Aspern and Essling scenario

dannybou

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Just started this scenario is Wagram. I, of course am playing the Glorious French Army and my opponent, Pirimeister, is playing the Austrians.

Turn 1

Empereur, we have spotted the Austrian troops approaching from the west. Our troops are moving into a defensive perimeter, but my Empereur, our perimeter is vast and we don't have that many soldiers. Nevertheless, the Austrians will pay dearly and as the words of Gandalf: "They shall not pass!!!!!"
 

Pirimeister

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Austrian turn 2

The Austrian forces, having received their orders (scarily enough, from the same man that annihilated them in a previous pbem game), are marching to their assigned positions at a carefull pace - not because they fear french lead, but because it's very easy to get dirt into their pristine, white uniforms (although it's a blessing for those that have dandruff).

"This time the gloves come off", mumble some of the old salts, remembering the dificulty in handling their muskets wearing standart-issued velvet gloves, a design created by one of the Archduke's mistresses and forced upon the troops by the Erzherzog Karl himself. The effects that this decision would have on the moral of these hard-a-snails troops was yet to be seen, but the omens were not good since it was know that the men from 1st Reserve Corps had a thing for cashmere.

The Austrian Army would fall upon the frog-eating French like a (dazzed) bat ou of hell and in a clean swoop, take Aspern and then Essling, by force if necessary!

Right now the tension is palpable as the men move to contact, with only one though in their minds: "Who the hell is this Gandalf I keep hearing about??"



Here's a zoomed-out view of the battlefield, with the austrian columns moving to contact.
 
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dannybou

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Well the Austrians are still moving from the West. They are now in full cannon range and have started to take casualties. I believe I will be defending in good ground. It will all depends where he will hit me with the bulk of his army. Might have to do some shuffling around. Come on Charles, come and get me!!!
 

Pirimeister

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Austrian Turn 3

Well, everything is runing smoothly for the austrian expedition. Charlie, the Erzherzog of War is on the scene determined to lead his men in a efficcient towards victory. A plan has been formulated, now that the French general dispositions have been determined, and is being executed as we speak.

Right now the Austrian deployment is still taking place, which has the white-clad formations under French cannon fire, whithout being able to "cannonade" back. Nevertheless, the Austrian troopers are in such high spirits that reports have filtered from the ranks claming that some men are praticing their goal-keeper's skills, actually diving for the cannon balls, while others have already deployed into a new military formation called "mooning" (originaly developed by the ancient scotts, it seems!), showing the french vilans their other set of cheeks. Some of the more intelectual members of our staff have already begun assining a new name for this concept: Psichological operations. Will it catch on?

With such happiness sprading through the ranks, how can it go wrong? Weel, since you asked that... The damn embankment that runs between both villages (Asper and Essling), the fortified hex corresponding to the church in Aspern, the wide austrian left flank, the more than likely higher quality of French units and my opponent skill. That pretty much covers it...



Let's see how it goes from here.
 
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dannybou

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The French left is being pressed very hard by thousands of Austrian troops. Some of our batallions are realling back from the shock of assaults. It would seem that the Austrians are throwing a large portion of their army in that area, or there are more moving around behind the cover of the terrain.

My Emperor, releasing the Guard would be welcomed very soon!!!!
 

Pirimeister

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Austrian turn 9

If there's any use for the word "committed", it has to be to describe the Austrian situation in the Aspern sector of the battlefield. That description must also contain the words "heavy fighting", "routed,disordered and fatigued units a-plenty on both sides", "Austrian forces almost in control of the village" and, for the first time in a napoleonic-era battle description, " a ferocious furball of blue, white and red"

The Austrian plan so far has been to use its battalion mass to press the French positions on the Asspern village as quickly and as hard as possible to gain that position and use it as a support for the attack on Essling.

The wise men in the Austrian army command are aware of the French precarious situation regarding reinforcements (it seems they have purchased Osprey's Campaign series volume abut this same battle!)

So they figured it would be best to take the punny French forces while they are still punny enough, thus negating a bit of the French quality advantage. Times is of the essence here. Already the forward Austrian units are detecting what seems to be a strong cavalary probe against their left flank...

