Sunday morning for the close of Historicon 2025 we ran a GM Game where our volunteer GMs played a fictional French vs Austrian engagement staged in early 1809.
Hiller and [name to be remembered] faced off against a Franco-Bavarian Army led by Massena, Lefebvre, and Vandamme. Hiller innately struggled from a lack of urgency in setting Objectives (a Command Trait of his) and the French innately struggled from unwillingness of marshals to work with each other (a Command Trait of theirs). This caused initial friction on both sides in trying to get their respective plans rolling.
Once in motion both sides moved quickly but Massena observed the Bavarians lagging. On the southern flank Klenau’s Austrian avantgarde met Vandamme’s French before they were in position and a contest broke out that would setup the positions on that end of the field. Massena pushes his own corps to the left hoping to bleed off a significant portion of Hiller’s Austrians, but Hiller is determined to execute his own plan and not his enemy’s. The silver haired Austrian assigns one division and some cavalry to screen his right flank and keeps the rest of his ArmeeKorps bound for the center of the field. In that center, with Lefebvre’s Bavarians taking seemingly endless donut breaks instead of surging forward… Massena fears the Austrians will cut him off from his brethren and commits five batteries of artillery to ground denial, thus buying time for Lefebvre’s small Bavarian corps to form up.
Back at the south end of the field Klenau and Vandamme are having it out. Vandamme is handling the situation well, but the crafty Austrian keeps the pressure on and extending his left flank to give himself time to amass a grand assault into the center. To keep his flank secure Vandamme has to keep bending it backward until he eventually receives word to give ground wholesale to buy time. Lefebvre receives the same ‘consultation’: give ground from your right in concert with Vandamme.
Massena has identified a hole in the Austrian line. The ground between Hiller’s right flank, guarded by cavalry and a division of infantry and the center of the field is divided by a large and annoying woodlot. With the bulk of Hiller and Klenau’s strength pooled to the south of that woodlot against the French center, only a single brigade of Austrian cavalry covers the juncture between the Austrian center and Hiller’s right flank. Massena prepares to launch two divisions through that wood, backed by a brigade of Bavarian cavalry.
Against the massed battery in the center, Hiller’s men are suffering greatly while waiting for Klenau’s attack to execute. Massena just hopes that Vandamme and Lefebvre manage to give ground such that he can push into the woods. If successful, he’s confident he can break Hiller’s depleted left and Klenau, committed to beating up on the French right, will be out-of-position to prevent the Austrian line-of-communications and retreat from being cut.
BUT WHAT?!?! Plans are overtaken by events on both sides. Lefebvre underestimates Klenau’s push and despite Vandamme’s measured withdrawal gets his right flank caught by Klenau. He pushes back the first wave but at great loss, and the determined Austrians are… coming again with Klenau and Lindenau both at the head of their lead division. The Bavarians aren’t broken but they are in a bad way.
Yet Hiller has decided not to wait! His second cavalry brigade linking his left and right behind the woodlot attempts to preempt Massena’s attack and charges out of the woods into the arms of Bavarian cavalry. Disorganized by the woodlot the Austrian chevauléger are trounced and fall back to the cover of the trees. At nearly the same time he commits both his battered infantry divisions in against Massena’s guns and the Bavarians. Worn down by standing under bombardment for the last couple hours the lead division breaks, the second damages the Bavarians but attacking into a stream to make contact the Austrian cohesion breaks down and they retreat. Lefebvre misses an opportunity to exploit this event because his other cavalry brigade is out of position, his attention being fully captured by Klenau’s massed assault.
Massena’s troops begin moving into the woodlot but the Austrian center has vacated, Hiller’s corps consolidating eastward so Massena will just hit air. Cut short on time by Hiller’s setback, Klenau’s attack didn’t meet with the success it desired either, but the pause caused by the literal explosion of the center means both armies will need to set new objectives and issue new orders to attempt any followup. This gives Klenau the opportunity to disengage and Massena’s opportunity is lost.
