AARs - post here all after battle comments and replay files

A pity our CinC didn't keep his eye on the prize.

Is there a replay? Do the wagons driven by Nikki Lauda even show on the replay or do they move too fast?

I did but they keep moving away every time I looked at them.

Sunday battle was really good one. It wasn't going according to my plan and I thought it was lost until Martin's own initiative to attack centre. I spent 2/3 of time trying to position my artillery so it would actually shoot at something... Mike's Bavarian battery, for a change, had been a pain for both Martin and Kevin troops and I think even destroyed one of my guns in counter-battery fire.


(definitely worth putting situation maps for this one just didn't have time for doing it)

Massacre over empty chest...

I just need to apologise to Martin for not complying to his requests(to move north) - I've assessed that doing so would be suicidal as 2 Phil's batteries would devastate me on the move... from where they(the batteries) were, the efficiency was partly limited against me where I was as friendly troops interfered and I had some lucky shots with my guns... So I thought I'll continue pressure... however "press harder" with militia advancing in lines was impossible to execute...
also - terrain there is not too good - might be ok for infantry but guns are slow and fail to position well... don't know if it's light woods, or muddy or swampy - it was definitely heavy...
At last - it was bad decision from me to move on the east side of the stream - we've been not told where French were expected to attack from.. so I thought to scout there... once Martin spotted french couriers moving in the west I should have immediately move west across the stream, too... but I waited couple minutes which was a mistake...

No apologies needed Miko, it was a lost cause no matter what we did.

Yes, it's a sad state of affairs when a thin wafer of silicon plays you like a two dollar banjo.

Yes, it's a sad state of affairs when a thin wafer of silicon plays you like a two dollar banjo.

Last night I had a dream that we stopped the game because lordjoe was joining... this is sorry state of affairs

We won!
Although, if I was Kevin I'd argue that we should have destroyed Austrian Corps/Division?
Sorry Mike for not messaging back... I think AI would move on our back if I removed the brigade that kept this Austrians in check...
probably the best if we just sandwiched them and really destroyed and then moved on town better organised... If I knew you'd crash into the town, I'd have gone much wider north...
My cuirassiers surrendered to dragoons?? - they looked very fragile anyway... and would flee before small infantry unit that was retreating too... not very realistic... imagine small battalion broken and running... bumps into cuirassier regiment in the open and it's cavalry to run??

YES!! WE WON just hope that Kevin does not read our post and then ruin our "V" with one of his scathing replies.

The Austrians in the south had been badly beaten, they assaulted me on the steep hill ( which never would have happened if a DIV General did not decide to go around instead of through the hills as ordered. He left me exposed to the Austrians and put the Army's whole command structure at risk) at the hilltop where the artillery & I where. My BDE pushed them down the hill and we had them under INF fire and Artty fire and the all ran away.

Never ever heard an infantry man say the hills are too rough to walk through when they know there is a prize at the otherside. You are on a horse Gen von Wrede not like you had to walk them. I was going to accept your claim of KILLER BUNNIES in the woods. But Gen Pierre Boyer was keeping me up to date; noting everyone of Gen von Wrede's tactical mistakes and utter disregard for my CinCness, I might have let it go with a chewing out but I must hold my honor and a Court of Inquiry has commenced. Gen Boyer has a smile on his face knowing that he is on the list of men to be promoted to DIV CMD.

At first I was content with your troops east of the city watching the beaten Austrians but when I looked at what we had coming it was time to call all able men to do their duty to the Emperor even if that meant death, it was a risk The Emperor was willing to take. I was convinced by Gen Boyer (a fine officer he is) to move von Wrede's BDE in the east to west of Burgos, it could have come around their left flank since it was exposed.

Just remember Alexander Haig's famous words “I’m in charge here”!!

Just call me rain man. Your parade is about to be dumped on.

The situation report called for our corps to capture Burgos, (check), capture the river crossing, (check), pin 6. Armeekorp if it attacks, (check), and destroy 2. Armeekorps, (unchecked). It was more likely that we would be destroyed.

