The Battle of the Estate

As promised my father visited this past weekend for some gaming and he brought some new toys along for the ride. Having finished in record time two new units of infantry, one of them grenadiers, he was anxious to get them on the table.

The Grenadiers de Champaigne expanded his 2e Brigade under the command of Jean-Jaques LaPierre Comte d'Auvergne.

The 1er Infanterie d'Auvergne completed his 1er Brigade under the command of Phillipe Grand-Nez Comte de Roquefort. Confusingly he already had the 2e Infanterie d'Auvergne.

In anticipation of Dave's arrival I setup a rather interesting scenario for us to play. In the height of the summer months Le Grand-Duc Pierre Louis of Gourmandie retires to his summer estate near the KaiserReich border to enjoy hunting and entertaining courtiers. He routinely leaves his court with the instructions to under no circumstances bother him with matters of state. It is during this time that KronPrinz Friedrich Wilhelm has chosen to perform an attack across the border and unbeknownst to him has set his army on a path directly towards the Duke's estate. Through his many spies, the Grand Duke's loyal army commander, Jean Lafitte Roquefort, Marquis de Fromage, has learned of this move and unwilling to disturb his Duke grabs every available unit and races to the Dukes estate.

The terrain surrounding the Duke's estate is dominated by a ridge running parallel to a road.

The ridge would prove to be both a blessing and a hindrance to the trespassing KaiserReich army.

On the opposite side of the ridge sits a small village.

While not as opulent as his palace in the capital, the Duke's summer estate nonetheless provides a comfortable retreat and easy access to his hunting grounds across the river.

Ignorant to the might of arms bearing down on him, the Duke entertains fellow aristocrats on the grounds of his estate.

For the defence of the estate the Marquis de Fromage has managed to assemble a sizable force including the 1er Brigade of infantry...

the 2e Brigade of Grenadiers...

the 3e Brigade of Artillerie...

and the 4e and 5e Brigades of Cavalry.

The initial deployments saw the KronPrinz hoping to quickly establish a position for his heavy guns upon the ridge,

The infantry forces of the Protestants came down two roads in march column. The astute observer will notice that we did not turn the figures to face the front of the columns under the assumption that they would quickly shake out into line. This assumption would prove so ... so wrong.

The Marquis de Fromage deployed his Grenadier and Artillerie brigades on his right flank secured on the river with the Duke's hunting ground behind them; no godless protestants would set foot on the Duke's favorite vacation spot.

The 1er Brigade was deployed on the left flank with the estate to their right ready to move headlong into whatever the KronPrinz decided to bring over the ridge. The Cavalry brigades were kept in reserve off table.

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With his first moves the KronPrinz moved his light brigade to the left flank along the ridge opposite the Grenadiers.

The 1er and 2e Battalions de Roquefort deployed into line and advanced towards the ridge. The 1er and 2e Battalions d'Auvergne misinterpreted their orders and moved left off table and into reserve with the cavalry.

The movement of the KaiserReich forces was slow and methodical (not at all according to plan) and even the artillery displayed sloth like behavior in getting themselves established on the ridge.

The Marquis de Fromage was quick to exploit the lethargic nature of the Teutonics and advanced the Grenadiers to bring fire upon the enemy. In response the KronPrinz moved the Freikorps der Jagers Radeburger to the crest of the ridge. Their fire, unexpected from the Grenadiers, set them running off table in an astounding victory for the light troops. While perhaps outside the normal abilities of the Jagers, the fact that these grenadiers were freshly painted figures made their inglorious debut entirely familiar to any wargamer.

With the breathing room created by the Jagers, the Fusiliere Brigade shook out into line and advanced over the ridge. To their right the Musketiere Brigade utterly failed in a bold action, moving over the ridge in march column. These unfortunate men were caught by the Gourmandie 1er Brigade in march column trying to shake out into line. In the end they would be forced back over the ridge to lick their wounds.

The remainder of the Gourmandie Grenadiers fell back to the river and the safety of the guns.

Unfortunately for the KronPrinz, the situation of the Musketiere Brigade was compounded by accurate fire from the Catholic artillery which disordered the Fusilieres as they were cresting the ridge. This furball of disorder would take time to sort out.

Riding high on their previous success the Jagers advanced down off the ridge towards the remaining Grenadier unit and started pouring out fire.

The Marquis de Fromage seized the opportunity of the Musketieres situation and moved the Infanterie Roquefort to capitalize.

The consistent and unrelenting fire of the Gourmandy muskets forced the KaiserReich Musketieres to fall back in disorder. Even the heavy guns were having a bad day only managing to get one battery setup by this point.

However, a reversal of fortunes came quickly on this flank with the KaiserReich heavy guns finally deploying. The Gourmandie infantry had through their own success advanced right into optimal firing range of two batteries of elevated heavy guns. The pounding they took forced one battalion to retire and leave the other in a precarious position.

On the other flank the continuous fire of the Jagers and the advancement of the Fusilieres (after finally sorting themselves out) forced the Grenadiers to get their feet wet, seeking cover in the river.

Sensing an opportunity on his left flank, the KronPrinz sent forth his lancers and told them to charge the Gourmandie guns. This charge was shot to pieces before even making contact with only a few stragglers making it back to the ridge. Here, the Grenadiere zu Pferde Warsteiner cavalry could only look on in dismay as their brethren ceased to exist.

Even with this setback the prospects for the KaiserReich were promising. The Fusiliers, now led by the Grenadiere Oettinger Battalion, were advancing off the ridge and the Musketieres were once again advancing down the road.

With the reversal of fortunes, the Marquis de Fromage decided it was time to commit his reserves. The 1er and 2e Infanterie d'Auvergne re-entered the field along with the two cavalry brigades.

The Grenadiers a Cheval Boursin moved to threaten the KaiserReich advances on the right flank.

However, the 1er Battalion Roquefort had been annihilated and the 2er Battalion forced back even further leaving only the battalion guns to hold on the left.

Meanwhile, the Musketieres had finally managed to shake out into line (we should have rotated the figures originally) and the Grenadiers advanced across the field.

The remainder of the Fusiliere Brigade was quick to follow the Grenadier's lead.

With the KaiserReich Grenadiers in a threatening position the Marquis moved the remaining Roquefort Battalion to block.

On the left flank the KronPrinz was ready to try again and ordered the Pistoliere von Doppelbock to charge the withered Grenadiers, the result of which was the Grenadiers retiring from the field.

Unfortunately the order for the Grenadiere zu Pferde Warsteiner to then charge the guns was misunderstood and they merely trotted to the middle of the field.

A torrent of fire from the Grenadiers Ottinger utterly destroyed the remaining Roquefort Battalion with little casualties in return. This left the Marquis in a precarious position.

The Marquis' response was to advance the Infanterie d'Auvergne to the flank of the advancing Fusilieres.

Even though the KronPrinz had managed to force back the Gourmandie forces and firmly establish himself off the ridge, everything was about to go horribly wrong.

Having created a gap in the protestant line, the Marquis de Fromage quickly advanced his lighter cavalry, threatening to eventually wreak havoc in the KaiserReich rear.

In a final move of brilliance/desperation, the Marquis charged the Grenadier Cavalry straight into the KaiserReich Grenadiers. This fight, although costly for the Cavalry, would break the Grenadiers and tip the balance in the army morale forcing the KronPrinz to return to his own lands.

The KronPrinz came tantalizingly close to winning the field. The fortunes of war had switched sides multiple times throughout the game and only at the last moment did it become obvious that the Marquis de Fromage would win the field. Throughout all of this the Grand Duke paid little attention and continued his summer holiday.