Weissenfels, 29 April 1813

The war for the liberation of Germany begins. Sensing weakness after Napoleon's defeat in Russia, his allied European opponents attack his Germanic empire. Bonaparte, however, has pulled together a large but untested new army and plans to drive back his enemies. A French spearhead pushes towards the main Coalition force in Leipzig- the village of Rocken must be taken from the defending Russians.

French cross the Rippach Stream.

I played Général d'Armée 2* with my opponent's glorious 18mm AB figures. Each figure is 20 men, each base is a company, each unit a battalion in a brigade. We refought the clash near Weißenfels early in the German campaign, from the 1813 supplement. 

The French Général de Division Souham has four infantry brigades and a cavalry brigade to take the village of Rocken. The Rippach Stream, however, is a major obstacle and can only be crossed at the villages of Stroßwitz, Göhren, and Rippach.

I was the Russian General Winzingerode. I only had two infantry brigades to cover the three crossings, and three cavalry brigades to cover gaps. Can I slow the French advance to Leipzig?

The Russian defenders' view. The stream separates the combatants.
I defended Göhren and Rippach and trusted the cavalry
to hinder advances from Stroßwitz. The ultimate French objective is Rocken.

I've broken the battlefield into three sectors to aid the reader:

1. The Russian left- The clash outside Stroßwitz

Cavalry canter across the fields opposite Stroßwitz,
as French infantry appear in the distance.

Untested French conscripts march throught Stroßwitz to the ford.

The Russian cavalry advances-
how will the conscripts respond?

They fail to form square, and fall back across the stream!
The cavalry trots back to offer a repeat challenge.

Nearby, an artillery battalion exchanges fire with
French cannon on a distant rise.

A second battalion crosses, and meets the hussars.
The French have a toe across the stream- can they break out?

2. The Russian right- crossing at Rippach

On the right, Chasseraux's infantry brigade at Rippach.

Skirmishers harry the Russians across the stream.

The French are across!

The French deploy into line...

... and exchange volleys with the Russians.

More French cross the bridge and deploy.

Both sides are being whittled down...

... but have they noticed the flanking dragoons?

The French form square and repulse the cavalry,
but will they be able to reach Rocken in time?

3. The assault on Göhren

As the French cross at Rippach,
the Russians have garrisoned nearby Göhren.

The French are slow to advance to this important objective.

The first wave advances...

... and is repulsed.

After a pause, the second wave crashes...

... and takes the village! But is it enough?

At this point, we had to call the game due to time as General Winzingerode had to collect his toddler from the military academy. We were on turn 7 of 14, and the French were across the stream but still a very long way from Rocken and victory. Can the Russians still hold them?

Game end state. I have cavalry on both flanks, off-camera.

My cossacks, somewhat unreliable and didn't move all game,
but too nice not to photograph.

Our previous clash was with Général de Brigade (was it really 2021? how time flies.). I found Général d'Armée 2 a more abstracted ruleset and much less fiddly. Both sides struggled with hesitant and untested units. It was challenging for the French with limited crossing spaces forming bottlenecks, and also for the Russians with limited defenders unable to defend in depth.

We estimated 700-800 figures on the table.

Behind the cossacks, General Winzingerode commands in Rocken.

* I don't care; I'm putting the accents back in because it's cool.

40K Red Corsairs Obliterators

Also making their debut in my last game, Obliterators are weapon-obsessed marines infused with warp energies that give them the ability to spawn weapons and ammunition from their bodies. They are melded with their armour and grown to grotesque size.

After painting the Possessed, I thought I would torture myself more with these complex sculpts.

Skull-o-meter™: 10

40K Chaos Venomcrawler

A star of my recent battle was the Venomcrawler. This is an unholy melding of daemon and machine in spider form. This wasn't too tricky to paint, and I'm pretty happy with the base.

Skull-o-meter™: 10

Grimdark Future: Chaos vs. Marines

They do not know why they are here- all they know is they must fight.

My Red Corsairs face off against the Dextra Manus Marines again. We fought in June but it was a very one-sided affair, with my cultists being swept off the board and I didn't take photos. But I've been selling my soul for dark gifts, and my Legionaries are reinforced with some stronger hitting power... We played a 2000 point game of Grimdark Future, jostling for possession of the objectives marked with corpses.

The foes face off again.

The Dextra Manus have come with strong armoured support in the form of a Redemptor Dreadnought and a Gladiator Lancer hovertank.

The Gladiator attacks my Havoc heavy weapon
specialists, its main threat.

The lascannons return fire, but the tank soaks up the hits.

I, too, have armoured support:

Venomcrawler!

The Venomcrawler daemon engine scuttles forwards on my left...

... but is overtaken by the terrifying Possessed marines.

Behind the loyalists, the warp rips open
and Obliterators teleport into action!

Obliterators!

Their weapons tear the marines apart.

The Possessed rip apart a squad of assault marines
and their captain.

In turn, they fall to the cyberwolf cavalry...

... who are trampled beneath the metal legs of the Venomcrawler.

The Gladiator and the Havocs exchange fire.

The Havocs succumb to the armoured might of the tank.

My Commander uses his psychic might to finally silence the tank.

The sole survivor, the Dreadnought,
impotently fires at the Venomcrawler and withdraws.

A 4-3 victory to the ruinous powers. I had some lucky dice rolls, and it was a characteristically fast and brutal game.

I'll be showing off my latest recruits over the next few weeks.