Napoleonics: French v. Austrians

French: Mark & Chris:  3 infantry divisions of 4 line & 1 light infantry + 1 battery.  3 hussar divisions of 4. 2 corps batteries.  Command 9.
Austrians:  Mike & Mitch: 3 infnatry division with 6 infantry & 1 battery, 2 cavalry divisions of 2 light & 2 heavy.  Infantry a mix of line, grenadiers, landwehr & yeger.   Command 8 except Grenadiers 9 & landwehr 7.

The French commanders make their plans on a map in the library.

The Austrians deploying.

Both sides have 3 divisions on the table deployed u to 18" from their table edge at the start, plus 2 division in reserve to come on at nominated spots on the throw of a 5 with 1 dice on turn 2, 2 on turn 3, etc. The French are on the left & have 1 inf & 1 cav in reserve.  They have made their 1st move.  The Austrians have both their cavalry divisions in reserve.

The French have advanced their infantry to the line of ridges & sent their cavalry to the right. The Austrians have advanced 2 divisions to the line of the road.  Their 3rd division is having command problems & has dropped behind.  Their heavy cavalry has come on the far flank. 

The camera drone has moved to the other end of the table.
The Austrian heavy cavalry has deployed on the Austrian flank.  Both sides have light cavalry on the far flank with French advancing & the Austrians dithering.

The Austrians have made an uncharacteristically bold advance on their left, attacking the right of the French line with infantry in attack columns. 

The Austrian attack had some success, breaking one unit, but the French unit on the wooded hill confounded the Austrians by breaking two attackers. 

On the near flank, the Austrian infantry also attacked.  Their cavalry was supposed to support them, but failed commands.  The Austrian attack on the French right has stalled & the division is trying to withdraw.  The cavalry on the far flank is now engaged.

The Landwehr are doing well on the near flank, but the cavalry still hasn't advanced to help them.  The Austrian withdrawal on their left has turned into a rout as hot French musketry forced more break tests.  The French cavalry attack on the right has been beaten off, but they have reinforcements at hand.  The 3rd French infantry division has finally arrived on the French left & is marching up the road .

The Austrian heavy cavalry has finally moved up, but not fast enough to immediately exploit the Landwehr's breakthrough.   On the far flank the 3rd Austrian infantry is still deploying as the French reserve division approaches.

The Austrian heavy cavalry has finally joined the fray, but French squares are holding them off as the Austrian infantry run out of steam.  The French right is now attacking around the farmhouse.  

The poor performance of the Austrian cavalry blew the opportunity for victory on the near flank & the infantry there has been broken.  On the far flank the renewed assault by the French cavalry took out the Austrian hussars, though not before losing their lead division.  So the Austrian army broke on the last move before nightfall with 3 of 5 division broken.  The French lost 1 cavalry division.

Strategically, the Austrians did pretty well.  Their light cavalry tied up both French cavalry divisions & with the late arrival of the 3rd French infantry they had a 4 divisions to 2 advantage for a while.  They attacked to exploit the opportunity.  But the advantage of the extra point of a Command Rating of 9 v. 8 is sometimes very significant.  The Austrian heavy cavalry could have broken the French left if they had advanced in close support of the Landwehr & the slow advance of the deployment of the Austrians on the left left their first attack unsupported. Oakie having one of his lucky streaks with the dice didn't help their cause.