The last battle we played was a narrow victory for France, the artillery however was a bit to "overpowered", therefore we decided to play another battle in the same period one more time, this time we downgraded the artillery a bit to get it more balanced. This was also the first time that my son, Alexander (8 years old), joined us and played a full game with us (he rolled for his troops)
France
Army General: Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of the French (Abe)
1st corps
Marshal Michel Ney, Duke of Elchingen, Prince of Moskowa, "Bravest of the brave" (Alex)
Brigade commander General Souchet 3 infantry regiments
Brigade commander General Grouchy 3 infantry regiments
Artillery
Unit Hussars
2nd corps
Corps commander Marshall Louis Nicolas Davout, 1st Duke of Auerstedt, 1e prince of Eckmuhl (Sander)
Brigade commander General Chouard 3 infantry regiments
Brigade commander Besiers 3 infantry regiments
Artillery
Unit Dragoons
3e corps (Old Gard)
Corps commander Marshall Nicolas Jean-deDieu Soult, Duke of Dalmatia (Abe)
4 infantry regiments Old Gard
Dutch "Red lancers" of the Gard
Artillery
Cavalry Reserve
Marshall Joachim Murat, King of Naples (Abe)
2 unit's cuirassiers, 1 unit carabineers
Unit of horse artillery
Allies:
Russia
Army General: Field Marshall Prince Michael Illarionovitsj-Koetoezov (Erik)
Brigade commander Prince Pjotr Ivanovitsj Bagration (Alexander) 3 infantry regiments
Brigade commander Marshall Michael Andreas Barclay (Alexander) de Tolly 3 infantry regiments
Brigade commander Count Fedor Petrovich Uvarov (Erik) 2 units Platov Grenadiers of the Gard
Count Matvei Ivanovich Platov (Erik) 3 cavalry units
Artillery 2 divisions
Austria
Army General: Archduke Charles Louis Johan Jozef Laurens, prince of Toscana, Duke of Teschen (Justin)
Brigade commander Marshall Dagobert Sigismund von Wurmser 3 infantry regiments
Brigade commander General Karl Mack, Freiherr van Leiberich 3 infantry regiments
Brigade commander Count Andras Hadik de Futak 3 infantry regiments
Cavalry commander Johann I Joseph, prince of Liechtenstein 3 cavalry units
Artillery 2 divisions
The defeated allies moved back towards their own lands, they had lost but the armies and the Alliance was far from broken. Napoleon continued the pursuit, severely pressed by the French the allies regrouped for a final battle, Vienna lay in sight, this time a new defeat was not an option. The orders of the emperors were clear, no step further back and no return without victory but against this opponent that was nearly an impossible task.
This time the French wanted to finally crush the allied armies, the earlier victory had tasted sweet and the French hungered for more. Davout would move along the flank while Ney, Soult and Murat would break open the centre.
Austria and Russia however were planning to adopt a more aggressive policy then their last battle and planned to attack. The Russian armies would be left behind, they had to keep 2/3 of the French army busy, that would give Austria the possibility to attack Ney's corps with a numerical superiority, after Ney's corps would have been destroyed, they would move around and attack the French in the flank or rear an relieve the Russians.
The first turn was for Austria and Russia, the cannons thundered and the first French were felled. Austria brought the divisions of Wurmser, Hadik and Mack forward (Justin) and the Cavalry of Prince Liechtenstein (Justin) moved with great speed towards the troops of Ney (Alex). The Russians took up better positions in the Centre where the infantry divisions took a defensive stand.
Ney (Alex) saw the large amount of Austrian troops moving his way, only the Division of Grouchy guarded that Flank, Souchet moved his Division towards Grouchy to support them. A unit of French Hussars (Alex) charged the Austrian cavalry of Liechtenstein (Justin), Austrian Lancers brought the lances down and like a hot knife through butter the French Hussars were pierced, in a panic the Hussars left the battlefield.
In the Centre Murat (Abe) moved forward, he broke down his Division in two so that he could threaten both sides. The Guard (Abe) moved slowly forward. Davout (Sander) broke down his corps into two divisions, Chouard moved between the mill and the forests towards the Russians, Bessiers took the long route around the mill. If Besiers moved fast enough then he could surround the Russians and make his numerical superiority count.