Another poor performance from the human side. That's 0 for 4 if anyone is keeping score. We desperately need better commanders.

3 out of 4 that is a win to me oh gracious Masochistic scenario creator.

Yes, not sure about the quality of the generals, less sadistic evil gods might work better.

Kevin - do you plan an AAR for the first day of Eylau? As Soult it would be fun to see the corps post-battle and maybe have a hand in reallocating artillery assets. I presume you don't count every routed gun as lost since the rout away mechanic I always thought represented the guns displacing to a safer place (in the rear) and unless crew losses were very high, they'd be available the following day.

As the next battle that involves Soult is only a few hours later, he would not be able to replace lost gun crew members or repair damaged ones. This gives good justification to corps commander's decision to keep a large portion of their guns in reserve. Even when grand batteries were deployed, a large number of guns were held in reserve. At Eylau, the Russians set up 3 of those with a total of a little less than 200. That's a lot, but they had nearly 500 tubes available. A few of the remainder were used as field batteries for individual divisions, but probably nearly half the Russian artillery was held in reserve.

Historically, Soult deployed all his guns except for one battery, (I think), on the 2nd day. These were supplemented by guns from the Guard. This was the French grand battery.

I'll put up an AAR of part 1 today.

Except for the specialists many members of an artillery unit were unskilled or semi-skilled and could be replaced within hours by drafting in infantrymen, so a battery that lost men could very easily have some replaced the next day - which is the case here.

This is the opening round in the battle of Eylau.  The Russian commander Bennigsen ordered his rear guard under the command of General Bagration to delay the French advance until his army formed a battle line north of the town.  Soult's IV Corps was the first to arrive and began a slow but deliberate assault on the Russian position.  Both sides were hampered by snow up to a meter deep, deeper still in gullies.

For this game, the French division under St. Hillaire and the corps artillery were not allowed to move for a period of time.  This was to simulate the fact that only one road was used during the corps advance and it was quite congested.

The starting position of both armies.


Soult brings up all his guns and deploys Legrand and Leval across the entire Russian front.  The two forces must move quite close to each other due to the poor visibility.  An artillery duel soon develops.  The historic Soult, attacked along the road using Leval's division along with a regiment from Legrand's, supported by one or two regiments of cavalry and two or three batteries.


The artillery duel is quite destructive.  Most of the Russian guns are silenced along with several French batteries.  Bagration tires of the duel and launches a probing attack against the French left.  Although costly in the number of serf lives, it halts the French advance for a time.


The Russians fall back to their original lines.  Soult then orders Leval to begin assaulting the Russian left.


With 45 minutes left in the game, it crashed.  It was decided to separate the two armies by 3-400 yd. and finish the fight at a later date.

This time Soult orders an attack by St. Hilaire and Legrand north of the road while Leval stays in place.  The Russians fight in place, suffering a large number of casualties.  


The Russians slowly begin to give ground on their right as darkness falls, (18:30).  Bagration is forced to withdraw as Augereau's VII Corp arrives at Tenknitten, ready to add its weight to the assault on the Russian right.


During the historic battle, the Russians and French brutally fight for control of Eylau.  This fighting continues to nearly midnight when the French finally evict the Russians from the place.

It was a great game Kevin. I enjoy these linked scenarios that are part of a larger battle.

Glad you enjoyed it. Act II will be Wednesday.

Same here Kevin and very well done. The poor visibility and the snow covered map really added to the battle.

Look forward to the others in this mini campaign.

Yes, they are like mini campaigns. When commanding I was very aware of needing to preserve my force for later, hence why I ordered Phil to hold off where I thought we had less chance (he'd lost his artillery) and hit hard on the Russian right where we had artillery superiority and most of our cavalry... not that cavalry was very useful as it turned out.

I basically gave up on pushing for Eylau and instead concentrated on killing Russians which I thought would be more helpful on the next day.

