The Battle of Teugn-Hausen 19th April 1809: The Game

As discussed last time, instead of playing our planned continuation of the Battle of Neumarkt at the Wargames Association of South Pembrokeshire (W.A.S.P.), we instead played through a refight of the Battle of Teugn-Hausen.  I posted the scenario last time, so go and have a look there for the background to this battle.

As usual, the rules used are Napoleon’s Battles (4th Edition).  This is a ‘grand-tactical’ ruleset with a figure ratio of around 1:100 and each tactical unit representing a brigade or large regiment.

Above:  This time I actually remembered to orientate my overhead shot with the scenario map! 🙂

Above:  As Davout confers with Saint-Hilaire at Teugn, an Austrian cavalry battery appears on the crest of the Buchberg and starts taking pot-shots at Saint-Hilaire’s column!  As they watch, whitecoats begin to appear on the crest of the Hausener-Berg.

Above:  Saint-Hilaire’s division has five regiments marching on the road; the 10e Légère have already passed through Teugn, though the 3e, 57e, 72e and 105e de Ligne are still marching through.  The divisional horse artillery is detached, currently supporting the corps rearguard.

Above:  At the rear of Saint-Hilaire’s column, the 72e and 105e de Ligne march into Teugn, which seems to be suffering from some architectural subsidence.

Above:  Lurking among the trees at the crest of the Buchberg, is Vukassovich’s advance guard infantry brigade, consisting of the 2nd Battalion, 9th (Peterwardeiner) Grenzer and the Waltrich Jäger Battalion (here represented by a regular Jäger unit, as my Grenzer are all otherwise engaged in the Neumarkt game and I haven’t yet painted the Waltrich Jäger).  Deployed alongside them is a 6-pounder cavalry battery, which has already started bowling over infantrymen in the 57e de Ligne.

Above:  Deployed further back, on the edge of woods on the Hausener-Berg and also under Vukassovich’s command, is the 3rd ‘Erzherzog Ferdinand’ Hussar Regiment.

Above:  Deploying astride the road on the crest of the Hausener-Berg is Kayser’s brigade of Lusignan’s division, consisting of the 7th ‘Schröder Regiment (dark brown facings) and the 56th ‘Wenzel Colloredo’ Regiment (steel green facings).  Lusignan’s second brigade is sadly elsewhere, defending a key point on the line of march, and will take no part in today’s battle.

Above:  An overhead view of the Austrian advance guard.  The corps commander, Hohenzollern-Hechingen has ridden forward for a closer look at the situation.

Above:  Davout orders Saint-Hilaire to immediately attack the Buchberg!  The 3e & 57e de Ligne form into attack-columns and begin their advance, as the 72e & 105e de Ligne pass through Teugn and prepare to deploy in support.  The 10e Légère has now returned to the division and deploys in support of the right flank.

Above:  “Bonaparte’s Balls!”  Taking everyone by surprise, the 3rd ‘Erzherzog Ferdinand’ Hussars come galloping down the hill, sending Davout, Saint-Hilaire and their staff fleeing for their lives!  Astonishingly, the 57e de Ligne live up to their nickname “Le Terrible” and fail to form squares!

[In game terms, an opening shot by the cavalry battery had disordered the 57e de  Ligne, forcing the deployment of a French re-roll marker.  The Austrian hussars decided to charge anyway and deployed more re-roll markers in trying to catch Davout and Saint-Hilaire, though without success!  Then, when the 57e successfully tested to form square, the Austrians deployed a third re-roll marker, which resulted in the 57e failing to form square…]

Above:  A ragged volley against the hussars achieves nothing and the 57e de Ligne break and run for the safety of the village!  The Colonel of the 3rd Hussars successfully manages to reign in his men’s blood-lust and lines up his next target, the 72e de Ligne, who are presently strung out on the march, with no hope of forming squares!

[In game terms, a successful volley against the hussars resulted in the deployment of a fourth Austrian re-roll marker and the 57e were ridden down…]

Above:  It comes as little surprise when the 72e de Ligne are ridden down by the 3rd Hussars, closely followed by the 105e de Ligne!  The 105e de Ligne are able to flee to the safety of the village, but the 72e are irrecoverably broken.  Davout and Saint-Hilaire are forced to flee yet again; Saint-Hilaire joins the 57e de Ligne in Teugn, while Davout rides to the 10e Légère.

