Campaign Eckmuhl 1809

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This is the Strategy & Tactics Eckmuhl map I referenced earlier; which linked up to the previous magazine map of Abensberg, giving a huge 2 map layout in magazine terms. The terrain was a bit too dominant but apparently was based on original map sources of the time. For a magazine game; it was an innovative design and well worth the purchase, as the CRT was detailed and good enough to give a variable result and then , there was nothing available dealing with this particular campaign. Fond memories.................Yup !......................................?...
 
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Napoleon against the Archduke Charles: The Battle of Aspern - Essling 1809.

Another magazine game dealing with 1809 was Wargamer No.49, which I had. It used the same system as the Abensberg/Eckmuhl magazine game. It played very well. I am surprised that they did not dedicate the system to other battles. It could have covered more obscure battles, not available in the larger board game franchise.The counters were a bit too garish but beggars cannot be choosers and it did make easier location of divisional units. The map graphics were functional. Unfortunately; the Wargamer was not as polished as S&T magazine with pics and campaign narrative. My copy must have partially decompsed on a garbage tip by now, giving a crow toothache. :) An Austrian crow !..............


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Counters............:unsure:...
 
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" Mreeeeeee-ooooooow ! ".......the scratchiness is unbearable........................not long to go and this baby will be in my claws. ?...
 
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Looks like there will be a slight delay with Eylau - I made an impulse buy on E - bay for a game ; non war related. I do not like the bidding system, so this was my first time and lo and behold; my low bid which was the start bid actually won.
This item is brand new and I have seen it sell for twice and even 3 times what I paid............Go figure................Niiiiice ! ?...

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I have already sent my letter to Santa to give me a 34 inch Ultra -wide monitor for Xma...he has agreed. ?...Company level Waterloo on this beast will be amazing..........or even Eylau. :)
 
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The buy wish list just expands - isn't it always the case.........never realized that the Deluxe Edition was released last year. Pretty pricey........................you have to spend 20 notes just for the fancy box artwork; but it will save me from drooling and possible de-hydration health effects.

Will they ever get round to doing the Battle of Leipzig 1813. Ten map sheets and a 9 by 10 foot table area..............Niiiiice......


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I have moved onto the furniture now.......................Mreeeeoooooow !.....:).
 
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Battle of Leipzig 1813 in 2mm.......................I thought 6mm was small.................can't wait for Nano - Napoleonics.........you can fight the entire 1813 campaign on one skin cell......sign me up for that....:)........I have already ordered a High definition laser - light microscope from Nasa.

That said........it looks incredibly impressive from a distance........will do what it says on the tin.......huge panorama battles with good terrain modules.

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It is relatively cheap to build up a huge army. So that's good; I reserve judgement on this as it does look good.

However ; it does have the flaw that all figure modelling over 6mm has , and that is ugly looking figures with extraneous metal lumpy bits sticking out, or at least that might be the case, if I could see them close-up. The scale of 6mm kind of sorted that out but 2mm looks a bit odd because it is so small. CLOSE UP !. I do not have any..........so again; I reserve opinion as you will mostly be playing these battles at arms length anyhow.

That said ...they must be a nightmare to paint...........there is probably a guy in Wisconsin with his tongue lolling out of the corner of his mouth....trying to drop a single blob of paint on a black shako and painting the guys face black every time......wait until he gets to the highlander kilts. o_O...

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Let's have a close-up look-see..................a micro -genius painter at work.........the infantry look Ok but the horses look a bit big..............I can't freakin see, because they are so small...............they may or may not be too large................just hand over your dough and quit complaining..............Yep !

I believe that they come on their own bases.................but like I said....it looks impressive from a distance.............?...
 
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This month - October 1970 - the film Waterloo was released to cinema screens all over the world. 50 years ago..................Anniversary ; which begs the question of why a modern update has not been done for such a long time ?????. Vamperloo or Lord of the Battles ( Middle Europe trilogy ) won't cut it............:(...

It looks a bit dated in parts but it has it's moments............Rod Steiger was good enough.

P.S. There is a fan cut version which shows deleted still scenes with dialogue.....a bit longer.....track it down folks !

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" Soldiers of the 5th ........... Do you recognize me ?.............I am your Emperor ! ".....

