End of the Fourth Coalition: Friedland 1807

 

Source: Wikiperdia

After defeating the Russians at Eylau, the French push on in pursuit of their foe. Russian General Bennigsen is informed that Marshal Lanne's corp is isolated and attacks across the River Alle.

The Russians, with their backs to the River Alle, attack hoping to defeat the French before they are reinforced.

After exchanging artillery fire the two sides get stuck in and the Russians are soon in trouble. Their retreat is made disorderly by the river, and the French take advantage of this to inflict huge losses.

Defeat is inevitable and the Russians are forced to come to the table; the Fourth Coalition is over. Next time: Start of the Peninsular War.

Collaborative Campaign Year 19: Part 4

 Today's post (text/photos being the intellectual property of Mark Cordone) sees the conclusion of the fighting in the Northwest for the Year of the Hyena. Mark used the Two Hit variant for Dominion of the Spear that I discussed in the previous post.

Please note: There were more photos provided by Mark than are featured below - for some inexplicable reason I have had a lot of problems downloading them. Hopefully normal service will be resumed in future.

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The Battle of Lycaeum

Following the battle of Aricia, the leaders of the Tetrapolis met to decide what to do.  Anaxander lobbied hard for an invasion of Lusatia, but in the end, it was decided to take advantage of the destruction of the Picenian fleet and mount an expedition to liberate Therissa.  Cleomenes, Strategos of Cyraeus was chosen to command the army and at the end of the summer they set sail landing on the northern coast of the island on the 16th day of the 9th month of the year of the Hyena.

Cleomenes consolidated his position then marched east and then south to attack the capitol city that gave the island its name.

Gaeius Epidus Marullus was governor of the island and faced a difficult situation.  The landing of the Tetrapolis army had stirred up considerable unrest, and he also knew there would be no chance of a relief force until at least the middle of the next year.  He did have a tough, unbeaten veteran army however, so he decided his best chance of success was to offer battle.  This he did on the last day of the 9th month of the year of the Hyena.

The day dawned cool and bright as the armies deployed on the open plain north of the city. Marullus placed the 4th Legion in the left sector, his archers in the center and the (veteran, disciplined) 3rd Legion to the right.  The equally tough 2nd Legion and his cavalry were in reserve.  All in all he had 20,000 infantry and 3,000 cavalry under his command for the battle.

Cleomenes had some 10,000 armored phlangites which he divided into two phalanx's and deployed them on his left and center.  On the right were a further 5,000 spearmen. In reserve he had another 5,000 Marines from his fleet, his 3,000 cavalry and a further corps of (unreliable) peltasts, natives of the island who had joined his army on the march.

The battle opened with an advance on the left, but the phalanx was unable to make any headway and the combat ground on without result for the rest of the day.

In the center the Tetrapolis phalanx also advanced but was met with a deadly hail of arrows and was put to flight.  Cleomenes ordered his marines to fill the gap but was unable to rally his broken phalanx.  The Marines were able to best the archers, but the second Legion moved forward and filled the gap, then cut up and dispersed the Tetrapolis sailors.  As this was happening the 3rd Legion defeated the spearmen in front of them, then shrugged off the hail of javelins launched at the by the peltasts who moved up to hold the line.

Cleomenes committed his last reserve, his cavalry to the center but they were unable to make any impression on the 3rd.  The second quickly put the peltasts to flight then outflanked the horseman in the center.  Together the two legions made short work of the Tetrapolis horseman and the battle was lost.

The pursuit was merciless with some 5,000 Tetrapolis soldiers along with their general taken prisoner.  Of the rest barely 2,000 made it to the fleet and managed to escape.

The crushing victory at Lycaeum went a long way towards mitigating the two defeats earlier in the year, but would the fighting continue next spring?

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A disaster for the Cyraenian Tetrapolis when it appeared that things were looking up. Thanks to Mark for another splendid report (apologies again for my problems with the photos that are all visible in Outlook btw).

