Pontvieux: a scenario for the Grand Alliance period

Steve and I managed to fit in this game just before the Britcon show and with one thing and another, it has taken two weeks to find the time to post a battle report.  I must first say that the scenario is 'lifted' from the "Scenarios for all ages" book by Stuart Asquith and C S Grant and that I 'tweaked' it in some ways (not always for the better!).

The old adversaries the Comte de Salle Forde and Graf von Grommit featured once again in this scenario.  Late in the campaigning season, Von Grommit has made a move to besiege a small, but strategically important fortress.  Caught off guard, the Comte has hastily gathered a force together and taken up a position at Pontvieux, covering a ford of the river Bonne.  Von Gronmmit has reached the Bonne and recognised that a frontal attack would be very costly.  Therfore he has sent Graf Von Wentzel upstream to cross the Bonne and then move against Salle Forde's flank; at which point a frontal attack would be launched.   Fortunately for the Comte, Wentzel's move had been spotted and he had ordered the Marquis d' Haute Brie to take a mixed force, (2 battalions, 2 squadrons and a light gun) to hold off the flank attack.  The Marquis thus took up a position behind some boggy ground which Wentzel would have to cross.

View from behind Von Wentzel's force

Seeing the enemy lines around Pontvieux thinned by the Marquis' move to oppose Wentzel's attack, Von Grommit ordered Major General Boome to advance his infantry brigade over the Bonne and  seize Pontvieux village.  A cavalry brigade commanded by Hofburg-Riesling was to cover Boome's flank against any advance by the French cavalry commanded by Chevalier Auguste Dupleix.  Supported by fire from the Allied artillery Boome's infantry advanced to the Bonne and began to cross.  Leading the way were the Prince Max Grenadiers, who lost formation as they struggled across the river and were swept by French musketry as they reformed on the far bank.

Boome's brigade prepares to advance.

To the grenadiers' left regiment Blitzen-Kron had also crossed the Bonne.  They suffered casualties from the French artillery and a volley from regiment d'Humieres and before they could recover Dupleix unleashed his cavalry on them.  led by the Spanish Horse the French cavalry swept down on the allied infantry and drove them back over the river with heavy losses.  Before the supporting allied battalions could fire in support of their colleagues, the French cavalry rallied back to their own lines, ready to charge again.

Dupleix orders the French cavalry forward

Wentzel had made some progress but the boggy ground was proving tricky to cross.  Regiment Metternich had found itself ahead of Furstenburg and thus received the undivided attention of the French infantry and artillery.  Reeling under the losses it had to fall back to reform.  Wentzel ordered forward Herberstein  to support Furstenburg and together with the light artillery they struggled forward through the boggy ground.  The allied cavalry had so far played no part as there was no room for them to deploy, the French cavalry was merely waiting for the disordered allied infantry to emerge from the poor ground before charging them.

Blzen-Kron driven back in disorder

By Pontvieux, Boome was struggling to get his second line of troops over the river.  The grenadiers were hanging on, but they could not advance without support.  Eventually there was enough room for Hofburg-Riesling to thread the troopers of his leading regiment through the milling throng and cross the river with the intention of opposing Dupleix's troopers.  The Austrian cuirassiers had just formed up when Dupleix launched his second charge.  Surprised, the Austrians didn't counter-charge and were unable to resist the French cavalry.  Once again allied troops were pushed back over the Bonne and once again the French cavalry fell back to await another opportunity.  Von Grommit was glad to see the reserve brigade of infantry (commanded by the English aristocrat, Lord Brentcliffe) enter the field.  He took the opportunity to remark to General Boome that if his troops were not up for a fight, perhaps he should make way for Brentcliffe's men?  Incensed, Boome drew his sword and personally led his second line over the river.  He was just in time, as the grenadiers were wilting under the fire from the French battalions and the dragoons holding Pontvieux.  Boome galloped forward to steady the grenadiers, but was felled by shot from the dragoons.  Seriously wounded, he was carried from the field and seeing him fall broke the grenadiers who ran back towards the river.  The one crumb of comfort for Von Grommit was that the allied artillery managed to drive the French dragoons from the Pontvieux village with their accurate fire.  All now seemed to depend on Lord Brentcliffe and Graf von Wentzel.

