FPW - The Battle of Beaumont, 30 August 1870, Part Two: The Battle Report

Rejects Dan, Lee, Postie, Ray, Steve and Surjit gathered with me in Postie's shed to fight out the Battle of Beaumont.  

For the background and scenario details see my previous post here.

I knew that I had a busy day of umpiring ahead, so I had packed some paracetamol just in case.

The Sides
The Germans were made up of Lee, Postie and Surjit.

The French were commanded by Dan, Ray and Steve.

The Battle
To recap quickly, the actual battle started at around 12:30pm.  The players are picking up the situation after two hours of fighting, at 2:30pm.

Their positions are shown as follows.

French infantry brace themselves for the storm.

The Prussians set to launch their assault.

The game opened with the German artillery batteries obliterating all the front line French guns and mitrailleuse in a storm of shells.  Fortunately, the gallic rifle fire caused more apprehension in the Prussian ranks.  However, the Teutonic tide swept forward into close range.

For the French, it quickly became clear that to delay the German juggernaut the French right was going to be sacrificed. Meanwhile, their left wing and cavalry would withdraw as quickly as possible. Some retiring troops being used to make redoubts of farms and towns to cover the general withdrawal.

French commanders Steve and Ray grudgingly having to remove all their destroyed artillery and mitrailleuse stands.

As the Germans advanced all along the line, the French chassepots opened up.

Prussian cavalry snake their way forward to be ready to press the pursuit if or when required.

The French commanders confer as they digest the destruction of almost all their artillery and the number of Germans pounding towards them. 

As soon as possible, the French set about retiring troops in some sort of orderly fashion.  Seeing no good use for their cavalry, they were quickly dispatched in the direction of Mouzon.  Other divisions also started retiring infantry away from the fray.  In this respect the game was very odd with the French trying avoid being involved in firefights and melee.

French cavalry make their way through Yonq en route to Mouzon.

French troops from their left pull back leaving a "forlorn hope" to hold up the Germans for as long as possible.

On their right, the wayward troops from 7th Corps begin their withdrawal leaving just one regiment in the woods.  Other woods remain occupied to cover the retreat.

However, the Germans are bounding forward, although the Bavarians on the left flank stuttered and stalled in their efforts to assault the farm on the road. A combination of south German reluctance and punishing French rifle fire causing the problems.

At the first opportunity, the Prussians launched themselves at the "forlorn hope" in the woods on the French left.  At the same time making moves to bypass the defenders to continue the pursuit.

Two melees.  One of them very uneven!

However, honours are even as one imperial regiment holds off the Germans.  Nonetheless, the Teutonic horde are in the woods.

All across the piste French units were retiring.  Some in slightly better order than others.  At least for the French their cavalry are closing in on Mouzon and their escape across the Meuse.  Regardless of some delaying successes, the French commanders are looking concerned.

And so they should be concerned.  The German divisions are in pursuit.  The Bavarians on the left seek to make up ground on the fleeing 7th Corps division.  Meanwhile, the Prussian centre is forcing its way into and through some woods and towards the strongly held farm on top of the heights overlooking the river and Beaumont.

However, a stroke of fortune for the French.  12th Corps, who have already crossed the Meuse have responded to the sound of fighting and deployed two batteries in the loop of the Meuse. Whilst the Prussian gunners will soon silence this aid, the help ends the hot pursuit of some Prussian heavy cavalry, causes injury to two infantry regiments, and forces at least one unit to delay its advance.

In the woods on the French left, the two remaining imperial units continue their desperate stand.

It's not looking good for the French.

And in go the Prussian charges.

Despite a valiant stand, the Prussians' are vengeful and merciless in dispatching these sons of La belle France.

Up on the hill the German column determinedly assaulted the farm.  A much closer fight ends with the Prussians in occupation and the defenders thrown back.

French in occupation.

Now the Prussians own it!

The Result
Whilst there were still turns left in the game, alas real world time and consideration of better halves led to an agreed end to the game.

The situation at the close of play.

For the French to avoid a defeat and do better than General Failly had done in 1870, they had to exit at least half of their army - essentially the Germans had to kill 178 figures (infantry, cavalry and artillery).  Now, I did a casualty count.  But because of the "earlier" end to the game, I also had to make some judgement calls.  In the end, and this did find agreement with all the players, the Germans killed 173 figures! So... a French victory... of sorts!!!  At the very least they did better than their historical counterpoint.

Analysis
I have to confess to being really worried about how a fighting withdrawal would translate as a wargame.  I was pleasantly surprised at how much thought and nervous tension the players expended in this game.  I shall leave it to them to pass the final judgement on the game (see Lee's and Ray's blogs).

The scenario specific rules worked nicely.  They stopped the French from just running away and meant that they had to consider how to do a fighting withdrawal.  Essentially, the French established four redoubts at two farms, the small town of Yonq and the woods on the French left.  These, in my opinion, acted to deter, delay and deny free passage for the advancing Germans.  A particular thorn in the Prussian side was the stubborn resistance in the woods.  In the end those brave Frenchmen were forced to surrender.