[In game terms, the 72e had by a miracle and against all the odds, actually managed to beat off the hussars by a factor of 1.  However, the utter bounder commanding the Austrians deployed his fifth and final re-roll marker to crush their spirit!  Never before, in the field of miniature conflict, has anyone deployed their entire stash of re-roll markers to support a single cavalry charge!  Well now the glove was on the other foot, as I still had five re-roll markers in my stash and he had none… Mwahahahahahahahahahaha!]

Above:  Having demolished three line infantry regiments, the 3rd Hussars’ rampage has still not ended!  However, the 10e Légère, with Marshal Davout in direct command, are made of sterner stuff and successfully manage to form squares!  At last!

Above:  As the hussars attempt to charge home, their charge is thrown into disorder by murderous fire from the blue-coated squares.  Some hussars manage to reach the wall of bayonets, but their confidence shattered, they are forced to flee.  The hussars will play no further part in this battle, but my God, what a charge…

Above:  Saint-Hilaire gets to work rallying the two broken regiments in Teugn.  It will be some time before he is able to bring his division back into some sort of order.  Will he be able to do so before the Austrian infantry arrive?

Above:  On the other side of the hill at Hausen, the leading unit of Saint-Julien’s Division, the 12th ‘Manfredini’ Regiment has arrived.

Above:  To the south of Hausen, Saint-Julien’s second unit, the 20th ‘Kaunitz’ Regiment is also approaching the battle.

Above:  Back at Teugn, Lusignan has advanced to seize the spur of the Buchberg that directly overlooks Teugn.  He also receives the welcome reinforcement of a reserve 12-pounder position battery, personally brought forward by Hohenzollern-Hechingen.

Above:  Having rallied the two regiments in Teugn and ordered them to prepare the village for defence, Saint-Hilaire rides out to re-take control of his two right-flank regiments.

Above:  Out to the east and not a moment too soon, Friant arrives with his leading regiment, the reinforced 108e de Ligne.

[Note that this unit is classed as ‘Veteran Light Infantry’, as it’s been reinforced by massed Voltigeur companies and the 2nd Battalion of the 7e Légère.  I therefore used Légère figures to represent this mixed unit.  I will therefore continue to refer to this unit as the 7e Légère.]

Above:  Vukassovich pushes his light infantry forward to threaten Saint-Hilaire’s right flank.

Above:  Saint-Julien and the 12th ‘Manfredini’ Regiment soon reach the crest of the Hausener-Berg.

Above:  As Austrian reinforcements start to pour out of the woods, Saint-Hilaire advances on the Austrian 56th ‘Wenzel Colloredo’ Regiment.  However, the 3e de Ligne on the right flank are taking a pasting from Vukassovich’s light infantry and cavalry guns.

Above:  Lusignan, having captured the Buchberg Spur, seems content to deploy his 12-pounders and paste the village.

Above:  Saint-Julien finally arrives at Lusignan’s position with his leading regiment and plenty more following behind.

Above:  And not a moment too soon, as Friant deploys his leading regiments and begins to organise the counter-attack.

Above:  Saint-Hilaire finally exacts his revenge on the Austrians!  Sabre in hand, he leads the 10e Légère up the slope.  His men somehow manage to push through the storm of shot from the Austrian 56th Regiment and the flanking cavalry battery and charge home!  Despite their considerable disorder and heavy casualties, the 10e Légère successfully eject the kaiserlicks from the spur!

Above:  Vukassovich pushes forward, continuing to make life miserable for the 3e de Ligne.

Above:  On the opposite flank, Friant hopes to repeat Saint-Hilaire’s success with the 7e Légère against the 7th ‘Schröder’ Regiment.

Above:  At last, Saint-Hilaire’s divisional horse battery arrives on the right flank and the French can finally respond to the deeply irritating Austrian advance guard!

