Eylau 1807 Picture Heavy

[wrgmr1]

On Saturday November 16th, 2013, The White Rock Gamers with two of the North Shore Gamers in attendance, played the Battle of Eylau.

This historic Napoleonic battle occurred on February 8th 1807, between the French forces of Napoleon Bonaparte and the Russian Army under the command of Count Von Benningsen.

The actual battle occurred during a very cold snowy period, with frequent snowstorms and flurries.
To simulate this we decided to roll dice every turn to determine what the weather was to be; Blizzard, Flurries or clear, each state being incrementally detrimental to firing and movement.

The game was set up on Friday night and we started play at approximately 10:00 am Saturday morning.
The first number of turns started the game with Blizzard conditions, no firing beyond 9 inches and rolling a die for maneuver for every battalion or regiment.

The Russian commander decided to break from history and attack on all fronts. The Russians set up a grand battery of guns in their centre to try and break the French centre or set fire to the village of Eylau.
The Russian left wing aggressively attacked Davout’s Corps which was just arriving on the table, division by division. Davout managed to hold off the Russians losing the greater portion of Friants Division, eventually destroying 3 large Russian Divisions.

The Russian Grand battery advanced into the open and came under attack by French heavy cavalry, losing a number of batteries to their constant charges. Brave Russian infantry moved forward to support their guns and formed square, causing severe losses to the French heavy cavalry, eventually destroying the Cuirassier division of Hautpoul.

The Russian right wing advanced boldly and destroyed 3 small French light cavalry divisions. Continuing their advance, the battle hardened Russian Dragoons crossing swords on the finest of French cavalry, the Guard Grenadiers and Elite Chasseurs a Cheval of the guard.
The Russian Dragoons once again prevailed, destroying all the Guard cavalry, however their division was destroyed in the process. French infantry on their left wing of Soult’s Corps could not withstand the attack with three more divisions being decimated.

By the time night fell at turn 18 there were 8 French divisions and 4 Russian destroyed.
The total number of battalions and regiments removed from the game were almost identical, because the Russian divisions are much bigger than the French. However the Russians lost over 20 batteries of artillery.
The game ended at turn 18 at 5:30 pm. The actual battle continued until approximately 10 pm but, we decided to pack it up and go eat by then.

A great time was had by all with much laughter, good fun and friendship.
Photos and after action report by Thomas J. Moore



http://s219.photobucket.com/user/tjm3/slideshow/Eylau%2028mm%20Napoleonic%20Battle%201807?sort=2

[PAULSPENCE]

Bonjour,

Many thanks for the photos and write-up!

Splendid terrain and good to see so many troops on the table at one time.

What make(s) are your figures and what rules did you use?

Here in the mountainous Auvergne region of France my far more modest game secheduled to be continued tomorrow looks like it will be snowed-off but there's always next week!

Cheers,

Paul

[wrgmr1]

Hi Paul,

Thanks for your compliments.

We use Shako 2 rules, which Chris Leach of our group co-authored.

As for figures, front Rank, Old Glory, Elite, Minifigs, Foundry, Perry, pretty much everyone.

Cheers,
Thomas