Regular SOW MP games this Friday & Saturday

Starting at 20.30 UK time as usual.

Meet in T/S shortly before.

Martin (J)

I can't make Friday as I'm out to dinner but I should be there Saturday. Could I suggest an ACW game Fri and a Nap game Sat?

I'll be available for Saturday's game. Nappy would be fine.

Anyone online tonight?

I suspect that Kevin and I will be on line tonight...as we usually are. We generally play a game circa 1830 CDT. I am usually off and on throughout the day.

J

I could play today, say starting at 21.15 UK time. anyone up for that?

Martin (J)

I will make up a nappy battle for one of the Pipe Creek maps.  Everyone will need to buy it from Matrix if they don't already have it.  Here is the link: Pipe Creek Link  They are also having an Easter sale this weekend.  Here is the $10 off coupon code: MX-HAPPYEASTER!  Since it costs $10, all you are paying is tax.  Note, this coupon is good for any matrix game, not just Pipe Creek.

Sounds good. Have just checked discount position for UK customers. All you pay (incl VAT) is 83 pence!

For that you get 3 large maps, several scenarios and OOBs.

Martin (J)

7 of us played a huge game 2 nights ago that must rank up there among the most exciting and hard-fought battles I've been involved in. We fought on the Pipe Creek 2 map with 4 French/German divisions coming from the north facing three big Austrian divisions in the south. There was an intense fight with my Wurttemburgers and Bavarians and Josh's French and Bavarians vs Berto's Austrian division in the centre of the map with Berto holding the high ground. Davide came up to assist Berto but Josh and I slowly forced them back to the next high ground while Martin J commanding the French led his own division and Jack's around the Austrian left to hit them from the west and south, where Kevin, the 3rd Austrian commander was further south.

The interplay of artillery, cavalry, infantry, lines, columns, squares and the tools of firepower and manouver get represented extremely well by the Nap Mod and there was a lot of tactical finesse and manouver in the battle between Josh, I, Berto and Davide. At times infantry was dominant, at other times cavalry and all the time the new artillery canister ranges of Kevin's latest artillery mod made getting at an enemy supported by guns very messy.

This might have been about our biggest game yet with 45,000 French vs 43,000 Austrians. Brilliant game.

Davide, did you record it with fraps?

Yes of course

I agree.  A very good scenario which gave both sides various options, and the opportunity for pre-battle manoeuvre.

I had a Grouchy moment early on, when I rode over to Pinerolo and saw a long column of troops in the distance to the NE of me.  They were too far away to make out their flags and uniforms clearly.  Clicking on the flags though brought up a series of German regimental names. This was a concern as the Austrians were supposed to be well to the SE!

I was in a blue funk until my staff pointed out that these were allied Bavarians and Wurttembergers, rather than enemy Austrians!

I have a replay saved, so email me if you would like a copy.

Martin (J)

4h40! This sounds like an epic battle!!!
I started watching the video, I think the first hour there was no enemy in sight for Davide   

What was the scenario's situation / Briefing?

The main Austrian army is situated beyond the southern edge of the map.  It is in the process of concentrating its forces.  A corps of observation under command of Davide is farther north and camped as shown on the map.  French forces are to the north  These corps are scattered across the north, from NE to NW, again off the edge of the map.  The French vanguard under Martin, has just moved onto the map into the locations shown.

The town of Scarnafigi, in the southern portion of the map, occupies a junction of several roads and is where the various French corps will unite before proceeding south to battle the Austrians.  The French vanguard's task is to clear the Strada Susa of enemy influence and capture the town of Scanafigi and the road junction.  The Austrians must maintain control of the town so the Austrian concentration can proceed unmolested.

The OOB was as follows:
French
Josh's Div.: 11,350 inf+art,  1150 cav.
Digby's Div: 10,716 inf+art, 2016 cav.  lots of soup tureens!
Martin's Div: 12,077 inf+art, 1000 cav.
Jack's Div: 8,019 inf+art.

