I’m playing the French in the early campaign: The French 3rd Colonial Division is one of the best in my French Army; “B” rated, 12,727 men with 24 guns. They begin the game with their 1st Brigade having walked right into the cauldron, surrounded by the German 12th Infantry Division on the right and the impassible Semois River on the left. They take heavy hits right from the get-go. “Ardennes Start” (attached) shows the situation and a typical German pop, this one for 192 men on the 1st Brigade. You’ll lose over 1000 men on the 1st turn and the hits just keep on coming. The question is: Do you rescue them or bid those fellows adieu? I felt honor bound to attempt a rescue with the 3nd Brigade of the 3rd Division and a sharp fight ensued which lasted the whole of Day 1. "Ardennes@1400” shows this action. This is the French and Germans toe to toe! The French 3nd Brigade was able to take the high ground and dish out some good punishment to German forces (note the broken German units). However the French 1st Brigade's perimeter is closing rapidly (see 1400 map). French engineers are rushed to the front to build a bridge and escape route. The bridge is finally built on the morning of Day 2 (see “Rescued”) and the remnants of the 3rd Brigade are extracted with a loss of 3,247 men in the 1st Brigade and all 24 guns, and 1,122 men in the 3rd Brigade. Total divisional losses are 4,530 men, with the Division down to 8,191 men and we ain’t out of the woods yet. I’ll keep you posted.
jonny :cool2:
07-06-2010, 11:27 AM, (This post was last modified: 07-06-2010, 01:25 PM by Volcano Man.)
Good job saving some of them. I have tried it myself but I couldn't get the bridge built in time (combined with the heavy pressure that my German opponent was putting on the trapped units). Such a waste of some fine troops! :hissy:
Haven't tried that battle yet but those Colonial boys sure are in the soup from the word go. Good to see that you got some of them out of the meatgrinder.
Historically, the 3e Colonial Division was all but wiped out, losing some 10,000 men, burying its regimental flags so the Germans wouldn't take them. Easily the worst disaster for the french of the entire campaign.
"Haven't tried that battle yet but those Colonial boys sure are in the soup from the word go. Good to see that you got some of them out of the meatgrinder."
I got lucky in that the bridge got built. Also, as long as that 3rd Brigade stays in supply, they can dish out a lot of punishment as they are B rated and have some arty too. The key to keeping them in supply is the 5th Colonial Brigade, very tough boys, all A rated and they are on the upper left of the map attached (Ardennes_start). That path and small bridge suffices to keep 3rd Brigade in supply even though German 12th Division has them de facto surrounded but not isolated. It's up to the 5th Brigade to keep that small bridgehead open. It wasn't until 1400 (Ardennes @ 1400 map) that a German unit succeeded in advancing to the river and thus isolating the 3rd Brigade, with 5th Brigade (upper left) under pressure and retreating as there is nothing more they can do. Now the only rescue was the engineering bridge finally built at dawn. But it's still a long way to Tipperary. jonny :happy:
BTW, I noticed that if you click on the map, you get a close-up!
I want to see those Austro-Hungarians in action.:eek1:
Just wondering: Did the Austro-Hungarian Army ever win a battle? I think they were involved with the Germans in some successful campaigns but I'm guessing they never won a battle, maybe in 1847 against the Peasant Uprising, fellows with pikes and pitchforks? jonny :smoke:
(07-08-2010, 05:18 PM)jonnymacbrown Wrote: I want to see those Austro-Hungarians in action.:eek1:
Just wondering: Did the Austro-Hungarian Army ever win a battle? I think they were involved with the Germans in some successful campaigns but I'm guessing they never won a battle, maybe in 1847 against the Peasant Uprising, fellows with pikes and pitchforks? jonny :smoke:
Lol, yeah this wasn't a shinning moment in the history of the AH Empire.:hissy: I guess that is why I have a soft spot in my heart for these hapless conquerors.:cantswim: I can't recall any major campaign where they succeeded without German help.
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