Battle of Saltanovka - Part II of II

We finished the first part of our battle report with the Russians halting their push on the Saltanovka village, as they watched the build up of French forces in the area.

The battle on the outskirts of the village of Saltanovka.

The Russians decide to probe the other flank, and Paskevitch's division is ordered forward to take the village of Fatova.

Above, the French watch as the Russian columns march forward, followed close behind by their heavy cavalry

The Russians advance quickly toward the village, and their infantry ford the river unnoposed on both sides of the bridge. The Russian Cuirassiers stand close behind, waiting for an opportunity to also make the cross. The outnumbered French choose to hold their ground where they were, rather they split their forces to try and delay the enemy.

Above, French Infantry face the Russian grenadiers on the village of Fatova. 

Sensing the growing danger to his right flank, Davout dispatches the Young Guard to reinforce Fatova, and the battalions march at double pace to relieve their besieged countrymen. French artillery opens fire in support and lay havoc on the Russian columns still trying to cross the river at the left side of the bridge.

On the village of Saltanovka, the fighting dies down slowly. The Russians now have the advantage of numbers, with the Young Guard ordered elsewhere, but alas, the threat of French cavalry lingers on, and fatigue mounts accross the ranks, making the prospect of another advance an enterprise of questionable judgement.

The Young Guard arrives at Fatova and is immediatelly unleashed against the Russian infantry brigade that bravely crossed the river under relentless artillery fire. The brigade is then ordered to hold their ground at all costs, buying time for the grenadiers to clear the village off the French infantry still resisting there. 

As the situation on their right flank deteriorates, the French order their Cuirassier Brigade there, leaving the Dragoons on Saltanova, to deter any attempt on advance from the Russian infantry at that site. Meanwhile, the Russian Hussars on the bridge, unable to push through the French square, finnaly break under heavy artillery fire.

The Young Guard hit hard at the Russian infantry, breaking a brigade, but also suffers heavy losses. By the time the French Cuirassiers arrive to support, the Russians already have a hold on the village of Fatova, and are hastily pushing their cavalry cross the bridge. The brigade of French Cuirassiers and Grenadiers a Cheval charges the enemy heavies, and carnage ensues, with both brigades sustaining horrible losses.

In the end, the French fail at pushing the Russians back from Fatova - both sides are exausted, and the forces under Davout fall back to reform just out of the village.

The game ended in a draw. Both armies broke at the same turn, and calculating victory points we realized the Russians had 1 point advantage overall - a minor lead in this scenario, insufficient to claim a victory!

Battle of Saltanovka - Part I of II

Last saturday we played a game of Black Powder at our club, the first of the scenarios of the Clash of Eagles supplement - the battle of Saltanovka.

The supplement illustrates this battle with these words: 

" Bagration's intention to join the First Western Army by crossing the Dnieper River at Mogilev has been thwarted by the French under Davout. Bagration decides to throw Raevsky's VII Corps at Davout's positions, if the French are weak then Raevsky will easily succeed through weight of numbers. If the French prove stronger than thought, then Raevsky can fight a delaying action giving Bagration time to cross the Dnieper elsewhere."

We had to do some adjustments on each army's forces, as I don't have all elements included on the army lists given - napoleonic history freaks may cringe reading this report, as a lot of units are not what they where in the real battle!

Above, our table at setup, with the french infantry positioned on the northern banks of the Saltanovka river, holding the namesake village to their left (right side of the table) and the village of Fatova, to their right (left side of the table).

The rest of the french forces (a brigade of infantry and a divison of cavalry) was to enter the game on later turns. The russians start the game with everything off the table.

I was in charge of the French, while my friend Leon took command of the Russian forces. Our game began with Kolubakin's forces pushing onto the table straight towards the river, attempting to ford it and hold some ground in the northern banks, thus allowing cavalry to cross the bridge safely.

Above, russian hussars and cossacks rush for the bridge while the Russian infantry fights a bloodly clash with the French over the banks of the Saltanovka.

For a moment, it seems the Russian Cavalry will succeed at grasping a bridgehead.

But a French battalion is dispatched to form square at the foot of the bridge and hold the enemy cavalry at all costs.

On the Russian left flank, facing the village of Fatova, Paskevitch's divison marches to sight of the enemy, but then halt their advance at several hundred yards of the river. There is a single French infantry brigade positioned to oppose them if they attempt to push through the bridge. 

On the second game turn, the Young Guard arrives and is directed to support the efforts at Saltanovka, where the river is turning red with French and Russian blood, as the armies wear each other down in bitter struggle.

The French cavalry arrives on turn 3, and is also dispatched to that village, since the Russians so far have not made an advance on Fatova.

