DBN5 'Ney at Lutzen' 1813 Allies vs French

French Troops defend Gross Gorschen 1813

Here we go & our 1813 Napoleonic Campaign, we'll run historic & fictional games.  The Battle of Lutzen 1813, was fought in the first phase of the campaign.  Here's a link to the battle =
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_L%C3%BCtzen_(1813)

Our battle was fought using DBN rules, the scenario itself is available as a free download from the nice chaps at KISR =   http://www.qualityseasidehotel.co.uk/game/NeyatLutzen1813.pdf

It deals with the initial surprise attack by the Allies on Ney's weak Corps, the objective to capture the four villages.  The scenario is only 8 turns long, the advantage appears to be with the Allied Prussian & Russian Armies lead by Blucher.  The French would have to prevent the Allies from doing this or inflict  5 casualties.  I must admit looking at this & knowing how movement in ANY DBx game is dependent on the PiP dice a commander throws, I expected this to be a tall order for the Allies.  As it turned out we played past this point, with 16 turns being more realistic.  Historically Napoleon turned up & the Battle fizzled out into a stalemate.  In our Scenario, Ney is on his own!!!  We would play that the Allies had to take, Gross Gorschen(two fortifications), Rahna & Kline Gorschen(both one fortification).  Kaja looked to be a 'village too far'.

Hopefully we'll get to play another Lutzen Scenario, one based in an old Wargames Illustrated from January 91, which covers the entire battle including the French Imperial Guard, but that's later.

Ze French OOB (yours truly..)

CinC – Ney Marshal (+2 in Close Combat but must test for Commander Casualty if Winner or Looser)
2 x LI(M), 1 x LI, 4 x Ms, 6 x Ms(M),1 x LC
(4 x Ms(M), 2 x LI(M) and 1 x LC available for Initial Deployment, ours were placed ready to occupy the villages, the rest of the French would arrive later)

The Allies OOB  (FeldMarshall Amy)

CinC – Blucher/Gneisenau (+1 CAP)*
2 x Ms(E) (1 Guard, 1 Grenadier), 2 x Jg (one is (E) Guard Jaeger), 4 x Ms, 3 x LC (one is Russian),
2 x HA (one is Russian), 1 x FA (Russian), 1 x IC (Cossacks)



Obviously download the Scenario for a complete rundown of the Battle objectives...

The Battlefield

Forward the Allies!!

The Prussian onslaught

Wooaa, an early French casualty, as a Brigade falls to combined firepower...

Amy's PiPs are OK & the Allied attack takes shape...

I can describe mine as 'A Bag of Dog Poo'

The Allies force Gross Gorschen...  They occupy one part of it.

Forward....!

Russian Cavalry force back the weak French Infantry

HOORAR!!! Ney arrives at last!

Though I manage to slip some French troops into Gross Gorschen, it would only be a stop gap.

Forward the Allies!!!

As expected, Gross Gorschen falls!!!

French Light Cavalry steady the line!!!

Down go the Russkies!

The Russian Jaegers attack Rahna

The rough lines of battle, could the French hold Rahna & Kline Gorschen???

Allied Batteries are drawn up against Kline Gorschen

The Allied Jaegers force out the French from Rahna...

It's a bottleneck between Rahna & Kline Gorschen

Amy makes space to allow the Allied assault to go into Kline Gorschen

I steady the line & prepare to retake Gross Gorschen

A ferocious firefight takes place

The Allies get the upper hand

AAarrghh!! The French attack to re-take Rahna fails.....

Could Amy's troops take Kline Gorschen???

Amy throws 'Blucher' into the fray... "Onward my children, show no Pity!!!"

The Allies take Kline Gorschen... Victory

The Battlefield at the end, roughly 15 turns...

A close run battle, Amy got the victory with a turn to go.  PiPs are a major factor in this one, as suspected it got bogged down in the ground between the villages.  In our game there was no way the Allies would reach Kaja.  I think this game suffered from a poor road network, making movement before contact difficult.

Amys elite units rolled aside the weak French ones easily.  However Neys troops managed to put up a good show.  I'm looking forward to playing the 'Full' Battle of Lutzen, though we'll need a bigger table.

Field Marshall PiPPiN Von Krumms
After Action Analysis

Roll Good PiPs or you will fail!!

Concentrate your Elite troops for a Breakthrough

To jaw-jaw is always better than to war-war.