1809 - Napoleonics - The Battle at Knuspern-Trinklingen

The Big Sunday Game was a call for Napoleonics, 28mm, Black Powder2 and the introduction of my new Austrian army. Peter came to my help with some British guns, as we  were facing Barts entire Napoleonic-Polish Vistula contingent and Campbells treacherous Würtemberger! Peter took with the Grenadiers and the light cavalry brigade and some line brigades the CinC cap and played the left wing of the 20x6 ft table and deployed before Campbells Würtemberger. Bart took, as French CinC, position before me and my cuirassier brigade and the veterans and jäger contingent.

Bart insisted that the totally fictional village/small town, named "Knuspern-Trinklingen", with (6 BUAs) in the centre, should be the objective of the carnage. And you could hear a moaning and grumbling going through the ranks ...

The battle started  conservatively with the usual cavalry charges on the outer hemispheres of the table. The Austrians were lucky to have the first turn and my Jäger managed to capture two houses, then my veterans another one. 3 down 3 to go!

In the following turns, I managed to capture the rest of the town as Campells Würtemberger did NOT obeyed their orders and wouldn't move an inch. The cavalry battle was heavy handed, as Barts Uhlans were at the wrong end of a charge of a large cuirassier regiment! Firstly, they charged in, the cuirassiers did NOT counter charge AND survived!!! Then they countercharged and swiped them away. From there on, due to Barts miserable rolled command dice AND in the next turn his ABYSMAL gunfire rolls (to countercheck my advance) - it was downhill for the Poles. I have never experienced such bad luck (Bart must have done something terrible to anger Fortuna!!) on any of my opponents before - and of course I HAD to exploit this.

Special mentioning deserves an entire brigade of 4 infantry and 2 guns that were happy to stay half the battle on the hill and then slowly sliding down hill towards the town only to get massacred while trying to recapture 1 (one of six) BUA. 

In the end they did, it as a sort of  futile attempt to regain some glory. That was the only unit I lost in the battle.

The battle then ended prematurely as my entire 3 large cuirassier regiment were at that point BEHIND the enemy lines.

After the first Austrian move

3 large Cuirassier regiments

The Franco-Poles on the hill

The Würtemberger cavalry

The road to the BUAs becomes the frontline

the Austrian guns in position and the next of the BUA captured

The moment the Würtemberger missed their chance to get the rest of the town

The Austrians consolidate their line

The cuirassiers charge

and charge again

"Knuspern-Drinklingen" in Austrian hands

The grenadiers hold their line

the "other" light cavalry battle

The rest of the cuirassiers sweeping off the shaken Poles

The battle of the town heats up

and my Jäger capture the rest of the town!

anything that gets past gets a sharp(shooter) greeting

On the hill the Polish brigade that were my best ally...

last ditch attempts at the town

and then my last cuirassier unit charged the artillery brigade full on

and survived their test (11!) and killed the guns

some all out attacks along the road

minutes before the only Austrian Infantry get destroyed (on my side of the table)

Another Würtemberger regiment gets shot to pieces

and the grenadiers hold the line

a passe on the left flank it seemes

The Polish casualty table ...