Austrians
Berto's Div: 16,059 inf+art.
Davide's Daiv: 9,044 inf+art, 945 cav.
Kevin's Div: 13,573 inf+art, 2,650 cav.

The French outnumbered the Austrians and had better quality troops.  But pushing the Austrians back past Scanafigi would not be easy.
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The Strada Susa which runs NW-SE down the centre of the map was the French axis of advance. The Austrian main army was south of the town of Scarnafigi and the corps deployed around the town had to block French occupation of it. Both sides started with divisions quite dispersed but all the divisions were huge, most had 4 brigades, some 5 (most had 1 cavalry in that total, Josh had 2).

I am only certain of my own start position, but I think Josh's start point is close. No idea where the others were. I was ordered to march down the centre of the map, find the enemy and pin him in place with a holding action, but not commit to an attack. All the other three French divisions were supposed to go west and south via Lucerna and hit the enemy in his left flank and even cut the Strada Susa south of him, destroying him. I was ordered to make my attack more aggressive when the main flank force made contact.

Unfortunately due to me not realising that a Bavarian brigade of mine was actually mine (I thought it was Josh's) my division got embroiled at Pinerolo against Bertos division before I realised what was happening (only in a HITS game, eh?). The combat was limited to a brigade a side for a long time but he began to commit more infantry down the slope to the SE of the town and his guns had very good positions atop the ridge south of town. My own guns could not find good fire positions far enough forwards to make much impact and I had to pull my battered Bavarians back after a stiff fight in the village. A second brigadier of mine, despite being deployed well back in reserve disobeyed orders and decided to go into the fight as well. It was the second Bavarian brigade so maybe the digital fellow felt for the losses his fellow digital Catholics were suffering.

By now Martin (Oudinot) sent me a message ordering me not to get sucked into a fight and to send one of our divisions, either mine or Josh's west to Lucerna to join the flank move. Well... I was too far in contact with the enemy and Josh was a good half-mile west of me and he'd have to form up and march behind me through Pinerolo and it would just take hours so I disobeyed Oudinot's order and asked Josh (Wrede) to push his cavalry across the Fiume River and discomfort the Austrian right, which was overlapping my left and at one point had crossed one battalion to the north bank of the river between us.

Josh attacked Berto's right in fine style and his cavarly chewed up several battalions. I then committed half my cuirassiers (4 sqns) to my right, through Pinerolo and directly up the ridge south of the town where I saw that some enemy batteries didn't seem to have much infantry support.

Berto saw this move unfolding and used infantry in squares cleverly to make my advance slow down but eventually I saw opportunities and crunched through his infantry to capture all the Austrian guns on the ridge. I then just clung onto the north slope of the ridge for probably 45 minutes getting my division and guns across the river and into a position on the ridge. Now my Wurttemberg and Bavarian 12pdrs began to do damage.

Josh came across the river as well but Davide arrived to counterattack his left and an intense fight ensued with good use of lines, columns, squares and skirmish order by all players and cavalry going this way and that. There was a lot of well protected guns with infantry supporting them but after maybe an hour Josh and I had all but destroyed Davide and Berto and we took the second ridge north of San Marcello, my Wurttemberg infantry captured or drove off three more batteries. My cuirassiers were all used up but one squadron scored 1350 points and I still had about half my infantry just about useable. I think Josh's division was a bit more beaten up.

Our opponents fought superbly and the battle went on so long because initially we were holding back following Oudinot's orders but when I decided to make the push our 3,000 cavalry really told on the enemy tired infantry. I saw more than one square broken because we managed to pound them with guns before launching cavalry.

Berto (or it could have been Davide) did some fine manouvering in squares to cover his right and stop my cuirassiers getting an attack going towards his gun line and the Austrian uhlans arrived in the nick of time to throw back my main infantry attack.

I think Martin and Jack were engaged mainly with Kevin somewhere on the west side of San Marcello but to be honest I never saw them all battle.

It was a terrific fight.

EDIT: Kevin posted as I was and his map probably shows better division start positions.