Napoleonic Scenario: Battle of Aspern-Essling, May 21-22, 1809

The battle of Aspern-Essling to me is a classic French/Austrian Napoleonic engagement.  Playing this battle in 28mm is a very challenging feat given the size of the forces involved.  When I looked at this scenario I considered pairing it down to just the fighting around Aspern - focusing on Massena and Hiller - but I decided to inside try to encapsulate the majority of the engagement.

This of course meant I had to compress the battlefield and forces into something that would be abstractly representative of the force composition while still providing a fun and balanced game.

The scenario map is below along with a terrain key.  I'm using three fur mats to build out this table - the "top" part of the map is two 4 by 6 foot mats and the "bottom" is a single 4 by 4 foot mat.  For the pontoon bridges I using the excellent Perry Miniatures sets (FN182, FN183, and FN184).  I wanted to include the river and bridges for extra visual possibility - and to add some variation into the scenario.

Scenario Map

I've included the map below that shows the deployment areas for each formation.

Austrian Order of Battle

C-in-C Charles

I Korps - Bellegarde

• 3 x Line Infantry (Large)
• 1 x Jager Companies
• 1 x Foot Artillery Battery (Large + Howitzer)

II Korps - Hohenzollern

• 3 x Line Infantry (Large)
• 1 x Jager Companies
• 1 x Foot Artillery Battery (Howitzer)

IV Korps - Rosenburg

• 1 x Grenz Infantry
• 1 x Landwehr Infantry
• 1 x Jager Companies
• 1 x Horse Artillery (Howitzer)
• 1 x Uhlans (Large)
• 1 x Hussars (Large)

VI Korps - Hiller

• 3 x Line Infantry (Large)
• 1 x Jager Companies
• 1 x Foot Artillery Battery (Large + Howitzer)

Reserve Korps - Liechtenstein

• 2 x Cuirassier (Large)
• 2 x Dragoon (Large)
• 1 x Horse Artillery (Howitzer)

French Order of Battle

C-in-C Napoleon

IV Corps - Massena

• 3 x Light Infantry (Elite)
• 4 x Line Infantry (Elite)
• 1 x Foot Artillery (Howitzer)

II Corps - Lannes

• 3 x Light Infantry
• 4 x Line Infantry
• 1 x Foot Artillery (Howitzer)

Cavalry Corps - Bessieres

• 4 x Cuirassiers
• 1 x Horse Artillery (Howitzer)

Light Cavalry Division - LaSalle

• 1 x Hussar
• 1 x Lancer

Position Battery (Redoubt)

• 1 x Foot Artillery (Howitzer) (Independent Unit)

While I use the term "corps" above --- those formations will really act as brigades within the rules system - just one of the necessities when compressing a large battle down into something playable and achievable in 28mm.

There you have it ... the start of what I think will be a very fun and visually pleasing game.  I have essentially everything I need to do the scenario.  I've contracted the excellent David Skibicki to do the fur mats for me.  I'm likely going to have my 3D guy do a 28mm model for the famous granary in Aspern.  I have some minor stuff I need to do with my Austrian army (some basing and adjusting of some units).