Caldiero 1805

This is an age of Eagles Scenario.
French: Jim
Austrians: SteveJ
Umpire: Mike.  Figures 28mm.  Rules M2M house rules.

The battle took place in Italy after the Archduke Charles & Messina got the news of Ulm.  Charles was withdrawing the Austrian army from Italy & this battle is his rear guard fighting Messina's pursuit.  

The unusual feature of the battle was that the first part was fought in a dense fog. Both sides drew a map of their deployment & intial moves.  The umpire plotted the moves & troops were only put down if they came within 6" of the enemy, or after turn 4. 

First contact was on the French left on their turn 3 where their adavncing columsn ran straight into Austrian infantry & artillery deployed on a ridge.

The French attack was met with hail of hot dice & staggered to a halt, outflanked on their right.
But more French infantry came out of the fog outflanking the Austrian right. 

When the fog lifted all was revealed. 
The French cavalry is poorly deployed way out on the far flank.
French infantry have occupied Caldiero unopposed.
The thinly held French centre & the right of their main attack is being pounded.
But their outflanking manouvre is threatening the Austrian right flank. 

An Austrian cavalry attack in the centre has been beaten off, but the French cavalry are moving to plug the gap in the French centre.  The Austrian right flank sis being rolled up.

The French centre has been blown away but their cavalry is on the way to plug the gap.
The Austrian right is crumbling.

The Austrian right was charged by infantry along the ridge & by cavalry over the ridge line.  But the grenadier battalion on the edge of the line fought off a 2 to 1 attack from infantry & the infantry on the crest held off the French cavalry.  The grenasiers saved the day for Austria.  Instead of their flank being rolled up, the French had lost over half their infantry on that flank & the remainder had to call off the attack.

The French infantry on the other flank retreated into Caldiero & the cavalry & artillery fell back to a supporting position.  The Austrians rested on their laurels & claimed victory.

The French plan almost worked, but was stymied by devasting fire on first contact out of the fog & the prodigious dice of the Austrian grenadiers holding the end of the line & the line infantry holding off the converging attack of the dragoons.