The Fight Commences!

The 10mm Napoleonic battle has commenced!

The French are a bit stuck, as far as tactics go... their left flank, held by the Old Guard at the chateau, is fairly secure... these tough veterans would be tough to dislodge. However, there is also a brigade of cavalry on that flank, which the British have no answer for... for now, the French divisional commander is holding the infantry steady, but he pushed the cavalry up.

As the French cavalry got closer to threatening the British artillery which was unlimbering on the hill, the British pushed forward a brigade of Allied infantry to protect the guns. The Brunswick troops came under immediate fire and actually began to take casualties, one battalion even failing a "Steady!" test and becoming Shaken.

The British commander quickly moved them into the woods to recover, and moved a second Allied brigade up to protect the guns. This brigade also came under artillery fire, and men began to fall and even edge back...

The French cavalry, seeing the infantry blocking their initial target, then spotted some more British artillery in the center that was remarkably vulnerable, and began to spur their horses forward...

Meanwhile, the British center and left was a mess. Commanders misunderstanding their orders, too many troops in one place... there was a massive traffic jam on the road, and the British struggled to get it all sorted out, costing their own artillery some time to deploy properly, and leaving one battery vulnerable in the center... Finally, however, they got moving, with the elite brigade under Colonel Sharpe taking the lead on the road, with the majority of the infantry falling in behind them, as the whole began to advance towards the French redoubt. The British commander hoped he could hold off the French cavalry in the center and gain artillery superiority... maybe then he could pound the French defenders until they were ready to break! Otherwise, the attack could be awful difficult...

So that is where it ended! The British had largely sorted out their traffic troubles but still had one battery not deployed and another threatened by French cavalry. Meanwhile two Allied brigades had been halted by the horse-riding enemy and had come under fire. The French were largely standing still, using their cavalry to try to force the British to slow down while the French cannon did some damage!

I'll have more tomorrow!