Napoleonic Musket Action

We tried out Musket Action in the Napoleonic era with a lot of cavalry for a change.

Chris' French are on the left, Jim's Austrians on the right.  Objectives are the bridge & the road junction.  The french have 2 guns & 4 chassers a cheval on the far flank.  The Austeians have 3 hussars & 3 dragoons on their right.

The Astrans advance theri cavalry. The French advance their infnatry.

Th Austrian cavalry attack has had mixed fortunes.  The French guns stopped their opponents with fire & the chasseurs beat off the charge of the dragoons.  But on the left, the Austrian hussars in the second line broke through & are threatening the guns in flank.

In the cavalry fight, the French lost their guns, but the chasseurs have done well & still have 2 troops to face 2 troops of Austrian horse.  On the near flank the infantry are exchanging volleys at long range.

The French infantry are getting on top in the fire fight & are now adcancing.

The French cavalry have successfully counterattacked on the far flank & are about to take both objectives.

The Austrian infantry is collapsing under the French musketry.

The Austrians planned to use their superior numbers to win the cavalry fight, then attack the French infantry in flank to support their outnumbered infantry.  The plan fell apart when the French chasseurs won almost all the cavalry melees by just 1 hit even when at a disadvantage.  The winner takes all close combat system makes cavalry fights in Musket Action a risky business. With infantry you can choose a slower & steadier alternative to close combat in a musket duel, but that option isn't available to the cavalry so cavalry action is brutal and short.