The Austrian infantry advance

For his part von Wentzel was desperately trying to force back the French infantry to give his men the space to form up after crossing the boggy ground.  He had had some success, but maintaining the firing line whilst crossing the boggy ground was proving difficult.  Also, his artillery had to keep moving or it would simply sink into the quagmire.  Eventually, the Austrian infantry crossed the boggy ground and formed up with Herberstein, with the artillery on the right and Furstenburg on the left.  Behind Herberstein one of Wentzel's cavalry units was picking its way forward.  Controlled volleys from the Austrians forced the French infantry to fall back, perhaps the door was beginning to open?  d'Haute Brie turned to his cavalry and ordered them to charge.  Led by regiment Aubusson the French troopers moved forward.  Although swept by close range artillery fire and a scattered volley from the infantry, the Frenchmen would not be denied.  On they charged and crashed into the grey-clad lines.  Regiment Herberstein resisted at first, but eventually was broken by the French charge.  The scattered remnants struggled back through the boggy ground and from the field.  Before the allied cavalry could intervene, the second French regiment, Vaillac overran the artillery.  When charged by the allied cavalry, which had at last reached solid ground, Vaillac responded with elan and drove these assailants back in the same manner as they had the infantry.  Von Wentzel's attack was over, he had only one serviceable battalion and one regiment of cavalry, (the commander of which pointed out the futility of any further attacks without any artillery support).

The furthest advance of the Allied forces

Back at Pontvieux, Lord Brentcliffe's battalions had entered the fray.  The leading battalion had occupied the village and was now firing at regiments Royal Italien and Toulouse.  Two more had moved to the left of the village and were adding their fire to the pressure on the French line.  On the far left, the remains of Boome's brigade had also recrossed the river and with Hofburg-Riesling also moving forward again Von Grommit had hopes that he may yet prevail.  However, those hopes were dashed as scouts reported that d'Haute Brie's command was returning to the Pontvieux  battlefield.  The prospect of facing a more numerous foe with his back to a river was not one which Von Grommit wished to undertake and so he ordered a retreat whilst there was still time.

An mixed game, with perhaps too much in the favour of the French.  I had 'beefed up' the difficulties facing von Wentzel and gone too far, making his task almost impossible.  The river crossing carried the risk of disorder which occurred roughly 50% of the time, not too bad in the circumstances.  Once again I was too ambitious with the table, trying to cram too much in.  In retrospect it may have been better to concentrate on the river crossing, giving more space to manoeuvre, and have the outcome of the flank attack randomised.  That being said we both enjoyed the game, there being just enough 'bright spots' to encourage me (as Von Grommit) to continue with the attack.  Of course all I needed were a few more allied units and the attack may have prevailed.  As many readers will have recognised this is a 'disguised'? Boyne scenario. 

Some more recruits and a tempting read

With things being relatively quiet on the gaming front I have managed to paint up a few figures.  However, my plan to paint up as many figures as I add to the lead mountain in each year, is in danger of coming off the rails, as the totals at the moment are Added 305, Painted 159.  I blame the Britcon bring and buy because I spotted some bargain priced unpainted 15mm Napoleonic Austrians  (10p each) and purchased just over 100.  They are set to follow in the footsteps of these figures I purchased at Vapnartak in February and have just completed.

Timecast sell the Old Glory range of 15mm Napoleonics and the landwehr come with a range of different hats and also shell jacket or frock coat.  These chaps are painted as Styrian landwehr.

At 25mm scale these cavalry purchased on ebay have been recruited into the French army of the Comte de Salle Forde.

They are Prince de Talmont (later Tremouille), one of the many grey coated French cavalry regiments with red facings in the Grand Alliance/War of Spanish Succession period.

