This was a battle fought as a preliminary scenario for the forthcoming Victorian Warfare rules. A fairly straightforward battle, the extreme right flank of Gravelotte-St. Privat found the Prussian (actually Saxon) 45^th, 46^th and 48^th Brigades led by an advance guard (see orders of battle below) attempting to turn the flank of the French 3^rd Division, holding higher ground. The French regiments, many of them below strength due to attrition and battle losses, had the advantage of superior rifles and position, but the Prussians had numbers, better artillery and morale advantages. Here is how the battle fought out.

The Prussians wasted little time in forcing the issue, with the advance guard and 45^th brigade pushing ahead in columns (moving rapidly) while the Krupp artillery proceeded to pound the French positions. The French had sent the attached 9^th Regiment into Roncourt to hold the right and their own artillery was stretched out across the entire front to provide support for both brigades. The mitrailleuse battery was set up in the center.

From the start of the battle, the French artillery proved virtually useless (I could not hit anything!). This left it up the chassepot rifles to stop the Prussian columns. This proved effective on the St. Privat flank, where the chasseurs in the town shot up a Prussian battalion at long range and caused it to rout in panic. Unfortunately for the French, this was the highlight of the battle.

The Prussian advance guard and 45^th brigade assaulted the hill and Roncourt, forcing the 9^th Regiment to retreat. The French 3^rd Cuirassiers supported by the 2^nd Chasseurs charged the Prussian Reiter horse who were heading straight down the flank toward the useless French artillery (the artillery did manage to limber up and ride away in time to be shot up by Prussian infantry). The swirling cavalry battle locked the action on this flank until the Prussians threw two infantry battalions into the flank of the French cavalry, causing them to fall back in confusion.

Meanwhile, on the left flank, the Prussian artillery was taking target practice at the French foot. A battalion of the 94^th Regiment broke in panicked rout. One by one, the Prussian artillery brought fire to bear and the depleted French foot were cut down, company by company. Finally, the Prussian foot charged up the hill and the French had some revenge, shooting them down in droves. But the culmination came when a Prussian battalion of the 106^th Regiment smashed through the mitrailleuse battery. The French center was caving in.

As the Prussians folded up the French right flank, the French commander ordered an all out retreat. The battle was lost.

This scenario adequately reflected the historical reality of the actual battle. It also showed us the power of the Krupp artillery for the Prussians and the chassepot rifles of the French. Getting used to the greater ranges of these weapons (after playing Napoleonics and ACW) takes some dealing with.

This scenario took only 2 1/2 hours to play with three of us taking commands. It could easily be made into a seven or eight player game, with each "general" commanding a brigade or being the CinC. No problems with the rules were found, but one clarification needs to be made.

Map

Prussian 23rd Division (Georg)
Advance Guard	45th Bde	46th Bde	48th Bde
108th Regt (12)	100th Regt (15)	102nd Regt (15)	12th Jager Bn (6)
1st Reiter Regt (4)	101st Regt (15)	103rd Regt (15)	106th Regt (15)
1 Arty Bty (2)	1 Arty Bty (2)	2 Arty Bty (4)	107th Regt (15)