Third Battle of the 2nd Franco Prussian Campaign - Prussia suffers a loss

Early in the Battle, French (left) and Prussians
race for the woods.

This was the third battle of our Franco Prussian campaign.  The second battle was a minor defeat for the Prussians, outnumbered by 40% with only a D10 commander and an average deck, versus a French D12+1 commander and a superior deck.  It was a close run thing, despite the advantages handed to French, but I did not get enough useable pictures to post the results.

The third battle was a Prussian loss and there is no one else to pin it on.  We were out-manuevered by the brilliant tactics of Greg R., John M., and Rodney P.  Terry S. and I were the only Prussians to appear.  The others were absent for trifling reasons.  Tony claimed that assisting in hosting a board game convention was more important.  Eric claimed that his new infant daughter's health and happiness was more important.  Slackers, both of them.

This battle was notable for the large forest complex that took up almost 1/2 of the board.  It was a mix of class II and class III terrain, separated from the rest of the battlefield by a class II stream.  On the far left, there was a small (one foot) wide area of open terrain).  Both sides came to the conclusion that the forest was unusable and concentrated their armies on the open flank on the Prussian right.

The Great forest.  Note the French army deployed
in the background.

The French had the advantage of a two level hill for deployment.  The Prussians deployed below the hill but a pre-battle setup card allowed them some advanced deployment into a town just forward of their front line.  The hill effectively eliminated the advantage associated with Prussia's breech loading artillery because firing up hill dropped the die type by one.

Terry commanded the right flank with 1/2 of our infantry, all of our cavalry, and two batteries of guns.  I deployed a very good unit, with attached skirmishers, in the advanced town, flanked by a battery of guns.  My remaining battery began the game limbered and would advance with infantry support to harass the French on the hill. Terry was to advance and seize the class III woods forward of the town (the Lesser Woods) and then we would combine forces and try to roll up the French from right to left.  The class III woods would limit the ability of the French to punish our units with their artillery on the hill.

The fight for the Lesser Woods.  Terry's command
 in the foreground.

Apparently, the French also realized the importance of the Lesser Woods.  When the battle started, the French rushed two brigades of infantry, supported by a battery, into the Lesser Woods. Even though Terry reached the center of the woods first, he was eventually driven out.  The battle was intense and eventually another French brigade was pulled into the woods from the French center.  One French brigade rushed one of Terry's batteries and, at great cost, destroyed it.

End game.  One unit of Terry's command is
still in the forest on the left.

I was asleep in town, of course.  After watching Terry struggle for a while, I realized I should probably send a couple of regiments to his aid.  Unfortunately, I was too late.  By the time my units began to move, we were out of chips.  The army moral card came early in the second pass through the deck.  We withdrew.  French had two of their own chips and two Prussian chips at the end.  Another fine game of Piquet, even if the good guys did not win.  The next battle will be on the same terrain.