The hexes represent what I consider to be the French "redoubts"

I denied the French some reinforcements.  Basically, I felt that they didn't need them, that they wouldn't make any difference to the outcome, and would seem to punish the German commanders for their hard work and endeavours.

Perhaps, on reflection the Germans might have sent more troops and cavalry through their left flank against and after the French right.  Could there have been a possibility of a hook to cut off the road to Mouzon?  Not sure, I think most cavalry would have been shot out of their saddles at either the farm or at Yonq. Though the infantry would have been advancing behind them.

Despite the difference in numbers the game proved to be nicely balanced for the type of clash.

They Died For Glory performed well as a ruleset - concise, clear and took the stresses of Rejects' questioning.  The players had to be busy and "on task" all the time, and the umpire didn't have time to even have a drink.

In the end, I enjoyed the game and found the experience interesting and entertaining.  I didn't even need to take any paracetamol!

A big thank you to the players and to Postie's hospitality. I had a great day.

FPW - The Battle of Beaumont, 30 August 1870, Part One: The Scenario

Having refought the Battle of Froeschwiller-Wörth with the Rejects, I quickly wanted to do another Franco-Prussian War game using They Died For Glory rules. After some thought I settled on the Battle of Beaumont, 30th August 1870.

Courtesy of the Musee Carnavalet.  Image in the Public Domain from commons.wikimedia.org

I'm providing the troops, rules and umpiring.  Postie is giving the kind use of his shed and terrain, along with his usual hearty hospitality.

The rules in use will be They Died For Glory.

The scenario is taken and adapted from Bruce Weigle's superb scenarios in his 1870 ruleset.

Background and Battlefield
The war has not gone well for the French.  They have been beaten at every turn since the start of the war.  The French Army of the Rhine under Marshal Bazaine is now trapped and besieged in the fortress city of Metz.  The French government has set the newly formed Army of Chalons under Marshal MacMahon the task of lifting the siege of Metz and freeing Bazaine.

However, Moltke and the German forces are on the hunt and are quickly harassing MacMahon's forces and finally catch the 5th Corps at Beaumont before it has had a chance to cross the river Meuse at Mouzon.

Taken from and courtesy of Sedan 1870, The Eclipse of France by Douglas Fermer

This is the sketch map, adapted from that in 1870, of the tabletop given to the players before the day of play.

The Armies
The French consists of 19 infantry regiments (304 figures), 5 cavalry regiments and 9 artillery and mitrailleuse batteries.

The Prussians have 26 infantry regiments (520 figures), 10 cavalry regiments and 10 artillery batteries.

French Briefing:
It is the 30th August 1870.  The Army of Chalons, under the command of Marshal MacMahon, is on a mission to relieve the besieged French army of Marshal Bazaine at Metz.  To do so requires your army to march north, cross the river Meuse then east to Metz.
However, the progress to the Meuse has been slow, disorganised and hampered by bad weather.  To make matters worse the Prussian III and IV armies are chasing you and increasingly snapping at your heels.
Yesterday your command (5th Corps), led by the less than competent General Failly, bumped into the German XII Corps.  Having beat them off, Failly force marched to the area around the town of Beaumont.  With a negligent lack of urgency, Failly paused to rest his troops.  However, the Germans rudely interrupted your lunch with an artillery bombardment.
Since then you have been pushed away from Beaumont.
It is critical that 5th Corps crosses the Meuse at Mouzon (F1) with more than half of your troops and artillery.
You must now conduct a fighting withdrawal in good order.
The morale of your troops has been dented by the march and poor leadership.  So, your commanders will be needed to strengthen the soldiers' resilience and resolve.
If you try to withdraw (voluntary fallbacks) too many units at any one time the retreat may become disorderly and perhaps turn into a rout.
We pick up the battle as it stands at 2.30pm.

German Briefing:

It is the 30th August 1870.

You are aware that the last Imperial French army is now marching north from Chalons in order to cross the river Meuse before seeking to head east to break your siege of the French army at Metz.

Your well organised marching has got your III and IV armies  snapping at the heels of the French.

Yesterday, your XII Corps bumped into French forces identified as 5th Corps.  You are determined to find and bring them to battle before they can reach the town of Mouzon (F1) and cross the Meuse.

To your astonishment you have, today, found 5th Corps preparing their lunch in and around the town of Beaumont.  Around 12.30pm your artillery gave the French some different food for thought!

We now pick up the situation at 2.30pm.

You have captured Beaumont and have pushed the French back.

Your task is to act aggressively to destroy/significantly reduce the French Corps before they can escape across the river at Mouzon.

This is somewhat complicated by rifle fire from your left flank at B6 and 7.

Scenario Specific Rules
They Died For Glory rules allow for units to do a voluntary fallback at the end of a turn.  It is usually a mechanism to permit a withdrawal of a unit from a precarious situation back to safety.  The units falling back, if successful in their test, can fall back 12 inches, still face the enemy and have one action for the next turn.  This would therefore be an easy device for the French players to use to win the game.  That would not be much fun.

