Welcome to Bavaria.

The year is 1809, and the Austrian Empire is retreating after the battle of Abensburg. Marshal Jean Lannes leads his provisional corps south towards the town of Landshut, where they seek to capture a critical bridge.

This was what I would recreate for the PLP Convention, as I had fought this battle once before for the Trumpeter Tabletop Games Society Salute (http://www.trumpetersociety.com/) convention in April.


The game ended in a close-fought French victory, only won by a charge across a stream by Doumerc’s cuirassier brigade, which was then charged from the rear by Radetzky’s cavalry brigade. Thanks to some clutch die rolls I was able to carry the day. Unfortunately for me however, the Austrians were able to burn the bridge over the Isar, meaning I would have to settle for a tactical victory.

Anyways, that’s not the point of this blog post, this is about the exhibition, where I’m supposed to showcase my learning, as well as what my “superpower” is.

My brain struggles a little bit at first, but once I had the fire lit under me when I was told I could do something about history, my mind was made up. I was going to refight some battle from history, but I wasn’t sure just what it would be.

Eventually, I made up my mind on Landshut, as the story behind it represented me in the best light I could think of: Someone who is able to make tough decisions, someone who can adapt to circumstances, and someone who can work independently, but also is able to work with support.

The exhibition itself was nothing special, I had mini croissants from Costco that everyone ate, and I was able to play 3.5 turns of the 10 turn game. The only hiccough I encountered was that when I went to get the tables for my game, I was told I had to use desks. It wasn’t awful though, because I was able to get another 4 square feet of room for my game.

The game itself was definitely the most interesting part of the night, as it was putting me on the spot to explain how the rules worked, and explaining the concepts to people. (I know this isn’t the place for battle reports, but I can’t be bothered to care at this point)

The game was using the venerable Age of Eagles first edition rules, from 2005, with a Hopper/Griner scenario book called “Eagles over Bavaria”, published in 2017.

Turn 1 was shockingly eventful, as the French won the initiative roll, which was interestingly the last time that would happen during the night. The French rolled well to move and to charge, with Jaquinot’s light cavalry brigade defeating Vincent’s mixed brigade of Cavalry and Infantry. The Austrians were ineffective during the turn, but neither were the French, and the turn ended as a stalemate.

On turn 2, Von Preysing’s Bavarian chevau-léger and Dragoons were able to push back a force of Austrian light cavalry twice their size, under the command of General Radetzky. Meanwhile, General Jaquinot was able to push Vincent’s brigade back past the first bridge over a tributary of the Isar, killing near 700 men. Additionally, after a good roll, Defrance’s carabinier brigade arrived on the table, bringing more than 1600 heavily armed  elite cavalry onto the field of battle.

On turn 3, the carabiniers charged into the Hussars and Uhlans under General Radetzky, but were pushed back, however, the cuirassiers that arrived that turn were able go take a toll from the grenzer also under General Radetzky, killing more than 700 infantry in the course of 30 minutes.

After a misjudged attack, General Jaquinot’s brigade was slaughtered by Vincent’s  brigade, losing nearly 400 chasseurs during the fighting. Buoyed by their success, Vincent’s hussars then charged against a light infantry regiment under General Guiot, who were driven back with heavy losses. French line infantry under Guiot were able to give a better showing of themselves, pushing back the Austrian 39th Line infantry regiment. General Radetzky’s cavalry once again fought valiantly, this time, pushing back the carabiniers of DeFrance once again.

Finally, on turn 4, the French would win initiative again, and would make use of it, charging their forces across streams to make contact with the Austrians. The French line infantry would lose in combat to the 39th Line infantry regiment, with the carabiniers losing heavily to the Austrian grenzer having formed square. Additionally, the 60th line would defeat Preysing’s light cavalry, killing nearly half of its strength.

At this point I had to call the game, as the exhibition was finished, but it was still wide open as to who would win. The game was a brawl from the beginning to the end, and it made this the first exhibition I would rate positively overall.

 

The exhibition being in a more central location except for the grade 12s meant that more people came by my game instead of just parents from my own grade. Additionally, the ability to see other grades’ projects from where I was meant that the grades felt more connected,

Thanks for reading

Sincerely

Belle