During the battle of Gravelotte the Germans made repeated attempts to attack across the Mance Ravine. They managed to take the fortified farm of St.Hubert but could not make any more progress in the face of entrenched French infantry and guns. Towards the evening most of the German troops were a confused, huddled mass clinging to the lower slopes of the ravine, ripe for a counter-attack. Around 7:00 pm the previously unengaged Prussian 2nd Corps resumed the offensive for the Germans with one of it's divisions but only managed to make matters worse. In the fading light some of the forward-most German troops were mistaken for French and an hour-long fire-fight ensued between German troops. Finally the German troops which had been under heavy fire all day had enough. At least 2 corps of the Prussian 1st Army dissolved in rout taking one of the divisions of the 2nd corps with it. A single Prussian division from the 2nd Corps was all that stood between the routing formations and two French corps. The French had a decisive victory within their grasp. However the French Corps commanders were unwilling to leave their defensive positions. They stated later that they had no orders to attack. In the words of David Howard, author of "The Franco-Prussian War", 'such an army does not deserve victory.' Order of Battle FRENCH Deployment 3rd Corps, 2nd Division, 1st Brigade 6 Battalions, 1-4pdr apply 7 casualties from the battle of Colombey D-8 3rd Corps, 3rd Division 10 Battalions, 1 Chasseur Btn., 1 Mitrailleuse battery, 2-4pdr E-6,7 3rd Corps, 1st Division 12 Battalions, 1 Chasseur Btn., 1 Mitrailleuse battery, 2-4pdrE-5,6 D-5,6 3rd Corps, 4th Division, 2nd Brigade, 80th Regt 1 Battalion C-5 3rd Corps Reserve Artillery 2-12pdr, 2-4pdr, 4-4pdr HA EE-6,7 2nd Corps, 1st Division 9 Battalions, 1-4pdr E-3,4 D-4 2nd Corps, 2nd Division, 1st Brigade 5 Battalions, 1-4pdr E-2,3 2nd Corps Reserve Artillery 2-12pdr, 2-4pdr, 2-4pdr HAEE-3,4 GERMAN Deployment 8th Corps, 15th Division 12 Battalions, 1 Jager Battalion, 1 Hussar regiment, 2-6pdr, 2-4pdr A-6 8th Corps, 16th Division 12 Battalions, 1 Hussar regiment, 2-6pdr, 2-4pdr A-3,4 8th Corps Reserve Artillery 2-6pdr, 2-4pdr, 3-4pdr HA AA-3,4 7th Corps, 14th Division, 1st Brigade 6 Battalions, 1 Hussar regiment, 2-6pdr, 2-4pdr Apply 10 casualties from Battle of Colombey B-1,2 7th Corps, 14th Division, 2nd Brigade (enters turn 1) 6 Battalions Apply 10 casualties from Battle of Colombey C- 1, D- 1, E-1 7th Corps Reserve Artillery 2-6pdr, 2-4pdr, 2-4pdr HA AA- 1,2 1st Army, 1st Cavalry Division 2 Cuirassier regiments, 4 Uhlan regiments, 1-4pdr HA AA-5 2nd Corps (enters Turn 20) 24 Battalions, 1 Jager Battalion, 2 Dragoon regiments, 6-6pdr, 6-4pdr, 2-4pdr HA A- 1,2,3,4,5 GAME LENGTH: 30 turns (or 19 turns if playing the short game) VICTORY CONDITIONS When playing 30 game turns German decisive -capture all 4 farm buildings German substantive -capture any 3 farm buildings German marginal -capture any 2 farm buildings French decisive -have all 4 farm buildings and have troops in Gravelotte French substantive -keep all 4 farm buildings French marginal -keep any 3 farm buildings When playing the shorter version of this scenario (19 game turns) the Germans need to capture 1 less farm building for each victory condition. If both sides achieve a marginal victory the game is a draw. The historical result was a French substantive victory. REFERENCES Howard, Michael, The Franco-Prussian War, University Press 1961 Moltke, FM von Helmuth, The Franco-German War of 1870-71, Greenhill Books, 1992 Elliot-Wright, Phillip, Gravelotte-St.Privat, End of the Second Empire, Osprey Military Campaign Series no.2, 1993 Waxtel, Dave and Burke, Robert, They Died for Glory (used for 0Bs), Quantum Printing, 1992 Smith, Nigel J., The Franco-Prussian War 1870-1871, Part One, The French Army, La Rue Sans Joie Press, 1991 Back to Table of Contents -- Courier #79 To Courier List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2000 by The Courier Publishing Company. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com