The Battle of Uccle 20th June 1815
At the Battle of Hal yesterday all eyes were on Prince Frederick of the Netherlands as he prepared to fight a rearguard action against the French 2nd Corps under Reille. After a crushing defeat the French pulled back to re-organize for another assault on the Anglo-Allied position. Fearing an out-flanking move by the French, Frederick evacuated Hal and headed towards Brussels, where he would be closer to Wellington, which also brought Wellington some valuable time to reorganize his army.
The Game
Frederick has halted his tired army at Uccle a small village 2-3 miles south of Brussels, knowing the French are following, Frederick sent urgent messages to Wellington for help. Can the young Prince win another great victory and secure the future of the Netherlands?
Napoleon furious with Reille has reluctantly sent more troops to help him out and no doubt he has only one more chance left to succeed, before he will be replaced. Napoleon is unable to overview the situation in person as he is preoccupied with the Prussians, who have been giving Grouchy the runaround on the right flank. (Could this be another scenario?) The game begins with the young Prince Frederick awaiting the French onslought, can he hold on or are the French going to be victorious?????
The initial set up, the French on left the Allies on the right.
The French
Fran - Comte Foy, 9th Div, Smiffy - 6th Division - Prince Jerome Bonaparte,
BigLee- Kellerman 3rd Cavalry Corps, Ian-5th Division, Gen Baron Bachelu
The Allies
Surj - L/Col HH Mitchel - 4th Brigade, Clint - Col Olfermann - Brunswick C/O,
Brian (Lead Legion) - L/Gen Colville 4th British Division
Me - Prince Frederick of the Netherlands C/O. I was in-between
Clint and Brian
Brian's command The British and Hanoverian's on the Allied left.
The village of Uccle, in the centre.
Contractual pic of Stalin himself!!!
The Allied right. On the extreme right are the two heroes of the Battle of Hal.
The Breman & Verdun Hussars and the Prince Regents Hussars.
The dirty French advance in the centre.
The Breman & Verdun and the Prince Regents Hussars
move out to try and slow down the French advance.
Clint's Brunswick 1st brigade including the Avant-Garde in front
arrive and start to move to the hill.
My view of the Battle, The Dutch and Belgian line and Militia units
this was our weakest point (thanks Postie!!) The white flagged units were line class, while the
orange, white and blue flagged units on the right were the Militia. Each time I went to move the units I had to throw a D6, on a throw of a 1 the unit would become disordered, hence the two goddam yellow markers!!
The first charge of the day, BigLee's 3rd Cuirassiers charged the Breman & Verdun Hussars. The Cuirassiers were in column and the Hussars took the charge at the halt.
Surj threw well and beat the French column.
Another charge this turn, the Prince Regent Hussars charge the guns, who both ran off before contact could be made. This left the Hussars in a bit of a precarious position. Standing in front of two regts of French Heavy horse and with a line unit in its flank. We all though Surj could kiss the unit goodbye. Ian fired into the flank of the Hussars, he threw 8 D6 needing a only a 4,5 or 6!!!
he only got 1 kill!
Thank you Dice Gods!
Lunchtime
Bloody pig!
Decision time for me??
I moved down off the hill with two Dutch units, the 1st and 5th Outer East Indian battalions just to try and slow down the French advance, hopefully giving time for our reinforcements to turn up. Probably a bad idea?
The wasn't much going on on our left flank, Brian was taking pot shots at Fran's infantry knocking a few hats off. BigLee's 11th cavalry division moved around to their flank. Our original plan was to move the two British line regts to village area. But we received a message saying the French had been sighted on our left flank.....so they stayed put.
A fluke artillery shot blew the head off of the French Divisional leader causing a brigade check, which Lee duly failed. That was good news for Surj, as it only left the1st Carbineers to challenge the Prince Regents Hussars. Surj threw well but lee threw better. Th Hussars were killed to the man!!!!
I'm not liking this at all, there's a lot of French coming this way!!
The Dutch 1/5th Outer East Indian battalion, were charged by two French columns under Ian's control ( they were actually Smiffy's troops, but Ian was taking charge!!) And what made it worse was that Smiffy was listening for a change!
Oh thank God!!!!! Allied re-inforcements!!!
The Union Brigade and the 2nd Brunswick line Brigade
But are they in time or not???
The 1/91st have their flank threatened, by Fran's Legere sneaking through the woods.
Oh crap!!!!
Smiffy fired his first shot into the village of Uccle with his newly arrived heavy artillery.
Major-Gen F d'Hauw the leader of the Dutch 1st Division was killed and buried
under the rubble of two houses.
This caused a brigade check.
And this was the result.
The whole 1st Dutch Division ran!!!!
Here's the whole they left?
As the commander i decided our position was untenable, we were cut in half.
So the trumpets were blown and the Allies left the field in good order, ready to fight another day!!
Smiffy received the MVP, for a very accurate artillery shot!
At the end of the game Postie presented Clint and Brian with a little memento of the day
Brian the Scot & Clint the Brit!
Super loking game and kit.
ReplyDeleteDamn I would love to play on a table that large !
Nice mementos! Plus we always need a Stalin photo.
ReplyDeleteYou're still a loser!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteyeh yeh!!
DeleteExcellent battle report
ReplyDeleteThat my friend is a very good report. Good for several reasons, Firstly you have made me look slim (The cheque is in the post). Secondly I now know what was going on! Thirdly I appreciate the detail as it reinforces what a pleasant day it was.
