Shadow of the Eagles game - Turns 1 to 3

When it came to the initial deployments for this Shadow of the Eagles game, I decided to draw up six possible battle plans and have each side roll of a d6 to randomly select one. None of these was an elaborately detailed plan, but with quite a few possible combinations it was enough to improve this part of the solo gaming experience.

The battle plans.

Prussian cavalry prepares to sweep round on the left

Fournier leads French infantry in from the west

The battle plan dice roll for the Prussians saw them with Kraus' infantry brigade south of Nebenstrom and nearest to it. They would be leading the charge for the town. General Major Goode, meanwhile, would be bringing the 2nd infantry brigade on a longer approach from the right, intent on crossing through the woods and stream and hopefully falling upon a surprised French left flank. Their artillery would follow as close as possible on the south side of the stream, giving supporting fire across the water. Finally, the Prussian cavalry had orders to sweep around the left and keep the French right busy whilst protecting Kraus' left flank.

The French battle plan was a bit different. Their two infantry brigades would both attack the town - Boche from the north and Fournier from the west. The French cavalry, positioned in between these two brigades, had orders to hold initially and then support whichever flank the Prussians looked more threatening on.

So those were the plans. CinCs Wolff and Dubois were both happy. It all looked good on paper at least...

Turns 1 and 2

Shadow of the Eagles has rules for pre-game bombardments, but since no artillery units were deployed, I could skip this and go straight on to Turn 1.

As expected, the first two turns were fairly uneventful, with both sides making their push towards the town. The Prussians won both initiatives, although it didn't really matter that much at this point.

Neither side rolled successfully for the arrival of its 4th brigade.

Both sides move up on Turn 1

The situation on the French left started to get somewhat messy. Seeing the approach of the Prussian cavalry, the French cavalry decided to advance forward on a mission to intercept them. However, the fields around the town slowed down their movement and Fournier's infantry brigade, approaching from the west, suddenly found its path towards the town blocked by their own cavalry.

Turn 3

Turn 3 is where things really started to get interesting. The Prussians won the initiative for the 3rd time in a row, which meant Kraus' leading line battalion entered the town first before their French counterparts, who were attacking down the road to the north and also poised to enter.

The Prussian luck continued when they rolled successfully for the arrival of their 4th brigade, and better still that 4th brigade arrived in what was probably the best possible sector of the table edge - the bottom left , on the left flank of the Prussian cavalry and directly opposite the disorganised French right (I rolled a d6 to see which one-foot section of the table edge the reinforcement would arrive on).

When it came to the French's movement, Laurent decided he needed to get his cavalry out of that field and out of Fournier's way. Luckily for them, I had misjudged the distance needed for a charge, and it turned out that the Prussian hussars, thinking themselves at a safe distance, were actually within charge range of the French hussars.

The other French cavalry unit - the chasseurs a cheval - also saw an opportunity. One of the Prussian musketeer battalions just outside the town was not in square, and so the French charged in, hoping to catch them still in column formation.

French cavalry charges go in.

This point in the game brought up my first experience of resolving charges, and it all went quite smoothly without any head-scratching or puzzling over what the rules were. The Prussian hussars rolled to see if they could counter-charge (needing a 3 or more) but failed, so had to receive the French at the halt. The nearby Prussian horse artillery tried to provide supporting fire against the French but failed their action. In the other charge, the Prussian line unit managed to form square before the Chasseurs hit home.

Over in the town, Boche's leading infantry battalion rushed in to confront the Prussians who were already inside. Both sides traded fire as they closed in, with the French coming off worse. The foot artillery on both sides to the east of the town both fired across the stream, causing hits against some of the infantry units opposite.

The French and Prussians fight in close combat inside the town.

With the firing phase done, it was on to the all-important close combat phase. With the Prussian hussars failing to counter-charge, the odds were in the French's favour, but the dice rolls didn't go their way and they lost the combat by one, forcing them to fall back. In SotE, units which win a combat and force their enemy to fall back, then roll for pursuit. In this case, the Prussians were found to be 'In hand', which meant they could choose to hold their ground or pursue. I chose to pursue.

Nearby, the French chasseurs a cheval beat their sabres futilely against the Prussian square were also forced to fall back. Square are not able to pursue, as you might expect.

Inside the town, things didn't go any better for the French. The Prussians won the combat by 1, leaving the French with a total of 3 hits at the end of the round against the Prussian's 1. The French were thrown out, falling back through the two other battalions in their brigades, causing hits on both of those units.

The French are thrown out of town.

Having to fall back from a combat causes the unit to take another hit (unless the combat was drawn), so this now meant the French battalion had a total of 4 hits, enough to take it up to a 'Weakened' status.

The situation around the town at the end of Turn 3

Prussian reinforcement arrive in a very handy position!

The Prussian 2nd infantry brigade makes gradual progress

In the 'Generalship and rallying' phase of Turn 3, the French CinC, Dubois, decided to attach himself to the weakened French battalion and managed to rally off one of the hits. The cavalry brigade commander, Laurent, attached himself to the French hussars but failed to rally any of the 3 hits which his unit had sustained.

And with that, Turn 3 had ended. The situation is looking promising for the Prussians, having seen off the French cavalry and taken possession of the town. Their 4th brigade has arrived at a good time and in a good place, and the French have the higher casualties at this point.

However, the battle is far from won. The French still have strong infantry numbers around the town, and there is a good chance of more arriving on the road next turn. The Prussian CinC, Wolff, also has a nagging doubt about the wisdom of sending one of his infantry brigades on a long approach through difficult terrain.

I'll close out this post with a graphic to show you where all the unit hits are stacked up at the moment. Turn 4 should be an exciting one!