Masses of French Cuirassiers and Dragoons ride ponderously towards the enemy. With such a mass of horses poised to strike, it'd now be foolish for the Russian Infantry to cross to the northern banks here.

The battle on the Saltanovka village, once the Young Guard and French Cavalry arrive. 

The French infantry facing the Russian regiments on the banks of the river are ordered to fall back, so to entice the enemy to advance and cross the river, making themselves a target for the French Cavalry - but the Russian commander sees the danger and holds his ranks!

Raevsky decides it's time to exploit the much weaker French right flank, at Fatova.

Stay tunned for part II of this Battle Report!

A battle in the campaign of 1812

We recently played another game of Black Powder at our club, this time I had as opponent a friend that had never played napoleonics before, but was curious about it.

It was a chance to field my russian collection for the first time, commanded by him, while I myself would be in charge of the french. The game consisted of 4 brigades per army, one of each being cavalry.

Above, the french occupy the upper side of the table, deployed in attack columns, relying on their artillery to spread havoc and disorder on the russian formations. Against my best advice, my friend chose to deploy his army mostly in march columns - not a wise approach when you have the french so close by!

Poor command rolls made it difficult for him to change his battalions formations' into line. Meanwhile, the french were advancing fast, with the brigade of Old Guard occupying the centre of the battlefield, under direct command of the Emperor himself. The Guard brigade included my recently painted Guard Chasseurs, which saw action here for the first time.

The russians were slowly trying to rearrange their formations, and dispatched the cossacks to try and flank the french centre, but the russian command was really poor, and nothing seemed to get done in time.

On the russian left flank, the french cavalry were attempting to flank their positions, while an infantry brigade was slowly but steadly marching forward, supported by their guns. The russians stood at the foot of a hill, with their own guns on high ground, and rearranged their lines to deny their flanks to the french horses.

In the middle, Napoleon quickly realised the russian plan to encircle his Guard, and acted swiftly to escape the danger: He pressed his Guard forward to repulse the russian infantry ahead before the russian cavalry were in position to strike his flank. 

Here, the abyss between the command effectiveness of both armies proved fundamental once more. The russians struggled to maneuver their horses, while the french quickly marched forward and charged the enemy. The russian line sustained heavy casualties, but resisted the first clash. 

Their resistance, however, was short lived. The Guard insisted on its attack, and the russian lines finally broke. This spread terror among the supporting battalions, and these too fled the field in sight of the advancing Old Guard. 

Above, the situation on the russian left flank remains at a standstill. The french cavalry waits for a chance to charge at the russian infantry, but first the artillery must soften the targets a bit.

After destroying the russian centre brigade, the Guard quickly wheels to face the enemy heavy cavalry, which then halts behind their own artillery, realising that their chance for an exploit is gone. The cossacks are also still quite far away, so the russian plan for a simutaneous attack on multiple flanks turns into a disaster.

One of the battalions of Guard Chasseurs presses forward and runs over a limbered russian battery nearby , and is then moved to flank the enemy positions, in support to the french forces on the left flank. The french left flank brigade is then sent forward, in a combined attack to smash the russian lines, which find themselves suddenly under attack from their front and from their rear.

Above, the Chasseurs engage a russian line battalion, which pivoted to its rear to face it, leaving the 2 remaining battalions on its brigade to face the advancing french columns. Those battalions prove unable to resist the french onslaught and are quickly put to flight. The french columns push forward and the last remaining russian formation on their own right flank seems in dire danger of being completely surrounded and obliterated.

With 2 russian brigades destroyed, the Tsar's forces are spent and retreat, leaving the field to the invanding french.

It was a quick and fun game - even for the russian commander, which enjoyed his first game of Black Powder. Hopefully, his bad fortune on this first adventure in Napoleonic wargaming won't keep him from fighting for the fatherland again in the future!

A battle in Gaul

Last saturday we played a most engaging battle of Hail Caesar at our club, pitching the romans against the hordes of celts.

The romans, commanded by my friend Muller, had plenty the following disposition:

General: Julius Caesar

1º Division - Left Flank:

3 Legionary Cohorts

1 Auxiliary Cohort

1 battery of scorpios

1 Medium Onager

1 small unit of auxiliary archers

2º Division - Centre:

2 Legionary Cohots

2 Auxiliary Cohorts

1 battery of scorpios

1 Medium Onager

1 small unit of asian archers

3º Division - Right Flank:

3 Legionary Cohorts

1 battery of scorpios

1 Medium Ballista

1 Heavy Onager

1 small unit of baeleric slingers

4º Division - Reserve cavalry

2 Units of auxilary cavalry

1 unit of Praetorian cavalry

1 unit of Numidian cavalry

The gauls, commanded by me, had 3 divisions of 4 warbands + skirmishers, each, and another division of 3 warbands only (but this time belgae) + skirmishers.

