The French army complete with Prussian allies fought against the Russians in a bloody battle that saw much charging and slaughter, along with some frustrating inertia.
The French (Stevie) occupied a church and churchyard (one of the two battle objectives) and managed to fight off a sustained attack by multiple Russian (Martin and Robin) battalions, whilst at the same time using their artillery to force one central Russian cavalry regiment to approach dispersal level and retreat to hide in a wood behind their own lines for the rest of the battle.
Next to the church saw another sustained Russian attack, this time their cavalry against French dragoons, who showed their quality and fought off no less than three Russian charges. impressive stuff.
Things weren't quite so hot in the centre, with two brigades of Russian cavalry moving forward, only to move back to their own lines due to French artillery fire. The Prussians (Guy) 'cossack cavalry' reserve moved onto the table into the centre after a few moves, and shielded the left-flank Prussian infantry slow advance from Russian cavalry interference, although one battalion of Prussian Landwehr was eventually shot into dispersal. These two mounted forces didn't see any actual fighting, just a lot of sabre-rattling.
On the Prussian flank the major infantry advance (of two brigades) failed to make much progress due to continued hesitancy throws (despite having extra 'brigade' cards played), but eventually managed to get into some open woods and force the lead Russian infantry battalion backwards.
What could have been an interesting battle within a battle ran out of time, as did the Prussian 'all-arms attack' on the second agreed objective of a small village, again due to hesitancy throws.
A few more turns and maybe a more decisive outcome could have been achieved, and although both sides retained their objectives, the French and Prussians had the better of the combats on both flanks. A great game and lots of laughs to boot.