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" That is not necessary...............not necessary.........they are Prussian Blue............it is the Prussians ! ".( Booooo ! ).
 
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Got this baby yesterday in a thrift store for a song. Published in 2014 - apparently has a lot of new detail from first hand accounts of individual soldier participants on all sides; taken from fresh recently published accounts. We shall see...............some guy stuck in a large group of soldiers walking up a muddy slope may or may not have the same perspective as an officer sat on a horse viewing a greater range of action.

NOT another Waterloo Book !....there can never be enough................wash your mouth out with soap and water...........especially if it confirms that Wellington walks in the shadow of Napoleon. ( Make that crawls,.......slowly ).

:)Pretty chunky at 704 pages.......it will cheer me up as my Windows 7 Computer died on Saturday after crackling for 2 minutes. So much for refurbished computers............lucky I have my games on my back-up computer. I suppose moving to Windows 10 is on the cards with a decent gaming I -series graphics card.

Christmas presents are just piling up........I must have been a good little boy this year........................?....
 
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Battle of Gross- Beeren /Blankenfeld. Situation at Game Turn 34 of 60.

Bertrand's French force has dissipated the Prussian defense. Some stubborn Prussian batallions still try to hold in isolated positions. They have suffered a large amount of routing; especially their cavalry. The Prussian cavalry did make some early, interesting charges but the A.I. did not follow up. Once French infantry took the Blankenfeld height and went beyond, the Prussians were forced to try to hold a line but were blasted by multiple lines of muskets which were backed up by 4 French gun batteries sited on the Blankenfeld height. Their cavalry took heavy loss and routed. The Prussians have taken over twice the loss of the French in casualties and the majority of their gun batteries. One Prussian leader dead- his name escapes me, ( Von John Doewitz ). :)

Unfortunately , there are no French cavalry to mop up the isolated Prussian defenders and a fair amount of French infantry battalions will have to be deployed to chase them down. Reynier and the VII Corps are stll approaching Gross-Beeren; the lead Saxon cavalry are already engaged with the enemy.

If you were playing as the Prussian commander at Blankenfeld; you would have 3 choices/options available to you.

  1. Hold Blankenfeld and attack with extreme force to disrupt and cause maximum casualties to the French. Sounds reasonable.
  2. Fight on a limited basis and withdraw slowly to join up with the larger Prussian contingent at and north-west of Gross- Beern. Maybe a lazy choice.
  3. Fight on a limited basis and withdraw to the North-east. The woods covering your exact re-deployment; keeping the French guessing - is he withdrawing or attempting another attack /.
I would favor the third option as it will prove a nightmare scenario for Bertrand's French units. He will be forced to hold the victory points at Blankenfeld against a still coherent Prussian presence and more importantly, commit more troops which will be sorely needed at Gross-Beeren. Given the current scenario ; I could maybe send a brigade of infantry and 5 gun batteries to aid Reynier. They will arrive at roughly game turn 43. Apparently ; there is a further French column arriving on the battle map further to the west. No sign of them yet....if they arrive the next turn ; they will reach Gross- Beeren at maybe Game turn 48-50. With only 10 turns left.......not much commitment.

So. this is why it is so important to get as many of Bertrand's troops to Gross- Beeren in good condition and in possibly a flanking move as early as possible .I have only seen an extended view of the Prussian army which is mostly located to the north- west of the town.....it looks big......................................and gruesome. :( ( Maybe this battle scenario should be extended to 80 turns ).
 
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JTS are starting a Winter Sale ❄ of games...........Wait for it !..............starting on 11th December. Why are they announcing it so early.....Huh !.............I have to know why...............I need to know.............I won't be able to sleep at night if I do not know the reason why...........Maybe;....just maybe they are doing it especially for me............just for me.............that must be it................I need 10 hours of good sleep to function........................ Woo Hoo !...............have to quickly check if the Eylau game has been in print for more than 12 months...................must remember to add the next three and a half weeks.....it might be close....................Yup !...;).
 
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Jingle bells................. jingle bells......Napoleon Santa's on his way..............Oh what fun it is to try and pay off a huge credit card bill until the month of Maaaaaay .....!...:giggle:. I definitely do believe in Father Wargame Christmas..............I Do !...........I Do !....................... I Dooooooo !..........👍...
 