I also had a full division of cavalry in reserve, with 4 strong units of horsemen.

The celt deployment

Battle-hardened legionaries form their lines to face the advancing barbarian warbands.

The barbarians started off commanding their cavalry onto the battlefield, entering at the army's left flank, in order to strike at the roman right, which the gallic general deemed the most fragile.

Good command guaranteed a most decisive advance by the celt horses, which forced the roman general to dispatch his own cavalry to intercept the enemy horsemen.

The first cavalry clash saw the gauls at advantage - a unit of auxiliaries fled, and the rest of the roman horses fell back in disarray.

The gallic cavalry, despite the heavy losses sustained in the clash, took the oportunity to strike at the legionary cohorts, which were also under pressure by a full division of warbands advancing towards them, under heavy roman artillery fire.

The roman artillery spread terror among the barbarian ranks. A direct hit from a heavy onager sent the commander of a belgae warband flying to all directions, which caused his fellow tribal men to panic and flee the battlefield early on, many of them wounded by splinters of bone of their pulverized commander.

The roman crew cheer loudly, at the sight of the fleeing barbarians, but their exultation is short-lived. The celtic cavalry strike at the flank of the cohorts to the right of the artillery, and cut one of them to pieces. The other cohort holds its ground, and the enemy cavaly falls back to regroup.

The roman cavalry quickly reforms and pushes forward to a second strike at the barbarian horses, this time smashing them and breaking the division. A single unit of celtic horses survive the clash.

At the roman left flank, the barbarians begin a push, covered by their screens of skirmishers, who punish the roman lines with unrelenting waves of stones. The roman artillery responds, creating gaps in the celtic formations, but failing to halt their advance.

Back in the celtic left flank, most of their horses are put to flight, but the commander manages to rally the single remaining unit of his horses around him, and with a soulful speach reignite their spirits and move them to a final charge, a heroic and suicide renewal of their attack on the second roman cohort, while the roman cavalry is in disarray.

Simultaneously, the centre divisions of the celtic army are sent forward, and quickly surround and destroy an unsupported cohort that had advanced too far. The roman legionaries are cut down in a bloodbath, few surviviors running for their lives.

The roman left flank is also under pressure, but the roman commander keeps giving ground, refusing an all-out engagement, given the overwhelming numerical superiority of the enemy on that area of the battlefield.

The heroic charge of the surviving, though exausted, celtic horses strike against the shielded front of the second legionary cohort, but their impetus is overpowering, causing the legionaries to panic and break.

Having lost all 3 cohorts in that division, the roman right flank is destroyed. Luckly they've still got their cavalry to help stabilize it. They are quickly redirected to surround and destroy the rest of the celtic cavalry.

In the middle of the field, another cohort is destroyed by the advancing warbands. This success put the barbarians into a frenzy, and they attempt to sweep advance the roman lines to their front.

However, the roman lines ahead are very well formed, closely deployed to offer mutual support. They close ranks to withstand the first clash of the barbarian charge. Failing to break the enemy, as they did before, the gauls lose momentum, one of their warbands is destroyed, the others fall back, giving the romans some well-needed breathing space.

At the roman right front, the heroic celtic horsemen are completely surrounded and cut down to the last man. 

The roman cavalry is by now spent, but they still find some energy left to slaughter the enemy skirmishers nearby, preventing them from harassing the roman artillery.

In the centre, its time for the romans to counter-attack. 2 cohorts are sent to chase the barbarians as they fall back to reform, after their failed charge.

The roman left flank continues to give ground little by little, having lost a legionary cohort, and with an auxiliary one in bad shape.

The roman centre counter-attack proves utterly effective, and completely smashes the barbarian centre. With a second enemy divison destroyed, the romans revert their initial setback and take the upper hand in the battle.

The celts try to reform their left flank. Having destroyed the enemy cohorts there, they're are still under threat by the enemy cavalry and artillery. They try to march to the middle of the field to help the fight against the strong roman centre, but find themselves pinned by artillery fire to the left (and the threat of a cavalry advance), and skirmish fire to the right.

However, the roman general is well aware his cavalry is currently in no shape to renew their efforts, and orders his commanders to rally their horsers and hold lines, instead.

With morale failing, the celt commanders find it ever more difficult to move their warriors around. Meanwhile, the enemy artillery keeps pounding at their ranks, killing scores of their men and spreading terror. Another warband is put to flight, which triggers an army-wide retreat. The day is lost for the gauls.

The romans observe the retreating barbarians.

The romans win a hard fought battle, balanced to the end. It's however unclear to what extent they would be able to exploit the enemy retreat, given that their own cavalry was pretty spent at this point, but this marks another step in Caesar's efforts to conquer Gaul.