For some time one of my sources for information on the Muscovites has been this Osprey book.

Useful as it has been, it is limited, but fortunately Helion & Company have just released this new title in their Century of the Soldier series:

It covers virtually the same period, but is more detailed and in addition to the reforms of Ivan IV and later the Romanovs there are sections on the use of North Caucasian troops in the Muscovite forces and also the campaigns extending Muscovite influence into Siberia.  Some of Helion's publications have suffered from poor proof reading, but so far (c 1/3 through the book) this volume seems to be of a better standard.

Britcon

Rather delayed posting on our most recent outing; a family holiday immediately following attending on the Saturday meant there was little opportunity to access the computer.  Britcon is primarily a show for competition gamers and the trade.  There were only three demo/participation games on offer this year and I think that if that side were developed, (assuming that space and games were available), visitor numbers may increase.  Entrance costs are not an issue as at present entry to the show is free.

Steve and I ran our Stamford Bridge game for the Lance & Longbow Society and induced one passer by to 'have a go'.  Although new to the period he did pick up the rules quickly and seemed to enjoy the game.  During the day we ran the game three times, with the Nevilles winning each time.  However, in one game Will did make them work for their victory, managing to keep the Raby contingent off the table with some fortunate dice rolling.

Here are a few pictures of our game and the Mailed Fist WWII game next to us.

The Percy forces ready to advance

The Neville mounted troops

The mounted man at arms prepare to charge

Overview from behind the Neville position

The Mailed Fist game

Many thanks to Andy, Dave, John, Steve and Will for their help with the game.

Trip to Liverpool

No game this week due to family commitments for both Steve and myself.  On Wednesday my wife and I visited Liverpool to see the 'Terracotta Army' exhibition.  We had been to the previous exhibition at the British Library a decade ago and had been somewhat underwhelmed.  However, a former colleague had seen the exhibition at Liverpool and had told me how much they had enjoyed it, so we took a chance and booked the tickets.

I must say that this exhibition is far better presented than the previous ones and gives much more of the background to the rise of the Qin, the reign of the first emperor and the successor Han dynasty. 

Here are a selection of the photos I took.

A Horse keeper and horse that greet visitors to the exhibition

A War Bell which was mounted on a chariot and used to issue commands to troops

Armour made of stone.  Too heavy to wear, but found in a pit, possibly representing an armoury.  It is thought the armour was provided for the spirits.

One of the "warriors"

Selection of weapons

Han period terracotta warriors

Very much worthy of a visit, if you live close enough to Liverpool try and see the exhibition.

Trying out some new naval rules

This week we tried out "Broadside and Ram" by David Manley.  They are a fast play set of rules specifically for the Battle of Lissa, 1866.  Not having any models for this conflict we turned to  the internet and downloaded some paper cut-out ships.

Our scenario was based on an attempted break out by the Austrian navy to in the face of an Italian blockade.  The picture below shows the Austrian fleet leaving the estuary with the small blockading Italian squadron of wooden warships observing them.  The Austrians have a two squadrons of 3 ships each (wooden on right of picture, iron on left).  Just out of shot the Italians have a squadron of ironclads.

Steve took command of the Austrian fleet, his flagship, Kaiser Max leading the ironclads with Don Juan de Austria and Drache following.  The wooden ships were led by Schwarzenberg followed by Radetzky and Novarra.  I had Duca de Genova observing the estuary, with Gaeta and Maria Adelaide in support.  The ironclad squadron steaming to their assistance comprised Formidabile, Re d' Italia and Re de Portogallo.

The Austrian fleet prepares to leave the estuary

Detail of the "Junior General" ships

Outnumbered 6:1 the Duca de Genova wisely made for the support of the remainder of the squadron.  Having formed line of battle they made for the Austrian wooden ship squadron.  The first salvo from Duca de Genova fell short, but the second struck home, causing moderate damage.  Pressing forward the Italian ship fired another salvo which devastated the Schwarzenberg's gun deck silencing her guns and wrecking the engines, leaving her a drifting hulk.

