1813 - The long Bridge - Fictional Napoleonic battle - Austrians vs Franco-Poles

 It was time for a 28mm, Napoleonic Black Powder 2 game!

Bart and Alistair and Campbell were fighting with Barts collection for that Bonaparte, while me and Tim and Bart (the younger but also Polish) were fighting for the true Emperor Franz with my 28mm Austrians.

We both had around 800pts agreed beforehand: I had a grenadier brigade a veteran Hungarian brigade and a Grenzer brigade, plus a light cavalry and a heavy cavalry brigade, each commander was topped up to command 8 - in return my brigades were just 3 units big... including the guns - very brittle.

The field was a little river and a bridge with two BUAs next to it on each side - box standard - basically who had the bridge wins ...

First the Frenchies rushed forward to the river and shot at us ... then we moved and hrrm more or less successful forward. Then Alisdairs Guns blundered and rushed over the river limbered... ouch! Tim and Bart the younger charged forward. Then in our centre, my guards and Grenadiers moved forward - both armies were basically lining up next to the river...

Then Bart the older charged my village (BUA) and failed and broke and ripped a big hole into his line - Huzzah! Tim was even charging Alisdairs square and nearly broke it! Campbell charged and failed to break Bart the younger. For the record, Bart the older "considered" retreat!!! it looked abysmal for the Poles. We should have then stayed and shot the F... out of them, but ...

But then Tim charged with the Hungarian out of the Woods and failed a break test that followed - then Bart counter-attacked my brittle Grenadiers and wiped them out ... we basically missed a complete centre - a victory ripped out of our hands that can only happen to Austrians ... a very long and eventful battle that could have gone either way - but ended Austrian- style ...

We will do it again, same style and win the war anyway, hehe.

Joke aside, the Austrian cavalry and the shooting was not to be trifled with, but then we lost again by attacking, hahaha! Bring the Austrians to attack and you win...

Initial set up

Barts Polish Uhlans

The French centre

My Austrian Chevauxlegers ...

The grenadiers and the Hungarian veterans

Our centre advanced!

Tims heavy cuirassiers take a bite off Alisdairs  guns ...

Bart the younger is making problems for Campbell

The gap where ones Poles were after they attacked my house ...

Barts counterattack after already Tim lost his Hungarian brigade ...

... we stopped it there. :)

1941 - End of September - a clear sky, robust machines and no clue what to do with them ...

It was Blood Red Skies time again ... and I wanted to out my freshly painted Heinkels and Junkers on the table, PLUS it was also the first time for my FokkeWulf 190... against Tims and Barts Hurricanes, Spitfires and Mosquitos - what could go possibly go wrong?

On the wrong side of history was me and Alisdair, while Tim and Bart fought for a free Britain. We ze germans had to cross a long side of 8x6 AND Bomb two targets ( I wanna see Tim doing that... ;) ) while the British just had to shoot down bombers (haha! which they did, but just one and only because Tim did all the preparation for Bart ...)

We, errm had no plan, which isn't unusual, but explains a lot. We just advanced until we clashed. Then my fighter Ace Pip Priller, or something, shot a Mosquito down! Huzzah! But on the other side Alisdairs 4 plane FW190 squadron was taken out by Tim and Bart... he didn't had a chance, mainly because wasn't an expert in the rules... and off you go, one flanking guard gone.

Out of time reasons we had to close. everybody was moaning about the size of the table was preventing us from the real dogfight, but I would argue a bit more preparation and less squadrons would handle that quite well. I guess more than two squadrons are difficult to handle, so extra points to Alisdair for managing that!!!

A well earned British victory in the end, and next time we will try to incorporate the doctrine cards/ and or theatre cards. Maybe we do a night fighter scenario with my Ju88s, stay tuned!

The Luftwaffe at the start

The RAF at the start

The Polish Hurricanes

The bombers are coming!

The FW190s

Against the Mosquitos

And in the background the rest vs Alisdair

The "Bomber salad" in the centre

which had difficulties separating

And the battle of the unknown island

Short before the clash

Alisdairs FW squadron goes down ...

Prepping my Mosquito target

they are VERY robust ...

Clashes in the middle

And then I had my shot!!!

The mosquito went up in flames ...

Polish war of Succession - a very wet affair ...

...  it was time again for 28mm, Seven Years War, the Saxon crossing of the Elbe, but then Bart wanted his Polish cavalry on the field so we changed war, but not the scenario. It was raining, any unit that shot had a 50% chance for wet powder and artillery had only 6 rounds of ammo. anyone who wade through the river got definitively wet ammo, was disordered and (in case of the infantry) could drown in 1in6... extra point for guns that made their way over the pontoon...

Bart and Tim (the Polish-Saxon side) were relatively shy and just send some tartars over their pontoon bridge - who got promptly shot back to Warsaw. Apart from that it was onto me and the Prussians to carry the war to the white skirts.

My Hussars got over the river and attacked but got beaten back. Then after Barts ammo was going to end my whole Prussian line started the crossing at once - it was exhilarating like the crossing of the Marne must have been, but also with the same frustration in the end.

His Tartars attacked my cuirassiers and what a shame fought them to retreat back over the river, the dragoons the same, I nearly lost my centre. If the river wouldn't be so deep the tartartwoud have killed them in a sweeping advance.

Then all my units got shot back over the river again - nobody drowned, but still my all-out attack was crumbling. 

Yes its a good idea to cross a river in bad weather (no shooting!), but no it is still hard work even with just the melee. 

At the end we called it a draw, but I had unit loss 2 vs 1, while I got a honourable mentioning for more units over the river than they had (4 vs 1).

Now I have enough of river crossing battles for the next 24 months...

Initial set up: Left the Prussians - right the Polish/Saxons

My light right wing with the Hussars...

Tims large two brigades of Saxons ...

My heavy left flank with Grenadiers and medium guns ...

Dogs! Advance!

The elite of Dresden awaits ...

The Prussians reach the river ...

The Poles just wait ...

There, tartars at the bridge ...

My Hussars just over the river ...

The tartars attack ...

Bart does not dare to commit ...

The Prussians at the river ...

The Saxons still don't move ...

Tims frustration while trying to find dry gun powder ...

My attack faltered ...

Toims brigade advance to the river ...

No real advance of the left flank ...

The guns ablaze ... or more often not ...

My cavalry goes over ...

Re-arrangeing guns ...

The Prussians wait too ..

Shortly before the crossing ...

Guns fire... the Prussian powder seems dry ...

Then the whole Prussian army crosses ...

4 units were over!!!

Then the Cuirassiers got hit ...

Tims brigade withdraws back ...

And one after the other unit got shot and pushed back ...

The rest was censored by King of Prussia because of concerns for the battlefield reputation ...

Next time maybe I'll fight like a Prussian, today I'll drink like a Rhinelander. :)