The Viereckstal Campaign. Chapter 8 (Part 1)

 // The Battle of Marschfurt //

We find ourselves back with the main column of the Tattemberg advance up the Viereckstal. Following the recent battle at Flaschendorf the Gallians have fallen back north-east along the post-road and have found a defensive position as the road begins to climb the Higidsattel ridge in the shadow of the Kleinehufte hill. 

Looking at the campaign map we can form an idea of the wargame table that is needed to represent the area over which the armies will fight. Below is the general situation with the blue arrow showing the Tattemberg advance from Flaschendorf and the red rectangle the approximate positions of the Gallian forces.

Turning this into wargames terrain, I cheated slightly as the map scale is supposed to be one square = 1 foot on the table, but I telescoped things a bot to represent a slightly large area and avoid potentially fighting two battles, one along the road and one for the village of Marschfurt at the bend in the river.

Manipulating the image gives us:

A bit of lifting and shifting in the garage resulted in the following scenery setup:

View from the north-west looking over Marschfurt towards the main road in the distance

View from the south. The main post-road from Flaschendorf enters from the south-west (left) and heads off towards Vierecksbrucke in the north-east

When using a terrain cloth it is not always so easy to see the contours of higher ground. I've not made the hills too steep, for practical reasons, but in game-turns these are significant and will affect things like charges and melee. The forests are not passable to formed troops. The areas of long grass have no specific effect in the game, they are just to break up flat cloth.

With the terrain assembled it is time to add troops. 

First are our defending team, the forces of Gallia. At Flaschendorf these were under the command of the Comte de Croqaumerde. He continues in nominal command although he has been joined by the overall army commander, the Duc d'Bonbon who is there 'to observe'. The Comte commands the following:

Brigade Croqaumerde

• Regiment Clafoutis, 2 battalions of fusiliers under Major Cheri
• Regiment Chatgeuse, 2 battalions of fusiliers under Major Vipernoir
• Battalion of chasseur companies of the two regiments above (released from the reserve)
• 2nd battalion of the Chasseurs du Poulet, fielded as two divisions split between the regiments above
• Artillerie of the Ducal Guard, 2 field gun sections

Brigade Boudin

• Hussars d'Etranger, 2 squadrons of light cavalry
• Dragoons d'Baguette, 2 squadrons of light cavalry

In deciding how to deploy these troops I was guided by "Programmed Wargames Scenarios" by CS Grant and adapted scenario 4 for inspiration, not being afraid to 'interpret' this to suit my own ends.

Rolling for the number of units in reserve, a d3 indicated 3 units would be held back in the rear.

Rolling for the defence of Marschfurt on the northern flank a d3-1 indicated that 2 units would be placed here and a further d6 roll suggested that Croqaumerde reharded this as a key position that he would not allow to be given up easily.

Rolling for the main position a d6 roll of 1 decided that the remaining units would be evenly split each side of the road rather than weighted one way or the other.

Lastly a 50/50 roll on a d6 decided that the Chasseurs du Poulet would initially deploy in advance of the centre rather than in the central forest.

This gives defensive positions that look like this:

The defenders of Marshcfurt: a battalion of the Chatgeuse Regiment and a squadron of the Dragoons d'Baguette. Major Vipernoir has been tasked with commanding this group and is hiding behind the cottage

The reserve: two squadrons of hussars and one of dragoons, commanded by Major Boudin, ready to intervene when needed

The centre-left wing: two battalions of the Clafoutis Regiment and a half-battalion of the Chasseurs du Poulet, commanded by Major Cheri

The centre-right wing: a battalion of the Chatgeuse Regiment supported by the combined chasseur companies of Chatgeuse and Clafoutis. The other half-battalion of du Poulet are to the front and the field guns deploy beside the road. This wing is commanded directly by Croqaumerde

Further up the hill the Duc d'Bonbon observes events (this is the Perry AWI French High Command set)

Most of these units have been seen before in the campaign (many times in some cases!). The combined chassuers haven't been on the blog for a while though, there is a closer look at them below. The officer is a conversion using the body of a Perry AWI French grenadier officer and a head from a Perry AWI cavalryman wearing a 'tarleton' helmet. 

With the defenders deployed in a fine array it was time to introduce some opposition. 

The Tattemberg advance guard would be first to arrive. Again inspired by "Programmed Wargames Scenarios" a few dice rolls revealed that:

1. The advance guard would be "active" (rather than cautious or aggressive) so would engage the defenders but not be too reckless
2. The attackers saw Marschfurt as a lower priority that the defenders, so would not commit too many resources in this direction, instead focusing on a frontal approach up the post-road
3. When the main body arrives it will take an aggressive approach to its mission

The advance guard consists of:

• Colonel von Stumpfe
• Bratensosse Jager, 2 companies (acting as a single unit initially)
• 2nd battalion, Hahnchinabun Liechte Infantry (divided into two half-battalions)
• Gelbvogel Hussars, 2 squadrons

Here they are, just arriving:

Just one hussar squadron is heading north to reconnoitre Marschfurt. The light infantry have deployed opposite the Chasseurs du Poulet units and the jager are screening the second hussar squadron while preparing to snipe at the Gallian artillery with their rifles.

The main body will begin to arrive on turn 2 on a roll of 5 or 6, if this fails they can roll agoin on turn 3 needing 2+, otherwise they will arrive (suitably embarrassed) on turn 4. In the lead will be four battalions of infantry and two sections of field guns, on the following turn three squadrons of dragoons will bring up the rear (with the option for some to fight dismounted)

I'll bring today's events to a close at this point and perhaps tomorrow will be able to report some progress!