So, to encourage the French players to think about their fighting withdrawal they are limited in the number of units that they can safely do a voluntary fallback with each turn.  They can do voluntary fallbacks with a maximum of 25% of the army (including artillery).  Any more and there is a risk that a further proportion of the army will fallback facing away from the enemy and with no actions for the next turn.  This will represent a breakdown of order and the first signs of a rout.

The French soldiery of 5th Corps were in a poor state of morale.  To represent this all units will suffer a minus one to morale checks unless within 6 inches of a command stand.

Deployment
The armies are deployed quite close together as the battle has already been raging for two hours at the point at which the game starts.

This is the view looking south from behind the French positions.  On the far right, you can just make out a division of French 7th Corps stumbling into the battle on the German left.  No design here... they took a wrong turn!

The view looking north from behind the German lines.  Mouzon, the crossing point across the Meuse for the French, is in the top right hand corner.

The view from the east looking west.  The German army to the left and the French to the right and arriving along the road from the west.

For a detailed deployment the following represents the units' positions on the map.

The French

E5 and F6:  5th Corps 1st Division - 1 chasseur, 4 line infantry, 1x4pdr and 1 mitrailleuse

E4 and D5: 5th Corps 2nd Division - 2 line infantry, 1x4pdr

D5, C5 and C6: 5th Corps 3rd Division - 1 chasseur, 4 line infantry, 1x4pdr and 1 mitrailleuse

C5: Cavalry Brigade - 1 hussar, 1 chasseur a cheval, 1 lancer

C5: Reserve artillery - 1x4pdr, 1x12pdr

7th Corps, 1st Division

At location 7, B6: 1 chasseur in farm

B6: 2 line infantry

A6: 2 line infantry, 2x4pdr, 1 mitrailleuse on the road in column

12th Corps

Turn 4 enter at F1: 2 line infantry, 1x4pdr, 1 mitrailleuse

Turn 4 deployed in F5: 2x4pdr

Turn 5 enter at F1: 2 cuirassier

From turn 4 offboard artillery from F1: 2x12pdr, and F2: 2x4pdr.  Both have minus 12 inches to range.

The Germans

IV Corps

E7 and E8: 7th Division - 1 dragoon, 4 line infantry, 2x4pdr

D& and D8: 8th Division - 1 hussar, 1 jager, 4 line infantry, 2x4pdr

XII Saxon Corps

E7 and E8 (just east of Beaumont): 23rd Division - 1 dragoon, 5 line inf., 2x4pdr

F7: 24th Division - 6 line inf., 2x4pdr

1st Bavarian Corps

C8: 2nd Division - 1 light cavalry, 1 jager, 5 line inf., 2x4pdr

B9 and C9: 3 cuirassier, 2x4pdr on the road in column

Victory Conditions
The Germans must simply destroy more than half of the French army (not including 12th Corps) before it can get within one foot of Mouzon.

The French need to get more than half their troops and artillery across the the river at Mouzon or within one foot of it.  This would represent a better result than the actual result for the French.

These conditions may shift slightly depending on the gaming circumstances.

So, all is set.  Let's hope for an enjoyable experience.  Battle report to follow.

FPW Infantry and Guns

Some additions to feed into the Franco-Prussian War collection.

First up, an imperial French line infantry unit.  The figures are from Eagle Miniatures. I like these. The lads at the company are helpful, and you can buy the figures individually.

Next are two mitrailleuse. Figures and guns I believe are from Irregular Miniatures.

Finally, two French 4 pounder guns. These bad boys come from Essex Miniatures.

I still have a couple of French infantry units to finish before I move onto I do not know what. Perhaps some Prussian artillery... I am as much in the dark on this as you are!!!  I'll see where my fancy takes me.

Tulips and Paintings

I had a very pleasant week away with my beautiful better half.  Absolutely no wargaming related activities involved I'm afraid.

It was a trip to enjoy the renowned tulip fields of Holland, a quick homage to Vermeer at Delft and some time in Belgium at Bruges.

So, first a view one of the tulip fields.

As Holland has the virtue of being flat, it would have been remiss not to spend a day cycling.  We just happened to choose the coldest, wettest and windiest day of our stay to do it... fun nonetheless.

We decided to stop overnight in Bruges on the way home.  A beautiful medieval town.

An unexpected gem was a visit to the town hall.  The meeting hall was stunning, and in a side room was an excellent geographical history of the town.  Well worth the 8 Euros admission.

This hall is still used by the town council for their meetings.  What a great place in which to do business.

Along one wall was a painting representing the return of the victorious army from the Battle of the Golden Spurs in 1302.

At the battle a force of untrained Flemish militia made up mainly of members from trade guilds, mostly weavers, defeated an experienced Royal French army with a large cavalry contingent.

Judging from the painter's representation, the Flemings are being shown as the noble victors and of a higher birth than perhaps they actually were. A degree of chivalric myth making perhaps.

Thanks for briefly joining me in the lowlands.