Ligny!

 

Having nominated last Sunday as our next Waterloo Project 200 practice game, we learnt that 2 of our key members from Melbourne and Adelaide were coming up for the weekend specially - now that's dedication! We therefore decided to hold a bonus game on Saturday to really cram their weekend! So what to do? Troy wanted to play an Austrian game, but 'captain sensible' here wanted to concentrate on our Waterloo project, and felt it was time to give the Prussian team some love - hence Ligny!



 

Looking at the battlefield, the section we could most easily cover with our as yet fledgling Prussian army was the fierce fighting in and around Ligny itself. This would involve Gerard's French IV Corps, supported by elements of Milhaud's IV French Cavalry Corps, attacking elements of Zieten's I Prussian Corps, specifically Jagow and Donnersmarck's 'Brigades', each of which consisted of 4 conventionally sized brigades in Black Powder terms. The terrain is easy to do, with the Ligny brook bisecting the length of our 12 foot table, with a gentle ridge at the Prussian edge, with Ligny itself in the centre.

Episcope view of a Prussian bde - a flexible and balanced all arms formation

 The best laid plans of mice and men go gang awry as Rabbie Burns observed, and so it was as Jason, our Prussian team skipper, had to reluctantly inform us he couldn't make it owing to family commitments. Whilst he was missed, Austin agreed to fill the breech and took charge of the defense of Ligny, despite being in the throes of third year Law exams and an impending move to Melbourne - and he did a pretty good job too, as you'll see...

Calpe Miniatures - 7th (2nd West Prussian) Fusiliers

The Ligny brook was designated a minor obstacle, stopping all movement once its banks had been reached, and causing any unit so rash as to mount a charge move across it disordered. We on the French side assumed that the Prussians would deploy forward, but they only covered this obstacle with their skirmishers, beefed up by the Silesian Schutzen, armed with rifles.

Troy was the French commander, and briefed us that Baz with Pecheux's Division would 'entertain' and otherwise occupy the Prussians out on the right flank and in the village itself, whilst the rest of us would 'go left flanking' and try to clear the ridge from left to right.



The men of D'Erlon's Corps: 'Order, Counterorder, Disorder!'

Of course in the wider scheme of things, this would fit in with the Emperor's grand plan of a sweeping advance from the North West once D'Erlon's corps had marched the few short miles from Quatre Bras to join us in snaring the Prussians in a vice. What could possibly go wrong! Accordingly we deployed in traditional French style...

Whilst the Prussians deployed their more highly trained units into line to maximise their firepower...

 

And, since we know that Column will always triumph over line, we made good progress...

But the Prussians had an ace up their sleeve to restore the situation. Its not often in the Napoleonic wargames that I organise that the models actually represent their historical counter parts perfectly...but here we see the Prussian I Corp's 2nd Cavalry Brigade's 3rd Brandenburg Uhlans, and 4th (1st Silesian) Hussars! And some other Uhlans thrown in as the vanguard for good measure!

These duly restored the situation for the fatherland:

 

But themselves looked to be easy meat for the forward elements of Milhaud's Cavalry Corps as this was committed to battle...

 And at this point, with the game still hanging in the balance and no clear end in sight, we decided to call it to leave time to set up for the morrow's Waterloo game...about which more anon....