5th FOGN battle- Invasion of France and the battle of Nivelles.

Southern France on the border with Spain - Spring 1813. The Battle of Nivelles.

Following his disastrous invasion of Russia in 1812, the Emperor of France, NAPOLEON has been forced to rebuild his army with newly drafted conscripts and cavalry. His army lacks dedicated corps level artillery units and skilled commanders.

GENERAL WELLINGTON'S Anglo-Portuguese army approaches the French frontier and prepares to engage Napoleon's newly raised army at the base of the Pyreness at the river and town of NIVELLES (not a real town or battle).

With no enemy units being seen, the Anglo-Portuguese cavalry division advances into France and begins to cross the river Nivelles. The famed LIGHT DIVISION is somewhere ahead and must rejoin Wellington's army if the French are to be defeated...

British and Portuguese Dragoons cross the river Nivelles to scout the French army. A rough hill is to it's south and gentle hills to the north of the town of Nivelles itself. In the distance to the East is rough area and a rough hill to the far north. A small wood is next to the road in the direction of far off Toulon.

(The terrain sheet is by Cigar Box Battle Store. I've ordered the Field of Battle - Grassland 2. The terrain is from League of ancients). Anglo-Portuguese army provided again by Richard, 15/18mm. Peter is in command of the French Spring 1813 army. The game was played at the League of ancients at Caulfield RSL. 

 

Wellington's plan was for the allied cavalry to act as the army reserve. However, the Allied cavalry commander, seeing no French in his way, IMPETUOUSLY decided to cross the Nivelles river and advance into France.

The Anglo-Portuguese army deploys to the left of the the town of Nivelles.

Wellington had sent the famed LIGHT DIVISION to outflank the French army from the far left.  Their speed, good officers and planning would surly allow them to reach the battlefield in time....

Two French infantry divisions of conscripts deploy to stop the invasion of France. The cavalry is out of pictures to the bottom, facing the British Cavalry.

The French army deployed for a full on FRONTAL ASSAULT on the invading army.

Both armies are deployed. The British LIGHT DIVISION is somewhere off the table to the top...approaching the sound of the guns.

The entire French army advances in a Frontal Assault.

The allied dragoon division crosses the river Nivelles.

Wellington looks towards the enemy. His army is deployed on the reverse slope, as is his want.

Outnumbered (much to their surprise! Wasn't the French cavalry all dead in Russia?!), the British light and heavy dragoons decide they must charge before the The VERY LARGE French Cavalry division does! The Portuguese Dragoons follow them to support. The French Shock Heavy Curaissers counter charge!

I had managed to engage the enemy on an narrower front than he wished, with the French light cavalry forced to watch on and unable to support the heavies. They counter charged and the fight was on!

The British Light Dragoons flee!

I should have rolled for the Heavy Dragoons first! A class rookie mistake!  (see below for the full list of mistakes I did). The Light Dragoons needed 5's to hit but the French heavies only needed 4's. Outnumbered, the French superiority in numbers counted for more than the individual superiority of the British horseman (who got to re-roll 1's. It didn't help at all).

In the town of Nivelles, a British infantry brigade awaits the approach of the French infantry. An entire division is headed their way...

The Heavy Dragoons won their fight, but not by much, and were spent afterwards. The Heavy French cavalry was forced back but was still formed up and ready to charge again. 

The Portuguese dragoons, seeing the British Light flee towards them, head to the hills as well!

With both the Light and Portuguese Dragoons fleeing the battlefield, the heavy Dragoons are looking at a sticky wicket. .

Wellington sent his ADC's to find where the Light Division had gotten lost too, but they were never seen again. The Light Division had not arrived to save the day....

The Division commander joins them in a desperate attempt to hold them!

The British Heavy Dragoons are spent and outnumbered three to one, and the French now have rear support.

Disaster. The heavies flee to join the rest of the allied cavalry.

As does the British Cavalry commander. He escapes with his life only by outrunning the French light cavalry. There WILL be a court of inquiry on this disaster. He will be cashiered for this! (aka my Army list is going to be changed for the next battle)

With the entire left flank wide open following the complete collapse of the cavalry division, and his line of retreat threatened, Wellington orders a retreat to Spain.

With no sign of the Light Division and the complete routing of the allied cavalry division, Wellington ordered a complete withdrawal to Spain. 

ALLIED DEFEAT!

Napoleon:
Those men on grey horses are terrifying.

Marshal Soult:
They are the noblest cavalry in Europe; and the worst led.