The Radetzky and Novarra sail past the wrecked Scwarzenberg and head for their ironclads

The two opposing ironclad squadrons were still out of range of each other, but with his squadron of wooden ships coming under such pressure (one ship sunk and the others sustaining damage), Steve directed the fire of Kaiser Max towards Gaete at the rear of the Italian line.  A first salvo missed, but successive ones soon silenced the Gaete's guns.  When  Don Juan de Austria joined in the writing was on the wall and soon the Gaete was reduced to a wreck, later slipping beneath the waves.

Novarra and Radetzky altered course to escape the attentions of Duca de Genova and Maria Adelaide and also bring them closer their ironclad squadron.  The Italian ironclads had been too far away to intercept the Austrian break out and they only arrived in time to try and prevent the Austrian wooden ships escaping.  The Formidabile, at the head of the line received significant damage when Novarra and Radetzky concentrated their fire on her.  This deterred the Italian ships from pursuit and the Austrian fleet sailed away to their home port.

Following lunch we tried the rules again with three squadrons a side and had an indecisive game, with only minor damage inflicted as the two fleets threaded through each other.

In review, the rules are quick and thus suited for fleet action, though the balancing factor is that the fine detail of gun calibre and armour thickness is lost.  The sequence is side A moves, side B fires; side B moves, side A fires which calls for some thoughtful manoeuvring.  As we used the paper ships rather than the 1/2400 models the rules were designed for all the distances were doubled, though tripling may have needed to maintain the proportions.  One thing that appealed to us is that the rules come complete with a section enabling you to carry out a campaign.  Perhaps this will encourage us to make the financial commitment necessary to build the two fleets?

Pontefract, 1645

After the best part of a month, Steve and I actually managed to get a game organised for this week.  It was a Pike and Shotte scenario based on the battle of Pontefract, 1645.  The idea came from an article in Miniature Wargames no 111 by John Barratt, (he has recently had "A Rabble of Gentility: the Royalist Northern Horse 1644-45" published by Helion). 
The Northern Horse under Sir Marmaduke Langdale have been ordered to relieve the siege of Pontefract Castle, currently besieged by Parliamentary forces under Lord Fairfax.  However, as Fairfax was in York, Commissary-General John Lambert was in command.  Other than a brief skirmish at Melton Mowbray, Langdale's approach march was untroubled, Parliamentary forces being unsure of his destination until opposition patrols clashed near Doncaster.  Fairfax ordered Lambert to stand on the defensive and await reinforcements.  In the event, Lambert had ordered a force of horse and dragoons forward to cover the crossing of the river Went.  This force was pushed back, but it did delay the Royalist advance long enough for Lambert to deploy his forces.

Forces used in the game were:
Royalists Sir Marmaduke Langdale

Sir Philip Monckton
2 standard regiments of horse (start the game disordered as they have pursued the covering force                                                         from the Went crossing) 1 trained, 1 veteran

Sir William Blakiston
2 regiments of horse  trained

The 'Northern Horse' had been joined by a mixed force of horse and foot from Newark
Lt Col Cartwright
3 units of horse, 1 standard, 2 small, all trained.

1 standard unit of  foot (3:2 musket/pike) trained

[The Newark foot arrive on turn 3, a die roll determines on where they appear, (1-3 left end of base line, 4-6 right end of base line)

Historically, the sight of Langdale's force encouraged a sally by the Newark garrison.  This may appear following move 3 (dice each turn, 6 - arrives turn 4, 5/6 turn 5 and so on, a 1 is always a fail).  The garrison appears on the flank of Lambert's infantry and can fire a volley or opt to charge before the parliamentary foot respond to their presence.

Garrison
1 small unit of commanded shot, trained. 