Is the plan to keep the same sides for each sub-battle now?

And I guess you will modify the historical positions/objectives if a sub-battle does not go anything like the historical events?

Yes, I will adjust the positions of the troops if a previous battle yields a result significantly different than the historic outcome.

As far as I'm concerned, players can pick whichever side they prefer. If some of the French and Russian players want to switch sides, that's fine with me. Of course my generosity can be withdrawn at any time. My capricious nature allows for that, you know.

This is the 2nd part of the Battle of Eylau.  Napoleon had posted 2 divisions of Soult's IV Corps along with some light cavalry to cover his left.  Around 8AM he ordered Soult to advance on the Russian lines and make a demonstration.  This was in hope of taking the Russian attention away from their left where Davout's III Corps would deploy.  Bennigsen likewise ordered the men on his right to advance and if possible, retake Eylau.

This is not quite the starting position as the game crashed to desktop 30 minutes in.  However, it is close.  The French have begun to move forward and have spotted the Russians doing the same.


The French seeing that the Russians significantly outnumbered them, wisely pull back to their starting position.  In the meantime, the Russians bring up their guns to begin pounding the French line.  Historically, the Russian guns greatly outnumbered the French.  The French artillery was much more accurate, and did greater damage due to the French infantry being able to retreat into the town and use the buildings as cover.  This was not the case in the game, where the Russian guns were very destructive.


The Russians came on as Russians do.  They attacked along the entire line.  Historically, the attack on the extreme French left was weak and repulsed without too much trouble. That wasn't the case in this battle, partly due to the designer's mistake of not reducing the speed of the units in this battle.


Barbarians at the gates.  A nasty fight developed in the town.  Historically, this attack failed, but a subsequent one nearly resulted in the capture or death of the Emperor.  It was only a counterattack by the Old Guard that saved him and expelled the Russians from Eylau.


This is the point where this part of the battle ended.  The Russians clearly have a hold on the town and are pushing in on the French left.  If the troops had been slowed by the snow as originally planned, it is unlikely the Russians would have advanced so far.  Therefore, it was assumed that the Old Guard entered the town and threw the barbarians out.

Part three of the Battle of Eylau is the most famous and likely the only part anyone knows of, if they have heard of the battle at all.

The French left, commanded by Soult is under heavy pressure.  Davout has arrived on the field east of Rothenen but still needs time to deploy.  Napoleon decided to launch a large attack on the Russian left with Augereau's VII Corps and St. Hilaire's division from Soult's IV Corps.  He hoped this would relieve the pressure on Soult and allow Davout to deploy unmolested.

A large portion of this battle took place during a severe snowstorm.  Visibility was greatly reduced.  The artillery on both sides was required to stay in place and not move, something players are definitely not used to.

The French decided to follow Napoleon's original plan with Augereau moving east to attack the Serpalten sector in conjunction with St. Hilaire.  Historically, Augereau's men began their march, moving in the right direction, but part way, a blinding storm blew in from the north and the corps veered north into a 70 gun Russian grand battery.  The corps was almost completely destroyed inside of ten minutes.


Augereau on this day issued compasses to his division and brigade commanders to avoid this pitfall and march as planned.  Historically, Murat did not enter the battle until after the VII Corps' demise and the Russian counterattack threatened to break the French line.  This time he advances his cavalry with the infantry.


Contact is made with the two Russian divisions along the entire line.  There were quite a few guns and they had to be assaulted quickly.  Even so, they took a heavy toll on the French infantry.


With the guns either spiked or driven off, the assault on the Russian infantry begins.  Murat's cavalry forces the Russians into squares where the massed fire of the infantry has better effect.  Meanwhile, Sacken brings a brigade over to try to stem the assault.


After more than two hours, Serpalten is taken by St. Hilaire.


At the battle's end, the Russian left has been driven in but at a frightful cost.  More than 6,600 Frenchmen and 10,200 Russians cover the frozen ground.

I enjoy these AARs very much Kevin, great work.