Reject Richard's - The Battle of Stoliboz, 1 October 1756 Part 2

 

An Alternative Seven Years War Remote Wargame

The Battle of Stoliboz, 1 October 1756

A Guest Blog

Part 2 – Battle Phase 1, movement in the fog

The players:

Austrian:  Ian and Ray

French:  Lee. John and Surjit

The commanders have provided their orders of march and their orders for each of their brigades.

Please see the introduction for details (Link)

 

Now, there is plenty of fog of war in this game.  The players are having difficulties actually seeing the enemy and knowing where they are.  This also makes this blog tricky to write and probably a short one.  As to give a full account and show accurate photos of the field of battle would provide vital intelligence to the two sides before they send in their next set of orders.

 

Fog and some confused orders have dominated the opening manoeuvres of the battle.

French Surjit and Austrian Ray have spotted vague and unidentifiable movements and formations through the mist.  The Austrians took the opportunity to take a speculative artillery shot, causing the French formation to retire cautiously.

 

Any casualties?  Alas, fog of war I’m afraid – literally and metaphorically!

The following photo is what the two commanders were given as an update.

Earlier, I mentioned confused orders.  French confusion over their order of march has induced a delay in the Gallic column hoping to erupt onto the Bohemian plain.  The question remains about how much of an advantage this may have given the Austrians.

To their surprise, the French have also found that their scouting in the mist was faulty.  The rise, affectionately known as the Hump, that was south-east of Stoliboz is either not there, or not so significant a feature.  One is left wondering how many other reconnaissance errors await discovery!

The morning is ticking towards 10:00am.  As the generals speed their adjutants away to the various brigades with their orders, the Autumn sun is starting to burn off the morning mist.

Thus, the valley of the Elbe, wreathed with the last concealing tendrils of mist, finally starts to reveal the fine uniformed troops of King Louis XV and Empress Maria Theresa as they rush to deploy.

And so, we see what may be the situation at around 10am.

Too late now for the generals as their freshly sent orders are set into motion by their brigadiers.

Anyway, is the last of the fog still hiding or deceiving the eye?

Until next time…