Having played the Gilly scenario a few days ago with the Epic Napoleonics, I thought I would return to the table with the 28mm figures. The table size and scene remained the same other than the bridge was swapped out for something bigger, as were the woods.
[Above - a reminder of the scenario map]. With the game parameters kept the same, such as the Austrian battalions being counted as large units, the game was played through to its 7th turn conclusion and I was intrigued to find that such a simple scenario remained fun to play and that the outcome was somewhat different, despite some aspects of play and certainly the plan, being similar.
[Above - the Austrian view from the hill]. The larger footprint of the units had a minor impact on play, though interestingly, the view of gunners was quickly blocked by their own forces.
Other than the lack of early cannon support, the French got off to a fairly good start, but then there was a bit of unravelling that caused them consternation for a couple of turns.
Firstly, the battalion on the left entered the stream to assault the Austrians in front of the woods, they replied with very effective fire that threw the French back with heavy casualties and disorder.
Worse was to come, just as the French concentrated for an assault on the hill, Brice (French) was shot and in the rules, that gives all battalions of his regiment two disorder markers and these caused a variety of local difficulties, effectively causing the French to lose a couple of turns worth of good progress.
That in turn allowed all three Austria battalions the opportunity to make for the exit at the road and denied the French the chance to catch them up and pursue them off the exit road.
One French battalion that had assaulted the hill twice had taken so many casualties that their retreat became a rout and the unit was lost.
This time around the rifle armed skirmishers on the Austrian left failed abysmally to have any effect down at the bank of the stream.
Again my rules took a further tweak as I felt that line firing against assault column was a tad too strong.
Interestingly losses were similar to the previous game, with the French losing 160 men and the Austrians 140.
As for victory points, this time the French only scored 1 VP, for getting to the far side of the the bridge by turn 3. The Austrians scored 2 VP’s, one for exiting two battalions off the road and the other for routing a French battalion.
Anyway, a fast midweek game that remained fun. For anyone who wants to check back to the Prussian game, which fully describes the scenario specifics, here is the link;
https://battlefieldswarriors.blogspot.com/2025/08/a-prussian-rearguard-near-gilly-15th.html
I post fairly frequently at my COMMANDERS site, which is a bit more snippet based than here. LINK for anyone interested.
https://commanders.simdif.com/dear_diary.html
