlefield centre.  To the right, Austrian heavy artillery has deployed and its counter-battery fire has succeeded in silencing one of the Russian heavy batteries.


05.03 - Siegenthal's division withdraws out of range of the Russian guns but not before incurring further casualties.  The Russian bombardment has destroyed one artillery battery and reduced Bolza's brigade to 'worn' status.



End of Turn 6 - 14.00

06.01 - With divisional commander Lambert attached, Knorring's Tartar Uhlans
thunder into Le Coq's advancing Saxons.



06.02 - The infantry breaks losing 720 men and 8 guns and the uhlans make a
breakthrough charge on a second Saxon unit of Le Coq's division.


06.03 - Bird's eye view of the field - in the foreground Russian infantry
patiently await on their defensive positions while down in the valley the
cavalry fight it out.  In the distance, the second Saxon brigade has given
way before the uhlans but is not broken.  However the Saxon advance overall
has been checked.


06.04 - Close up of the victorious uhlans following their breakthrough.  To
the left the Pavlograd hussars prepare to face Zachmeister's advancing
Austrian cavalry.


06.05 - Zachmeister's cavalry finally debouches from the woods to join the
fray.


06.06 - At the other end of the table Schwarzenberg awaits reinforcements,
in the meantime keeping his Austrian infantry out of range of the bombarding
Russian batteries.



End of Turn 7 - 14.30

07.01 - Zachmeister charges Tchaplitz's dragoons but is repulsed.


07.02 - Another view of the cavalry action in the valley.  On right,
Knorring's uhlans suffer enfilading artillery fire from Von Funck's
divisional artillery now deployed on high ground.


07.03- Russian heavy artillery keeps up its bombardment of the Austrian
positions across the river......


07.04 - ....whilst the Alexandria hussars wait in the rear for the first
opportunity to engage the enemy.


End of Turn 8 - 15.00

08.01 - The Russian cavalry retires and regroups. Opposite the Saxon
infantry resumes its advance with caution.


08.02 - General view of the field.  Schwarzenberg, the overall Austrian
commander has finally decided to order his reserves forward.  They can be
seen entering the table at lower right while in the centre Seigenthal's
division timidly advances towards the river bolstered by the arrival of
these fresh troops.


08.03 - Bianchi and Trautenberg finally move forward onto the field and
prepare to launch their assault across the river.


08.04 - Seigenthal's advance by way of the village of Paddubno.



08.05 - The Russians calmly await the assault under the cover of their
formidable artillery.


08.06 - Another view along the Russian defensive line. In the rear the
Alexandria hussars have moved forward in anticipation of the Austrian
assault.


08.07 - On the other flank, the Saxon infantry inches forward.


08.08 - Close up of the regrouped Russian cavalry - Tartar uhlans in front,
Pavlograd hussars in the centre and heavy dragoons at rear.


End of Turn 9 - 15.30

09.01 - Pflacher's brigade of Trautenberg's division storms across the river
and is countercharged by Oldecop's Russian line infantry.


09.02 - Other side of the field where Wiasemski's lone jaeger unit harasses
the advancing Saxons who have taken to the marshes as protection against the
marauding Russian cavalry.


09.03 - Pflacher's Austrians are repulsed and pushed back to the Western
bank of the river.


09.04 - Seigenthal's advance is checked by intense bombardment from the
Russian artillery across the river.


09.05 - Another view of Wiasemski's jaegers engaging Reynier's Saxons in
full view of the Russian defenders.


End of Turn 10 - 16.00

10.01 - It is now Bianchi's turn to attempt to force the river crossing with
Hessen-Homburg's brigade charging into the Russian defenders supported by
close range artillery fire.


10.02 - It's a battle in the marshes with Wiasemski's jaegers charged by Le
Coq's entire division.


10.03 - Another view of the Saxon charge.


10.04 - In the valley to the South of the Russian positions the Russian
cavalry charges Zachmeister's Austrians.  Two opposing divisions totaling
six thousand horsemen clash in one single melee!


10.05 - Close up of the massive cavalry charge. A rare occasion to see so
many cavalry engaged in one single combat.


10.06 - At the northern edge of the field Bianchi's infantry is
unceremoniously bundled back to its starting blocks.


10.07 - In the centre Seigenthal's division succeeds in establishing a
foothold after beating back a charge by the Alexandria hussars.


10.08 - The Russian cavalry is repulsed but no side is broken.  Wiasemski's
jaegers, too, have been pushed back but they did not rout in the face of the
superior Saxon numbers.



The scenario ends at this point.  Presumably the already reluctant
Schwarzenberg has seen enough shedding of Austrian blood in the service of
Napoleon and calls off the attack.  It's a victory for the Russians who have
succeeded in their objective in defending their line of retreat. Approximate
losses : Russians - 1,500 , Austrians & Saxons 3,500 and 20 guns.

From my side as the Austrian player I was hampered with the delay of the reserve Corps reinforcement which arrived on turn 8leaving only 2 moves to make pressure and assult the river.As for the Saxon Corps outflanking march
considering the outnumbering Russian Cavalry survived with light casualties.The Russian Artillery is also intimidating.Its not an easy scenario for both sides and IF the reinforcements were punctual things might have taken a different conclusion.never the less its pretty much an historical outcome.





5 comments:

  1. Really enjoying the blog posts and reports David - great job.

    Really nice 6mm terrain too.

    ReplyDelete
  2. YAY! Once again people playing my scenarios. (I get a nerd thrill from seeing that.)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry to disappoint you Steve but the scenario is from the Age of Eagles Grognard
      page

      Delete
    2. Aww...Didn't know there were two Gorodeczna AoE designs...now I'm bummed.

      Delete
  3. Nice report with great mass effects, 6mm is wonderful for that!

    ReplyDelete