CAMPAIGN
10 May 1813 - Battle of Halbeck
Blucher has spent two days at Colbitz building up his forces west of the
Having lost at both Calbe and Colbitz, the French situation is now critical. Davout has placed 4th corps in Halbeck, and regrouped 6th corps behind the town.
The table consists of squares D1, D2, D3, E1, E2, E3, F1, F2, F3
The
4th French (Jan) in position at Halback.
6th French (Jan) will approach from left
3rd and 4th Prussian (Paul) will approach from right
BATTLE REPORT
6th French corps send their cavalry forward to join the cavalry melee, and form square with their infantry until the cavalry duel is decided.
The Prussian cavalry have beaten the cuirassiers who withdraw, however 6th corps cavalry charge to cover the withdrawal.. The Prussians again win the melee, but are left disordered and require time to regroup.
The infantry of 3rd corps continue to soak up the French artillery fire, but remain firm. The combined Prussian artillery have failed to make much impression. Unless they can master the enemy gunners, 3 corps will have to withdraw before the increasing casualties break their morale. 6th French corps remain in square, as the beaten cavalry flow past them.
The concentrated Prussian artillery fire finally has its effect, the enemy gunners are shaken, fail their morale and flee. The nearby square also fails its morale and joins them. Unfortunately the Prussian cavalry are still disorganized and unable to take advantage of this opportunity.
3rd corps is ordered to advance and pursue fleeing enemy. They detach their landwehr brigade to engage the enemy garrison in Halbeck.
4th corps to engage the enemy infantry on the right, with their two best brigades, whilst the remaining two storm the town. Although there is no artillery support, the Prussian infantry win the day. After a brisk musket fight the supporting French infantry break and run. The garrison of the town puts up a determined defence, and defeat the first brigade. However the two remaining brigades finally overrun them and they withdraw from the town in good order.
The French 4th corps is broken and in rout. However 6th corps, apart from their cavalry, are intact and relatively safe in their squares. They withdraw in good order, covering the rout and holding the weary Prussian cavalry and infantry at bay.
Conclusion
The battle has been a clear, but not decisive, victory for the Prussians.
The French will retreat and will take one day to recover.
Hi Paul
ReplyDeleteIf I understand your rules correctly, after the recovery all troops are back at full strenght with no benefit/penalty for winning/losing a battle. Is this correct?
Thanks
Dave
Hi Dave
ReplyDeleteYes you are quite correct. I will do a summary of the game to make it clearer later today.
The purpose of the campaign is to provide good table top battles, rather than to destroy the enemy. If casualties were carried forward to the next battle, it would have too much of a "knock on" effect.
However I do take into effect the results of a battle in deciding what happens next in the campaign. The winner will always gain ground, which is his objective within the campaign. And when one side has a major defeat, that is the end of the mini campaign.
regards
Paul