Visage Retreats (1812): Sharp Practice at the War Room!
Brigadier General Visage du Vache (June 1812)
Visage du Vache, fresh from failing to stop the Spanish guerrillas from saving their ‘big gun’, has been dispatched to the Russian front. After the disastrous campaign and now in the depths of winter, he is retreating from Moscow with the rest of the army. He must forage for food for his exhausted troops, and raze a village harbouring locals attacking the stragglers led by mad monk Ras Putin. Will Visage cover himself with glory in the eyes of the emperor, or sink into further ignominy? More importantly, will the French eat tonight and be able to continue their retreat?
Alex staged an amusing 1812 Retreat from Moscow scenario using Sharp Practice rules and lovely 28mm figures on Wednesday 17 September at the War Room. Paul B. and Paul S. were French, Rob and Doug, later Patrick, Russian. The French had to escort two wagons off the Russian table edge, and gather supplies. Here are the highlights:
Chapter 1: Arrivals and Stragglers
The French came on to the table at two points – wagons escorted by skirmishers at Point A (under Paul B.), near the main village. And the main force including infantry and cavalry at Point B (under Paul S.), close to a church.
Meanwhile, the Russians (Rob, Doug) advanced from the other side of the table, near a ruined building, and a small wood on their right flank.
Two mobs of Russians led by Commissar Tw*tski and the partially maimed Comrade Ivor Knockedabollockoff eventually emerged from the wood on the Russian right.
While Cossacks soon arrived, as did Russian artillery.
Chapter 2: Recce in Force!
Paul S. soon moved the French Chasseurs towards the wood on the Russian right in a bid to secure the French left flank.
Corporal Coq au Vin approached the church with skirmishers. Could there be sustenance inside – physical or spiritual?
The French in the village were fairly tardy, despite using ‘flag’ tokens to activate movement.
The Cossacks now advanced and occupied the centre of the table.
Chapter 3: A Charge of Chasseurs
Elsewhere the two sides edged forward. Count Von Clotski led the main Russian infantry unit into the centre of the table, while the French occupied a wood near Point A.
The French Chasseurs charged the mob of Russians at regulation walking pace but failed to close.
Chapter 4: Russian Resistance!
Now Ras Putin, the mad monk wielding axes and defending his sanctuary with implacable faith, fought a close combat with Corporal Coq au Vin. The Coq, seeking sport if vintage bottles were to be found in the cellar, was knocked down and wounded, after four rounds of combat!
Commissar Tw*tski’s mob fired on the Chasseurs and inflicted three shock markers. The mob then retreated into the woods.
Comrade Ivor Knockedabollockoff’s mob fired on the hapless loitering Chasseurs (by now riding Labradors due to perished mounts), who got 1 shock point after four potential hits. The nimble Labradors being a small target, of course…
Yet more skirmishers under Comrade Gobichoff, near the ruined house, dealt a kill to the same cavalry, clearly struggling now in the powdery snow drift.
Meanwhile heroic and paternalistic Count Clotski deployed his boys into line…
Chapter 5: Death of a Monk
Another round of fisticuffs between Ras Putin and Coq au Vin ended with a dead monk and another wound for the doughty French Caporal – thirsty for wine but finding none, and making do with frozen horse blood…
Chapter 6: A Mob Manhandled!
Following up on his success, Paul S. ordered a charge of Capitaine Grand Tete’s dwindling cavalry into Tw*tski’s mob, which led to two French deaths but four Russian kills and the mob legging it to the woods…
Chapter 7: A Wagon Lamented…
As the French infantry moved up from the church, Rob’s Cossacks advanced ominously. Paul B’s skirmishers grazed the Cossacks from a distance, but they charged and destroyed one French supply wagon (which held butchered horsemeat, and ammo). Sacre bleu!
More French skirmisher fire on the Cossacks dealt them shock, however…
Chapter 8: Demise of a Count!
Meanwhile the Russian infantry were in full line formation, and fired a whopping 35 dice at the French near the church. This led to 8 points of shock.
Knockedabollockoff’s mob added more damage to the Chasseurs, then charged in… but didn’t make it!
It was time for the French infantry to return fire, which they duly did with 26 dice on the Russian line, killing Count Clotski and three infantrymen. The dead Count was hastily stripped of his clothing with gold timepiece of course kept safe, with all due respect…
The remaining wagon began to move to avoid the hovering Cossacks, as Capitaine Le Pis’s skirmishers added two shocks to the marauding irregular cavalry. This was enough to stop them charging against the second wagon.
Chapter 9: A Flurry of Chasseurs
A bad thing for the French occurred, as the Chasseurs, beleaguered by successive blasts from the mobs’ blunderbusses, routed and fled behind the Russian lines, their labradors wheezing…
Still, French musketry soon accounted for a Russian sergeant knocked out and six shock points on the Russians in line. A mere ping, by stalwart Russian standards.
Chapter 10: Rally to the Wagon!
Le Pis’s skirmishers emerged from the wood and fired on the Cossacks, killing two and adding two shocks…
Other French skirmishers scrambled to protect the last wagon, containing not immediately useful crates of Legion of Honour medals, and women’s hosiery…
The Cossacks despite casualties charged the second wagon, destroying it, but they were routed by Captain Camembert’s men, who were mature, if now malodorous, veterans. The Russian horsemen escaped the scene in haste towards the French lines, decked out like buffoons in multiple Legion of Honour medals, and tights on their heads…
Chapter 11: Chasseurs’ Demise
The final act saw the panicking and fleeing Chasseurs destroyed by another Russian mob firing from near the ruined building. Captain Grande Tete and four others were killed to a man (their Labradors racing off, relieved…).
Denouement!
All in all an anarchic piece of theatre, and very unlucky for the French. General Visage du Vache’s scratch force endured a steady sequence of Russian tokens drawn from the bag, which often allowed the Russians to launch successive and cumulative attacks. The relative lack of French tokens drawn also meant that the French skirmishers and infantry never had enough movement to stand a chance of escaping with the wagons. Many thanks for a fun game nonetheless, brought to life by Alex – tongue firmly set in cheek! Brigadier Visage du Vache, with frozen tache, trudges towards the River Niemen… next stop guarding a bridge at Leipzig? Let’s see!
