The Battle of the Bavarian Valley: 1809

Home

Background

This game was played in my basement on December 31, 2005, between myself and Dave Richmond as the Austrians, and Mark Waddington and his son Joe as the French.

The game rules were Sound the Charge. The game lasted about four hours, excluding one hour for setup. The French had to punch through a fairly narrow valley in southern Bavaria to capture an important supply depot. The game would last 12 turns (this turned out to be way too short).

The French set up most of their troops on their left, facing the valley, with a weak cavalry force on their right. The Austrians had poorer-quality troops; half of their infantry was green. The French were unable to break through in the center, mostly due to extreme gallantry (read: better die scores) on the Austrian side, and withdrew after nine turns.

The figures were 15mm size. The game was an Austrian victory, after 9 turns.