Battle of Ocana 1809 - Steady Lads Steady AAR

 

Scale of games steadily going up in the new War Room. Looks like Ocana will be my only decadal game this year - and it's a year late! I used the Grand Tactical version of my Steady Lads Steady rules, with Hexon terrain. One hex is 200m, and manoeuvre units are brigade sized.

The battle followed the real one pretty well. French cavalry under Milhaud was quicker off the mark, and supported by Paris made short work of the unreliable and fragile Spanish cavalry. SLS's resolve tests and morale tests worked really well, initial Spanish defeats rapidly become a rout. In the centre Werte's Poles got a bit ahead of Leval's Germans and suffered as a result. But the Spanish didnt have enough time to exploit before the French cavalry came crashing into their flank. On the Spanish left Zayas and Rivas did have a chance to cross the ravine and counter-attack but (probably wisely) didn't take it. The whole things was over in 4 turns - 2 hours - can't find the time for the real battle.

Battered Poles (sort of..)

Zayas waits on the left flank with Ocana in the background

Milhaud's Cavalry rides forward

The big right flank cavalry melee - although many didn't even come to blows

French infantry advances

Long shot of the melee

Breakthrough - rich pickings coming up!

ENDEX - lots of empty space for the French cavalry!

The rules worked really well, best game I think I've had with SLS-GT. Particularly impressed by the way the cavalry conflict played out. The main changes in this game were aimed at streamlining SLS for megagame play (in prep for Waterloo60), principally:

• Side by side IGOUGO as only practical approach I think in a megagame
• CPs more like command cards that can be played at any time, not just on CinC activation
• Simple "Strength" value for units including size and TQ modifier so less mental maths, and an easier to understand concept
• Morale test taken by neighbouring units on Retreat as well as Rout - helped clear the board faster!

Next up, play Ocana with Large Shako since its on the table, and then try the SLS mods out on the normal Battalion manoeuvre game.

Battle of Jena - ENDEX

Finally got to the end of Jena - not that it took a long time to play but just not had the time. I used to really like (the idea of) Jena, probably from being there for the 200th Anniversary, but having wargamed it twice now (Liphook and here) it really is a bit of a bore as the Prussians are vastly outnumbered and out-skilled, and the French are struggling up slopes and through woods with no room to manoeuvre, and by the time they are out on the plain its all over.

Lannes V Corps made most of the running, although Lutzeroda managed to hold out for quite a long time (about Turn 8/1030). Augeraeu's VII Corps haked its way up the ravine on the L flank to emerge outside of Isserstedt but couldn't get its order resorted in time to make a decent attack. Soult and Ney were very late to the party, although Soult's 1st Div did manage to take out the Prussians by Alten Gonna. In the end it was Nansouty and his Heavy Cavalry Corps that help delivered the killer blows, mopping up the Prussian cavalry, putting weak units to flight and opening up the way for Lannes to finish things off, with the Guard spectating from the Dornberg.

ENDEX was called at the end of Turn 12 (1230) as the Prussian fell below 50% in formations and units and their line between Vierzehnheilgen  and Isserstedt was about to collapse. Interestingly they did manage to roll for Ruchel's Detached Corps to come on at that point, but it was effectively all over.

Overall the French were running just behind the real timeline, but interestingly Prince Hohenlohe ordered the retreat at 1pm in real life, so the French actually ended up just ahead of it!

Overall the rules worked pretty well, certainly felt better, if more complex/slower, than the recent Blucher game, but will be interesting how the BOD-SLS-GT version I'm working on will compare.

Photos are a bit dim as I finished about 2330 on a winter's evening!

French (R) emerge from the woods under Isserstedt (Austrians standing in!)

Vierzehnheilgen church under attack

Another view of the church - like the perspective - just need more light

Balloon (!) shot of the final placings, Prussians in arc Left to Top

Balloon view from behind Soult's IV Corps

Battle of Jena - STARTEX

Start locations, French in S/bottom, Prussians in N/top and left

I've had this sat on the table ready to go for a few weeks, but finally got started last night. I'm playing it a Brigade scale, so manoeuvre units are Brigade sized, and the only artillery shown are Army and Corps assets. Figure scale is 6mm (my normal Bn units in Bde sabot bases), and hex scale is 10cm hexon at ~ 300m per hex.

The rules are the "Grand Tactical" version of Steady Lads Steady. The same core mechanics but a bit of simplification and abstraction. In fact I've abstracted a bit more since its last outing, partly as a result of playing Blucher a bit. The main differences between SLS and SLS-GT are:

• Only Corps and Army guns on table as "grand batteries"
• Bde and Divisional guns as a DM 
• Skirmishers as a DM (but need a dominance to get an effect)
• Small cavalry units attached (as in Prussian Adv Gd units) cancel all skirmishers
• The Firefight and Resolve parts of the melee process are combined.
• All units assumed in Column/2 lines of Line unless Extended (occupy 2 hexes, but only 1 line), or Square
• 30min not 20min turns

On the logistical side I've also now got a slick spreadsheet to go straight from Orbat to unit labels!

The game opened with the Guard Grand Battery blazing away the Prussians W of Closewitz and the fell back before the infantry of V Corps could make contact.

V Corps advanced across its front. It took a couple of turns to remove the W most Prussian units in the woods - no melee but a succession of adverse resolve checks on the Prussians, but with the French refusing to actually close to melee (which is the way SLS is meant to work, so nice).

It also took 2 French Bde on the E to get into Closewitz, but they did close to melee and routed the Prussian defenders.

At the end of turn 3 just the remaining Prussian Bde in Luterzode to remove to establish the first French line and clear space for reinforcements. St Hilaire's Bde of Soult's IV Corps is also pushing forward to the NE of Closewitz so we're not far off on the historic timings. The Prussians are making a move to defend forward though.

Lannes prepares to take Luterzode