Napoleonic Wonderland

Ahhhhh, what a day, WHAT A DAY!!!! It's been a long while since I last got a chance to have a game of Naps and today was just brilliant. DC and myself had talked last Saturday about having a 2nd battle of Polotsk 1812 type game with a joint Bavarian and French force attempting to hold back a superior Russian force. Just a few pics from the battle and the main report and more pictures will appear over on our club blog when I get the time: http://carlukewargamesclub.blogspot.com/

I got in contact with Robert earlier in the week and he decided to join us for the day, so the 3 of us were all set. As the week went on we managed to pick up my brother David and then JP text me late last night to see if he and the D-man (travelling from the highlands) could join us.


D tried to fool us into thinking that he was taking his wife down to visit her sister but we all knew he was just looking for an excuse to get down to the club!

It turned out we had much less Bavarians between us than was 1st thought so it was pretty much a French and Russian stand up fight with my single Bavarian battalion getting their 1st outing along side the French (Answers on a postcard if you can guess what happened next?).

Des, JP and David P (my bro) were playing the evil French and the glorious Russian forces fighting for all that is good and just in the world were being played my Robert, DC (I think playing Russians for the 1st time) and myself.

So both camps disappeared to sort out a plan for the battle. Knowing that David and JP are very aggressive players (west of Scotland mentality) we decided to have the 12pdr battery facing right at them both with the bulk of the army in support. I was out on the left with 2 Hussars regiments and an infantry brigade trying to pin down Desmondo.

True to form JP and David P went straight for the jugular with the main French force coming down the centre left and centre with Des also pressing myself hard with 2 large cuirassier regiments hoofing it towards my guns (shades of the light brigade at Balaclava?).

Our Russian foot battery soon began to make it's presence felt taking a heavy toll of the advancing French columns.

Some of my Russian battalions glad to get out of their box for the day.

Our Russian heavy cavalry, 2 cuirassier regiments.

My 2 Hussar regiments forced D's young guard into square but through the woods his Bavarians and old guard kept coming. It would appear that Des is an aggressive player too!

Des declared a charge on my horse battery and DC declared an opportunity charge with the the Russian cuirassiers to block them.

Meanwhile in the centre the French massed columns edged forward.

All across the battlefield things were getting tense. For reasons known only to himself the D man brought his Bavarians out of the wood and I managed to charge home (the Bavarians stood!) and I rolled an 11 in the melee and des rolled low and the Bavarians disappeared for the battlefield (a bitter sweet moment for me).


So in their 1st outing my Bavarians were the 1st to leave the table! I only hope that this is not the way it will be when they are under my control?

The cuirassier regiments continued to fight it out in the centre with Des getting the upper hand in 1 encounter destroying their opponent before returning to their own lines to regroup.

However the other Russian cuirassier regiment held its own giving the Russian centre time to knock the paint of the by now charging French columns. The French main attack faltered and disintegrated. (sorry no photo)

I managed to destroy another of Des's battalions and the brigade broke and retired 30cm and my hussars kept up the pursuit. In the end it was a victory for the glorious Russian army once again freeing our lands from the oppression of a foreign dictator.

It was a great game played in a really fun spirit. I was lucky enough to be playing against Des who has to be the most enthusiastic wargamer I have ever met. His passion for Napoleonic history and wargaming never fails to rub off on you! Win or loose Des is over the moon to be a part of the battle moving around all the painted figures. Cool!

Note to self for the day: I need to get more Russian cavalry and Bavarians painted.