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Napoleon and the Archduke Charles

42.99 An Historical Simulation Game of the Abensberg-Eckmuhl Campaign, April 16-23, 1809

The Time is: 0500 hours, 17 April 1809

The Emperor's carriage rolled into army headquarters in Donauworth, Bavaria. With chief-of-staff Berthier gone to Augsburg, he could get no reliable information as to positions. He took the only means available, by sitting down to study that marshal's correspondence in the office, and soon realized the false position into which Berthier was leading the army, which was hazardous in the extreme.

Even if the Marshals Davout and Massena with their two Corps had been closely concentrated, the position would have been bad enough. But, thanks to Berthier's misunderstandings, they are ninety miles apart. The Archduke Charles, with nearly 90,000 men, is moving across the Isar River at Landshut. Two very easy marches will take his main body to the Danube at Kelheim or Ratisbon, whilst between Massena, in Augsburg, and Davout, in Ratisbon, were four days march. In this space there was nothing to oppose the Austrians except 27,000 Bavarian troops.

The Austrians had stolen a march and were heading straight for the Danube and a golden opportunity to deliver a resounding defeat to a large portion of Napoleon's army.

But the period of Berthier's feeble command was at an end, and the master was already gathering the reins into his own powerful hands. He later wrote, "the battle of Abensberg, the maneuver of Landhut, and the battle of Eckmuhl are the boldest, the most brilliant, and ablest maneuvers of Napoleon."

The Emperor's first move was to send his aide-de-camp Savary to Davout to warn him of the absolute necessity of getting in touch with the centre, even if he had to abandon Ratisbon. In that case, he was to destroy the stone bridge there, so as to prevent the Austian northern wing from falling on his rear.

At 8 am, news arrived from Lefebvre that an Austrian force of unknown strength was issuing from Landshut, driving the Bavarians before it. Later the Emperor's scouts reported this column comprised four army corps, with two more moving on parallel routes.

While the Bavarians slowed the "column of Landshut" Davout was ordered to move on Neustadt and Geisenfeld, and Massena on Pfaffenhofen, along the Ilm River, closing up the gap between the two marshals. By this means catastrophe was averted.

And yet, there was no smashing victory at Ratisbon such as those that had astounded Europe in 1805 and 1806. The failure to bring about an early end to the war meant continued campaigning with both sides racing down the Danube to Vienna, where Napoleon would experience his first definite defeat on the battlefield - encouraging his opponents all over Europe.

Components:
* One 22" x 34" map
* One Rulebook (32 pages including Historical Notes)
* One sheet of 280 Die-Cut Playing Pieces
* Two each, 8.5 x 11" French and Austrian March Tables
* Turn Record/Reinforcement Card (front & back)
* One 8.5 x 11" Morale Track Card
* One Sequence of Play/Game Summary Sheet

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