Monday, October 5, 2009

Storm the Redoubt!


With a blast of early-morning cannon fire, the redoubt troops are awoken. But this is no harrassing fire - something's up!

Sure enough, the Luftberg infantry comes streaming forward!


A little surprise awaits however, courtesy of our busy defenders - a line of Cheveaux-de-Frise!
The first-wave tear their way through, as the defenders pour on musketry-fire. On the left, the supporting infantry regiment of Negrelli turns and wheels round, seeking to turn the enemy flank.
The grenadiers go in, but badly weakened!

The infernal point-blank firefight takes it's toll, but the attackers suffer most. The grenadiers are destroyed, but the support regiment of Von Trapp crashes in, like a wave onto the rocks.
Blooded, the left-hand regiment backs off and Negrelli wheels for the flank...
"Fire! Aha, now the gaiter's on the other foot, no?"
The von Trapp regiment flees too, and so the defenders swing out of their defences to finish the assault off.
It goes badly! Suddenly out of their defences, the Luftberg fire feels a little more galling - to say nothing of turning their flank out and exposing it to the Luftberg supporting cannons, who send roundshot bounding down the line.
Everybody left pitches in, and the redoubt is a mass of troops chaotically striking out at anybody within reach - surely such hot work cannot be stood for long?
It cannot! With the outcome balancing on the razor's edge at points, the troops of Negrelli finally fall back, fighting as they go - what a heroic show!
The Bluecoats can keep their worthless redoubt, and half of their strength will never see another day!
In fact, maybe a bit more than half - here's a few parting shots for you!



7 comments:

Fitz-Badger said...

Nice report and pictures! I like the new defenses.

Capt Bill said...

Wow what agreat battle. Thanks for sharing.

Frankfurter said...

I've found that placing the chevaux au frise just a tad further out from the line actually increases its effect ... the enemy has to halt right at optimum range and take fire while they try to break through it ... then you get to whap them with another round when they reform and come on ...
Probably shouldn't have shared that, LOL.
But whenever storming works, remember W.W.I. ... prep fires, and avoid the twin perils of not being close enough to exploit and too close too soon
Love the post!
Arthur

CWT said...

Fitz & Capt. Bill,

Thanks very much for your kind comments! I'm very glad that the defences worked, although clearly just going round them is something of a problem! (who would've thought it?)

P.S. - don't ever attempt home-made cheveaux-de-frise. Unbelievably fiddly!

Cheers,
CWT

CWT said...

Hi Arthur!

Glad you liked it. I placed the Chevaux to halt the attackers at long-range musketry (I was using M&R rules, which are not very long-range on the tabletop.) Not that it did the defenders any harm, as all headlong attacks were beaten soundly. The flanking move proved unexpectedly awkward though - the Luftberg/Aschenbach science of field fortifications advances in fits and starts!

Cheers,
Craig

Frankfurter said...

Actually, I found making the Chevaux au frise from toothpicks etc. not too much trouble.
I'd lay the long piece down, and glue a batch of cross pieces on.
Next day, flip it over and prop up one side and glue the others on.
There's another guy who glues the X pieces together first, and then glues in the long pieces to make fencing. He uses flat toothpicks. I'm going to have try that way too.
:)
A
PS: about those flanking manuevers, you can see why they are so bloody hard to co-ordinate!

CWT said...

Hi Arthur,

I probably made things worse for myself by trying to rush it! Massive mistake, and I eventually had to admit to it being fiddly - I wound up wedging the matchsticks in the pages of a handy book, which proved to actually be quite a good holder for them while the glue set!

I should go now, as I've very nearly reached a major milestone - half of each unit in both armies completed! (50% scale Might & Reason, anyone?)

Cheers,
Craig