The following was played September 22 2016. German units are in italics.
The Corlears Hook Fencibles started a scenario of the 1870
battle of Sedan
last night using the Bloody Big Battles rules, 15mm Old Glory figures (with a
few Minifigs) and a map drawn of butcher paper. Bill and Rick commanded the
German hordes while Ken and I commanded the doomed legions of the Second Empire . A perfect storm of subway delays and
traffic jams delayed Bill so we played the first 3 turns without him. Play
moved slower, as always when one player has to run one side and all
calculations done sequentially. The table looked like this, as seen from the
hot air balloon to the northwest.
Towns and villages with red stars are objectives,
determining victory. Yellow discs mark disruption, red discs mark hits on
artillery units (or starting under-strength).
I had the eastern front of the 1 and 12 Corps. MacMahon
(French C-in-C) was stationed near the Sedan Citadel so he could aid the
battered 5 Corps when they finally activated on turn 4. Ken had the healthy 7
Corps and the demoralized 5 Corps. The latter was at least in the Sedan forts. My plan assumed
the Bavarians would hold Bazeilles against my early counter-attacks. If the
Bavarians held the town, I would send much of 1 Corps south when it activated
on turn 3 and see if Ken could grab the two objectives on the western escape
route, Floing and St-Menges.
Rick started off with some fancy shooting, knocking a base
of the French naval infantry in Bazeilles and the French division holding la
Moncelle. I replied with some sharp fire that knocked a base off the Bavarians
in the southern part of Bazeilles. This made the raw Bavarians spent. On Rick’s
first turn a low movement roll saw the Bavarians panic and abandon Bazeilles.
I was able to take the town without having to pry the enemy
out with bayonets.
Plan A was tabled. The 1st Bavarian Division
assaulted the town but was narrowly repulsed after rolling anemic dice.
German reinforcements began arriving from the eastern half
of the table.
The Prussian Guard Corps discovered their arrival zone was
swept by French rifle and artillery fire. They edged to their left into a steep
wooded ravine. This provided cover both from French fire and our roving
photographer. Meanwhile the French occupation of Bazeilles was put right.
The Saxon Corps began massing against la Moncelle. So far I
had a tidy victory shaping up on the eastern end.
In they went. The French defensive fire was apparently aimed
at the sky (lousy dice). The Saxons made no such error and blasted two bases
off the hitherto pristine 3rd Division of 7 Corps, making them
spent. The assault went home with a die roll of 6, matched by the battered
French. The division was driven back with further losses and the massed Saxons exploited
onto the hill behind, overrunning one artillery battalion and driving the
others off in disorder. My tidy victory evaporated with the morning dew.
We broke for dinner and heard the details of Bill’s transit
trail of tears. Dinner was the Dutch/Belgian staple Stamppot, made in honor of
the battle being so close to Belgium .
Now began the attempt to stem the tide. I had no fresh
reserves beyond a roving under-strength mitrailleuse battalion and the 7 Corps
cavalry. These duly charged and were repulsed by the Saxon mass. The Saxons
tried to extend their run. The second line division was stopped by flanking
fire from naval infantry and mitrailleuse. The lead division was stopped by the
battered French in front of them rolling 12 on 2D6, taking out their
jagers. I needed fresh troops. The
Saxons needed help from their flank. Behind them was the IV Corps which was
still reeling from the previous battle of Beaumont .
On the western front, the Prussians had grabbed both
St-Menges and Floing before the 7 Corps was able to activate. In a flurry of
shots, both French and Prussians around Floing became low on ammo and the
Prussian 22nd Division also became spent. Ken was preparing to head
home so I took over that front as well. I threw the reserve cavalry against the
spent unit but the charge was halted by rifle fire. Meanwhile the II Bavarian
Corps had appeared on the south table edge and was gingerly sidling to the
west, staying out of Chassepot range. A panic (crap movement dice) had broken
out in Sedan
and 5 Corps 1st Division had high-tailed it before the officers got
things back under control. The view from the hot-air balloon:
Having gotten off to a late start and cycling almost every
turn through single resolution, we called it a night and will return to the
game next week. So far the game is a tie. If the Germans can take one more
objective in the east, they have a victory. Note that even a victory by
scenario standards means the French army will surrender, just that some
elements will escape, either to Metz or towards Paris . If the latter,
they have a good chance of being extricated by Vinoy and his 10 Corps. If the
former, they have another month or two of liberty before going into the bag along
with Bazaine.
A French “victory” means we will have a free re-roll for our
next game, when the rag-tag Republican forces will take the field. The
Prussians have a free re-roll in this game since they won the last battle in
our campaign, Beaumont .
Losses so far: Germans have lost 8 infantry stands and 2 ran
away. The Bavarians managed to recover another lost stand with a mighty
movement roll of 12. French losses are 8 stands of infantry, 1 ran off and an
artillery battalion overrun. Two Prussian artillery battalions have taken hits.
We played 5 turns in about 3 hours. This would have gone faster if the MTA had
cooperated and delivered Bill on schedule.
Mistakes made so far: the French cavalry charge should not
have been able to get so close due to terrain penalties. The upshot is there is
a mob of disrupted French cavalry milling around within easy rifle range of the
Prussians. I also treated the Sedan
forts as earthworks during the Bavarian artillery bombardment. No big deal as
hopefully I will remember when we complete the game next week.
I’ve not been looking forward to playing this game since it
was such a tremendous French defeat. I have to say Chris’ scenario is really
quite a lot of fun to play, to the surprise of all.
For sale: one Imperial throne, used, rather shaky. Sale ends
after the 8th turn next week.
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