ALTENBURG (SEPTEMBER 28, 1813)
A CAVALRY COMBAT
INTRODUCTION
The combat of Altenburg
was a fighting retreat,
fought bewteen a French force commanded by Lefebvre -Desnouettes and composed mainly from cavalry (6,000 men) and the
Streifcorps of Thielmann and Platov (5,500 men), also composed almost exclusively by cavalry. I have collated a summary
of the real combat, with the help of the kindly members of the
Napoleon-Series Forum that provided me with very useful
information, including scaned copies of some books not available in internet. My acnowledgement to all the members of
that Forum, and mainly to Hans - Karl Weiss and Steven H. Smith. A
more detailed sumamry is found
here.
The terrain for Altenburg is based on the report of General Lefebvre-Desnouettes to Nansouty the day after the combat of Altenburg. The French general talks about
'four defiles' on the road from Altenburg to Zeist. One of these defiles was located
in Schelditz, where a bridge crosses a small stream. Between that point and Meusselwitz, there were some cavalry combats where a force of
French cuirassiers were overcome by the Allied.
The terrain depicted in the tablegame is centered in the road between Schelditz and Rositz, and it is based on the Topographische Karte
Der Aemter Altenburg Und Ronneburg found by Steven Smith and also posted in the Napoleon-Series forum (see
here). The approximate terrain
scale has been calculated by using contemporary GoogleEarth images and is almost identical to the Lasalle one i.e. 1:1,000.
TABLE-TOP ADAPTATION
| GO TO THE BATTLE IN PICTURES | ||
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| Topographische Map | Scheme of the real action | Game map |
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| The actual battlefield | ||
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| Allied deployment | ||
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French Deployment |
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| Scenario pdf file for 'Altenburg' | ||
| GO TO THE BATTLE IN PICTURES | ||
Summary of the oob
Allied Army
(Army Moral 38; Break point 13)
StreifCorps Mensdorff
- Cavalry: 1 (Austrian) regiment; 2 Cossack Pulks
StreifCorps Platov
- Infantry: 1 (Austrian Grenzer) battalion
- Cavalry:
3 (Austrian)
regiments;
2 Cossack Pulks
- Artillery: 1Horse battery plus 1 Horse gun
Reinforcements
StreifCorps Thielmann
- Cavalry:
2 (Austrian)
and
3 (Prussian) Regiments;
2 Cossack Pulks
- Artillery: 1
Horse
gun
French Army (Army Moral 27; Break point
9)
C-i-C Lefevbre-Desnouettes
2nd Guard Cavalry Division
Lefevbre-Desnouettes
- Cavalry: 3 regiments, 1 horse battery
1st Light Cavalry Division
Piré
- Cavalry: 3 regiments
Baden Brigade Hochberg
- Infantry: 1 (Baden) battalion
2nd Heavy Cavalry Division
Quinette
- Cavalry:
2
regiments
Reinforcements
5st Light Cavalry Division Lorge
- Infantry: 1 battalion
- Cavalry: 3 regiments
Notes
Notes
The basic duration of the game is 16 Turns (2 hours). Bonus Turns are allowed rolling 2D6 (
p. 66 of the e-Lasalle book). The Allied are attacking and are the first side..
OPTIONAL RULES
Reinforcements
Use 2D6 for the Arrival Turn (p. 91 of e-Lasalle). The units arrive in
march column or attack column as desired.
Allied
Each nationality arrives separately: Arrival Turn: 2D6;
Arrival point D1-D2-D3
(30%/30%/40%)
French
Each
unit arrives separately: Arrival Turn: 2D6; Arrival point
B1-A1-A2
(25%/50%/25%)
Opolchenie units
Opolchenie units have Unpredictable esprit and can begin the game in
Entrenchments in Line formation. (See p. 117 of e-Lasalle)
Optional rule for Cossacks (and other irregular cavalry)
(1) Irregular cavalry units may charge enemy units standing in 'march
column' formation.
(2) Irregular cavalry units must to pass a 'Discipline' test to initiate
the charge.
(3) If routed in 'decisive combat' the irregular cavalry unit is
immediately broken.
Assault of defiles
Lasalle does not allow march columns to fight, so the assaults
on defiles, such as bridges, fortified gates, field fortifications,
etc.. can not be played on the table in a convincent way. There
was some friendly discussions in the Lasalle Forum regarding this
topics . At last I have used the Scruf proposal:
1) A march column can assault a defile like a bridge, a fortified gate,
a fort, etc. It represents not only true march columns, but also all
those formations with a very reduced front.
2) It fights at 1/2
dice and with no previous shooting, adding a -2 for "bad terrain" as
they will be fighting in cramped quarters.
3) The enemy can use the "cover" or "higher elevation" modifiers when
applicable.
3) However the small front,
the enemy never halves their dice
Victory conditions
As per Lasalle rule-book.
See a story version at the
Project Leipzig (1813) blog
THE BATTLE IN PICTURES