It's time to fix your bayonets and form square, Meinen Herr!



Here you can see that I've managed to break the french line around, but not inside, the church. That hex ws indeed a tough nut to crack. On the left side of the dike, I pushed through trying to outflank Aspern as fast as possible. To my extreme left I've pushed my cavalary units as forward as possible to from a cordon that would close that flank to any possible cavalry attack by the french.
 
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Pirimeister

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Austrian turn 17

Well, much has changed since the last report. The austrian army has secured Aspern; NASA lanched and recovered the Discovery shuttle; Russia almost lost another sub and a boat, the portuguese Minister of Finance has quited the majority-ruling goverment after only 3 months in office - he lost all hope of fixing the government deficit; it seems there's a 10th planet in our solar sistem; Michael Jackson has released a new albums AND the french army has been pushed back from the initial line it ocupied in the road between Aspern and Essling.

Now, I agree with you that the clear and present danger represented by the new Wacko Jacko album is worthy of further discussion, but I'll leave that discussion for the WMD forum. Here it's a black powder-only area.

So, the austrian army swept through the battlefield like a bout of the plague, dropping frenchmen left and right, securing its intended objective - Aspern - while driving the defending elements of the french left wing way back, into the woods. The cavalary force that made a strong probing attack against the austrian's own left flank suffered enormous casulaties, after impaling themselves against a strong position of artillery and in-line infantry. Ouch!

The strong attack of the austrian forces in this sector of the battle field has forced a french redeployment, that is causing some pause to the Austrian generals. There seems to be a major North-South line of French (heavy?) cavalary, with some artilery interspersed in-between. Since the battlefield runs in a West-East way, you can see how intriguing this deployment is.

Let's see how the situation evolves.

(to be continued)


Here you can see that Aspern is secured and the french troops in the woods to the southwest of it have been pushed back. The Brickyard area is in the process of being turned into a strong point, with lots of arty to blast the french survivors and support the advance of the austrian units behind. On the left side of the dike , I was begining to sort the units that would be used to assault Essling. You can see how Danny turned his threatened flanks into a nasty-looking frontal- facing formation, with lots and lots of heavy cavalry units. It was enough to give me pause...
 
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dannybou

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Aspern is lost and I doubt the French can retake it. The left wing buckled under the weight of the Austrian infantry and started to break. A redeployment was in order to save the division. The redeployment occurred and now the batallions are forming their lines again and punishing the Austrians with musket fire.

Essling is under attack and is being flooded by masses of Austrians. The French are holding and also fighting like madmen to keep the village.

Two fresh divisions have arrived. If these troops can reach Essling in time, I believe I will be able to stop the Austrians and maybe throw them back.

I still have two aces in my hand: My cavalry and the Young Guards....
 

dannybou

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Essling has been the scene of furious combat. The French batallions are attempting to hold a solid line against the hordes of Austrians who are pourring into the village. I can hear the men shouting:" Mais où donc sont les renforts?????????? "

The Austrians in the Aspern area have somewhat stopped their advance (Chicken!!) Some are still in contact with the battered French Regiments. Now I need the reinforcements to hurry and get in line before the scenario ends. Allez, grouillez-vous Citoyens!!!
 

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We apologise for the following interruption to our scheduled Austrian turn 20 report, but it will resume right after this

Press statement from the Austrian General Staff

"Mein Herr, it is with a heavy heart and great sorrow that we inform you that Marechal Massena and at least another mustachioed, big-shot officer of the French Army were accidentaly trampled by two battalions of Austrian infantry that were desperatly looking for the toillet facilities.

The General Staff is in the process of begining to set in motion the start of a inicial preparatory inquiry to ascertain the feasibility of initiating an investigation to find out if there's enough information that allows us to know if we can understand what has happend for sure.

Right now the information is sketchy (no, we're not critisizing the graphics in Tillers games!), but the truth of the matter is, those overruns are damn fast and we are not allowed to watch the repetitions!