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I was planning to do a play-through/Aar of this battle but a) My main computer committed suicide recently and b) Some guy has actually done a whole slew of videos on it. I cannot watch them because of the spoiler effect.
It's nice to have Ney in control of a battle...........:).

Anyhow - I will be making good use of the JTS sale and hopefully ; in the New Year- getting back into the groove.

Future Aars will most likely include:

  1. La Bataille de Espagnol Talavera ......1809.
  2. La Bataille de Preussisch - Eylau...... 1807.
  3. La Bataille de Leipzig...... 1813.
  4. La Defense de Paris...... 1814.
 
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The munching has begun..............another 2 titles under my belt...............definitely getting distracted by the American Civil War and Panzer Campaigns games..............maybe I should not always opt for the blonde and go for a brunette or black............temptation and hormones play a part in game buying too..............blood flow increase and sense of satisfaction that , IT IS MINE !........ All MiiiiiIne.....only for my paws !.............................I saw a gorgeous blonde board game in my local hobby store today.........it took all my strength of will not to buy it and walk out...........the good news is that I know that it is there........waiting for me...........:)...........:devilish:.
 
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:love:..............................................................................Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah !...👍.

We are up to 4 now....muuuuust show more self control........have to hide credit card where I will not be able to find it ever again................ I know a good place.........I will never know where it is as I am the only one who knows where this special place is.....Yep !...
 
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" I did it again......................I am now up to 5 game titles..........there must be a variant strain of the corona-virus which makes you buy JTS games in the Winter sale.............. and there are still 10 days to go...............😢 ..................."Hello !,...Hello ! ....Yes.........this is Marshal................I phoned yesterday about a credit limit increase.............that's right.............WHAAAT !......you are willing to increase it by $2500....................Are you nuuuuuts ????????...........................Do you know there is a Winter sale on at JTS..............??????????................Hello !...........Hello !............He hung up on me...................."...
 
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Now at 6 games titles bought....................with a total saving of $60............... " That would buy 2 more games in the sale ! "....:devilish:......... ".Buy 2 more ! " :devilish:. .........." NO ! ".............." Go on...............you know you want to ! ".:devilish:............. " NO ! ". " Greed is goooooood ! ". " It's better than sex.....???????? "...:devilish:................... NO !......... Nooooooooooo !"........... " No !......... I will not give into temptation..............leeeaaaave... meeeee... alone ! " .

This calls for drastic measures..............enter Feline Debt Relief...............I know that look, Kitty;............Once I have given you something; say a toy , food....whatever...............if I try to take it away......I get a week of weird meeoooooowling at 3 o'clock in the morning...........a weird smell in my clothes laundry basket..............and then inexplicable holes in the garbage bag which breaks open and tips smelly, soggy crap all over the hallway carpet.............I understand that I cannot take the credit card away for quite a while......................Good !. :).
 
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This is soooooo on my buy list.................:). Which is currently about 43 items of interest......


On the morning of 3 July 1815, the French General Joseph Isidore Exelmans, at the head of a brigade of dragoons, fired the last shots in the defense of Paris until the Franco-Prussian War sixty-five years later. Why did he do so? Traditional stories of 1815 end with Waterloo, that fateful day of 18 June, when Napoleon Bonaparte fought and lost his last battle, abdicating his throne on 22 June. So why was Exelmans still fighting for Paris? Surely the fighting had ended on 18 June? Not so. Waterloo was not the end, but the beginning of a new and untold story. Seldom studied in French histories and virtually ignored by English writers, the French Army fought on after Waterloo. At Versailles, Sevres, Rocquencourt and elsewhere, the French fought off the Prussian army. In the Alps and along the Rhine other French armies fought the Allied armies, and General Rapp defeated the Austrians at La Souffel - the last great battle and the last French victory of the Napoleonic Wars. Many other French commanders sought to reverse the defeat of Waterloo. Bonapartist and irascible, General Vandamme, at the head of 3rd and 4th Corps, was, for example, champing at the bit to exact revenge on the Prussians. General Exelmans, ardent Bonapartist and firebrand, likewise wanted one final, defining battle to turn the war in favor of the French. Marshal Grouchy, much maligned, fought his army back to Paris by 29 June, with the Prussians hard on his heels. On 1 July, Vandamme, Exelmans and Marshal Davout began the defense of Paris. Davout took to the field in the north-eastern suburbs of Paris along with regiments of the Imperial Guard and battalions of National Guards. For the first time ever, using the wealth of archive material held in the French Army archives in Paris, along with eyewitness testimonies from those who were there, Paul Dawson brings alive the bitter and desperate fighting in defense of the French capital. The 100 Days Campaign did not end at Waterloo, it ended under the walls of Paris fifteen days later.



