Monday 25 October 2010

Connewitz is finished!

The battle of Connewitz-Dölitz has finished with a drawn.
That result is really a rout for the Austrians: (1) they have suffered more losses than the defending French-Polish (5 large infantry vs. 3 small and one large infantry units); (2) they were only to one point from their Army Morale breakpoint when the game finished and above all (3) they have not achieved none of their objectives, the crossing points at Connewitz and/or Dölitz.

The main reason behind this failure has been the rough nature of the terrain in the proximity of the bridges, that forced the Austrians to leave behind the supporting artillery during their approaching to the bridges. On the contrary, the French-Polish forces, moving always over open terrain, were able to concentrate the reinforcements in the crossing points, making the most of their artillery, that literally swept away several Austrian battalions located in the opposite bank (See the above picture showing the terrain near Connewitz).
The difficult task given to the assaulting infantry units, forced to use inefficient march column formations (
See this post) was also a very significant factor in the Austrian rout. Thus, until four assaults were launched against Connewitz and one against Dölitz and all were easily repulsed by the French or Polish garrisons. However, the Austrian assault against the Dölitz Manor from the west side, succeed at the first attempt.

During the actual battle, the Austrians were also unable to take the bridges at Connewitz although they succeed in crossing the river at Dölitz, only to be repulsed by a French counter-attack, that left General Meerfeldt, the Austrian C-i-C in this zone of the battlefield, as prisoner in French hands allowing him to play a role as messenger between Napoleon and the Allied sovereigns.
Therefore Lasalle almost replicated exactly the actual result of the battle. Using the Rosbif words in a
previous post "I find that's the sign of a good rule set, when taking all factors into account, the result reflects reality."
In the next days, I'll upload all the narrative and pictures to the main web site.

9 comments:

  1. It has been fun to watch. I agree with your comments (and Rosbif's!), if the result follows history the rules must be getting it right! However, the Austrian uniforms still looked smarter than the French!

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  2. Excellent looking game. I love the look of the large scope battlefield. Dean

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  3. As I recall, Gen. Meerfeldt was so short sighted he blundered into some French cavalry assuming they were his own!

    Great work Rafa; I've enjoyed reading your progress.

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  4. Very nice report! I always enjoy your pictures of your terrain and minis, too.

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  5. Thanks a lot for your kind omments.
    I'll search for another combat to re-play it with Lasalle
    Best regards
    Rafa

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  6. Excellent conclusion Rafa. Great pictures and report as usual. What's coming next?

    Regards,
    Lee.

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  7. Hi Rafa - great AAR mui amigo. I'm dissapointed your Kaiserliks didn't give the Froggies a bit more trouble, but as others have said, glad the rules allowed for a result near to the historical outcome - sign of a good set. Just had the same experience myself with the WWII skirmish rules set Disposable Heroes. Its very gratifying when you game with good rules - makes the whole experience so much more worthwhile. OK Connewitz is now 'done' - you must be getting close to Liebertwolkwitz? or the earlier Wartenburg? I'll look forward to your next encounter!

    Cheers,
    Doc

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  8. Great stuff Rafa, I found this a really great scenario to follow.

    John

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  9. Many thanks to everybody
    I am in doubt as for the next combat. I am in doubt amongst three possibilities: A convoy ambush, or two combats during the battle of Leipzig.
    Regards
    Rafa

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