Sunday, October 10, 2010

Aspern-Essling: Dispositionskarte


Realising, reading back, that I have not included anything about Aspern-Essling I feel that I should as there are lots of pics and material. But, as at Sacile, I tried to issue the usual 'Army Disposition' before the game. This was the alternative to clear orders!





General Opinion

The Imperial Hauptarmee will assemble on the Marchfeld in preparation to repulse any attempt by the French army to cross the Danube. After repulsing the French on the Schwarze Lackenau their crossing points have narrowed. It is the opinion of the Hauptarmee headquarters, given observations from staff officers on the Bisamberg, that the French will next attempt to cross from Lobau island in the vicinity of the villages of Aspern-Essling. It is the intention of the Generalissimus, Erzherzog Karl von Habsburg, to take advantage of the strategic vulnerability of the French army and administer a sharp check to the Corsican ogre as he attempts to cross the Danube. Two Korps of the army will not be present. The V Korps under FZM Furst von Reuss-Plauen will cover the river upstream in the eventuality that the crossing in the Aspern-Essling area is a feint. The III Korps under FZM Kollowrat-Krakowsky is to strike out of Bohemia in the direction of Linz threatening the enemy's lines of communication.

The events of the evening of 20th April

On the evening of 20th April our advance guard forces under FML Graf Klenau encountered a French reconaissance in force north of the village of Essling. The French were repulsed with losses and we are confident that they have little idea of the proximity or scale of our army arrayed so closely to them.

The morning of the 21st April

The french forces have begun crossing the Danube in force. Observations from the Bisamberg highlight two key points. Firstly, the French bridges are not formal pontoons, but instead appear to be somewhat rickety structures that are already showing signs of stress under the pressure of the river which is swollen by snowmelt. Secondly, the French seem to have concentrated on the deployment of a great deal of cavalry to the detriment of infantry. This implies further their ignorance of the proximity of our army. This is to be divided into five attacking columns plus the Reserve Korps.

Army Orders Dawn, 21st April

The I Kolonne of FML Hiller







I Kolonne is tasked with assaulting and taking the village of Aspern from the south and west including the Churchyard. The Kolonne is also tasked with outflanking the village to the south and take the Gemeinde Au with its light forces, interdicting French attempts to reinforce Aspern.

You are to co-ordinate your attacks with II Kolonne.






The II Kolonne of General der Kavallrie Graf Bellegarde

II Kolonne is tasked to assault and take the village of Aspern from the north and west. The Churchyard is to act as the dilineating line between I and II Kolonne, and it is to be the responsibility of I Kolonne.

II Kolonne is also to act as the hinge for the wheeling advance of III Kolonne.







The III Kolonne of Feldmarschalleutnant Graf Hohenzollern-Hechiggen

III Kolonne is tasked with a wheeling assault, hinging its right flank on II Kolonne and its left on the Reserve Cavalry. The Kolonne is to advance deliberately to position itself parallel to the ditch inbetween Aspern and Essling.

Once in position III Kolonne is to conduct a solid and predictable advance against French forces arrayed along the ditch. The Kolonne is to carry the ditch in conjunction with II Kolonne assaults on Aspern.

French cavalry attacks will probably attempt to break up this movement. Caution and care is advisable while conducting this maneouvre.

The following two Kolonne form the Left Wing under the overall command of




Feldmarschalleutnant Furst Rosenberg-Orsini

The IV and V Kolonne are tasked with taking the village of Essling. These Kolonne are to be co-ordinated and under the overall command of FML Rosenberg-Orsini.

The IV Kolonne of Feldmarschalleutnant Dedovich

See above, orders to be issued by FML Rosenberg-Orsini

The V Kolonne of Feldmarschalleutnant Furst Hohenlohe

See above, orders to be issued by FML Rosenberg-Orsini

The Army Reserve of General der Kavallrie Furst Johann Liechtenstein







The Army Reserve is to deploy its reserve cavalry to cover the gap between the left flank of III Kolonne and the right flank of IV Kolonne. The first task of the reserve cavalry is to fend off any French cavalry attacks attempting to disrupt the deployments of III and IV Kolonne. In this task you are to co-ordinate with the commanders of III and IV Kolonne.

Once this deployment is achieved you are to act as a screen between III and IV Kolonne, taking advantage of any targets of opportunity that may present themselves.

The Grenadier division is to form an Army Reserve south of the village of Breitenlee.

Army Headquarters

This will commence the battle accompanying III Kolonne headquarters.






Generalmajor Graf Wimpffen

Generalstabschef

Hauptarmee

Befehl ist Befehl!


The Prussians are coming



Having not posted for a while I have sort of lost track of what pics I have posted and done since early 2010. In wargaming terms, having stumbled to victory at Sacile, I smoothly achieved victory at Aspern Essling which must count as the only game where I have been in the big chair where everything went according to plan.

That was followed by command at Auerstadt where defeat was pretty much guaranteed when the French were not only allowed to deploy Bernadotte’s Corps but also two Dragoon divisions: depriving the Prussians of the cavalry superiority, infantry superiority that, added to the C2 limits I imposed on myself it was an inevitable and comprehensive defeat.






But that meant I had to paint up more 1806 Prussians. In effect I doubled my infantry strength and there were also lots of cavalry units. Below are the Wangenhein Kurassier and the Prittwitz Husaren, both part of Lestocq’s corps that was hanging around in Poland. This force had a terrific amount of cavalry but a very limited number of infantry units. So my Prussian force from 1806 now comprises two infantry brigades with four musketeer and one grenadier battalion each, three battalions of fusiliers plus some jager. The cavalry force is now 11 battalions strong.






For 1813 I want to try for Kleist’s corps and would like to use Calpe miniatures to flesh it out as much as possible. Not having used Calpe before I ordered some samples; Jager and Landwehr cavalry. I have managed to get the Jager finished, the cavalry are just on the stocks right now (along with some Austrian Cuirassier and Jager) and pics will follow.















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