Introduction

Graben was a one-off Napoleonics battle which three of my friends and I played on October 5th, 2002 in my basement. We used Brigades and Batteries, a 1:50 scale set of home-grown rules, which we have been using for the last year or so. The game had about 30 units per side. It lasted about 12 turns, and took about 5 hours to play.

For those who are interested, Brigades and Batteries is available as a PDF file from my web site: http://www.angelfire.com/wa/rogerswhome; drill down to them under the "rules" link. You can also see color photographs of the battle on this site, by drilling down under the "battles" link.

Background

The scenario for the game was a fictional encounter between two French divisions (Froment and Verny) and two Austrian divisions (Handel and Mozart) in 1813, somewhere in southern Germany. We picked 1813 because there is not a lot of difference in quality between the two armies (well, OK, that's probably debatable…).

The French divisions separated by a small river. Froment's division is on the west bank and Verny's division is on the east bank. The Austrians, on the east bank, have decided to try and defeat Verny's division before Froment can link up. Verny's orders are to hold his position until Froment joins him, then pull back north; he cannot simply retreat and avoid battle, even though he is initially outnumbered.

To win, the Austrians must break Verny's army morale before their own is broken or before nightfall, whichever comes first. Verny's army morale breaks if, at the end of any turn, he has at least half his figures dead or within 12" of the rear table edge. This comes to a total of 108 figures (we do not count gunners). Austrian army morale breaks if they lose half their figures.

Night was deemed to fall at the end of whatever turn was in play when my wife pulled in the driveway (I had to go off to a dinner party as soon as she got back from running errands). This lent a certain urgency to the Austrian attack.

The Game Table

The map below shows the game table.

The swampy areas running along either side of the small, swift Graben River are rough ground; all close-order units cross it at half speed and become disordered, but it does not block sighting. The Graben itself has steep banks: It is impassable to artillery. A cavalry unit must roll an 8-10 to exit the river once it enters. Infantry crosses it at half speed. The river disorders all troops crossing it, except at the ford itself.

All the woods are light woods.

All the hills are low hills.

The towns can hold up to 24 figures each. They give hard cover vs. shooting, and soft cover in combat.

Units moving along the roads move 3" faster.

The Map: Initial Dispositions

Setup and Initial Moves

Notes on the Rules

There are six morale grades in Brigades and Batteries: A (guard), B (elite), C (veteran), D (average), E (conscript), and F (raw).

The troop scale is 1:50 for infantry, 1:40 for cavalry, and 1 gunner figure = 2 actual guns for artillery. Thus a battery is represented by one gun model plus 3-4 gunners.

The ground scale is 50 paces to the inch. 10-sided dice are used.

Starting Forces and Setup Conditions

French

Verny

• Verny could set up as far forward as the town of Graben, but no nearer than 12" to the rear table edge.
• 3 battalions of Grade C legere @12
• 9 battalions of Grade D ligne @12
• 3 battalions of Grade E ligne @12
• 3 regiments of Grade D light cavalry @12
• 3 batteries of field guns @8 guns (4 gunner figures) each
• Total: 9,000 infantry, 1,440 cavalry, 24 guns

Froment

• Froment's troops had to march on in a column along the road in the northwest corner of the table (see illustration below), staying on the road for the first 12"; thereafter his units could move as desired.
• 2 battalions of Grade C legere @12
• 8 battalions of Grade D ligne @12
• 3 regiments of Grade D light cavalry @12
• 2 batteries of field guns @8 guns (4 gunner figures) each
• Total: 6,000 infantry, 1,440 cavalry, 16 guns

Austrians

Handel

• Verny could set up as far forward as the town of Graben, but no nearer than 12" to the rear table edge.
• 1 battalion of Grade C jaegers @12
• 9 battalions of Grade D line infantry @16
• 3 regiments of Grade D light cavalry @12
• 3 batteries of field guns @6 guns (3 gunner figures) each
• Total: 8,600 infantry, 1,440 cavalry, 18 guns

Mozart

• Mozart's division had to set up on the west side of the table, also up to 24" onto the table. As you can see, Mozart's division is somewhat weaker than Handel's:
• 1 battalion of Grade D Grenz light infantry @12
• 4 battalions of Grade D German line infantry @12
• 4 battalions of Grade E Hungarian line infantry @12
• 1 battalion of Grade E landwehr infantry @12
• 3 regiments of Grade D light cavalry @12
• 3 batteries of field guns @6 guns (3 gunner figures) each
• Total: 6,000 infantry, 1,440 cavalry, 18 guns

The Course of the Battle

The Austrian strategy was to place one of Mozart's brigades to hold the ford, and push forward with everything else to pin and crush Verny before Froment's men could cross the river.