Me:
Challenge accepted!

I as their commander, made a number of mistakes that experience would have prevented.

Spring 1813 French are infamous in the lack of trained and total cavalry. However, he had large units to my (superior) small. Mistake #1. 


Mistake #2 - I deployed my cavalry division FIRST, allowing the French to deploy their cavalry to match mine. I was doing an envelope mission, meaning my LIGHT DIVISION (the best in the British army) was going to flank the enemy on the left, so the plan was to lure the enemy onto my left flank, and then hit them in the rear with the Light division. I needed to roll a 5+ on 2, 3 or 4d6dice to get them to come in on turn 2,3 or 4.

....I did not roll a 5+. If I had, the Light division would have appeared BEHIND the French cavalry (who were completely unsupported by his conscript infantry) and shot them to pieces. So the battle was lost because the unit that was supposed to surprise the enemy was instead lost in the mountains. Whelp. How is THAT for an historical outcome!

Mistake #3 I could have used an extra dice each turn by using Wellington's superior abilities as an army commander. In FOGN you roll 1d6 each turn for each flanking unit, needing a 5+, and increasing 1d6 each turn. You get +1d6 for a skilled General (which the Light Division has) and can get a further +1d6 if you have a skilled Corps commander and use 2 ADC's to hurry them up. So I could have been rolling, 3d6 on turn 1 for them to turn up the next turn, 4d6 on turn 2 and 5d6 on turn 3. Once it arrives you tell your opponent they are coming in, and arrive a turn later, and if they come in close to the enemy, the enemy unit takes a cohesion loss and falls back. Whelp.

Mistake #4 was when I did charge my cavalry, I decided to fight the first combat with my light dragoons and not the heavies. As the French had heavy cavalry, they only needed 4 on d6 to hit, and not 5 on d6. So they won that combat, and forced a cohesion test on my supporting Portuguese cavalry, and I failed that roll, so they broke too, so my heavies were at a disadvantage in their combat.

It is commented below that we played this ALL WRONG:

Mistake 4 was not a mistake in truth. All the combats happen 'simultaneously'. Although they may be diced for sequentially, the results are not applied until all have been rolled and the results are not applied combat by combat, but unit by unit in the order according to the Combat Resolution Table.

So first, all non-active (french in this case) broken units retire, and appropriate tests are made for those seeing it and those burst through by the routers. Then all active (british in this case) broken units retire, with appropriate tests etc, then all non-active waverers (some of which may have been in a better state before the broken troops did their thing!) do an outcome move, with tests etc as appropriate, then active waverers etc etc
Your heavies should still have had the Lts (broken, but still sitting there in combat at this stage - and thus nullifying potential side-support from their opponents) and Portugese beside and behind them at the time of their combat.

Mistake #5. I had Heavy Shock cavalry vs his Shock Heavy cavalry. and was Shock heavy vs Shock heavy, so I failed to hit as often. I should have checked that rule! Whelp. I need to print out and laminate the rule cheat sheets and have them with me next time to avoid that.

Mistake #6. I should have attached my division commander to my heavy dragoons. I had superior troops so reroll 1's. superior troops with a commander reroll 1's AND 2's. So I would have rolled 7d6, needing 4's to hit, and re-rolling 1's and 2. I probably would have won that combat, and if I did that and he failed his cohesion roll, may have routed his entire division!

Mistake #7. Peter's army list said it was French 1813 Spring. But that army dosn't have ANY heavy cavalry, and if you get an attached division from the French Cavalry corps Spring 1813 you cant get Shock Heavy units of them in units of 6 bases AND can only get 12 bases total in the division. I have asked to confirm if I'm reading that right or not. EDIT- I was correct, see comment below. Therefore, I would count the battle as a Technical Victory, the best kind of victory.


British Cavalry. The best cavalry in the world. And the worst lead (by me).

Wellington wrote: "I considered our ( British ) cavalry so inferior to the French from the want of order, that although I considered one squadron a match for two French, I didn't like to see four British opposed to four French, and as the numbers increased and order, of course, became more necessary I was the more unwilling to risk our men without having a superiority in numbers....[
...
"It is occasioned entirely by the trick our officers of cavalry have acquired of galloping at everything and their galloping back as fast as they gallop on the enemy... They never consider the situation, never think of manoeuvring before an enemy, and never keep back or provide for a reserve."

Conclusion: Always take Wellington's advice (and check your opponents army list if it dosn't feel right).