Friday 18 November 2022

Lasalle: Skirmish near the Danube


On Thursday at the Uni, Peter P and I introduced Peter Mac to the joys of Lasalle...


Picture if you will a quiet, wooded valley of some tributary of the mighty Danube, Inner Austria, 1809. The Austro-Hungarians and French advance guards, each of some 4 brigades of all arms, are competing for 3 objectives: 2 river fords and the crossroads. The brown areas are hills. 


I drew up my French army list of 225 points in a rush: a single infantry brigade of 6 veteran battalions,


a heavy cavalry bde of 3 Dragoon Regts, a light bde of 2 regiments, 


and an artillery bde of 2 batteries.


The Austrians were somewhat more measured: 2 smaller infantry bdes and an all-arms Avant Garde bde and a cavalry bde. The two Peters deployed widely across the whole table, maximising the defensive potential of the terrain. As you can see below in the foreground, I concentrated my single large infantry bde opposite the cluster of two objectives, left my heavy cavalry in reserve, in march column in the shelter of the high ground, and stuck my lights out on the flank...


I wasted no time in closing with my infantry, and succeeded in the difficult art of entering and garrisoning a village. Near objective - the cross roads - secured!


But forgot my heavies were supposed to be in reserve!


The initial attack mauled and pushed back an Austrian battalion, but thereafter Austrian musketry was devastating...thanks to Peter Mac's serendipitous die rolling - the six throwing git! Three of my battalions were shaken by musketry to the point of breaking and were finished off by an Austrian charge. I would have to be content with the crossroads!


The left hand Austrian infantry bde threatened by my Dragoons managed to form square in time thanks to timely intervention by their CinC:


But, Merde! I charged them in regardless!


Peter Mac didn't roll all 6's for once, so my rashness nearly paid off...


Nearly, but not quite - the Dragoons were repulsed with losses...


All the while, I had been sneaking my lights around the Austrian deep flank in the hopes of distracting them, but they weren't biting...


With the Austrians remaining resolutely on the defensive, and with my infantry exhausted, we called it a draw with one objective each and the third unclaimed. I think Peter Mac enjoyed Lasalle, I know I did as always!

5 comments:

  1. A very enjoyable read and lovely table, a good size fit for my own circumstances. Did you notice on the Victrix FB page that the 12mm Russians are ready! And they are having a Black Friday sale until the end of the month.

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    1. EDIT - I just phoned Victrix - everything is 20% off in the sale, except the Russian infantry because they are a new release!

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    2. Thanks Norm for your kind comments. Yes already ordered 2 packs of the Victrix Soviet infantry (and a host of other armour that I don't really need but was on sale)!

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  2. A fine looking game there Sparker and for once good to see the Austrians getting a win.

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    1. Thanks Steve, appreciate it. Yes they fought well, if defensively. At the unit level, Austrian forces of all arms were every bit as good as the French - they just had difficulty meshing everything together - but this time that was my downfall!

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