Mark and I met up for a game at Leighton Buzzard Wargames Club. My Imperial Guard vs his Austrians, but he had taken an earlier list (1806), whereas mine was back to 1811. This time saw the first fielding of my new Young Guard.
My plan was to adance the guard through the two villages, one brigade had deployed forwards in the centre to accomplish this; then swing in from the left with the Gauard Heay Cavalry brigade. Unfortunately, Mark had other ideas! He had deployed with his cavalry brigade screening forwards. Then it all really went his way. Soldiers of Napoleon has three things you can do on each card, an amount of units that can move, a rally state and special events. Sometimes, the cards fall absolutely how you want them to, sometimes, they don't. Turn one and Mark had been dealt two sets of 'At the quick' special event cards, allowing a march and then a manouver (or vice versa) for three units. Exactly the amount of cavalry units in his brigade! Combined with a 'SAenior Commander Arrives' as his Corps commander rocked up to see what all the fuss was about, and I was out carded. This meant that suddenly his two Cheveuax-Legaur and a unit of Hussars were already BEHIND both guard infantry brigades, and I would hae to try and react to this. Plus he got me with a 'Lost Orders', so I was down a card and therefore had less ability to react. Perfect storm, but this time against me!
The Hussars swung right, catching an Old Guard unit in the rear (I had been trying to move them into the village, but did not have enough cards to reach safety). Mark rolled fairly badly, and my Guard unit withdrew to the other side of the village in a rather big hurry. I would now be using cards that I needed to move things with to rally, cutting down on my reaction abilities, and worse, leaing a battery of guns in range of a follow up charge from a disorganised and only slightly bloodied unit of Hussars!
Meanwhile, Mark's two other units were bearing down on the back of my central infantry brigade, plus my horse artillery from the cavalry brigade.
My heay cavalry brigade vainly tries to react, the artillery batteries, carefully positioned to deal with Mark's infantry skulking behind the wood, swings to face, but their fate will be sealed.
Mark has me, sliced through the middle. I am firing artillery and skirmishers at him, but my dice and cards were dropping big hints that really I should pack up and go home, but I wanted to fight on and see what would happen. To add insult to injury, both foot guards brigadiers decided they were 'At Risk' and legged it away from the threat, costing me two card in round two, when Mark's reserve cavalry appeared, meaning he was on 8 cards to my 4!
Ignoring teh square of the Guard, Mark plunges his cheaux-legure past the square, round the village and into the Guard foot artillery, breaking them.
Wchich left their flank exposed to a cannister shot from teh horse artillery, a good throw here could have broken them! Needing 5&6s, all I got was one hit. Soem days...
The heavies arrive, and the Genadiers a Chevel plunge into the disordered Cheveaux, causing mayhem, but not destroying them. Mark at this point had all three units in teh brigade on possible routs, but some well managed rallies saed them all, and what could have equalled the scores evaporated.. The Guard infantry commander has now run a second time...
On the right, Mark's massed 12 pounder artillery has been targetting the square of the Old Guard outside the left of the village, and despite some serious rally cards bing used, they routed from combined fire, leaving the artillery utterly exposed. The other two guard units were using their skirmishers to try and cuase enough hits to break the Hussars, but Mark had enough spare cards to rally the cavalry brigade and put them all into good order. They tried four times to charge my artillery, but failed their 3+ motivation each time! When they eventually did charge and wiped out the foot artillery, they had accrued enough point to break themselves, my one victory for the night.
Austrian off table batteries turned their attention to the Young Guard in the centre, Mark could not miss! All my remaining cards would be used on rallying, but Mark, haing more cards, could keep firing at them.
Teh Yound Guard break, and this seals the game. I was down to single digit victory points after starting in teh mid-thirties., Mark was still in the twenties!
I had lost BIG! Despite that, it was still an excellent game. The luck and the dice all went Mark's way, and if the cards had been the other way, we woukld hae had another report of my Heavies tearing an infantry brigade to pieces. This was such a laugh, and although I lost a battalion of Old Guard, two batteries of artillery and a Young Guard battalion, it still felt like a good fight that might have swung my way. It goes to show my Guard can be beaten, and now I need my revenge on the Austrians!!
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