3 500 km to Austerlitz no. 2: Part 3

Moving into the first full day of the game (Friday), we pick up in the centre of the French army, with Bernadotte's lead (2nd) Division (Drouet) on the left...

... of Soult's IV Corps.

In the south, Davout's III Corps had arrived,

... to be greeted by Keinmeyer's cavalry, but they were not keen to engage with the newly formed squares. 

In the north, Lannes began what was to be his own private battle with Bagration.

Back in the centre, Drouet's division had now deployed and was ready to advance to attack in support of Soult.

On the allied right, Liechtenstein's cavalry faced off with the bulk of Murat's heavies.

The centre seen from each side of the table.

Allied high command: the two Emperors clearly co-ordinating well! :)

Soult's troops (Vandamme) were first in, capturing Blasowitz,

... before following on to clash with Kollowrath's main line.

Hey Soult, leave some for me!

More success for Soult's men.

The Allied line was 'compromised'.

Drouet joined in the 'fun' at Kollowrath's expense!

Soult was ably supported by d'Hautpoul's cuirassiers.

Around 10 am game time and it's not looking too grand for the allies in the centre.

Looking south, with Liechtenstein's cavalry in the foreground.

Not my greatest idea, I decided to lure the Russian dragoons to attack using my skirmishers.

The latter were broken, but the dragoons were seen off by my closed columns.

This allowed me to advance to the ridge. I thought that it was 'mission accomplished', so ended Friday feeling pretty chuffed.

In the south, Napoleon had sent Oudinot's grenadiers and the guard chasseurs to support the hard pressed Legrand (3rd division, detached from IV Corps).

A close-up of Oudinot's men, beautifully painted by Darren.

Davout had done brilliantly to establish his line and the south was stabilising for the French.

Reinforcements? Talk to the hand!

The first full day of the game thus ended with the French seemingly in ascendency, or at least even, across the table. Lannes and Bagration were parrying one another in the north, Soult and Bernadotte, aided by part of Murat's cavalry, were making merry in the centre and a major allied attack in the south was being blunted.

The French players were therefore feeling quite pumped while the allied players were full of dread.

Game over? There were a few twists to come yet...