Napoleonic 15.1.11 part1

Ahhhhh, what a day, WHAT A DAY!!!! It's been a long while since we last got a chance to have a game of Naps and today was just brilliant. DC and myself had talked last Saturday about having a 2nd battle of Polotsk 1812 type game with a joint Bavarian and French force attempting to hold back a superior Russian force.

I got in contact with Robert earlier in the week and he decided to join us for the day, so the 3 of us were all set. As the week went on we managed to pick up my brother David and then JP text me late last night to see if he and the D-man (travelling from the highlands) could join us.



D tried to fool us into thinking that he was taking his wife down to visit her sister but we all knew he was just looking for an excuse to get down to the club!

It turned out we had much less Bavarians between us than was 1st thought so it was pretty much a French and Russian stand up fight with my single Bavarian battalion getting their 1st outing along side the French (Answers on a postcard if you can guess what happened next?).

Des, JP and David P (my bro) were playing the evil French and the glorious Russian forces fighting for all that is good and just in the world were being played my Robert, DC (I think playing Russians for the 1st time) and myself.

So both camps disappeared to sort out a plan for the battle. Knowing that David and JP are very aggressive players (west of Scotland mentality) we decided to have the 12pdr battery facing right at them both with the bulk of the army in support.

True to form JP and David P went straight for the jugular with the main French force coming down the centre left and centre with Des also pressing myself hard with 2 large cuirassier regiments hoofing it towards my guns (shades of the light brigade at Balaclava?).

Our Russian artillery soon began to make it's presence felt taking a heavy toll of the advancing French columns.

Some of my Russian battalions glad to get out of their box for the day.

Our Russian heavy cavalry.

2 cuirassier regiments.

The mass French ranks as they prepared to advance.

I was out on the left with 2 Hussars regiments and an infantry brigade trying to pin down Desmondo. My 2 Hussar regiments forced D's young guard into square but through the woods his Bavarians and old guard kept coming. It would appear that Des is an aggressive player too!

The French cuirassiers ready to advance.

Des declared a charge on my horse battery and DC declared an opportunity charge with the the Russian cuirassiers to block them.

Like looking down the barrel of a gun the Russian cuirassiers eye up their French cuirassier enemy across the field.