6mm Battle of Aabenraa 1864

[Kuropatkin]

The Battle of Aabenraa was a fictitious battle set in the 1864 2nd Schleswig War. De Meza was kept in command after the retreat from the Dannenvirke and was able to keep the army in field rather than occupy the Dybbøl position. The Danes decided to hold the position at Aabenraa to stop any further advance of the Austro-Prussian Allied Army. The there infantry divisions were positioned to cover the crossings of the river, with the 1st covering Aabenraa and the 2nd Covering Årslev. The 3rd Division and the Army Artillery were held in reserve between the two infantry divisions. The 4th Division (cavalry) was covering the army's west flank off the table.

The Austro-Prussian Allied Army needed to secure a road going off map to the north to win. The Danes needed to stop them. Rules were Bloody Big Battles. Table size was 5' x 8'.

The battlefield looking from east to west. We had five players, 3 Danish (each commanded a division) and two Allied (each commanded a corps). The river was not fordable, but the armies could try to discover fords during the battle(die roll).

[Kuropatkin]

The positions of the 1st Danish Division looking west. Rather than occupy the town, the Danish 1st Division commender decided to hold the river line.

 

[Kuropatkin]

The positions of the 2nd, 3rd Divisions and Artillery looking east.

[Kuropatkin]

The Allied Army positions. The Austro-Hungarian IV Corps was to seize Aabenraa; the Prussian 1 Corps was the secure the bridge near Årslev and move to Søst.

[Kuropatkin]

The Prussian main attack. The Prussians found a ford east of the brigade at Årslev. The 13th Division moved to cross that ford. The 6th Division (off the picture to the right) also found a ford to the west of the brigade (some lucky die rolls). The Danish 2nd Div. moved to contain the Prussian 6th Division while the Danish 3rd Division moved against the Prussian 13th Division. The Army Artillery was split to support both efforts.

[Kuropatkin]

Things didn't go well for the Prussians, with the Danes able to keep the Prussian infantry at longer range. This limited the impact of the Prussian Needle Guns. With the support of the Army Artillery, the Prussians were at first stopped, then forced back.

[Kuropatkin]

Unfortunately for the Danes, their 1st Division had to fight against the Austro-Hungarian IV Corps by itself. The A-H infantry was able to occupy the undefended town and bring rifle and artillery fire against the Danish infantry standing in the open. The Austrian jägers were quite effective firing from the houses. After wearing down the defenders, Brigade Dormus rushed the bridge but was stopped, but not disordered, by Danish rifle fire. Brigade Gondrecourt then found a ford and pushed across the river while Dormus prepared for another try. In the face of the slacking Danish fire, Bde. Dormus succeeded in crossing and formed up with Gondrecourt. The Danish 1st Div. was pushed back from the river as more of the A-H IV Corps prepared to cross. Without any reserves, De Meza decided that the battle was lost and begin to save his army. The 2nd and 3rd Divisions were able to easily disengage while the 1st Division used its cavalry and artillery to screen its retreat. The Austrians were not in a good position to pursue. So ended the battle with an Allied Army victory.

 

[ChrisBBB]

That's a fun what-if, thanks, Kuropatkin! Nice when the game tells the story of an (albeit fictitious) battle so cleanly and clearly.

(An aside: Austria-Hungary didn't get hyphenated until the Compromise of 1867. Until then it was just plain Austria.)

[Kuropatkin]

Thank you Chris.

RE: (An aside: Austria-Hungary didn't get hyphenated until the Compromise of 1867. Until then it was just plain Austria.)

Yes, been doing a lot of reading on 1914 in the past fews weeks. Habit. 

[ChrisBBB]

Understandable. I've committed worse sins than an inappropriate hyphen myself.

Back to the game: interesting that your Danish 1st Div CO chose not to hold the town bridgehead. Did he already have one eye on a likely retreat? A town defence might have gone better for him and held up the Austrians longer.

[Kuropatkin]

RE: Danish 1st Divison. He was a new player and I just assumed he saw the river as a longer defensive line compared to holding a bridgehead (i.e. not creating a salient). Sometimes players forget that a river works both ways; it can help the attacker just as much as the defender depending on how the attacker executes his plan.

I was actually more surprised that the Danes committed their reserves in the first hour. If there had been an offensive intent behind the decision, it could have been interesting. As it was, the move was purely defensive in nature. It stop the Prussian attack, but further isolated the 1st Division from any support. The Danish 3rd Division could have disengaged from the west, but it was too far away provide any timely assistance. if youn log at the last picture, the Prussians were already marching a brigade to support the Austrians.