I haven't played Blucher for a while so was happy to accept a game set in 1813 with my French against Ted's Prussians. Ted not being a fan of Scharnhorst we played a simple pick up game.
I chose to take Napoleon as my commander and have three Corps. One consisted of Bavarians, the second mixed Poles and 'Marie Louise's' and the third of Guard infantry, cavalry and artillery.
The French ended up defending on a battlefield consisting of a few hills on my right, one of which was a Prussian objective, scattered woods, another Prussian objective on my left and a road running centrally on which the French objective was placed.
The Prussians initially advanced a large force of Line infantry and Landwher split into two groups on my left.
Facing them was the Bavarian Corps, initially it appeared the Bavarians might have an advantage in cavalry as the Prussians didn't seem to have any.
Realising that the Bavarians would quickly be outnumbered the Guard infantry and Foot artillery advanced on their right in support. Brigades of Poles and Marie Louise's also advanced to support the Guard.
The Prussians continued to push forward on my left towards the Bavarians.
They also brought up some Uhlans and the end Landwher unit prepared to receive cavalry.
In the centre the Guard infantry continued to advance and the Guard cavalry and Horse artillery followed behind them.
On the left the Prussians moved their Uhlans up to face the Bavarian horse and the infantry began to exchange fire.
Meanwhile on my right desultory skirmishing occurred with the terrain limiting the possibilities for an attack by either side.
The Prussian Uhlans charge home! The Bavarian cavalry were obviously dispirited and took 5 hits from the Prussians almost breaking them in a single attack and throwing them back utterly spent as a force.
In the centre the Guard infantry and Horse Grenadiers take on a mixed Prussian force of Landwher, Reservists and Dragoons.
The Uhlans advance past the Bavarian infantry flank. Their six combat dice, all of which hit, can be seen in the background!
The shattered Bavarian cavalry attempt to hold on a little longer.
The Prussians are now pushing past the end on the Bavarian line on the left and attacking frontally to increase the pressure. They have taken heavy losses but have enough numbers to continue to press.
In the centre the Guard pushes the Prussians back though one brigade of Guard infantry is almost finished and in an exposed position.
The Horse Grenadiers charge home against a weakened Reserve Prussian brigade but fail to break them and are forced to fall back behind the Guard infantry.
With the Bavarians being outflanked and in danger of imminent collapse the Guard Light Cavalry and Horse Artillery are committed to try to hold the Prussians up and hopefully mop up some of their weakened brigades that have been in combat for a while.
The Prussians push forward again in the centre having finally broken the weakened Guard infantry on the left centre. The remaining Guard are relatively fresh however and await the attack. On the right the skirmishing continues with little effect on either side.
The situation on the left is becoming critical. One Bavarian brigade and the Bavarian artillery have been forced to retire and another Bavarian brigade in on the verge of collapse. The Prussians have almost taken their objective with only the Guard Light Cavalry and the Guard Horse Artillery to dispute it. However the Prussians have also taken heavy losses with many brigades close to breaking and all their reserves on this flank committed.
Another Bavarian infantry brigade retires. The Guard Light Cavalry charge the Prussian Reservists disputing the objective but an heroic effort from the Prussians throws the cavalry back.
In the centre the Prussians are starting to run out of steam and the Guard should be able to hold on.
On the left the French and Bavarians have managed to pull together some sort of defensive line. Both sides are close to breaking on this flank and the objective is still disputed.
This was the last action in the battle as we had started late night fell with both sides just hanging on. Napoleon would live to fight on but the Bavarian Corps was shattered as a fighting force and the abject flight of their cavalry suggested that perhaps the Bavarians had lost faith in Napoleon. The Prussians took heavy losses themselves and would probably have to retire to lick their wounds, doubtless Blucher would have them pressing on again soon!
I must admit I much prefer using Scharnhorst to set up Blucher games but this quick set up game worked really well. Ted chose an interesting army with loads of low quality Landwher and Reservists, all his artillery attached to brigades and not that much cavalry. He then threw everything into an attack on my weakest corps, the Bavarians, and very nearly broke them by continuing to attack regardless of losses. A very Prussian performance of which Blucher would have been proud!
As for the French the Bavarian cavalry and the Guard cavalry seemed especially dispirited and did not fight with the enthusiasm you'd expect, the Guard cavalry especially charging home against weakened opponents several times but failed to break them. My attempt to counter-attack in the centre didn't really work out though it did keep some pressure on the Prussians.
All in all another great game, Blucher and Rommel both give interesting and different games compared to a lot of other rules I've played.
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