Collaborative Campaign Year 19: Part 3

 Autumn in the Year of the Hyena witnessed a large horde of mounted raiders moving from the steppe lands of the territory known in the "civilised" world as Inconnu. Their purpose unknown, the horde arrived in the small Northern province of Qushia. The local Satrap, Rostam Anoraq, had had a peaceful life up to this point, paying the minimum amount of tax he felt he could get away with, and avoiding being dragged into State politics, wars etc. Having prudently eschewed the demands of the real world for many years, suddenly the real world had turned up on his doorstep in the form of a few thousand, hairy, smelly barbarians on horseback.

Progress of the not so golden horde

The following battles were fought using Dominion of the Spear with a 2 Hit variation for some units, an idea that was kindly sent to me by Mark Cordone (published originally on Facebook?). All of the units of the Horde are mounted, but two have the "ferocious" bonus; this gives them +1 in combat. If these units are hit, they remain in combat but lose their bonus (they are shaken) for the rest of the battle. If hit again they are eliminated in the usual way. I like this variant as it makes special units a little less vulnerable as benefits their status as exceptionable warriors.

Battle 1 - The Oasis of Shapoor

The Horde has arrived at a watering hole and settled down for a week or so, plundering the local flocks and farmsteads for victuals and scaring away the caravan traffic that uses the oasis. The Satrap, fearing a loss of revenue from the caravans not to mention the tedious complaints from his people, orders the Headman at the nearby town of Baqusra to send the town garrison to chase off the invaders.

The Zigurans put up a good fight but are bested and driven off.

Battle 2 - The Battle of Baqusra

Having consumed all the local flocks, the Horde rolls on to the little town of Baqusra. The remaining town garrison, bolstered by some Provincial troops, has had a little time to set up temporary defences (strangely the tax money that has been put aside for the construction of town walls has disappeared).

The Horde's luck runs out at Baqusra, and those lucky enough to avoid the arrows judiciously turn tail and head back to the steppes. On hearing the reports, Satrap Anoraq breathes a sigh of relief and puts his curly toed slippers back up on a nice comfy cushion. 

New Book

 A very recent purchase at a bargain price, Henry Hyde's Wargaming Campaigns, which is currently on offer at Pen & Sword (please note I am not affiliated with either Mr Hyde or his publisher!)

The opposing General came straight over to have a look!

The book looks splendid and I'm looking forward to getting a read of it at the weekend (fingers crossed): No spoilers please. 

Across the Black River - A Mini Campaign set in Hyboria

Having an hour to spare, I devised a brief Mini-Campaign set in Robet E Howard's Hyboria, with the battles to be decided using the Dominion of the Spear rules. This is based on the situation in Howard's Conan story, Beyond the Black River.

Settlers from Aquilonia have for some years been transforming the land between the Thunder River and Black River, formerly Pictish tribal territory. The Picts fear that more colonists will soon be pushing West due to the establishment of Fort Tuscalan with its permanent garrison that guards the interests of the Aquilonians.

A brief word on Picts: Long before I read any of Howard's works, my grandfather explained to me that in Britain, the enemy of the Romans was some people who lived North of the Wall and were called Picts. In my mind that meant they must look like Airfix Ancient Britons. This has always stuck and is why in the following the Picts are played by 10mm Gauls.

The Campaign Flow Chart

The Campaign begins with the Picts, under War Chief Garm the Hapless, attacking Fort Tuscalan...

The Attack on the Fort

 The Pictish attackers arrived with 4 Infantry units (2 of which were classed as ferocious) and a unit of archers. The defending Aquilonians had a unit of elite knights, a unit of Bossonian archers in the fort, 2 infantry units and a unit of settlers. 

Despite having the advantage of a defensive position, the Aquilonians were overwhelmed by the ferocity of the Picts (coupled with the ridiculous number of 6s they rolled).

