General D'Armee II: Battle of Bautzen (1813)

Here are some pictures of Richard's 15mm Napoleonic game at the Centre on 17 January. It was a General D'Armee II scenario, the Battle of Bautzen, French vs. Russians... Mark, Rob, Joel and I on the Russian side, Mal, Patrick, Doug and Alex on the French.

Richard setting up

Initial deployments, French on left, Russians on right

View from Russian table edge

Russian artillery pounds French infantry from the hill on the left

Russian cavalry concentrates in the centre. My plan was to defeat the numerically inferior French cavalry and thus force their unsupported infantry into squares, thereby halting their advance...

Mal's French infantry advances on the hill, while the French guns' 'artillery assault' degrades the Russian guns...

As Mal and Mark's infantry advanced, Patrick moved the French cavalry towards the centre

Another Russian artillery assault added further casualties to a French battalion facing the hill

I ordered a charge of my Russian cavalry against the French cavalry, which ended in a French retreat...

Both Mark's and Mal's infantry took casualties on the flank as they faced off

I then charged a French infantry unit with my Dragoons but they formed square and the cavalry had to retreat

But Mark's artillery pounded the French in square and dispersed it...

However the Russian guns were themselves destroyed after continuous fire by French artillery

The infantry fire fight on the Russian left caused more casualties to both sides

The Russian right, under Joel, had not been meaningfully engaged however...

All in all an indecisive encounter. The French had selected the hill on the Russian left and the village in the centre as their objectives, but captured neither...

General D'Armee II rules from Dave Brown are an acquired taste. In my opinion, the turn sequence, smorgasbord of special actions and ADCs tend to make the game about the rules rather than simulating the feel of actual warfare. I prefer simpler and more intuitive rules with more freedom of action, where player decisions make the difference - not game mechanics.

However, GDAII are 'systematic' and require forethought, and other club members seem to like them. The figures and scenario were very good. We got through 6 turns in about 2.5 hours, which is quicker that last time, but only 4 brigades were meaningfully engaged. Thanks to Richard for hosting: this scenario may be re-run at the Cabin; his enjoyable 1813 campaign continues...