Background
The Battle of Teugen-Hausen or the Battle of Thann was an engagement that occurred during the War of the Fifth Coalition, part of the Napoleonic Wars. The battle was fought on 19 April 1809 between the French III Corps led by Marshal Louis-Nicolas Davout and the Austrian III Armeekorps commanded by Prince Friedrich Franz Xaver of Hohenzollern-Hechingen. The French won a hard-fought victory over their opponents when the Austrians withdrew that evening. The site of the battle is a wooded height approximately halfway between the villages of Teugen and Hausen in Lower Bavaria, part of modern-day Germany.
Also on 19 April, clashes occurred at Arnhofen near Abensberg, Dünzling, Regensburg, and Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm. Together with the Battle of Teugen-Hausen, the fighting marked the first day of a four-day campaign which culminated in the French victory at the Battle of Eckmühl.
Austria’s invasion of the Kingdom of Bavaria caught Emperor Napoleon I of France’s Franco-German army by surprise. Though the advance of Archduke Charles’ Austrian army was slow, mistakes by Napoleon’s subordinate Marshal Louis-Alexandre Berthier placed Davout’s corps in great peril. As Davout withdrew southwest from Regensburg on the south bank of the Danube, Charles tried to intercept the French with three powerful attacking columns.
The first Austrian column missed the French altogether, while Davout’s cavalry held off the second column. The third column crashed head-on into one of Davout’s infantry divisions in a meeting engagement. Generals of both armies led their troops with courage and skill as the troops fought over two ridges. French reinforcements finally pushed the Austrians off the southern ridge late in the afternoon and Charles ordered a retreat that night. This opened a clear path for Davout to join the main body of the French army on 20 April.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Teugen-Hausen
The Game
A number of buddies from my normal Friday gaming group were planning to head up to Historicon the same days as I. We all agreed to stay at the same place (Hollinger House), which ended up becoming a game room for us on our trip! We thought we would bring a small game to play to break up our time at the convention. After some thoughts, we settled on a small game of BBB Napoleonics. Our buddy Tony set up the scenario and opted for the Battle of Teugen Hausen. This battle is a bit smaller than one would normally thing to use BBB rules. However, we thought is would be a nice test for the rules at the regimental level.
Do to the scale, the table was three foot wide by four feet deep. Nice and compact. We had the ridge in the middle and anchored the ends with the towns of Tuegen and Hausen. Each unit represented a Regiment (figure sale of about 300 men per base). The winner would be determined by the French holding the ridge or taking all the towns.
The Austrians started with all their forces on the table and were given rough instructions regarding possible French forces off the table. They did not now if the French would counter march to a flank position or just enter straight ahead. The last part ended up being a fog of war ploy by the GM, to make the Austrians “consider” their deployment forward.
The French started with two units on the table and the rest would enter as the scenario went on. The game would end when the rain became too heavy to fight. This would be determined by rolling a D6 every tune from turn nine onward. When the total equaled or exceeded twelve, the game would end.
Early Game: The game started with the French attacking right up the middle, as the Austrians tried to form up their columns into a blocking position. The Austrians were successful in fending off the initial French attacks. As more Austrians started to deploy, more French arrived to try to push through. This was held off with some effort.
Late Game: More French arrived and started to attack up their left to try to get around the Austrian position, causing the Austrians to shift to meet the threat and stabilize the front. The French then sent in their final columns to swing around the Austrian left. They in turn opened up their center to deploy their now arrived artillery. Things looks a little precarious for the the defenders! The Austrians decided it was time to stop playing defense and seize the initiative. Seeing the split in French forces, the plan was to hold on to the right flank and to attack the French on the left and push them off the heights. The attack managed to push the French back and take place the Austrians back on the heights as the rains came! No French victory this time! The game master declared it a draw and it was time to pick everything up!
We were unsure if BBB would work at this scale of game. However, I can say that we had a blast and everything worked out well. We were happy with the mechanics and the flow of the game (which was not made easy fighting in the woods!).
- Manteuffel