AUSTRIAN

1st May 1809

You are General Hohenzollern, in command of the 4 Corps forming the right wing of the Austrian army. The left wing under Archduke Charles has been defeated by Napoleon, and is retreating in disarray down the Danube valley. You must regain the Danube valley from your current position in the Bohemian mountains before the French can cut you off. You learned 2 days ago that 3 corps under Marshal Davout are marching eastwards along the North bank of the Danube and that if they can prevent you from reaching Linz, you will have serious problems.

Yesterday, your leading corps under Bellegarde clashed with Lefevre's corps [different coloured uniforms!?] outside Albertsplaz, a small town 5 miles from Linz. As soon as Liechtenstein's corps arrived in support of Bellegarde, Lefevre fell back on Albertsplaz. Your forces were strung out and disorganised, and it was not possible to continue that action before night fell. As dawn breaks on 1st May, you see that the French have received substantial reinforcements during the night. If you can hold your position until Kollowrat's corps arrives, you hope to be able to match the enemy for numbers later in the day.

Your 4th corps is over a day's march away, and as long as you are not driven off northwards into the hills, you should be able to force your way through the French, or drive them off, in the next day or so.

You must deploy your forces anywhere to the NE/N of line A-B-C. You have available all units except Kollowrat's corps, which will arrive during the day [ midday, in fact] on one of the roads behind your front line. You must occupy Hill X [Culp's Hill] with at least one unit, and Hill Y [Cemetery Ridge] with at least one division. Hill Z [Peach Orchard] must be occupied by at least one brigade.

You are presumed to make these deployments during the night. Therefore you are not entirely sure of the French dispositions, but you know that Lefevre has been reinforced. You must assume that the enemy occupy the line P-Q-R.

Krumblberg [Big Round Top] is a steep hill which can be occupied by one infantry brigade only. Light artillery (only) can get up the hill only on the road. You may place a 6pdr battery on the hill at the start of the game. Schloss Krumbl can only hold 1920 men and is strongly fortified.

FRENCH

1st May, 1809

You are Marshal Davout, temporarily in command of 3 Corps of the French army. The left wing of Archduke Charles' army has been defeated, and is retreating in disarray down the Danube valley pursued by the bulk of the French army under Napoleon. A large Austrian force under Hohenzollern was operating in the Bohemian mountains. Your orders are to march east along the north bank of the Danube and cut Hohenzollern off from the Danube valley. If your manoeuvre succeeds, Hohenzollern will have severe supply problems and will be unable to link up with archduke Charles for some considerable time. [ Describe French order of battle]

Yesterday, Lefevre's corps clashed with Bellegarde's outside Albertsplaz...Lefevre fell back on that town as Liechtenstein's corps arrived to support Bellegarde. Bernadotte's arrival prevented further Austrian progress.

As dawn breaks on 1st May, III corps has just arrived on the scene. You appear to outnumber the enemy presently, although Hohenzollern's total strength is believed to equal yours. His forces have become strung out marching through the mountains, and your numerical superiority may not last long.

The enemy is deployed along the line A-B-C and N/NE of that line. Lefevre is deployed between Hill P and Sudfork. Bernadotte is deployed on the line Q-R. Mouton's corps has just reached Sudfork in march column. The cavalry can deploy anywhere behind the front line.

To win, you must break the enemy morale or hold the line X-Y-Z by the end of the day. By holding this position, you would hold up the enemy's breakout towards Linz and constrict his deployment. If you take the Schloss, Klein Krumblwald [Little Round Top] and Korint, you would cut the enemy's source of supplies and reinforcements, causing him either to surrender or to suffer serious loss of equipment and attrition by retreating through the mountains short of supplies.

You deploy during the night and are not sure of the precise Austrian deployment.

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