As a Deja vu to an earlier battle the French troops of Grouchy (Alex) couldn't form into square, they were a willing victim for the troops of Liechtenstein (Justin) that were out for revenge. Austrian sabres beheaded French troops while the survivors were crushed under the horses hooves, Liechtenstein seemed satisfied as a French unit of Fusiliers was removed from the face of the Earth. The Austrian infantry moved further forward towards the troops of Liechtenstein and Grouchy whom were engaged in a mortal combat.
In the Centre the Pavlov grenadiers of Uvarov (Erik) manoeuvred with the Cavalry of Platov (Erik) this way the Cavalry of Murat was given no chance to charge without receiving a deadly traversing fire. Prince Bagration's infantry (Alexander) formed square so as to be safe against the Cavalry of Murat. Barclay de Tolly (Alexander) moved his infantry in the direction of the troops of Chouard (Sander), he wanted to attack and destroy them before Besiers (Sander) would arrive.
Grouchy (Alex) formed his remaining troops into square formation, they were now safe from the Cavalry of Liechtenstein (Justin), the French troops of Souchet had now also arrived and fresh troops formed besides the troops of Grouchy, they were still in the minority but at least they now had a fighting chance to stop the Austrians.
The Guard (Abe) moved further forward and Murat moved his cavalry more to the sides but he did not dare to attack. The mounted artillery also moved forward. Chouard (Sander) moved further forward and the voltigeurs of his division adopted skirmish formation and moved into the forest while Besiers continued his march on the flank.
The Austrian infantry of Wurmser and Hadik (Justin) also arrived and the first units charged the infantry of Grouchy (Alex) who were now in a square formation and with great difficulty they managed to resist the power of the Austrian attack. The units of Souchet (Alex) were also charged and a deadly battle broke out. Bayonets pierced flesh and the rear of the muskets shattered skulls, the fighting was severe and bloody. A unit of Fusiliers from Souchet had had enough, fearful they moved back, the Austrians tasted blood and continued the pursuit, a temporary fall back turned into a flight, they did not run far however, the Austrian grenadiers slaughtered the French and a French unit went down, this only reinforced the majority of Austrians.
Platov (Erik) divided his cavalry into two parts, two units would charge the Guard that was now clearly visible in the Centre, this was meant to force them to form square after which the cavalry would redirect their charge so that the artillery would have a good target to shoot at, the second unit of cavalry would charge the French horse artillery while they were still limbered, at least that was the plan. The reality was different, the cavalry moved very reluctantly towards the guard but did not reach them, they had achieved more than the second cavalry unit however, they didn't move at all.
In the Centre the artillery opened fire on the Guard but few casualties were inflicted. Barclay de Tolly's troops (Alexander) charged the French troops of Chouard (Sander), but the French were ready for the Russian attack and the Russians were impaled on a wall of bayonets, a complete unit was destroyed, the other two remained behind bewildered. On the left flank the Austrians had the upper hand, in the Centre still nothing had managed to slow the Guard down, while on the right the French held their ground and every turn that they did the envelopment came closer.
On the flank the battle went unabated, French grenadiers of Souchet (Alex) managed to destroy a Hungarian unit of infantry from Hadik (Justin), this brought the fight a little more back into balance, this despite the fact that the troops of Grouchy were driven back further.
Murat (Abe) now gave the order to attack, his cavalry would charge the Russian Cavalry (Erik), and unfortunately Murat's cavalry did not understand his loud shouting and his cavalry didn't move. Lancers of the Guard (Abe) decided to take a risk and moved in front of the artillery and the troops of Bagration (Alexander), they wanted to attack Barclay de Tolly (Alexander) in the back, it turned out to be a deadly gamble, the artillery shot while the squares of Bagration opened a coordinated fire, the unit of Lancers broke and defeated they left battlefield.
The troops of Chouard (Sander) opened fire on Barclay de Tolly (Alexander) but they did little damage, in the meantime the troops of Besiers (Sander) marched around the mill, Besiers's troops could see the backs of the Russians, the enclosement was beginning to take form.