2 divisions aside. Rob (French), had two infantry divisions. Nick (Austrian) had an infantry division, and a reserve Grenadier division. The battlefield was covered in forests (obviously of the plantation variety, because both sides moved through them).
The battle was really decided by a couple of very early rolls -- subcommander abilities. The French rolls were not good -- 4x rolls of 2. But French commanders need a 1 to be bad, and 4+ to be good -- so at least the French commanders were average. The Austrians rolled even worse. The main infantry division commander must of had pictures of empress Catherine with a horse! Because he was so bad there was no other explanation. He reduced Austrian morale, AND gave one opposing French unit a turn a tactics bonus in combat due to his incompetence. The Grenadiers command was not as bad -- he only gave the opponents a tactics advantage. That is, for two combats each turn, the French could roll to hit on 4+ rather than 5+!
The French went for an unusual phalanx, aimed straight at the Austrian center. Whats more, the phalanx worked its way slowly through a woods. On each flank the French artillery provided support. The French artillery on one flank rolled high -- and forced the Austrian artillery back. On the other flank the artillery repositioned, but then slowly plinked away at the Austrians holding that flank.
The French phalanx finally appeared out of the black forest, only to be met by stout Austrian resistance. The lead French units were forced back, causing confusion in the following troops. Time after time the French charged, to be beaten back. This is where the Austrian commander incompetence came into play. Every now and then, the French would slightly disorganise the Austrian troops. Unable to address the ranks, the Austrian units slowly deteriorated into mobs. Meanwhile, competent French commanders reformed their troops and sent them back in. The Austrians were winning on the flanks, but not fast enough. The French were using their tactics bonus at the critical point. Suddenly the Austrian center gave way, and the French main thrust poured through onto the objective, giving the French a close and hard fought victory.
No cavalry this time -- we went for a smaller battle, due to Nick's need to pick up teenage daughter from the movies.
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