View from behind the Royalist position, Newark Horse on the left

Lambert's forces comprise

Colonel Christopher Copley
2 standard regiments of horse, (start the game disordered as they have been pursued the Northern                                                           Horse from the Went crossing), 1 trained 1 veteran

Colonel Burton
2 standard regiments of horse, trained

Colonel Thomas Morgan
2 standard regiments of horse, trained

Colonel John Bright
Yellow reg (small 1:1 musket/pike)
Green reg (standard 3:2 musket/pike)
Commanded shot, small

Morgan's brigade prepare to advance

The combat took place on Chequerfield, south of Pontefract, an open area with hedge-lined enclosures and 'allotments'  around it.

A Royalist victory would be achieved if two cavalry units in good command could exit the parliamentarian table edge.  Parliamentary victory would be preventing any Royalist forces exiting that way.

The action began with the Newark Horse and Blakiston's brigade advancing,  whilst Monckton was still struggling to get his regiments back in order.  As they advanced the Newark Horse came under fire from the parliamentarian commanded shot, this had little effect and they charged into Copley's brigade.  Copley's leading regiment was defeated and fell back through their supports, pursued by the eager Royalists.  However, Copley's second regiment ignored their retreating comrades and stood firm.  In the resulting melee the leading regiment of the Newark Horse was routed and fled the field, carrying one of it's supports with it. 

Copley's brigade rout the leading unit of the Newark Horse

The remaining Newark regiment, Grimshaw's, was saved by Monckton's brigade who had at last regained their order and were advancing rapidly.  Monckton drove back Burton's brigade which had been menacing Grimshaw's flank and then attacked the reforming Copley forcing him to retreat.

On the Royalist right, Blakiston and Morgan had both advanced and engaged in melee.  An even contest flowed back and forth, with neither side being able to gain an advantage.  With Monckton forced to pause to reform following his attack, Grimshaw once again resumed his attack.  First he charged Lambert's own regiment of horse, (part of Copley's brigade), routing it; and then carried on to drive Livesey's (part of Burton's brigade), from the field.  However, this success was his undoing.  Victory over Livesey's had brought them too close to Bright's 'Green' regiment which fired a close range volley that drove the Newark horse back in confusion.

Monckton's men drive back Livesey's (Copley's brigade)

Langdale had seen the arrival of the Newark foot and ordered them to drive off the commanded shot on the Royalist left, before advancing through the enclosures to attack the parliamentarian foot.  Having the advantage of pikes, the Newark men should have made short work of driving off the 'shot', but their opponents proved hard to dislodge and as the melee took place around the enclosure danger approached.

Copley's remaining regiment had recovered from their earlier reverses and now returned to the fray.  In the centre of Chequerfield, Monckton and Burton were still fighting away, neither able to gain the advantage.  On the Royalist right, Morgan was at last gaining the upper hand.  Blakiston's men were beginning to be pushed back.  Copley saw that the commanded shot were in danger of being overwhelmed and led his men in a charge on the exposed flank of the Newark foot.  With their attention focused on the infantry to their front, the Newark foot were totally unprepared for the avalanche which their right flank.  In no time at all they were streaming to the rear, pursued by Copley's troopers.

The Newark foot are routed

Far too late the sally by the Pontefract garrison arrived, only to see that the Royalist forces were quitting the field.  The siege had not been lifted.

Historically, the battle was decided by the sally, as their unexpected volley routed one of Lambert's infantry regiments, allowing a gap through which the Royalist cavalry could pursue the defeated Parliamentarians.  Also, Lambert was wounded when his regiment was routed which took away the command and control of his forces.

Our table-top fight did not reproduce these decisive events (though Lambert's regiment was routed).  However, it did provide for an enjoyable  2 hour game with plenty of ebb and flow.  After lunch, Steve and I  swapped sides and in the second game the Royalists achieved a 'winning draw' by which they were on the verge of pushing a unit through the Parliamentary line and off the table. 

