Impromptu Game Saturday Nov 22 20:00 BST

This was a very interesting scenario, and thanks to Kevin for designing it.  

We Russians had a long line to defend, and the obvious danger was that the advancing (and presumably more numerous) French would concentrate against part of our line, or perhaps penetrate the gaps between the divisions.

I knew also that the scenario had been designed by Uncle Billy - a ruffian of fell countenance and evil repute who lives in a cave in Colorado, where he spends most of his time plotting my downfall.

It seemed quite likely that the enemy would concentrate on the front W of the river, as the going was better there.  I therefore ordered 3rd Division (Brett) to close-up to the W and align itself on 2nd Division (Pepe), so these two formations could mutually support one another.  This of course left an even larger gap between 3rd Division and the 12th Division (Ron) to the east, so I moved the artillery of my reserve division to the NE bank of the river to at least provide some cover.  Not ideal, but then one cannot have everything.

Our first sighting was over to the E.  I was concerned that 12th division was entirely unsupported, but this seemed most likely to be a feint, and I kept the infantry of our reserve division S of Rovno for the time-being.  2nd Division on our western flank was actively scouting S but found no sign of the enemy for quite a while.  By this time 12th Division was beginning to come under pressure, and I was considering shifting our western divisions over to the E.  I finally received reports of enemy to the west, but at about the same time it became apparent that Ron’s 12th Division was in a fight.

The situation was still unclear, so I resolved to wait on events a little longer.  But after a while, Ron’s messages became more anxious in tone, and he was clearly under considerable pressure.  So I ordered the infantry of our reserve division E to support him.  It was at this point that I really missed having an extra player, as I felt obliged to go there myself so I could control the troops.  This took me away from my central position and meant I would lose any real control over the two divisions W of the river.  This was a particular concern as I knew that Pepe and his 2nd Division had just become engaged.  I authorised him and Brett to fall back if heavily attacked, and hoped for the best.

Good fighting by Ron, with some minor assistance from our reserves, finally brought victory in the east.  I urgently ordered all of our forces there to move west, and headed that way myself, rather worried as to what I might find.  Thankfully Pepe had avoided heavy losses by a series of judicious withdrawals, and Brett had found a good position and inflicted heavy losses on the French.

At this point the scenario ended, and I think everyone was disappointed.  We had perhaps evened the odds a little, but IMHO it was still anyone’s game.  

I was certainly pleased that our extended position hadn’t already collapsed.  I think we had some luck, but much of the credit is due to Pepe, Brett and Ron, who all kept their heads in difficult circumstances.

Borozdin

PS  I did get your message, Pepe.  Yes, Shosse St. Kpnstantinov is a bit of a mouthful..........as we say in English

Would someone please post the replay file here? I need it for Kevin's trial.

I figured the division I attacked was the Russian right flank. So by pitching all in, I thought it would give Kevin and Digby the opportunity to crush their right and roll up the whole line.

Hard bitter fighting by my boys, all in vain. I was so happy to see a big brigade of Kevin's coming to my support. With the aid of that brigade, I think I could have held Brett at bay while the rest of Kevin's division and Digby's whole division rolled up the hapless Russians.

Much to my surprise, Kevin's big brigade, marching in line and coming right to where I needed them, strode right through my lines and marched away from me.

We had a chance to get 3 divisions on one. I thought for sure Kevin and Digby saw my boys attacking. I was shocked late in the game, my division crumbling around me, when I turned and saw Kevin's entire division lined up in dress parade less than 300 yards behind me, waiting for Digby to come up to his left before pushing on.

Thanks, I'm glad people enjoyed it. I designed this scenario with Martin as CinC in mind. As his mental health is always in the fore of my thoughts, I wanted to present him with a menu of two unpalatable choices. The CinC could try to defend an overextended line with little chance of success as the enemy had the initiative and could pick the time and place of a concentrated attack. Since the Russian divisions were not mutually supporting, it would be easy for the French to overwhelm any one or two of them. The second choice would be to contract the line to better absorb the attack and hope at the end a counterattack could be launched to try to reclaim the lost territory. As an apéritif, the French had slightly more troops of better quality. In true Solomon-like fashion Martin chose a little of both. That was probably the wisest course because we could never really grab hold of the Russians as they kept backing up. At the end of the battle the situation was still very much unresolved. The French had the field advantage, but the Russians had a formidable force to counterattack with.

Pepe put in the most authentic Russian performance by trading space for time as Digby and I could not force him into a fight that we were sure to win. He receives the Barclay de Tolly award with oak leaf clusters. Josh easily wins the Joachim Murat award with turkey feathers for turning a simple demonstration into a full blown attack, thereby utterly confusing the Russian commander. Of course the remnants of his division may forego the celebration. Finally, Mark gets the well deserved Borozdin award, a stomped hat, for trashing his division by taking on Brett's single handed while he watched my division parade past his lines as they chased Pepe.

"Would someone please post the replay file here? I need it for Kevin's trial."

I'm always keen to donate to worthy causes........

https://www.dropbox.com/s/yu5wknwd4urti5n/K_Komisarcik_court_martial.zip?dl=0

Kevin will be pleased to know that my mental decline continues apace. Twitch twitch

What is this battle people speak of? I and my division had a pleasant afternoon of power-walking across some jolly nice fields. We saw a few Russians running away in the distance but each time my gunners unlimbered their guns the enemy slithered snake-like away in the grass out of range.

Still, we got a nice tan and the horses enjoyed their exercise.

My division's result: 0 casualties, 53 enemy losses (all extreme range lucky cannon ball hits).

Uncle Billy wrote:Josh easily wins the Joachim Murat award with turkey feathers for turning a simple demonstration into a full blown attack, thereby utterly confusing the Russian commander.

I would nominate Knight for "Most Convincing Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role" for his action on the French right. Or, perhaps "Best Performance by a Supporting Actor Convinced He is Really the Leading Actor." In any event, he certainly had me fooled into thinking his assault was the real deal. The French came on hard and in a most convincing, unfriendly manner. In fact, the attack was carried out with such zeal that it took the commitment of Martin's 11th Division reserve to absolutely slam the door on the French effort on their right. We'll never know for sure, but it is quite possible that forcing the early commitment of our reserve on that side would ultimately have resulted in the doing-in of the Russian right. Could the 11th have arrived in time for the later fight? It was still in sound condition, not much the worse for wear for the early action, but out of position. My own 12th Division was in pretty tough shape by the time I began the march west. I was down to a handful of chewed-up battalions, a couple of batteries, a few captured guns, and only a single battle-ready cavalry squadron. I wouldn't have made much difference in the fight to come. Maybe Knight would have walked away with the Oscar after all.

Yes, I'll second Ron's comments.  It was a most convincing demonstration

Borozdin