 Battle Two

The Picts, having sacked the Fort, pushed on to the nearest settlement. Here the situation looked even more precarious, with a force being made up of mainly settlers utilizing a defencive hedge.

As it turned out, the Aquilonians, who were fighting for their homes, put up a good fight.

Despite suffering heavy losses, the Colonists prevailed and the Picts were routed.

Battle Three

Hotly pursued by an Aquilonian Army, the Picts fled deeper into their own land. Finally Chief Garm turned and gave battle

The Aquilonian centre had the advantage of a steep sided rocky outcrop on which to perch and worry the Picts with long spears. Although the defenders gave a good account of themselves, the Aquilonian knights were avenged on the foe for the destruction of Fort Tuscalan. Chief Garm fell to a lucky lance thrust (4 + 1 for elite) and was hapless indeed.

Collaborative Campaign Year 19: Part 2 (or "Release The Kraken")

 Today's episode chronicles the next part of Picenia's attempt at further expansion into the Cyraenian Tetrapolis; an invasion by sea. Note: Text and Pictures are the intellectual property of Mark Cordone. The quote in the title appears in the movie Clash of the Titans (1981). Interestingly the Kraken is apparently not an ancient Greek myth but is Scandinavian in origin.

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The Battle of Aricia

The second part of the Picenian offensive was to have the fleet set sail from Therissa escorting transports carrying the army of Gaius Epidus Marullis to land and attack the city of Kartos.  The Picenian fleet was composed of some 120 ships crewed by the victors of the battle of Cape Ecnomus.

The last two years had seen the Tetrapolis rebuild its fleet, and although not as skilled as before the disaster, they were every bit the equal of the Picenians in both quality and quantity.  They were commanded by the Navarch Demios of Cyraeus.  Spies had informed him of the Picenian preparations, but none knew for sure what the destination of the expedition was.  Consulting the Auguries, Demios decided to base his fleet in Kartos and await developments.  They were correct, and as the fifth month of the year of the Hyena drew to a close, fisherman reported the approach of the Picenian armada.  Demios put to sea and met them off of the coast near the sleepy fishing village of Aricia.

Both fleets were composed of six squadrons of approximately 20 ships each, and each deployed three squadrons in the first and second lines.  Mirroring each other, both admirals were with their right hand squadrons, and both planned to turn the others left, the Tetrapolis in shore and the Picenians opposite them.  (I used my Dominion of the Oar and Ram rules, both fleets having six squadrons of regular rams.  Play progressed from the Tetrapolis' left to center to right and back again until the battle was resolved.  This took a total of 17 rounds of combat to complete.)

The combat began with admiral Salinator's squadron making contact first.  Fortuna turned against him on this day however as his flagship was armed and sunk as the battle began and both he and his crew perished. 

As the sharks began to gather the combat spread along the whole battle line.  Despite the loss of their admiral, and perhaps to avenge him, the Picenians got the upper hand early, sending many Tetrapolis triremes to the bottom and attracting the attention of a Kraken that laired nearby.

As the battle progressed the ships of the Tetrapolis evened the score as both fleets became fully engaged.  A general, confused melee developed which saw the allies gain the upper hand.  The Picenian right wing then gave way and then the center followed and the remnants of the Picenian fleet scattered, but managed to reform and hold on long enough for most of the transports to escape. Aided by a favorable wind they bore the army back to Therissa.

Thus did the grand Picenian offensive come to an end in utter defeat.

Meanwhile the rulers of the Tetrapolis met to plan their next move and celebrate their victories in Kartos.

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Thanks to Mark for another Kraking game report. Picenia has been thwarted for a second time; it's becoming a bit of a trend. Please stay tuned for more action... 

 

Inspired

A recent post on Bob Cordery's blog inspired me to dig out my own Belle Epoch style armies and fight a little battle (visit the Battling Through One Hour Wargames blog and see the game report here). 

Artsy pic of some of the action