SYW - Battle of Vorst - Part 2

BATTLE OF VORST

We continued our game from last week and we had a wonderful time as usual.

Charles (my stop-action video king) couldn't make it this week, so Steve controlled the entire Hanoverian Wing! Steve did extremely well for his first game of Piquet. May have to give him a new nickname: The Hanoverian Hammer!

When we left there was a major cavalry clash that was finished on the French right wing, with 2 out of 3 French cavalry units destroyed. This left the French flank fairly unhinged.

This is Piquet, so recovery was possible depending on the impetus, cards, and die rolling.

Group (L to R): Eric B., Eric C., Mike J., Steve (the Hammer!)

The Allies win the initiative and the first card they pull - Cavalry Move in Open! Uggh, there goes my French Artillery! Steve wheels his Heavy cavalry and smashes into my flank causing an immediate disorder! We fight one round of melee, and I somehow manage to survive to face, but the, the second round the cavalry completely shatters my French artillery!

Not a good start for the French

French General Eric C., rolling to hurt some Hessians!

Nice shot of the table, after  the Hanoverian cavalry run me over. In the bottom right of the photo is the French Heavy Cavalry Berry! They want to draw some momentum away from the Hanoverians so they charge a weaken Prussian Hussar regiment. The dastardly Hanoverian commander expecting that move unlimbered some medium cannons in the valley pointing directly at Berry's flank. The reckless French general (me), charges anyway, hoping the guns will whiff! The hit square on and cut the Berry regiment in half. Berry survives the fire and morale challenge and destroys the Prussian Hussars! Huzzah!

The Berry Regiment, wanting to teach the Hanoverians a lesson, charge down the hill towards the flank of the Hanoverian line! Who would blink first! Well, the Hanoverians turned Artillery Reload card, reloaded, then fired at my charging cavalry regiment. The Berry Heavy Horse was no more! Their commander was also killed in the artillery salvo. The entire French right wing cavalry command group has been destroyed!

On the left, General Eric C. not pushes his two French Cuirassier regiments into melee. They are both rated D12 which is excellent, plus being in attack column they are going to be rolling D12+2 in melee provided they can initiate it!

Meste-de-Camp manages to make contact after the Hessian infantry miss their Opp Fire. Whew!
They would eventually melee with the French Cuirass winning, but having to pursue their routed foe! We had two opportunities to rally from pursue. We failed both. One of them, if we rolled anything but a 1 on a D12, we would have rallied them. Guess what, we roll a 1!

Meanwhile, the French Colonel-General Cuirass is jumped by the 2nd Prussian dragoons and routed! The Prussian dragoons also pursue their foe off the table! Haven't see that happen in ages.

here is the French right wing, refused, to hold off the flanking Hanoverian cavalry. See the steady stream of scarlet heading towards the thin French line?!

To try to relieve some pressure against the right, Eric C. launches an attack of 4 French\Swiss regiments versus 2 Hessian regiments (the Grenadiers are already disordered) in the Center of the battlefield.

The Hessians opp fire and do no visible damage! Viva la France!

This photos shows most of the action with the central battle raging above the forest and my French right wing command attempting to hold the line. Giving ground and casualties as the fall back.

The Hanoverians finally strike, but the French are ready and deliver a close in volley! Drat! The two French line regiments fail to inflict any damage! Gulp.

Below you can see the devastating volley the Hanoverians lay on the French. Dauphin routed, Le Reine lost 50% casualties. The only thing saving the line is a medium battery I fortuitously moved from the center to the right flank! They fire and cause 50% loses on the Hanoverian unit to their front.

The Hanoverians bring the fresh regiment Reden through the gap and over the mounds of dead.

They fire and rout the guns! The game is over as the French lose their last morale chip.

This was truly a wonderful game (both nights) with impetus swings, incredible sacrifices, and good tactics. Below is the situation on the French right flank from the Hanoverian perspective.

Not much left of the center or the far left of the French line. The French attack in the center was feckless as volley after volley failed to clear the single Hessian regiment holding them up.

So, we will be fighting another battle, same period, in a couple weeks. Look for more reports then!