Saturday afternoon I hosted a
remote intercontinental game of the Battle of Oeversee, fought on February 6,
1864 during the Second Schleswig-Holstein War. Rules used are Bloody Big Battles. I had played this recently with
the scenario designer, Konstantinos Travlos. This time I ran the game using Discord,
a maiden trial for me. Konstantinos played the Austrians (All Austrian units in
italics) again from Nevada while his buddy Onur from Istanbul
played the Danes. Several people joined in to watch, at least one from Canada, so we had quite a variety of gamers. Apologies to all for the less than stellar
online camera work. My Discord video froze a couple times. I’m better at the
still camera work, see below.
Legend: yellow discs = disrupted
units, yellow counters = silenced artillery, .22 shells = low on ammo, dead
soldier/horse models show where a base was destroyed, blue counter = spent (badly shot up) unit.
Onur didn’t have a scenario map
at hand when the game started so I suggested he use my deployment from the previous
game since it had been victorious. Basically the two infantry units
blocked the way to the first objective
and the single Danish artillery battery deployed on the right, on high ground
and behind the lake, which protected against infantry or cavalry charges.
Konstantinos deployed one battery
in the town of Oeversee and the other on a hill in his center. The 9th
Hussars deployed on his right and planned on enveloping the Danish left,
possibly capturing the rear objective.
As Austrian infantry closed
on Danish positions, flanking Danish artillery fire combined with Danish infantry
fire to cause serious losses.
Fog descended on the field,
cutting visibility down to 12 inches, leaving the Austrian artillery out
of the fight. The Danish guns were still in range of the fight in the center, and continued to deal out damage.
Edit: The two Danish infantry regiments rolled a 6 when they charged the 9th Jaegers, who rolled a 2. Seriously outnumbered, disrupted, low on ammo and badly out-rolled, the Jaegers ceased to exist. The Danish infantry exploited on cheering into the 14th Infantry. The Danes rolled a 1, seems the starch went out of them. The 14th Infantry rolled a 6 and the Danes were lucky to be merely driven back without serious loss.
It was a furious fight. I have
ideas of what the Austrians should do, but this game is being packed
away. So far the plan is for the Fencibles to have a face-to-face game next week, likely of
Shiloh. Stay tuned.
Thanks to Konstantinos and Onur
for playing, and for the folks who dropped in to watch.
Note: I don't have Danish troops for this. Last game I used Union ACW troops, being moderately close in uniforms. This time I opted for 1870 French Naval Infantry because they are on white bases and look good on a snowy field. Right, the uniforms aren't close. I know.
4 comments:
Thank you for running it again Vincent. It is quite clear the Austrians need to silence the Danish gun. Sending the cavalry off I think was the right idea (maybe add one of the guns in support?) but in the center that Danish battery needs to be silenced.
I endorse your aesthetic choice - the white bases look good. How did the audience enjoy it?
Konstantinos, what if the cavalry had backed up the jaegers' assault, especially with a flank charge?
Hi Chris. My hope was to draw away the 17th from the center. IMHO my mistake is violating basic military logic i.e not silencing the guns. Also the worry about having enough time is something that led to piecemeal attacks. I think the Austrian player will have to gamble on time, and wait for all three units before going to attack (or at least attacking with two, the turn before the third arrives)
Yeah, the Danish artillery is really a pain for the Austrians, flanking fire and all.
Heard from one audience member who wondered if I could set up multiple cameras for the show. I'm pretty good on the rules, but not so sharp on the online presentation, alas.
Found anothe audience member had to leave when his child would not go to sleep. Stuff happens.
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