From what we were able to gather, it seems that the officers were joy-riding through a heavy-traffic road WITHOUT using proper, high-visibility, reflective gear. Plus, the poor austrian battalions seem to have missunderstood the latest French AAR entry and though that the French wanted to play Chicken(tm)... The Fog of War(tm) -not related to the famous Fog of London (tm)- made another victim. :cry:

Of course the Austrians found it strange that only two men wanted to play Chicken, when our team had about 1500 men eager to play...

Regarding some recent criticisms about the rate of advance of the Glorious Austrian Army(tm), we would like to point out that we have not stopped, we have just slowed down to a crawl. And we all know the Crawl is THE fastest swiming style, don't we?

The Great and Glorious Austrian Army(tm) is using a time-honored technic of advance, called " let's first blast everything in sight and THEN move just a little bit, because the other fellow still has a lot of heavy cavalry and that freaks us out" or, in a more abbreviated form, "bounding overwatch.

To end this "communique" (ops, we used a french word!) we inform all those concerned that, with the assistance of a new column that is reaching the outskirts of the town, we expect to have cleared Essling by next turn, around 4:55 pm, but this schedule is bound to change, since we just made it up. Feel free to come up with some time table yourselves and make a lottery with it. Seriously.

Please be aware that when we say clear the town of Essling, we are refering to the enemy soldiers occupying it and not -of course- to the cheese odor that permeates through every building. An accurate assesment on the -eventual- complition of that task is something that even we can't come up with.

Thats' all.

You can go now.

Best regards from the General Staff of the Army that wears protective, high-visibility gear at all times.


A nice view from the left side of the battllefield...


A nice view from the right side of the battlefield...
 
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Jim Cobb

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Enjoying this. Just finished a novel about A-E called "The Battle". Author's name escapes me at the moment. French fellow.
 

Pirimeister

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Yes, this battle plays out nicely, I think. Austria has big numbers to bring into the battle, but the quality of the French Army is more than a match.

As for the AAR, Danny and I have plans to "spruce it up" with some screenshots of the battle as it unfolded, so it becomes more easy to visualize.

Glad you guys are enjoying it!

Cheers!
Paulo
 

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Austria's turn 26 (out of 26)

Is it on? Can I start?

So here we are, reporting live from the charred battlefield of Aspern-Essling, where the sight of death and destruction is all around us. We’ve managed to get an exclusive, no-holds barred interview with the victor of this gashly competition, Archduke Charles.

Reporter: Your Highness, this seems to have been a hard-fought, deadly battle. Do you feel the sobering effect that the view of all the death and destruction that surrounds us brings? Does it give you pause to think “War, *cough,cough* -pardon- war, what is it good for�

Arch. Charles: Absolutely! Nothing, and I’ll say it again, nothing could be further removed from the truth!
First of all, let me say that no Frenchmen were in any way killed, maimed or hurt in the execution of this battle. All operations were conducted under the supervision of (Austria?/French?) human rights associations, even if they ended up sending us their trainees (and we’re sorry for the ones we *cough* accidentally *cough* shot).

Q: Be we saw soldiers lying on the ground on our way over and they weren’t moving. Surely they were dead?!

A: I beg to differ. Obviously, those men –2, 3 or 7, not more- bumped against very dense, small spherical, slow-speed objects and are momentarily stunned. Just got the wind knocked out of them, nothing more nothing less. Of course, we’ll have a committee looking into the matter. All that bumping can be a pain, so to speak.

Q: I see... So I take it that you’re pleased with the outcome of this battle?

A: Certainly! I’ve already heard some retreating French troops dismissing the whole thing as a tie, taunting us with their cries of “send us the bill to Viennaâ€, or threatening “you gave us a bloody nose, we give you a bloody mess†but I’m sure they know they were hit preeeeety hard.

Q: And what, do you think, will be the strategic implications of this Austrian victory?

A: Well first of all, I will personally enforce and supervise abolishing the use of these bloody white uniforms! Not only are they too expensive to clean, but also the time it takes to get them pristine again greatly diminishes the operational readiness of this glorious army. My sole doubt lies only in choosing the new color we’ll be using; either red or black.