[In game terms, this battery was almost immediately damaged by the Austrian cavalry battery, but we still had five re-roll markers left!  Mwahahahahahahaha!  Not today, Kaiserlicks, not today…]

Above:  Vukassovich continues to harass the 3e de Ligne, but the tables will soon be turned!

Above:  The 10e Légère meanwhile, having seized the crest of the Buchberg Spur, are now being absolutely hammered by canister fire from the Austrian 12-pounder battery!

Above:  At the tip of the Buchenberg Spur, Friant strikes!  As the 33e de Ligne cover the flank, the 7e Légère launch a frontal assault on the 7th ‘Schröder’ Regiment.  However, the combat soon bogs down into a bitter struggle for control of the high ground.

[In game terms, the Austrians actually won the combat!  I was able to deploy yet another re-roll marker, but that only resulted in a draw, so both sides suffered losses and fought another round of combat.]

Above:  Friant’s two remaining regiments, the 48e & 111e de Ligne, arrive at Teugn and prepare to move up in support.

Above:  At last, the 7e Légère manage to push the 7th Regiment back off the spur.  The Austrian gunners start to feel rather alone…

[In game terms, the Austrian 7th Regiment lost the second round of combat, but not catastrophically so.  They successfully managed to fall back without further loss.]

Above:  Although Lusignan’s Division is now fully repulsed (the pink edged marker shows a routing unit and a blue-edged marker shows a disordered unit), Saint-Julien’s division is now ready to intervene in the battle.

Above:  Seeing the 12-pounder battery isolated on the ridge, Saint-Julien orders the 12th ‘Manfredini’ Regiment to engage the 10e Légère and save the guns!  The 20th ‘Kaunitz’ and 38th ‘Württemberg’ Regiments deploy in support.

Above:  Saint-Julien’s last regiment, the 23rd ‘Würzburg’ at last passes over the Hausener-Berg, bringing with it a second 12-pounder position battery.

Above:  Having been shredded by 12-pounder canister, the charge of the 12th ‘Manfredini’ Regiment is all too much for the 10e Légère, who break and flee for the safety of Teugn!

Above:  However, the Austrians have no time to gloat, as the 7e Légère exact a fine revenge, routing the 12th ‘Manfredini’ Regiment and capturing the Austrian 12-pounders!

Above:  Move is swiftly followed by counter-move, as the 20th ‘Kaunitz’ Regiment deploys to attack, supported on the flank by the rallied 7th ‘Schröder’ Regiment.

Above:  On the Buchberg, the 3e de Ligne continue to suffer heavy losses to the Austrian skirmishers and the cavalry battery.  At last they can take no more and are irretrievably broken, having learned the hard way that they should always fear the wurst…

Above:  In the centre, the 20th ‘Kaunitz’ and 7th ‘Schröder’ Regiments launch their charge on the 7e Légère.  The 38th ‘Württemberg’ Regiment moves up in support.

Above:  However, the fresh Austrian assault fails!  The 20th ‘Kaunitz’ Regiment is initially locked in a hard fight with the 7e Légère and losses are heavy on both sides, but the Austrian regiment is eventually forced to fall back in disorder.  The 7th ‘Schröder’ Regiment meanwhile, fares even worse and is routed, fleeing back to the relative safety of the Hausener-Berg.

Above:  The 38th ‘Württemberg’ Regiment meanwhile, skylined on the Buchberg Spur, suddenly finds itself the target of a newly-arrived French 12-pounder battery!  Losses are immediately heavy and the regiment mills about in disorder.  Another French 12-pounder battery is marching to deploy on the French left flank.

Above:  With half of his regiments (the 7th, 12th and 56th) still in a routed state, Hohenzollern-Hechingen is forced to temporarily abandon his duties as army commander and attempt to personally rally them!

Above:  Austrian woes only increase as Saint-Hilaire manages to rally the remnants of the 10e Légère and the leading elements of Gudin’s division now arrive on the field!  Vukassovich’s light infantry are also now starting to suffer heavy losses from the French horse artillery and fall back to the woods on the Buchberg.

Above:  However, the pendulum swings back as Archduke Charles released the reserves.  As General Rohan brings two grenadier brigades up through Hausen, General Stutterheim leads the 4th ‘Vincent’ Chevauxlegers through the woods, aiming to outflank the French line.