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Operations after the Battle of Waterloo 1815 - Grouchy's army still in the game, ( almost intact ) and the left behind French division at the battlefield of Ligny which picked up Prussian guns, muskets and supplies; plus what is left of Napoleon's Mont St Jean army which would be added to by new conscripts and the National Guard. I wonder if this would be an add on scenario in the Waterloo Campaign game .............definitely for the die hard Napoleonist fan. And lest we forget - Marshal Davout being unleashed..........he, who never lost a battle...................A lot of material was lost at Waterloo but desparation breeds inhuman effort and genius which Napoleon excelled in. The state of Wellington's army and the Prussians after Waterloo is overrated. Turning the tide was unlikely but making Wellington fill his boots a little while longer is well worth the hypothetical.

I have not bought the new gold edition of the Waterloo Campaign game.....which has a new Campaign game system where you send orders to subordinates/ commanders but will definitely get this book for the sheer novelty value. Hope it is jam packed with previously unknown info and insight on a very neglected topic.................................................. Drool level 7.9.
 

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La Bataille de Preussisch - Eylau 1975 Boardgame.

Recently rummaged through my attic stuff and found a copy of Fire and Movement Magazine - must have got it in a thrift store. It had a review article of the original La Bataille de Preussisch Eylau Boardgame. The first surprise was that this baby was released in 1975........four years before SPI's seminal work - Wellington's Victory.

The point being that they are still making the La Bataille series of games today. That is 45 years up to the current year. They were innovative well before the heyday of board - war-gaming and are still on the field - whipping out these great games. The review article by Jack Radey focused on a lengthy description of game-play mechanics but the only real criticism he could throw at it was that there was a hell of a lot of dice rolling involved. Not bad for a newbie design in the prehistoric age.................I did have the second edition which had thicker counters and I certainly cannot flaw it. This edition won lots of awards and could have got a Bafta if it was made into a film. :) .

It is a great endorsement of the original designer / design concept and game system that these games are still as popular as they ever were. My only personal gripe/criticism is that I wish they would re-release the older games and have a larger print -run; ( I believe they keep it capped at 1000 ); mainly because you have to pay ridiculous prices for second hand copies of the older versions and even some of the newer ones.


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Take for example. - La Bataille de Aspern - Essling - which was only released in 2015 - this baby will set you back 900 -1500 euros.......................:rolleyes:.....What kind of a peanut would pay that ???

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La Bataille de Aspern -Essling game map........................................

The original La Bataille de Deutches - Wagram ( largest map in the series ), about 750 bucks. It is kind of putting me off re-stocking my La Bataille board-game collection.

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La Bataille De Prusse 1806 ( 4 battles included ) was released without an art cover and is hard to get........La Bataille de Wavre - second hand overpricing is mind boggling.

REPRINT! REPRINT ! REEEEEEEEPREIIIINT !..........................................................or damn your wretched hides. :mad:....
 
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Spending time re-stocking Napoleonic pics..........my Windows 7 computer death wiped out about 40%. It is so easy to get lazy with back-up................I did it for videos.........learning the lesson slowly for pics.

It is useful to check out miniature figurine sites as they have OOB stuff and organisation for basing figures with formation and organisation details for a particular battle which saves some time and provides some useful stuff..............like unit uniforms and history.

Had my fill with the Winter Sale which ends today but am kind of disappointed that I did not get an ACW game title.........there is always the Summer sale which apparently starts next Thursday.........???. :).
 
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Battle of Paris Book is winging it's way to me as I speak.....an early Birthday present..........as is; hopefully a Windows 10 Computer.....................................getting delayed with other things....................:love:...................females seriously interfere with war-gaming stuff...........I cannot focus on two important things at the same time.........Dammit ! :). I cannot even review my new games as they do not function with my old XP machine......annoying it is !.........
 
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