Blucher 1813 Prussians v 1812 French

Another outing for the Prussians against Sean's French army at 300 points. The Prussians consisted of four corps, three Prussian and one Russian with Blucher himself in command.

The Prussians won the initiative and this time we used Scharnhorst. The battle was declared by the Prussians and they held more VP than the French but had to accept a less than ideal on-table situation and rely on their reinforcements turning up fairly quickly:

The Prussian 2nd Corps and the Russians deployed with the Prussians on the left and the Russians on the right. The odds didn't look good and there was very little defensive terrain so the Russians threw forward a couple of Cossack brigades to try to slow the French juggernaut:

The Russian Infantry, Artillery and Regular Cavalry withdraw to join the Prussian 2nd Corps. The Cossacks delay the French though one brigade is careless and gets wiped out by a Polish cavalry brigade:

French Infantry mass against the 2nd Corps but just in time the Prussian 1st Corps arrives and moves forward to occupy the hill. Despite having the 'vigorous' Davout in command the French Corps facing the Russians makes slow progress, the Cossacks sacrifice not being in vain:

The 1st Corps holds the hill and does well in the intial skirmishing. 2nd Corps moves to the right to support the Russians:

The 3rd Corps arrives shortly after and takes up a position in reserve. Davout is taking his time getting forward:

The 1st Corps is having much the better of the fight around the hill and the French units are taking losses:

Davout starts to close on the Russians and is reinforced by a small corps of Dragoons and Horse Artillery. Blucher is relying on the Russians holding out until he can get some more support over for them:

On the left the Prussian 1st and 2nd Corps have moved over to the offensive and, with the French greatly weakened, the attack on the hill has been repulsed:

Davout continues to close while the Russians stoically await the attack:

Davout's attack goes in! The Russians live up to their 'steadfast' rating and hold on, the Russian Infantry on the end of the line holding off artillery, cavalry and infantry valiantly:

 The Prussian 3rd Corps counter-attacks to take the pressure off the Russians:

On the left the 1st Corps is driving the French back aided by fresh infantry brigades from the 3rd Corps:

Davout continues his assault but his troops are running out of steam and the Russian Infantry still hold on tenaciously:

The Prussians advance from the hill sweeping the French away:

It's all over for the French as their army morale breaks:

This was a tough game for Sean with the Prussians both winning the most VP in Scharnhorst and getting to declare the battle. While the initial odds looked bad for the Prussians the Cossacks really held up Davout giving the Prussians time to get the rest of their army into the battle.

The French attack was also rather piecemeal with the attack on the hill being repulsed almost before Davout got into action allowing the Prussians to concentrate on each attack rather than have to deal with both at the same time.

I think the Prussians are one of the stronger Blucher armies, Blucher himself is good value at 300 points and maybe even at 200 points. The army has a nice mix of infantry brigades and the ability to attach cavalry to some is very useful. It also has plentiful artillery and adequate cavalry. The Russians add another dimension as they are great at holding an area and the Cossacks allow you to use more scouting units and then deny the enemy the ability to use march moves.