ReplyDeleteSo Cheers Mate, nice one.
Very glad you enjoyed you day out at Reject HQ!
DeleteAny man wearing a West Ham shirt gets my vote !
ReplyDeleteLooks highly likely Steve Clarke & I will be seeking permission to nick this one too, Ray !
Not another Hammers supporter!!! And your very welcome to pillage the scenario Steve!
DeleteNow that was a report; fabulous looking game Ray.
ReplyDeleteI love seeing the pictures. Very cool.
ReplyDeleteYou guys have great terrain and figures for your games. Nice AAR. I may have to borrow this idea for one of my games.
ReplyDeleteGo for it Mike!
DeleteGreat report and excellent looking game chaps. Which rules were you using? .... Oh and who is this West...Ham you speak of?
ReplyDeleteWe use a house set of rules written by Postie, and I'm not quite sure about this Ham of the West your talking about either???
DeleteThat table looks good Ray and you got some great pics of it. So when I come to Salute this year do you think I can sit in on a game with you guys and become an honorary Reject? I'll be in London for a week. Won't it be grand!
ReplyDeleteYour going to Salute?? We're not putting a game on there, but it'd be a pleasure to meet you there and I'm sure you'd pass the test to become an honorary Reject just by having a pair of boobs! Fran said he needs cleavage though???
DeleteI had a great time guys, thank's for having me over. Uccle was a hell of a battle for Brigade and Divisional Commanders. I killed one of Fran's Brigade commanders with my very first dice roll of the game, Sarjit bagged a French Divisional Commander and Smiffy bagged one of yours. Must have been nearly a fifth of the general officers on the board killed in that brutal light fight, but casualties among the actual soldiers were pretty light.
ReplyDeleteThe Brits/Dutch/Belgians/Brunswicks are still in fine condition for another scrap.
The majority of the units present got off lightly, so there is definite scope for a follow up game as the allies fall back towards Brussels even more! Vive le France!!
DeleteGlad you had a good day, I think everyone enjoyed it.
BTW I have to shamefully admit that I only realised today that I haven't been 'following' your blog, despite having read it several times... I think I must have been reading your posts via G+ links rather than because I was a follower. Needless to say I've rectified that now!
It was a great day, and I hope you guys will have me back!
DeleteYou haven't? I was sure you had been. Not to worry though. Ray didn't even know I had more than one blog! I think he must have stopped following the Terminus Omega one while it was on hiatus, because I'm sure he's posted on it before.
I have too many blogs anyway :D
Usually you may get the odd leader biting the bullet in our Nap games, but there were 4 killed in this one. And my loss cost us the game!
DeleteGreat AAR, figures and terrain, Ray! It must be a blast fight it out on a table that large.
ReplyDeleteWe are quite lucky!
DeleteAnother beautiful looking game and nice prizes. Looks like a lot of fun, I'm envious.
ReplyDeleteGreat report of the action, as C-in-C you must have been fairly pleased with yor subordinates despite the final result.
ReplyDeleteDid postie lose his specs - if so I have an idea where they sre !
Yeh, it was a shame both Brian and Clint's troops didn't get much action during the game. Posties always losing his glasses and his marbles too!
DeleteGreat looking game and lovely mementoes for Clint and Brian.
ReplyDeleteAs for your result, "He who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day"
We'd been talking about a 3rd and maybe even a 4th game, so as we we're split in two, it seemed the sensible thing to beat a hasty retreat.
DeleteGreat looking battle! Looks like you guys had a great time.
ReplyDeleteWe did just that Corey!
DeleteGreat game, Ray. Pity about the result, though!
ReplyDeleteYeh, but I knew at the start we were in for a hard slog. Having mostly Militia defending your centre's never going to be anyone's first choice. I'd rather have had Brian's Brits and Hanoverian's there.
DeleteGreat Battle report Ray
ReplyDeleteSuper AAR Ray. A really nice looking table and well set up.
ReplyDeleteGood stuff, thanks fr the writeup
ReplyDeleteGreat game!
ReplyDeleteGreat looking batrep Ray, and very nice mementos!
ReplyDeletePhil.
As always, a excellent batrep, Ray!
ReplyDeleteWhat is it with those white chits on the table?
Are these objectives?
Posties a git! The chits were numbered, they were a bluff , he put them there so the French thought there were troops either deployed there on would be deployed there during the game. They worked as well. The French were very concerned about the one on their left flank.
Deletegreat game and figs
ReplyDeleteHuge battlefield and report, Ray. You fellas are almost having too much fun! Play on!
ReplyDeleteYou should have heard the noise, we're like a load of 8 year olds screaming and shouting abuse at each other.....great fun!
DeleteFun report and pics Ray. That table looks ace with all the figs set up on it.
ReplyDeleteCheers Simon!
DeleteA great AAR; very interesting game.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, you guys should record your battle one of these days...I'd love to watch!!
ReplyDeleteThere'd have to be an X certificate on it!
DeleteT'was a great day's fun!
ReplyDeleteI think Fran looks better that Comte Foy! :-)
ReplyDeleteNice report Ray. I want what Melanie above mentioned....a video! Pls....kind sir.
I am amazed at how large that set up was! You guys must have played for hours and hours. Great memento at the end.
ReplyDelete