lindenau (october 16, 1813)

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INTRODUCTION
The battle of Lindenau (October, 16) was the western section of the battle of Leipzig, the climatic culmination of the autumn campaign in Saxony. In 1813, Leipzig was the hub of ten major roads. Three of the roads approached the city from the west, merging into a single road at Lindenau that passed across the Elster and Pleisse Rivers on a series of bridges (5 principal and six minor ones) and causeways, forming a natural bottleneck. Lindenau was the only real withdrawal route for Napoleon, but for some reason (maybe political Austrian considerations) the Allied did not choose to block the Napoleon's exit to France.
The only major Allied unit in the zone was the Gyulai's weak III (Austrian) Corps, a force very inadequate to the task. The defence of the area was commended to Margaron's Leipzig garrison, with the help from the Quinette's brigade from the 4th Heavy Cavalry Division and from the very diminished Bertrand's IV Corps.
The OOB’s, maps and and narrative have been taken form the Nafziger’s and Smith’s books and the 3rd Military Mapping Survey of Austria-Hungary.(See Bibliography). The Scenario is designed for ‘one half’ Napoleon’s Battles, with a ground scale of 1”:50 yards and 1 figure:60 men.
This Scenario is figuht with the 3rd Edition of Napoleon's Battles.

TABLE-TOP ADAPTATION
 

 NB Scenario for Lindenau
Nafziger map Table map
     
 The battlefield
The French deployment at Lindenau


DEPLOYMENT
French
Arrighi, the Leipzig garrison (Le) and the Quinette's cavalry (2B/4HC) are on the table at the start of the game. The IV Corps units will arrive from Leipzig, in march column formation, by the D3 end-road in the following order:
12/IV 11.00 h ; 15/IV 11.30 h ; 29/LC/IV 12.00 h ; 38/IV 12.30 h ; Artillery Reserve (IV) 13.00 h.
The exact order of arrival within each division must be diced out. No unit can enter until the precedent one vacated the arrival point. The Generals always arrive with their first unit. Apply the OR 13.8.2 rule for Varying Time Arrivals
Austrian
No Austrian units are on the table at the start of the game. Thre different variations of the Scenario are provided:
The non-historical easier way
Gyulai must to divide his command in three columns: left, right and center, comprised respectively from the 1st Brigade of the Liechtenstein's Light Division (1B/LD), the complete Crenneville's 1st division (1/III) and the bulk of the III corps (III) with the rest of the Liechtenstein Division and the Mensdorf's and Thielmann Streifcorps. The respective arrival turn and entry points are: B5 road 9.00 h; B1 road 9.00 h and A4 road 10.00 h
The semi-historical way
Similar to above, but the the entire (1B/2/III) brigade, including its divisional commander, is considered to be detached so it is not available.
The historical way
Similar to above, but the composition of the columns is the real devised by Gyulai (See the Scenario file for details)
In all the cases, infantry and artillery units can arrive in column or march column as desired. Batteries arrive limbered. The Generals always arrive with their first unit. Apply the OR 13.8.2 rule for Varying Time Arrivals.

CALLING THE DETACHMENTS
For the reasons given above, the strength of the Austrian force committed to the assault of Lindenau was very insufficient for the task. In order to see if those additional forces could have inclined the balance towards the Austrian side, use the following procedure with the last optional Austrian deployments:
"Starting in the 14.00 turn, Gyulai, if in command, will throw 1D10. The first time a "1" is required, the second time a "2" or less, the third time "3" or less etc. until successful (since Gyulai must be in command, it is necessary to annotate the turns in which the die is thrown). In this moment, Gyulai can send for the detachments, that will start to roll for arrival one hour (4 turns) later (Apply the OR 13.8.2)".

RISK TO ATTACHED GENERALS (from Alfonso Peral a.k.a Lannes)
At the end of a combat, any General attached to a participating unit, must to check to see if he becomes a casualty by rolling 1d10. On a roll greater than his 'combat modifier' the general is moved to safety. On a roll equal or less, the General Elimination Table must be consulted. If the attached unit was routed, a '+3' is added to the 'combat modifier' and if the General is defensive, with a letter D, subtracts '1' from the general's 'combat modifier'.
Similarly, any General attached to a unit suffering one loss or more in the fire phase, must make a similar checking by rolling 1d10. If the unit did suffer 1 or 2 losses, the General passes the test by rolling '2' or more. If the unit suffers 3 or more losses by fire (and it is not routed), the General is safe by rolling '3' or more. If the unit is routed by fire, the general is safe with '4' or more. If the General do not pass the test, consult the General Elimination Table.

VICTORY POINTS
The key points and the percentage of victory points allotted are the bridge (40%), the two buildings of Lindenau (10% each), the building of Plagwitz (10%), the end-roads B1 and B5 (10% each) and the two buildings of Schönau (5% each). This is a defensive scenario lasting more than 12*2=24 turns. The French have 447/0,95=471 adjusted points and the Allied, 603. The multiplier for the weaker side (French) is 60/471*1,2= 1,54 in NB1 and NB2-3 (262 and 105 victory points respectively).

HISTORICAL OUTCOME
The actual battle of Lindenau was a stalemate, but although the Allied do not achieve their objective, the French Bertrand's IV Corps was immobilized during all the day. Since these troops were desperately needed in the southern front (Wachau), where just one more Corps would probably have given the victory to Napoleon, the Allied achieved a good result. However, the withdrawal rout to France remained open, to be used by Napoleon

BIBLIOGRAPHY
- 3rd Military Mapping Survey of Austria-Hungary
- Hofschröer P., Leipzig 1813. The Battle of Nations Osprey Publishing, London, 1993
- Nafziger G. ‘'Napoleon at Leipzig. The Battle of Nations 1813”, The Emperor Press, Chicago, 1996
- Riley J.P., Napoleon and the World War of 1813, Frank Cass, London, Portland, 2000
- Smith D, 1813 Leipzig. Napoleon and the Battle of the Nations Greenhill Books, London, 2001 

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