Another first outing, this time for the 1806 Prussian army for Blucher against Gordon's French. This army has taken years on and off to paint and, to be honest, I'd taken a bit of a dislike to it as a result but having finally finished enough to use it a while ago I thought I should at least give it one game before leaving it to gather dust.
One of the things I like about Blucher is that the armies all have their individual character with advantages and disadvantages. The early Prussians have the firepower trait for their infantry making them good at close range fire, far too many to be useful powerful cavalry units and the ability to have advanced guard units with the nice integrated cavalry trait. On the downside they are very poor in massed artillery batteries and don't have much filler (none at all for the cavalry). Overall I'd say they are a somewhat cheaper version of the British!
Given the above I decided that the plan for the army would be to use it aggressively, trying to get as much on the table to start with as possible while not worrying about taking VP in Scharnhorst. Once on table I would try to attack quickly and make use of the short range musketry advantage the army has.
The Scharnhorst map moves went well for the Prussians with all three corps on table against a single French corps which had reinforcements arriving from various directions:
The initial set up saw the French arrayed defensively protected to some extent by difficult terrain that would make it hard for the whole Prussian force to get into action:
The Prussians begin by advancing the 1st Corps on the left. Behind them, as yet undisclosed, is the Saxon Corps with the 1st Corps yet to get into action on the right:
The 1st Corps moves forward as well, this is a bit risky as they don't know what they are facing but I want to overwhelm the French before any more Corps can turn up to help them:
The French Corps turns out to be composed mainly of aggressive Polish troops commanded by Marshal Davout. Both brigades of Polish Lancers charge into the unprepared Prussian Advance Guard and Horse Artillery:
The Advanced Guard repulses the Lancers taking heavy losses but the Horse Artillery is forced back:
On the left the Prussian infantry have moved up to close range of the French defenders with the Saxons following up in support. The Prussians are hoping to crush the French in a vice before any reinforcements arrive:
Both sides are taking hits now but the Prussians can afford them more than the French:
Polish infantry assault the surviving men of the Advanced Guard:
The Polish infantry are victorious breaking the Advanced Guard but then, in turn, being hit by a brigade of Cuirassiers while unprepared. One Prussian infantry brigade has broken through the French lines and is menacing the rear of the remaining French infantry one weakened brigade of which has also been charged by the Saxon Cuirassiers:
Both cavalry attacks are thrown back but the damage to the French and Poles is rapidly mounting and the Prussian infantry are quickly winning the musketry duel on the left. Marshal Davout is desperately holding on hoping for help to arrive but none is forthcoming:
The French line crumbles quickly and collapses:
It is almost all over for the French, even if reinforcements do arrive now it may be too late:
The French break and run. One small reinforcing corps had arrived on the far left while the other failed to arrive at all leaving the field to the Prussians:
A victory in their first game then for the Prussians and, I have to admit, my enthusiasm for them has increased! Gordon made a mistake on the Scharnhorst moving one column into a vulnerable position which I could exploit and I don't think he was expecting me to change my strategy to try to choose the battlefield and have the maximum number of units on it rather than take the VP as I usually do.
I think aggression pays off for the early Prussians, once they get to close range they have a real advantage in musketry especially with the advanced guard units and some attached artillery. Gordon was unlucky though in that none of his reinforcing columns arrived in time to affect the outcome, if they had it would certainly have been a very different battle!
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