The Full Mockern!

After last Thursday's half Mockern practice game, on Sunday the Mittagong Garde kindly offered us the time and space to host the full spread. On the left the Prussian team, L-R Cornelius, Amos and Daniel. On the right the French team: L-R Richard, John, Caesar and Rex. 

The French team strongly occupied the villages on their right, Waren and Mockern...

And  deployed their third brigade out on their left flank, covering the objective on the road to Leipzig.

Their centre was held by a grand battery of 4 Field artillery batteries.

Starting the game 5 victory points down owing to the French occupation of the villages and road objective, the Prussians wasted no time in going forward!

But it seemed the French were also intent on an active defense! However the Prussians were able to quickly occupy Lindenthal for 2 victory points.

This was such a busy and bloody battle, its hard to know how best to recount the action in any kind of order!

Let start with the villages on the French left flank adjacent to the banks of the river Elster.

Occupied by the French, with a further Brigade echeloned out to the right, even the small village of Wahren (just 1 Defensive Terrain Feature 'block', occupied by a single battalion), would be a tough nut to crack!

Heartened by the presence of 'Papa' Blucher, who added a bonus melee dice to every unit in his vicinity, the Prussians wasted no time maneuvering for advantage.

They just knocked on the front door!

It really shouldn't have worked, but it did. Another Victory Point to the Prussians!

But the French weren't having it! Their counter attack retook the village, adding to their VP tally.

The Prussians set up for a second assault slightly more carefully:

And the village changed hands for a third time! By this stage the troops on this western sector of the battlefield had pretty much exhausted their combat potential, and many attrition victory points had been racked up from opposing failed Fortitude tests.

In the centre, the Prussians had been sensibly avoiding the area in front of the French grand battery! 

But they decided they needed to grasp the nettle, so their cavalry headed for the grand battery!

The French horse responded, and the impetuous attack was contained, but not without heavy casualties and ensuing attritional victory points!

As night fell and the exhausted protagonists drew apart, it was revealed that the French had racked up 10 Victory Points, and the Prussians...10 also! As Marshal Ney said of Eylau: 

Quel massacre! Et sans résultat!

However, important results were achieved: above all we had fun and enjoyed the hospitality and great facilities of our new friends at the Mittagong Garde. It was also a useful introduction for some, and practice for others, of the superb Valour & Fortitude rules in preparation for our Ligny mega game in June.