St Pierre du Mont, February 1814

As usual on the Sunday following the Phalanx show, Steve hosted a full day game. Here is a much delayed report on the game.  This year it was a Shako "Big Battles" fictional scenario set in the 1814 campaign.  Napoleon is attempting to stop the advance of the allied Hauptarmee commanded by Schwarzenburg which contains Austrian, Prussian and Russian troops.  The allies have secured two bridgeheads over the Ouise river and are preparing to continue their advance westwards along the road through Recourt and Clairveaux, both of which towns are  overlooked by the abbey of St Pierre du Mont.

The forces deployed are as follows:-

Allies

Prussians
60 infantry stands (40 strength points) in 7 divisions,  16 cavalry stands (19 strength points) in 4 divisions and 4 guns

Austrians
48 infantry stands (30 strength points) in 5 divisions, 14 cavalry stands (17 strength points) in 3 divisions and 4 guns

Russians
96 infantry stands (64 strength points) in 10 divisions, 32 cavalry stands (31 strength points)  in 7 divisions( including 3 Cossack), 8 guns

French

Ney
62 infantry stands (36 strength points) in 6 divisions, 12 cavalry stands (15 strength points)  in 3 divisions, 4 guns

Marmont
48 infantry stands (29 strength points) in 5 divisions, 12 cavalry stands (15 strength points) in 3 divisions, 4 guns

Victor
60  infantry stands (35 strength points) in 6 divisions, 18 cavalry stands (16 strength points) in 4 divisions, 4 guns

Napoleon
30  infantry stands (26 strength points) in 4 divisions, 22 cavalry divisions (28 strength points) in 4 divisions, 5 guns

Napoleon has ordered Ney and Victor to come to the aid of Marmont, whose command has been pushed back by overwhelming numbers of enemy troops.  The emperor has marched his mobile reserve (Imperial Guard) to the area to add its weight to the counterattack.  Schwarzenburg's  planned advance has been disrupted by the Austrian tardiness in getting their troops over the river, (Kolowrat the Austrian commander threw a '4' on a d10 meaning only 4 guns/divisions had managed to cross to the western bank),  which in turn has given Ney, who commands the French Army of Lyon on that flank, an opportunity to attack.

Victor's troops deploy around Varvinay

Marmont covers Recourt 

The Austrians queueing to cross the Ouise

The thin defencive line awaits Ney's attack

Ney's corps advances from St Julien le Croix

Steve and I umpired the game, with me taking the Prussian/Victor flank which also involved Marmont and part of the Russians.  Details of Ney's attack are therefore sketchy, though for some reason, I seem to have more photos of the Austrians than the Prussians.

On the Allies' right flank Blucher ordered the bulk of his cavalry to move onto Mont Varvigny to threaten Victor's flank.  However, Oppen's division was to advance on Clairveaux and if possible seize it.  Meanwhile Blucher directed his infantry to defend the  Braquis bridgehead.  In the centre
the Russians were taking their time advancing onto Mont Jacques, the Cossacks were watching Marmont, but they had no supports.  Kolowrat's Austrians were doing their best to create a defencive line and he was driving the remainder of his force across the bridge as quickly as possible.



For the French, Ney and Victor attacked, whilst Marmont covered Recourt and waited for Napoleon to arrive before attacking Mont Jacques.  Victor moved some cavalry to his left to counter the Prussian advance, which weakened his main attack.  In a bloody melee the Prussians had some success, but their infantry supports were too far away.  Their 'blown' units were driven from the field by a concerted combined arms attack and the reserve cavalry were also pushed back, having to seek the safety of their own lines. Over half the Prussian cavalry were lost in this attack, but it did buy some time.  Meanwhile Oppen had almost reached Clairveaux, (crossing the front of Marmont's cavalry unmolested in the process).  However, further progress was stopped when the massed ranks of The Imperial Guard were spotted.  Oppen immediately turned to regain his own lines.  He narrowly avoided being intercepted by Victor's cavalry, but made it back to report the Guard's arrival.

