So with the build up to the game complete, it was time to push little lead miniatures across the table for the fictitious battle of Saint-Clement. So Thom and Neil G, commanding the French would attempt to hold off the Prussians, commanded by Mitch, Robbo and Andy. Yours truly was umpiring and taking a lot of enjoyment out of the facial expressions of the Prussian Commander in Chief, Mitch when his subordinates attempted to carry out his orders for an aggressive advance on the French positions to knock out the 2 defending divisions before fresh troops began to reinforce their position.
The Prussian cavalry division, commanded by Andy began to push past Saint-Clement, while the Horse artillery deployed within the town, to begin firing on the french position at long range. It was at this point very early in the game that things began to somewhat unravel for the Prussians. The lead regiment came under fire and halted in disorder. After rallying they entered the woods to the right of Saint-Clement to try and engage the french chasseurs. However the Chassepot began to show its prowess, disordering the second regiment before the rear two regiments about faced and decided to ride back around the woods to come up on the french position. Meanwhile the Wurtemburgers under Robbo slowly advanced forward before pushing his cavalry and Jagers forward between Saint-Clement and Leibseviller. Robbo also deployed his 4 batteries to support the Prussian artillery in firing upon the French in Lunevile.
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| Prussian horse artillery deployed |
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| Wurtemburgers move forward with the Bavarians making an appearance |
As the Wurtemburgers slowly plodded forward they started to make room for the arrival of the Bavarian I Corps. However as they pushed further North West they also came under fire from Chasseurs. They did however reveal the position of the french 1st Division of II Corps to the west of Blamville. Now the advancing Germans were facing 3 french divisions.
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| 1st Division of III Corps |
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| Wurtemburgers pushing forward |
Meanwhile the dithering Prussian cavalry Division was being slowly shot to pieces. 2 regiments trying to force their way through the woods were being picked off. Eventually both became so badly mauled from the french skirmishers that they broke and routed from the field.The other 2 regiments though did manage to swing around the roads and began to advance towards the french 3rd Division. However their journey also revealed the position of the 2nd division of XII Corps, dug in across the road to Blamont. The French though decided not to be idle and the 2nd division left their fortifications to advance upon the Prussian horse.
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| 2nd Division of XII Corps |
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| German troops getting bottled in |
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| 2nd division begins to advance |
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| Prussian cavalry swing by the woods |
The Prussian cavalry yet again met with disaster. As they came around the woods they also entered range of french artillery and a Mitrailleuse. Both firing in support of the Chasseurs hiding in the woods began to inflict more heavy casualties on the Prussian cavalry. Meanwhile to the west of Luneville, a french cavalry division made an appearance and began to threaten the advance of the Wurtemburgers. Robbo wasn't fancying facing 3 french cavalry regiments with just 1 of his own. Luckily the 2nd division of the Bavarian I Corps had also arrived and swung west to reinforce the Wurtemburgers. Sending 3 regiments of cavalry from their reserve to support the Wurtemburg cavalry. Between Luneville and Saint-Clement both sides concentrated on counter battery fire with pretty desultory results for both sides.
The only other action on this flank was a battle between some Chasseurs and Jagers exchanging fire in the woods before the Jagers decided to fix bayonets and charge in. The Chasseurs were quickly swept away, yielding the woods to the victorious Jagers.
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