At long last, the 1809 Danube Campaign draws to a close. The church spires of Landshut are in sight for both armies, but the Austrians are well positioned for either a defensive stand or an orderly withdraw back to the city.
April 26, Turn 12
Weather: Clear skies
Journal: Under the cover of darkness, Archduke Charles withdrew his army from the bloody field of Innkofen into a stout defensive line a few miles south, closer to Landshut. When April 26 dawned, the Austrians continued an orderly withdraw back to the city. Unable to draw the Austrians into another battle, the French could only harass the archduke's columns with light cavalry. A small French cavalry force did pass through Landshut in the morning before dense columns of Austrian infantry brushed them aside and secured the city.
Journal: Under the cover of darkness, Archduke Charles withdrew his army from the bloody field of Innkofen into a stout defensive line a few miles south, closer to Landshut. When April 26 dawned, the Austrians continued an orderly withdraw back to the city. Unable to draw the Austrians into another battle, the French could only harass the archduke's columns with light cavalry. A small French cavalry force did pass through Landshut in the morning before dense columns of Austrian infantry brushed them aside and secured the city.
Campaign Results
The Austrians successfully defended one of the two strategic objectives by retaining clear control of Landshut. Our three French players could not duplicate Napoleon's decisive historical victory, but did manage to achieve a minor campaign victory by taking one objective and scoring more battlefield Victory Points. The final VP tally was 46 French to 16 Austrian, resulting from five battles fought over the course of 12 turns.
I think we all learned a lot from running our first map-based Blucher campaign. There are some rules we will invariably adjust before attempting a second one, but this was a lot of fun. Using Vassal for our map and turn movement helped tremendously, and I would strongly recommend other miniature gamers consider creating Vassal files for their own campaigns.
I think we all learned a lot from running our first map-based Blucher campaign. There are some rules we will invariably adjust before attempting a second one, but this was a lot of fun. Using Vassal for our map and turn movement helped tremendously, and I would strongly recommend other miniature gamers consider creating Vassal files for their own campaigns.