Dougfest 2022 - Zeitlessheim (pt2) Left flank

 On the Franco-Bavarian left flank the Prussians had finally finished eating up the space from the refused flank. Whilst the French were focussing on breaking the British in the centre it would remain a question could the Bavarians hold the line against the Prussians now in firm contact with them.

 

 

 

 

 

 Contact was initiated with the lancers duelling it out in front of infantry in square (technically in front because all sides of a square are the front, right? right?!).

Tied combat results are usually highly undesired as both sides lose 2 pips immediately and are locked in place. In our case the units were depleted by artillery fire and vaporized in an orgy of charges and counter charges and horses dragging dead riders off the field.

 Another cavalry unit was dutifully fed into the grinder by the Bavarians, wiggling through the narrow gap between the village and the squared infantry. 

Meanwhile near the creek the Prussians were screening the Bavarian infantry square. This allowed them to advance cavalry to face the thin Bavarian cavalry screen that had the Prussian foot stuck on the banks of the creek. Shortly all hell would break out for the clueless Bavarian commander whose mental focus was elsewhere.

Steady progress by the Prussians depletes another unit of Bavarian cavalry. The Bavarian commander (me!) was starting to feel exceedingly uncomfortable about the risks developing to my line of communications. 

In the centre the British were starting to make morale checks but were passing them with solid die rolls. The Bavarian morale was starting to get a touch brittle so I could no longer recklessly feed troops to delay the Prussians. 

Looking closely at the troops near the stream you can see (I think I missed seeing it at the time) that the Prussians have set up a long cavalry move to 'close the door' (i.e. flank) my defending cavalry. Not that I had much option, no space backward, infantry in square to the front, and infantry across the stream just waiting to advance given the opportunity.

The door closes and, astonishingly, infantry move across the creek and into contact with the depleted cavalry. Another Bavarian unit disappears and now morale checks now have the possibility of the entire command shattering and leaving. 

Furthermore there is nothing between the Prussian cavalry and the line of communication marker (the infantry base to the right of the picture is actually inside the town as a garrison unit....which means it's time consuming and disruptive to redeploy out of the time....and represents a bunch of lost victory points if I depart).

Another quick look at what happened here. 

The line of cavalry screening the towns and batteries. These batteries have been hammering the Brits all game long to assist the French assautl and try and break the centre.

 

 

 

 

 

Post door closing. The town is now screened by the very last infantry reserve and a mostly destroyed cavalry unit. Finally the Prussians are in a position to start a town assault if desired.

 On the extreme flank the Prussian lights charge foward towards the LOC (in the ambulance wagon near the tents). There is a single unit of infantry behind the town and a depleted cavalry unit (light against the Prussian heavy) which are available to "stop" the advance. 

The Prussians have superiority in all locations. The Bavarian morale is brittle. The Bavarians still have a mild edge in cannons and the Prussians aren't without some morale stresses of their own. 

The battle is winding down with all formations having the possibility of a catastrophic loss of espirit.