An FPGA Train Wreck

In my previous post, I supplied a map of the situation for a FPGA battle that took place last night. I knew this scenario was going to be a tough one for the Austrians. I had hoped that the battle would be a little more challenging for the French than it turned out.

From the outset, this battle was a complete train wreck. I don't know if my scenario description was clear or not, but the Austrians immediately moved the two regiments in the center forward to engage the six brigades of French cavalry! I am not sure why the Austrian commander went on this suicide mission, but the outcome was predictable. They were mauled by the French cavalry. The entire middle was compromised and that set the tone for the whole evening.

Initial deployment from Austrian perspective.

Initial deployment from the French perspective.

In order to simulate that this was the second day of a battle, the players all rolled a 6 sided die for every base under their command. 1-2 = 2 existing casualties, 3-4 = 3 existing casualties and 5-6 = 4 existing casualties. This was for the infantry bases, Cavalry was a little fresher. This method actually worked quite well. It was quick and gave the impression that the armies had been in a bitter fight the day before. On the first turn, the French infantry held their positions and used some recovery dice rolling. It would pay dividends later as the Austrians immediately started moving in their worn conditions.

As the action started, the Austrian center moved to engage and was destroyed by the French. The Austrian left held their position and was eventually engaged by the French right. Here it looked like a fairly even battle, and then the dice rolling started. The Austrian commander had loaded his weapons with coal dust and marshmallows instead of powder and ball. This was an epic night of bad rolling. The French commander, mauled that flank.

The Center - showing the French Cavalry in possession

The Austrian Left - showing the French driving forward

With the center gone and the Austrian left collapsing, it was just a matter of time before the Austrian right was overwhelmed. The Austrian army morale broke shortly there after. The game was called after 2 hours of play

The Austrian Right - or what was left of the Austrian army

I really enjoy FPGA, it was fast and brutal. There was a decided victor after 2 hours of play. Maybe this scenario was flawed, but I think the Austrians had a chance to survive if they had played to consolidate their lines instead of a rash forward press.

Anyway we all had time to enjoy some of this fine brown Ale. I imagine the Austrian players thought it was aptly named.