Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Encounter at St. Arnac

This was a simple "old school" encounter scenario between French and British forces, set somewhere in Belgium in 1815. Both sides selected the same number of units from a list of permitted forces; the French picked slightly more cavalry. Both sides were organised as a Division of two mixed-arms Brigades in order to test both C3 and the players' abilities to manage mixed commands!

Ion's sketch map of the engagement at St. Arnac
Despite the equality of force, almost from the start the French seized the initiative, and once contact was established the British found themselves in an uncomfortable, and eventually untenable, situation. This probably  resulted from their decision to concentrate their whole force onto the west side of the river (left in photo, French position in foreground):

Initial developments
The French responded on the west bank with an attack in force which eventually captured the village, but also sent a force of light cavalry and a horse battery over the river; these took position firstly on the hill to the east of the village and later down in the loop of the river, pouring increasingly devastating fire into the British flank.
Despite reaching the village first, the British were unable to hold it and their position became increasingly constricted. French heavy cavalry moved to threaten the British rear, and a withdrawal was the only option.
Ion has written up a much fuller version of events (with more photos) at http://archdukepiccolo.blogspot.com/2010/08/vive-lempereur.html

1 comment:

  1. Hi Colin
    I've begun posting in my blog a partially pictorial narrative of the action at St Armac. Today I'll place a link thence to this blog.
    Cheers,
    Ion

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