Red is adequate when you expect to do a lot of “bumpingâ€, but it’s too flashy for a battlefield. You have to be pretty vain, self-conceited, cocky, smart-alecky and snobbish to dress a full army in red. That’s why only the British wear red uniforms.
Black’s good because it’s discreet and most of the stains won’t be visible, but it has a serious drawback: it’s like a huge neon sign if you happen to have dandruff. And you can be sure that dandruff will fall with all the marching and riding... Of course, we’ll have a committee looking into it.

Q: But surely, an event of this magnitude will change the strategic picture in other, perhaps more relevant, ways, no?

A: I fail to understand that “more relevant†comment of yours, but if you want to discuss equally relevant strategic implications, I’ll gladly give you one.
I’m 100% convinced that this is the last we’ve heard of Napoleon and his goons. Read my lips: there’s absolutely no way this rabble will be able to mount an attack – let alone a major battle! - In the next 2 months. If that happens, I’ll grow a Mohawk! And before you call me crazy, I’m nor the only one that thinks in this way. The Austrian Court Official Fortune Teller confirmed this conviction of mine some minutes ago. There’s no need for a committee to figure this one out!

Q: Right... Moving on... What can you tell our viewers about the performance of the Austrian Army? Did you encounter any problems or did the machine performed flawlessly?

A: I’m more than happy to share with you and the viewers at home the highs and lows of my army. Just excuse me for a second while I taunt that passing captured french officer, whom I believe to be General de Division St. Hilare.

HEI FRENCHIE! NOW, WHO’S YOUR DADDY? WHO’S THE MAN? BETTER LEARN TO SPELL HERZHERZOG KARL PROPERLY, OR I’LL BE FORCED TO KICK THAT CHEESIE BUTT OF YOURS AGAIN!

Now, where were we? Ah ja, the performance of the Austrian Army. Well, I believe we made good use of some terrain features, notably the swamp area in the center of the battlefield and the canal that runs along the villages of Aspern and Essling. That canal made a good, if not perfect, barrier to the advances of french cavalry by causing disorganization amongst the ranks.
The swamp seemed to provide a good physical barrier to prevent french infantry to reinforce their left flank and, most importantly, making sure that french cavalry couldn’t charge – remember that, from the Austrian point of view, the french advantage in heavy cavalry was the biggest threat.

So with that threat neutralized we pressed hard on the french left flank, with two goals: occupying Aspern and clearing the woods to its south. We did this by engaging in a simultaneous frontal and flank attack.
While this was happening on the french left, I decided to hold back any attacks on the (french) right, at lest until I had a firm hold on the left.

I believe we also did a good job with our arty. We managed to choose good, dominant features and set our guns there. From most of those positions we were able to support the infantry by hitting both the french units manning the frontlines and the more distant units that were deploying. And considering that the gunners had to displace into new positions several times, I think that side of operations went well.

When the french left flank seemed enough battered, I started making contact with the french right in the area around Essling. It proved to be better defended than I expected, but I had 2 columns with decent man-power converging on the village, so I was confident that I cold take it.

This final phase revolved around using in-line infantry, arty fire at close range, some healthy doses of melleeing and lots of finger-crossing, to hold on to the objectives. Between you and me, these frenchmen have a quality that can make the difference, if they catch you looking the other way. But I can deny I made this last comment.

Q: No, you can’t Sir. This is a live broadcasting.

A: I see... Aren’t you using that 5 second delay rule?

Q: No Sir.

A: I’ll keep that in mind. I beginning to feel tempted to show a breast and its attached nipple.

Q: (roll eyes) So... It seems that everything went flawlessly for the Austrian Army. Was it a mere milk run? A walk in the park? A walk in the park whilst going on a milk run? A walk in the park while going on a milk run eating a piece of cake?

A: It does look like that, doesn’t it? But it’s mere propaganda, really. Remember, we’re dealing in the realm of Warfare. You know: “a plan never survives the first contact with the enemyâ€, “expect the unexpectedâ€, “the fog of war rules the battlefieldâ€, “in war the best plans are the simple ones, but putting them into practice is hardâ€... These are not hollow words and the performance of the Austrian army in this battle is rife with examples.

For starters, the assault on Aspen, especially against the strong point there, wasn’t performed efficiently and caused too much losses and fatigue. All of the units involved in that battle reached the 600s in fatigue and stayed that way for most of the battle.

