‘Road to Brussels’ - SoN 1815 campaign, game 1 - Encounter at Ferme de Chassart

Our planned summer campaign begins, back to 'Soldiers of Napoleon', with an 1815 setting, as Napoleon attacks into Belgium (its pretty famous). We are using a borrowed ‘ladder and snake’ campaign-board system, with 2 divisions aside (2 French (Cheyrou and Doubert’s) vs 1 Anglo-Allied and 1 Prussian), I’ll explain more later, but it’s something of an experiment as a way of generating interesting battles on a rough ‘Waterloo’ campaign theme, with a few added hick-ups and aids thrown in along the way (bad weather, etc,). The initial days battles will all lead up to a single, finale, ‘big’ battle (our Waterloo), to determine the ultimate victor. It’s how you get there, with what, that’s interesting.   

Morning on day 1, and the campaign system generated its first battle, with my lead French division (Cheyrou’s) facing the Prussian division holding a side route north from Charleroi towards Brussels, at Ferme de Chassart (sort of roughly between Ligny and Quatre Bras, but it’s an imaginary location). It was a 2 brigade ‘division’ game (so small), set at 650 points. General Cheyrou’s 2 solid French infantry brigades deployed facing a large-ish Prussian infantry brigade on their right (lots of landwehr), facing the farm building, and a strong cavalry brigade in the open to their left (they might be a big problem). All the ‘division-sized’ game rules were in effect (so no extra support here, senior officers, etc. what was on the tabletop was all there was in this small fight, a pre-Ligny skirmish).


Both sides eyed the farm in no-man’s land as a handy objective, on the French far left, and General Cheyrou sent 2 battalions to take it, including his veteran 1st battalion, supported by 8 pdr cannon fire from the useful hillock. The Prussians had fusiliers screening out front and landwehr behind (and a single small scout landwehr cavalry unit). The French had the initiative and marched at the quick to occupy it, as the cannon batteries opened up an accurate fire with an ‘intense cannonade’.

The Prussian response was to send forward the cavalry, 3 regiments (1 dragoon, 1 hussar and 1 lancer) and drag up their horse battery in support. My line infantry (in line) would need to form square, but could end up trapped in such with no help coming. Should I risk trying to meet the cavalry with volleys, and thus getting jumped and badly beaten? A dilemna. Their supporting cannon batteries both did good work and that gave the Prussian horsemen pause. The voltigeurs, all of them, rushed out to meet the cavalry.

It would become two fights, one at the farm, one against the cavalry attack. The French infantry seized the farm and the Prussian infantry rather dawdled, but got their many rifleman skirmishers out.  Still, French cannon fire was starting to hurt too (their own 12 pdr battery was firing in support of the cavalry). The Prussian cavalry faced heavy and lethal skirmish fire and the cannons continued to target and hurt them, and suddenly they were in disorder. Seeing this, the emboldened French infantry did not form square, the cavalry would need to rally before trying any charge, the voltigeurs had bought them time. So far so good. Stand fast!

The Prussian bold cavalry attack had stalled out, and as the first infantry came towards the farm, the French veteran’s column charged down the road and routed a landwehr battalion at bayonet point, they fled the field, and the veterans then drove back the fusiliers too. The French had the early lead in VPs.

The Prussians tried to get both their struggling advances going again, but the French fire was too much for the cavalry, a couple of stiff volleys and cavalry fell-back to rally again, and kept going back to try and avoid the constant skirmish fire. Their horse battery was causing some pain back, but the French line held firm - hurrah!.  At the Ferme de Chassart, the French veterans won another melee, counter-charged by more landwehr, then their impetuous landwehr cavalry charged too (special event) and were also well beaten (the fools). Lots of rallying followed, as the tough-as-old-boots veterans fell-back, damage done, leaving some dead behind, and the Prussians tried to recover, having quickly lost 4 melees on the trot, so the brigade was a mess, its commander rushing from unit to unit to help rally them. The farm itself was safe (just the objective card needed now to get the sweet VPs for holding it - but the French never drew one - drat, still it was denied to the enemy at least).

By now the VPs were heavily in the French favour (17-5 I think), the Prussians were in some disarray, but comebacks can happen. Their ire fell on those hardened veterans at the farm, badly shot up now, and the Prussian hussars turned and galloped across the field to lend aid, and put the grognards to the sabre. The hussars took more skirmish and cannon fire en route, but the final act to the battle saw them make a ‘fierce cavalry charge’ into the last veterans of their column, outside the farm gate, and destroy them in a bloody massacre (revenge!). But, in return, skirmish fire back from the farm, and the 8 pdrs on the hillock hammered the hussars too, also breaking them.

Game over. The Prussian sounded the retreat… a win for the Emperor in game 1, securing the left of the French attack at Ligny that afternoon. On towards Brussels!

Post-game we ran through the sequence from the ‘March On’ campaign system in the ‘Wars of the First Empire’ supplement, to see what the permanent losses were to each division, and gaining any experience etc. Both divisional commanders gained new ‘commanders of note’, for the next game.

Back to the campaign board, and rolling to move our divisions up this, the British division were now in position for battle 2, again against Cheyrou’s division. That be the afternoon of day 1, as Cheyrou moves up from the Ferme de Chassart and finds the Anglo-Allies already blocking the Namur road to Quatre Bras. We’ll play that in a couple of weeks time.

Some pics, not many, – too busy with the action.

 

Prussian cavalry advance and French counter advance at the farm (far end)

Prussian cavalry deploy - oh!

French vets about to march for the farm

8 pdrs (and caissons), open the battle from their hillock.

The cavalry advance, horse battery following on, but into punishing cannon fire.

The Prussian infantry (and cavalry scouts), start their moved towards the farm, too late.