Description

The Battle of Leipzig, fought in 1813, is one of the largest conflicts ever and involved many countries / kingdoms fighting against each other. This included a coalition of Russia, Prussia and Austria committed to defeat France and its allies, forging a domination of Europe that would lead to the Nationalism of Germany. While historians have drawn a myriad of contrary opinions about who were the good guys and bad guys, the battle encircles the city of Leipzig with 500,000 man armies facing each other.

The sheer size of this conflict can truly test a designer’s skill when representing it at a battalion level. However, Leipzig is actually a series of smaller battles fought west, east, south and north of Leipzig as the Coalition armies concentrically move toward the City. La Bataille de Lindenau 1813 is the battle southwest of Leipzig.

La Bataille de Lindenau recreates the furious battle between the Hungarian Ignaz Gyulai,and his IIIrd Austrian Corps, and their attempt to wrest the crucial town of Lindenau from General Bertrand's multinational IV Corps, as it defended the French lines of communication on October 16, 1813 just outside Leipzig. The battle places Bertrand on the horns of a dilemma. On the one hand, Lindenau must stay in French hands if Napoleon has any hope of defeating the Coalition. However, Bertrand also has an imperative to send as much of his able corps as possible to assist Napoleon on the Leipzig southern front. Gyulai's task is to disrupt both French goals.

The player will note immediately the differences in the different formations and how each must be managed to achieve success.

Each 20 minute turn starts with a Command Phase for both sides followed by the French Player sequence and then by the Prussian Player sequence. The sequence includes movement, cavalry charges, fire and melee. During each, morale plays a decisive role. This is a great one player on one player game but will also accommodate two players on a side also.

The original rules have been updated but not expanded to any extent. The original designers of the La Bataille Series believe the Premier Rules facilitate / expedite the most accurate and competitive play. The new Premier Rules are an update of the original rules but make it easier to find specific topics and includes some user requested rules such as command control.

The special rules also feature an essay on Count Bertrand, Napoleon's close confident who is buried next to the Emperor at Les Invalides in Paris, and who was so crucial to the French efforts in the 1813 campaign. The French must also wrestle with using German "allies", who have become unreliable at this stage of the campaign, and figure out how to keep Germans engaged in a favorable way to enhance French strategic efforts.