The cavalry melee on Mont Varvigny

It was now that Marmont's cavalry at last acted on initiative (Marmont was too far away to give them an order himself) and charged forward.  Up to this point , all three divisions had failed their initiative tests on 3 successive occasions.  Fortunately for Marmont's reputation (and career) the fact that the division of cavalry they charged was Victor's was discovered just in time, (their charge move ended 1" short of it's intended target).

Napoleon's arrival had galvanised Marmont into advancing his infantry and the blue-coated infantry moved up the slopes of Mont Jacques.

Marmont advances against the thin line of Cossacks

Victor was continuing his methodical attack against Blucher.  First he subdued the Prussian artillery and then attacked the infantry with combined cavalry and infantry attacks.  Prussian units were driven back time and again only for Blucher to rally them and send them forward again.  However, nothing could hide the thinning ranks of the Prussian infantry.  The loss of Pirch's corps necessitated a shortening of the line and with Kleist and Nordmann both suffering over 50% casualties, Victor seemed on the verge of success.  Just in time Schwarzenberg released the Russian reserve corps to aid the  Prussians.  Bolstered by two elite Russian divisions the Prussian line resisted the next series of attacks and the allied line stabilised.

Victor's cavalry attempt to break the Prussian line

The Prussian position

In the centre, the Russians had taken a long time to get organised, but their deployment onto Mont Jacques arrived just in time to face Marmont's attack.  Both sides gained some small successes, but the decisive action took place just to the north of Mont Jacques where Napoleon had committed the full might of the Guard cavalry, plus two heavy cavalry divisions to try and create a breach in the line where the Russian and Prussian troops met.  The Chasseurs and Lancers of the Guard met the Russian Guard Light cavalry head to head and came off second best, whilst the two divisions of cuirassiers made no impression on the resolute Russian infantry.

The decisive cavalry melee between the opposing guards

Only in Ney's attack on Moissy sur Ouise  could the French see any glimmer of success.  Initially outnumbered, the Austrians had put up a determined resistance which was reinforced as more troops reached the western bank.  The Russian cavalry had helped out, but had paid a heavy price.  Attack and counter-attack saw the French and Austrian lines move forward and then back.  With time running out, Ney launched one more attack which had his men on the verge of capturing the town of Moissy sur Ouise.  He needed reinforcements to push home the advantage, but Marmont was fully committed and the Guard was far away.

Austrians preparing for the French attack

Kolowrat rallying his troops

Russian dragoons driven off by Ney's infantry

Yet more French attacks

The fight beneath the walls of Moissy sur Ouise

We had to call time at this point and declare that it was a "winning draw" for the French in that they stopped the Allied advance and inflicted heavy casualties on both the Prussians and Austrians.  However, they had not done enough to change the course of the overall campaign and the losses suffered by Ney in particular could not be replaced.

In retrospect I would have changed a couple of details.  French reinforcements would have been available from the start and the Russian reinforcements could have been delayed more.  The delayed Austrian advance was a greater impediment than I had intended, but it still gave a good game on that flank.  Due to circumstances there were fewer players than I had planned for, but John, (as Russian commander) did a sterling job controlling twice as many troops as anyone else and also supplying some more photos.

Casualty returns (strength points lost)
Allies
Prussians
Infantry 16 out of 40 (40%);    Cavalry 15 out of 19 (75%)

Austrians
Infantry 21 out of 30 (70%);    Cavalry 6 out of 17 (30%)

Russians (does not include Guard reserve)
Infantry 12 out of 64 (18%);   Cavalry 19 out of 31 (60%)

French
Ney
Infantry 24 out of 36 (66%);   Cavalry 10 out of 15 (66%)

Marmont
Infantry 6 out of 29 (20%);    Cavalry  6 out of 15 (40%)

Victor
Infantry 11 out of 35 (30%);  Cavalry  7 out of 16 (40%)

My thanks to Steve for helping with the umpiring, Chris, Dave, Ian, John, Nick and Phil for playing the game and the lady gentlemen pensioners, Gwen, Kay and Lynne, for providing a very good lunch.  Hopefully, it won't be another four years before we have a large multi-player Napoleonic game!