Above:  The 38th ‘Württemberg’ Regiment has already suffered 25% casualties since cresting the Buchberg Spur and now falls back down the reverse slope in a desperate attempt to escape the hail of fire from the French 12-pounders.  This leaves Friant fully in command of the Spur and with his division now fully deployed, with 12-pounders in close support, he prepares to go onto the offensive.  However, the time is now 1630hrs and although there are around two hours of daylight left, the skies have started to go prematurely dark as thunder-clouds gather…

[In game terms, the Austrians had actually successfully rolled for the thunder-storm to end the game, but I successfully deployed one of my last two remaining re-roll markers in order to play God and stop the weather!  The Austrians were not going to escape this time!  I’m not proud of this ungentlemanly act, but the rampage of the 3rd Hussars proved that I was dealing with no gentleman!]

Above:  Concerned that the Austrians are going to escape, Gudin throws the 12e & 85e Regiments straight up the Buchberg.  The 21e & 25e Regiments begin to deploy off the road, along with another freshly-arrived horse battery.

Above:  Vukassovich’s light infantry, who had caused so much damage to the French right flank during the early stages of the battle, have now been driven from the field by the efforts of Saint-Hilaire’s horse battery and attention now switches to Vukassovich’s cavalry battery.  Gudin’s 12e Regiment wastes no time in launching an immediate frontal assault on the Austrian gunners, who wisely limber up and escape to the Hausener-Berg as fast as their little sausages will carry them!

Above:  Friant charges once again!  The 7e Légère and 48e de Ligne charge down the rear slope of the Buchberg Spur and crash into the 20th ‘Kaunitz’ Regiment.  Austrian muskets drop a few of the Légère, but it’s not enough and the Austrian regiment is smashed, fleeing up the slope to join their comrades in the new line formed of demoralised Austrian units on the Hausener-Berg.

Above:  Hohenzollern remembers Archduke Charles’ words… “In the evening, look to the south.”  Sure enough, the Pedestrians of Rohan appear on the crest of the hill!

Above:  Another view of Rohan’s grenadiers arriving to save the day.

Above:  “Are you sure this is the right way, Sir…?”  Stutterheim continues to lead his chevauxlegers on a woodland hike.

Above:  The 33e de Ligne and their new gunner friends are getting a bad feeling about those woods…

Above:  That said, they’ve already got plenty in front of them to worry about, as the opposing 12-pounder batteries engage in a fruitless artillery duel.

Above:  The Austrian battery on the Hausener-Berg is now thickened by a cavalry battery from the Reserve Korps.

Sadly, I’ve already used the ‘fear the wurst’ joke once in this report.  Using it again would just be too cheesy and we wouldn’t want this to become a wurst-käse scenario…

Above:  The Pedestrians of Rohan form a roadblock in the Hausener-Berg Gap.

Above:  Vukassovich and his deeply irritating wurst-battery redeploy on the high ground, safe behind the rallied 12th ‘Manfredini’ Regiment.

Above:  In a final, delicious act of vengeance upon the Austrians, the rallied remnants of the 10e Légère crest the Buchberg Spur and engage in a firefight with the 38th ‘Württemberg’ Regiment.  The Austrians very much get the worst of the exchange and the 38th Regiment is utterly broken and driven from the field!

Above:  At last, Stutterheim’s cavalry clear the trees and deploy into the open fields behind the French left flank!  “At last!  Now we have them!  The regiment will draw swords and prepare to char… Oh was that rain…?”

As a terrific thunderstorm broke over the battlefield, the powder became soggy and useless and the fields, which had only just started to dry out after the torrential rain of the previous week, now returned to being quagmires.  The fighting petered out and the relieved Austrians fell back unmolested to the relative safety of the Hausener-Berg.  With his line of retreat secure, Davout was able to resume his retreat without further incident.

The Austrians had been unable to inflict the decisive defeat on Davout that they had hoped for, but there was little doubt that they had certainly given Davout a bloody nose.

My thanks to Andy for an excellent and somewhat hilarious game!  We’re now looking forward to something a bit bigger for September; a refight of the Battle of Eggmühl.  New Bavarians are already under the brush…