The Battle of Abensberg 1809

Yesterday I took a trip to Chris Gregg's house to take part in day two of his Abensberg re-fight from the 1809 Danube campaign. As always Chris had done an excellent job in providing a detailed map, back ground info, victory conditions etc for both sides, plus of course his excellent terrain. Once again I was on the Austrian side so knowing how the battle went historically, I was a bit apprehensive to see the state of play when I arrived.

The Austrian right wing under Thierry had been roughly handled by Lanne's Corp, but was still holding on, knowing that Hiller's Corp was on its way to provide much needed support. In the centre the Austrians were doing well, holding a hill that dominated the terrain, but there were still lots of Franco-Bavarians yet to arrive. On the left flank it was all rather quiet.

I took on the role of Thierry and knowing that in all likelihood it wouldn't last long, was given Hofmeister's Division too. I took a fair few photos, but it will only give some sense of what transpired, as there was an awful lot going on right across the table. Enjoy!

A view from the Austrian right flank. Thierry's command is on the hill (middle right) and Hofmeister's force is coming on by the woods (middle left). Sallingberg village is located in the middle just above the woods and Bachl is off table to the right from where Lanne's corps was arriving.

The dominating hill.

All rather quiet on the left flank.

Some of the many 3D printed houses that Chris had painted up.

A small Bavarian force in Sallingberg.

Lanne's Corps begins to move towards Bachl. Lots of nice wall decorations too.

Thierry's command has been destroyed and he himself captured! The French are arriving in force. Hofmeister's command moves through the woods to cover the road.

French: thousands of them!

Hofmeister's Division.

Rather splendid troops cross the bridge.

Hiller's corp begins to arrive.

Massed French battery's.

Lots of great troops and command stands on show.

The French pour through the woods as Hofmeister does his best to form a defensive line.

The French bring up their horse artillery.

Hofmeister waits and has yet to deploy his guns.

Some Austrian light infantry face French Cuirassiers!

Hiller's Corps begins to form line.

An overview of the table towards the end of the game. The Austrian left flank is under pressure, but the centre and left are doing OK.

There was a lot of fighting in the woods, with both sides taking casualties and losing troops.

A view from the French side.

Looking from the French centre towards the Austrian right.

The French ready for the attack.

A massed cavalry action that didn't end well for the Austrians, but they had delayed the French, which was their aim.

Hofmeister's flank is under threat after the French cavalry victory (top of photo).

Hiller's Corps move to shore up the Austrian left.

End of the Game

With time rapidly running out, we ended the game late afternoon and after looking at the victory conditions, the Austrians had managed to achieve a minor victory. Huzzah!

Post Game Thoughts

So a few observations on the day in no particular order:

• Covid and real life issues meant that a few players were unable to make it, which required some juggling of commands. I think this impacted the Franco-Bavarian force more as on the Saturday, they were only able to complete 4 Turns, whilst on the Sunday we managed 6. At the end of the game we all agreed that with a Turn or two more, Lanne's Corps would probably have turned the Austrian right flank.
• Another impact was that some of the players had not played the rules before (Chris' variant of Honours of War) which slowed play down, again impacting the Franco-Bavarians.
• As always the game was played with plenty of humour and in the right spirit, making for a very enjoyable experience. Thanks to Chris, Glenn, Stuart, Martin and Paul for a great game!
• The terrain certainly favoured the Austrians and in our pre-game planning, we made the most of this and it certainly helped out cause. During the game we oft talked about how hard it must have been for the Franco-Bavarians to move to the attack with limited avenues of advance.
• The lunchtime chat was good as always, with plenty of topics covered, some of which I might touch upon in another post. We all agreed that half the fun of wargaming is the social aspect, which was in much abundance on Sunday.

Well I hope you enjoyed that and, if so, a comment or two would be appreciated!

TTFN.