LEIPZIG 1813 AAR

[Curtis Lemay]

Turn 3; 2 Combat Rounds Expended: Note that the two pockets have been eliminated, and a few other hexes cleared. Forces are now positioned on the southern flank of the Allied line. Note that the Tzar survived again.

[Curtis Lemay]

Turn 3; 3 Combat Rounds Expended: A breach in the Allied line has been exploited with cavalry, while its southern flank has been overlapped. A huge pocket is about to be formed. The entire Allied position is starting to disintegrate.

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Turn 3; 4 Combat Rounds Expended: The Allied position continues to disintegrate.

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Turn 3; 5 Combat Rounds Expended: The breach in the Allied line was expanded enough to allow cavalry to close the pocket around the Russian W Wing and Reserve (not to mention, the Tzar). Work has begun on reducing the pocket and widening the breach even further.

[Curtis Lemay]

October 16th; Night Turn; Allied Player-Turn:

The French player-turn mercifully ended early. But now the Allies must deal with the bulk of their force in the south reorganizing. They do get to enjoy relatively better night-fighting factors this turn, though. The huge Russian pocket can’t be relieved, though. The Allied losses are now 69,060 (and 313 guns) vs. 17,830 (and 1 gun) for the French.

[Curtis Lemay]

This shot shows the Allied moves to address the situation on the south. The Austrian IV Corps has been deployed to try to save the Prussian II Corps. The Russian pocket has had to be abandoned.

[Curtis Lemay]

This shot shows Blucher’s results on the northern front, shown from the French perspective. While he did get three combat phases this time, progress was minimal.

[Curtis Lemay]

October 16th; Night Turn; French Player-Turn:

Turn 4; 0 Combat Rounds Expended: I’ll skip the French adjustments in the north, since they were insignificant. Here’s the first set of attacks in the south. Work continues to reduce the pocket.

[Curtis Lemay]

Turn 4; 2 Combat Rounds Expended: The pocket is starting to implode. An attempt to flank the Prussians found the Allied adjustment. That will have to be pushed out of the way if the Prussians are to be trapped.

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Turn 4; 3 Combat Rounds Expended: The pocket continues to shrink. The hex with the Tzar in it has been eliminated.

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Turn 4; 5 Combat Rounds Expended: The pocket is taking a while to eliminate. At this point, breaking through the Austrians covering the Prussian flank would take too long to allow enough exploitation to block the Prussian’s escape in the Pre-Dawn turn (they would have to cross the woods hex to pull that off – it’s too far). So I’ve decided to forgo burning any more precious Guard against the fresh Austrians at night.

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Turn 4; 6 Combat Rounds Expended: The pocket continues to shrink.

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Turn 4; 7 Combat Rounds Expended: Slight progress continues against the pocket.

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Turn 4; 8 Combat Rounds Expended: The pocket is almost cleared. Note that, since this is the final phase this turn, I’ve used ignore losses.

[Curtis Lemay]

October 17th; Pre-Dawn Turn; Allied Player-Turn:

This shot shows the Allied adjustments in the south during the Pre-Dawn turn. Since a cease-fire was in place, units didn’t have to pay ZOC costs. That was why it was pointless to try to cut off the Prussians unless a road hex in the woods could be captured. Left open, the lack of ZOCs would allow the Prussians to slip right out through it. As it turns out, the Prussian Guard is reorganizing. But it will still have a turn to escape, since the French will not be able to advance during the cease-fire. Note that losses now total 88,490 Allies (and 457 guns) vs. 23,930 French (and 5 guns).

[Curtis Lemay]

October 17th; Pre-Dawn Turn; French Player-Turn:

Note that the French have set up a cordon line around Rotha. The Austrian I Corps is expected to arrive there next turn. This will pen it in for future destruction. This is a bit gamey, but once the map edges have been reached, some loss of realism is inevitable. It’s just one more reason the Allied player needed to keep his lines intact.

[Curtis Lemay]

This shot shows the adjustments to the French line in the north. The original line has been abandoned for a new location that allows the line to be straightened without combat. Again, during the Pre-Dawn turn, there were no ZOC costs or checks for leaving the ZOCs of the Allied units.

[Curtis Lemay]

October 17th; Morning Turn; Allied Player-Turn:

Most of the Prussian Guard escaped. I left the small artillery units to cover other unit’s withdrawals. This was a mistake. Artillery can exit free. Oh well – you can’t remember everything. Note that the Austrian I Corps has arrived – It’s practically pocketed already. But, since it is fresh, while the French are blown, it may extract a comparable cost. Note that this is mostly true for the rest of the remaining Allies here.

[Curtis Lemay]

This shot shows Blucher’s results in the north. Again, the Allies only got three combat phases. The effects on the French lines are again minimal. Note that I’ve never shown the Austrian attacks against the Leipzig Garrison. Those attacks have been futile so far as well.

[Curtis Lemay]

October 17th; Morning Turn; French Player-Turn:

This shot shows the adjustments to the French lines in the north. Note that an attack threw back the one advance the Allies had made. Also note that the VII Corps has arrived on the right flank.