The French strategy was to hold as long as possible on the east side of the Graben. Froment split his relief force: The first brigade, plus the cavalry, was to march to the ford and force a crossing. The second brigade was to peel off and cross the Graben behind Verny's lines, thus reinforcing Verny's right flank.

The action started quickly, as the French guns began tearing into Mozart's advancing lines. All 24 of the French 8-pounders began blasting at the same target, and quickly blew away two battalions of line troops (these poor fellows suffered 3-4 losses each, checked their morale, and failed miserably, running off the table). Upon seeing this, Mozart hesitated; his troops stopped at 16" range (effective Ballshot distance for field guns), while he sent his guns and cavalry off to help Handel's attack. But this still had an effect: The French were forced to keep most of their artillery committed on the west side of the town, making Handel's assault much more effective.

At the ford, Mozart sent one battalion across the ford and formed square to block the enemy cavalry from rushing the crossing, while the rest of his battalions (mostly Hungarians) created a welcoming committee on the Austrian side.

In the center, Handel's cavalry charged swiftly across the open, rolling ground, meeting the French hussars and chausseurs head-on. In every case, unfortunately for the French, they were simply too outnumbered to survive long, despite excellent sabre-work (rolling more 9's and 10's than they were morally entitled to).

After several turns, the Austrian hussars had shattered all the French cavalry, and had begun trying for flank/rear charges on the French infantry. What saved the French was the fact that the Austrian infantry was too far away to bring in immediate support, and the fact that Austrian guns had been committed in the center, against the town, where they were not very effective. The French lost one battalion to a flank attack, but then the hard-pressed French footmen were able to form square and repulse the disordered Austrian attacks.

On the far edge of the table, several Austrian battalions advanced in line and began a long-range musketry duel with their French counterparts. This desultory action lasted for most of the game; not until almost nightfall did the Austrians press home their attack on that flank.

Back by the fords, Froment held back his cavalry while his infantry and one battery of guns prepared the enemy for the assault. Froment kept his attacks very cautious and deliberate -- far more cautious than the situation warranted, which caused Verny to send several aggravated "suggestions" his way. Froment then used a tried-and-true wargaming tactic: He formed up his battalions three columns abreast and began a musketry duel with the German infantry across the ford (the square had long since retreated post-haste back to safety). The French battery began pounding the second Austrian battalion at the ford. Unfortunately for the French, the pair of defending units proved very tough; they kept passing all their morale checks handily, while French battalions would break to the rear and have to be replaced, in a sort of conveyer-belt action.

Froment's second brigade crossed the river successfully, however, and was soon moving up on the French right. Just in time to prevent disaster, as you will see:

In the center, the Austrians piled up five columns of infantry against Graben itself, which was held by two battalions of legere. Verny had limbered his guns, intending to bring them around the town and play on the Austrian center, but this proved to be a big mistake: Mozart immediately advanced his lines, and the poor gunners were forced to choose between unlimbering and firing in a last-ditch self-defense action, or stay limbered and try to escape. They chose the second option, and so were of no help defending the town.

The crisis of the battle had arrived, as the map below illustrates:

The Crisis of the Battle

Graben was the hinge of the French position and thus vital to their defense. The gallant light infantrymen won their first round of combat (helped mightily by their morale advantage over the grade D/E attackers), but on the second turn they lost and routed out. The Austrians had taken Graben, and the French began to look very worried. By this point the French had lost almost 90 figures.

Froment finally got the message. He sent his cavalry headlong into the Graben River itself, and sent his trio of columns splashing across the river to attempt a charge against the weakened Austrian defenders. His first cavalry unit actually rolled an 8, and was able to scramble up the far bank of the river, pushing back the Grenzers defending it. Two of the infantry columns passed their morale to charge home, and were able to lock into combat. And to help even more, the gun battery finally broke the second Austrian battalion. It looked like the French were going to finally turn the Austrian left flank, but would it be in time?

Back in the center, things began to look grim for the French. the Austrians were flooding through Graben, overrunning one gun and threatening to penetrate behind the French center. Just in time, Froment was able to push his disordered columns into position and stop (most of) the leakage past Graben. But to the east of the town, all six Austrian batteries began smashing 6-pound balls through the thinning French lines, cheering with each hit…

And then the sound came, that sound of doom and dole which the French had been anticipating and Austrians dreading: The garage door was opening -- Margo was home! The last turn of the game had just been played, and the game ended with the troops in the positions shows below:

Final Positions

Conclusion

We counted up the losses. Then the Austrians counted them again. Twice. The result: The French had lost 106 figures, and thus had won the game by two figures.

And so, as night sullenly fell across the ruins of Graben and its trampled fields, the Austrians retreated cursing to their sausages and campfires, leaving the French to link up and make an exhausted night march north toward a place of security -- the city of Leipzig.

Photographs