Tuesday 11 June 2019

Battle of Lutzen - 1813 (in a barn)




Lutzen has been one of my favourite Napoleonics since we first played it at Liphook (I was the Allied commander, we lost, but played well), and Nick and I visited the real battlefield after Leipzig.

At the weekend Francis (of the Napoleonics 20/20 blog) hosted another "battle in a barn", and after the fun of Leipzig last year I was really looking forward to playing Lutzen in wonderful surroundings, with beautiful 20mm figures and terrain, great company and a very playable set of rules - I wasn't disappointed!

Looking E over Starsiedel towards the four villages

I was again on the Allied side, but this time  a more relaxing role commanding the Prussian Reserve Cavalry of Jurgass and Werder on the left flank. As such apologies to the other players (and readers) if this AAR is biased to the Allies and the left flank!

The Allies go into the attack on (well occupation of) Rana and Grossgorchen

At the very start the Allies had a big, if welcome surprise. Our leading units of Zeithen and Klux had their noses right up against the buildings of Rana and Grossgorchen, and the French were still napping in the centre of square of villages, and we had a free move! So whilst this may have skewed any repeatability of the historical battle we got quickly into the village and ready for the counter-attack.

French gunners at the ready

For most of the next 10 moves (til midday game time, 5pm real time) the fight was very much in the centre. We held the two villages against repeated counter-attack, and even managed to push the French back up against the Flossgraben stream, and almost got into Kaja and Kleingorschen. (Kaja has special memories for me as when we visited we were invited into the small museum that a couple of local guys have their - and one of them even gave us a musketball each that had been ploughed up in the fields outside the village). The gap between Starsiedel and Kaja was also a the scene of heavy fighting with a French gun battery on the ridge charged on both flanks by Prussian cavalry, and Prussian infantry then storming over the ridge into a bloody melee with the French in a reverse slope position.  At some point there was even a blue-on-blue from some Prussian artillery - on the instructions of the umpires! Starsiedel itself was also the scene of repeated attack and counter-attack as we took the church and held it against all-comers, but couldn't get ourselves into the second building.

The fight for Starsiedel

By contrast the two flanks were fairly quite. We secured Hohenlohe on the right (Francis had made the flank villages +3 not +2 VP to encourage flank play - it worked) and then held the line of the Flossgraben against mounting French troops, but couldn't seize Eisdorf.

Uhlans looking for a target

My flank was the quietest. I'd surprised everyone by not taking on the French gun battery on the ridge at the front (a waste of my +2 Heavy Cav!) and instead had grand plans for getting round the weakly held French right flank. I got to Kolzen - the left most village - but just after the French, but I had no infantry to turf them out. By now French re-inforcements were coming in and blocking my grand flanking move, so I sat where I was. Which was just as well as then a whole French Brigade, and then a whole Italian one turned up on the board edge - Bertrand's corps turning up! Since I was stood there the French had no option but to creep onto the board in square and stay there. My horse then charged his one Lt Cav Regiment (he may have started it!) and saw that off (we got extra bonuses for French Cavalry!), and whilst my 2nd line horse kept the French in square my horse gun blazed away, and by the end of the physical day one battalion square was gone.

My cavalry taking damage from distant guns. 200cm range!

A good pub meal, drink and chat and then it was on to Day 2, the afternoon of the 2nd May. This was almost a reverse of Day 1 for a while, with the action on the flanks more than in the centre.


Day 2 gets underway - the view W from the Prussian right flank

In the villages the French brought the Old Guard up to keep hold of Kaja and Kleingorschen, but by the time they arrived we'd managed to get into Kleingorschen and held it til the end. Otherwise the villages, and the Starsiedel ridge seemed quite - fact there was a time when the two front lines formed a lovely lozenge shape, joined on the flanks but a big area of no-mans-land in the centre half. In fact it was so quiet there that the Young Guard were dispatched to Starsiedel. This proved a bit premature as we then launched a fresh attack on the now lightly held ridge with new Russian troops, and our cavalry broke through and almost managed to penetrate to the far table. The French line was completely cut. So the Young Guard were ordered back again - I don't think they fired a shot the whole game! (although they may have been caught up in our general advance in the centre that followed - and let us secure Kaja on almost the last move).


The fight on the Right flank, Hohenloh in the near centre

On our right flank we continued to hold Hohenlohe but against ever mounting pressure, I understand the cossacks did their bit by seeing off some cuirassiers. Eisdorf stayed out of reach though.

Uhlans again!

Guard Foot Artillery on the N side of the Flossgraben trying to retake Kleingorschen

The battle around Starsiedel never let up, and the Russian Guard arrived just in time to slip into the church and relieve a battered Prussian unit just in time for the final attack - which never came as the attacking French brigade rolled low and ended up on a Hold order!

Russian infantry on the attack!

Finally to my flank. The Russian Guard Cavalry (and some Guard Infantry) was hot footing it over so as to give me some weight to ideally take Kolzen, but also since the French Guard Cavalry was heading my way to take them out. The only issue was that the space between Kolzen and Starsiedel became a valley of death, with 3 French batteries lining its sides against one of ours - and the cavalry needed to charge though it. I tried to place my weakened cavalry as a sacrificial screen, but one of them got blown away. My lead Regiment could't quite reach the French - who were timorous in coming forward - so settled for an infantry unit out of square hoping to get the cavalry on the follow-up, but the infantry gave too good an account of themselves and the cavalry was gone. So I had two very battered regiments that finally made contact with the Empress Dragoons and Grenadiers a Cheval. I lost, but the French follow-ups were short and so they fell back blown, well out of range of my waiting third line. Luckily gun fire from our advancing centre soon disposed of them!

Heading towards the big cavalry melee, from the Prussian lines

Casualties are mounting!

The final vignette was played out around Kolzen. My Guard Horse battery had taken on square-bashing duties. The French battalion in Kolzen had been taking pot-shots at them but then got bold enough to come out, form up and charge the battery! The Russian Guard artillerymen fought them to a draw! Then my Guard Light Cavalry came to their assistance, and the French were toast. This of course left Kolzen unoccupied (worth 3 VPs!). Most of the French were in square as my cavalry continued to menace. An Italian battalion further back fell 5 cm short. A final French battalion was in line and could just side-step to make contact, but the Brigade rolled a 1, the only roll which would put them on Hold orders, and so Kolzen remained unoccupied at the games end!

An empty Holzen!
Overall it was a good Allied victory. I can't remember exact numbers but it was something like 60 points of French destroyed against 40 points of Allied. In VP terms we had around 11 to their 6 I think - so Kolzen wasn't quite a decider, but between that and the French Cavalry it was!

Overall a great game, all played in the best of spirits with lots of help and advice along and across the table. The rules work really well - although perhaps reinforcements moving across an empty table should get a x3 move as only half the Allied Guard made it into the game, and the French Guard also had to take their time. But otherwise a really wonderful game all round, and many thanks to Francis for hosting yet again.

Some final photos.










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