Once again, the traffic management proved to be a simple-turned-hard affair, in some instances managing to hold the advance on 2 whole Infantry regiments during 3 turns... The staff must practice harder moving men, guns and horses around in a more efficient way. Without a doubt, this was the single biggest self-inflicted flaw in our plan.

The second was when to change from column into line and back to column. There were some instances were this changes were ordered at the wrong place and/or at the wrong time, causing some unnecessary “bumping†on the part of my men and some delays –sometimes forcing me to scrap the whole plan I had for those units- because I couldn’t get them out of line formation and consequently couldn’t move them fast and far enough.

Finally, the skills of my opponent (and I’m not talking about Napoleon. In fact Napoleon is but a -short- puppet in the hands of this man!) forced me too be a bit too cautious in advancing. I’ve faced this man before and he can push hard and decisively and I was *cough* afraid *cough* he pulled that one again.
His decision to realign his forces in an almost parallel line to my advance stopped me on my tracks because all I could see was heavy cavalry –lots of it!- and it took me a while before I could figure out how to defeat that. One of my biggest traffic jams happened when I redeployed to face that threat.

In the end he caused me to hold back any serious exploring of the road on the extreme left of the battlefield, that would put me in a good position to threaten his rear. And I held my breath right to the end when looking into the Essling area, where he mounted a strong attack with his Guard units that I could only delay, but never check, plus a great counter-attack against my center with – you guess it- his heavy cavalry that, with night falling on the battlefield, I literally didn't see coming! This attack was surgically aimed at the junction of the formations in my center and shattered it completely. If this had gone on for 3, 4 more turns, I’m not sure I could have held Essling.

All in all a jolly good game! And now, if you don’t have any more questions, let me unbutton my uniform for a bit of...

Q: Sorry, Sir, but we’re out of time! From the charred fields of Aspern and Essling, hope you’ve enjoyed this broadcast! Signing out!


Austrian center before the charge of French heavy cavalry, at dusk. I literally didn't see it coming...


Final snapshot from our senario. The situation on the left side of the image was under effective austrian control, but in the center you can see the effect of Danny's cavalry charge that broke my center. On the right, although it may seem that I have advantage in numbers, most - if not all - of those french units are Guard-status... It was a very tense end-game, believe me!
 
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dannybou

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:laugh: :laugh: Paulo, you crack me up mate!! :laugh: :laugh:

I will give a French resume of the battle. The Austrians have numbers, lot's of them. The French have quality but are outnumbered. My strategy was this: to hold both towns as long as possible and allow the reinforcements to arrive and form up. My left fell quite quickly and we were locked in fierce forest fighting with both sides having disorganized units. My right held longer but had to be withdrawn as the casualties were mounting quite fast. My reinforcements were top notch troops and I would have need maybe an extra 5 turns and I would have seriously threatened his right.

As for the cavalry charge, I massed all my cavalry and struck at his centre, sending his infantry in disarray, capturing guns and splitting his line in two. Too bad it was with only a few turns left.

A superb scenario, a superb opponent and what a blast I had playing this one.
 

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Great Game Guys!

What was the result of the game? Austrian Minor Victory? I may have missed it in the AAR. Am half blind anyway! (driving is more fun that way)

I am glad you enjoyed the battle. It was one of the hardest to balance. The St. Cyr variant where he arrives sooner is very good. Gives the French more troops to toss around.

Was this the Historical scenario you guys were playing?

The French have a hard fight in order to win.
 

Pirimeister

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Hi Bill!

The result of the game was an Austrian major victory with 2008 points. And we were playing the historical scenario.

It was a great fun to play the scenario and had it lasted longer, Danny might just have been able to reduce the point spread... So I'm glad we didn't play the St Cyr variant! :laugh:
 

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You will find the St Cyr variant much better for balance. Its amazying that the French did as well as they did in this battle.

The Austrians typically have terrible command values which means that their units dont undisorder as well as the French.

I toyed with the idea of fanatical (-2) morale for this battle for the French. Still might do a variant where their morale is better.
 

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Author of "The Battle" is Patrick Rambaud. Local Library (Fall River, MA) has a copy, requesting it now.
 
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