The Battle of Arcole 1796, (The Conclusion) Part Quatre!

And now for the stunning conclusion!

When we last left off things were starting to get interesting with the arrival of Austrian reserves on the field at Arcole!

General Brian decides to reinforce via the dyke system. This could prove to be either an asset, or a second fault in the game???

The attack must go in as my units have already comitted, and the plan was to distract the enemy from focusing on Augereau's troops. My units get hit hard, the lead unit is pummeled at 100 yds while my rear unit becomes disordered and can't move without a leader attached.

My other units to my rear (Right Flank) become disordered as well in a protracted firefight with the Croatians.  My units are stuck in a barrel if they can't Rally!

The Main attack is starting to commense full steam as Augereau arrives!

Augereau's troops press on to try and support the Main effort!

General Brian decides to bring up the guns as well! Maybe we should of discussed  this move a little bit more before executing??? They are his guns! Remember, in Part 1 when I stated guns can only deploy at intersections along the dyke system. This information is forgotten as the blood is up. It may contribute to our doom as well????

I become engrossed in my own attack and forget about the gun's moving as well. The enemy feels confident in his fortifications and the reserves bypass me for now. I do however manage to fire up a new reserve Austrian unit (Red marker). One mistake by the Austrian forces is that they forget to have engineers barricade the bridge to keep my troops from charging in!

The Main attack heats up as units start to take damage (Red markers). My lead units fails to take the bridge and retreats along the dyke to the rear of my troops (Yellow marker, bottom center). Thereby causing all units it passes through to conduct a morale check. My units survive the checks and continue to press on.

Augereau's troops formed attack columns and press in for the kill! Notice the artillery becomes trapped and can't turn around (Bottom Right)! A crucial mistake as the Main effort is coming to a climax and the guns will be sorely missed.

The second gun is comitted as well (Murphy ='s Merde!). All I can think is at least their not my troops, but hold on a second they're on my side!

My howitzer becomes ineffective also as visibility and my troops clamoring to get in to position force it to move to the side. Sadly this piece will never "fire a shot in anger"!

My units continue the assault on Arcole, but are basically in a meat grinder as the enemy is in heavy cover with guns assisting at 100 yds!

A view from the enemies perspective! As my units continue to assault the bridge & town.

An overall view of the action so far!

And towards Augereau's main attack.

Our gracious host Tom Garnett hard at work!

A view of the combatants and players from a part of the battlefield that's never touched!

General Augereau's forces press the enemies flank along the dyke without artillery support!

The enemy starts to give way and units rout, but some of our units run out of steam and rout also!

Our first units to punch through the enemy!

My unit's go for broke as time is of the essance! ENDEX is rapidly approaching.

The enemies main line rapidly deteriorates and countercharges are made as well!

My troops Rally and drive the Croatians away!

The enemies main lines are pushed back, but there are no supporting units as Augereau's troops got stacked up on the dyke system! It probably would have been best to stay off of the dyke and supported the Main effort better? Note: Routing troops could have caused supporting unit's to rout as well!

Enemy unit's rout back through Arcole.

My unit's continue to charge Arcole and are mauled. Basically one Brigade becomes ineffective.

A view of the overall chaos that ensued!

The last assault before Endex as we ran out of time. Notice all the troops in line trying to make their last fires count!

The main line units exchange positions as battle lines ebb & flow! The French artillery became ineffective when most needed!

What's left of Augereau's forces!

My foces at Endex! My routed unit is rallied! (Marker from Yellow to Red)

And so it ends a "Phyrric Victory" for the Austrian forces as they held Arcole from the French forces, but several unit's (Brigades) were shattered and they'd have to withdraw from Arcole. Had we had a few more turns one side, or the other may have had total victory? Lessons learned are Murphy & Dyke's can be a bad thing! Stay tuned for the exciting "Battle of Ligny" next!!!!!