Background

After Napoleon’s defeat of the Austrians at Eckmuhl on 21st/22nd April 1809, the French Army of Germany occupied Vienna in the second week of May. At the earliest opportunity the French emperor began to move his troops to the north bank of the Danube via the island of Lobau, unaware that Archduke Charles had positioned his forces on the Marchfeld, just to the north of the villages of Aspern and Essling. When the Austrians attacked in the early afternoon of May 21st with the whole of the army in place (approximately 84000 men and 14000 cavalry) they were opposed by French forces comprising some 23000 infantry and 3000 cavalry (although reinforcements arrived throughout the day).

The following scenario is designed to recreate the situation on the first day of the battle in 6mm scale. using the Blucher rules by Sam Mustafa. The French are greatly outnumbered but they have Napoleon and their troops are generally of better quality than the enemy. The Austrians will also find it difficult to coordinate their attacks given the limitations of the activation and momentum rules.

Terrain

The Marchfeld, the broad plain to the north of the villages of Aspern and Essling, is largely flat farmland with no disruptive or obstructive topographical features. The stream that circles the wooded area south of Aspern (known as the Germeinde-Au) is passable at all points. There is a thick line of trees south of Essling, which also counts as difficult and obstructive terrain. The weather was good during the day so will not be a factor in the game.

Austrian Deployment – to follow the historical dispositions, the Austrian commander must deploy in the following manner: -

VI Corps (Hiller) – units must deploy in boxes marked ‘A’ and they must all be on the table edge.

I Corps (Bellegarde) - units must deploy in boxes marked ‘B’

II Corps (Hohenzollern) - units must deploy in boxes marked ‘C’

Reserve Corps (Liechtenstein) - units must deploy in boxes marked ‘D’

IV Corps (Rosenberg) - units must deploy in boxes marked ‘E’

French deployment – Naploeon may deploy his forces in squares marked 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 in any way he sees fit.

Advanced Rules

Rally (p.87 in the rule book). Both sides will have this option throughout the game

Over/Under Strength (p.91 in the rule book)

C in C Personality (p,92 in the rule book). Napoleon is a ‘legendary’ commander and so enjoys the army morale advantage. Archduke Charles has no personality.

Reinforcements Not all the French units are present on the table at the start of the game, so only they will be eligible to receive reinforcements during the game. I have amended the rules slightly to reflect historical events:

Additional units will arrive on the field in line with the historical timetable. The French commander will be told at the start of the game at which turns he can expect reinforcements. However, he has the option of trying to ‘speed up’ their arrival. He can do this in his movement phase by using the ‘Activate by Command’ option and declaring that he wishes to select a force to arrive on the table. He then needs a die roll of 5 or 6 to achieve this result. If successful, the cards representing the reinforcements are placed face down on the table edge at point X on the map. They remain there until the next French movement phase when they can be activated in the normal way. If the die roll fails, the movement phase ends. There is no limit to the number of times the French commander can attempt to introduce reinforcements in this way. However, even if all his attempts fail, the additional French units will still arrive according to the timetable and be deployed in the same fashion as described above. Only one force can arrive per turn, so if the timetable indicates the arrival of a force in a particular movement phase, the French commander cannot attempt to introduce additional forces (by the Activate by Command option) in the same phase.

If the Austrians manage to get a unit within 4 base widths of point X, the French must deploy on to the table with miniatures. And, if the Austrians have a unit occupying point X, no French reinforcing unit may be deployed on the table until the threat is removed. 

The timetable for the arrival of French reinforcements is as follows: -

Move 14 - Reserve Cavalry Corps, St Sulpice Division, 3 Brigade

Move 18 - Reserve Cavalry Corps,St Sulpice Division 4 Brigade

Move 22 - IV Corps, St Cyr's Division (3, 4 and 5 Brigades)

Note that the units highlighted in red are reinforcements and are not deployed onto the table at the start of the game. Please refer above to the rules concerning reinforcements.

Austrian Order of Battle

Footnote

This scenario was first played at the club in September 2020.  During the game, the Austrian commander made the point that if the French general had the opportunity to bring on reinforcements ahead of the historical timetable, he should have the chance to prevent this happening by destroying or damaging the pontoon bridges thrown across the Danube. This would accurately reflect Austrian attempts to stop French forces crossing the river by the use of hulks floated downstream. A fair objection, which can be addressed in two ways. One option would be to remove the “Activate by Command” option to speed up the arrival of reinforcements entirely, and allow deployment to the table by the timetable only. Alternatively, the Austrian general can be given an opportunity to attempt to destroy or damage the pontoons. Whenever the French commander has been successful in bringing on reinforcements ahead of schedule, the Austrian player rolls a die. A roll of 5 means that the bridges have been damaged and the French may not deploy on to the table in that turn – they must make another attempt. A roll of 6 means that the bridges have been destroyed and no further reinforcements may enter the game.