Played the 2nd battle in a Franco-Prussian campaign that I recently started. The 1st battle wasn’t terrible interesting so I didn’t spend time writing up a post on it. The 2nd however, turned out to be a nail biter and highlighted why campaign battles can be so enjoyable.
In the campaign the Prussians have crossed the border early on July 25th in an attempt to punish the French before they complete mobilization. This means they are fighting the first week without the south German state forces, other than the Saxons who have joined III army already.
The battle began with the French 3rd & 4th corps under Marshal Bazaine in position southeast of Metz. The Prussian 2nd Army under Crown Prince Frederick was in position to attack with the 3rd, 8th, & 10th corps with the Guard corps as potential reinforcements. In Metz, and potentially available (although the chances of French reacting are fairly low) was Napoleon III with the 2nd & Guard corps. These last 2 formations had fought the previous day and repulsed Steinmetz so they already were dinged up a bit.
I had to substitute some Bavarians for the 10th corps and some Baden/Wurttemberg for the Guard although they were rated for what they were supposed to be.
Here’s a rough map of the battle at the beginning and a along with a few photos.

View from the French left

View from the French right
The battle started with the Prussians advancing on a 3 corps frontage. Their initial plan was for the right & center corps to demonstrate and tie up the French while their 10th corps on the left drove in the French right and hopefully rolled up their line.

View of the Prussian left as they started their attack

Panorama of the battlefield as the fighting commenced
Initially the Prussians met with some success, albeit with higher than desired losses.

On the left the Prussians have driven the French from the village

And in the left-center they have shoved back the French near the village with the church

The Prussian right was mostly stalled at this point with multiple disordered units and not much success in advancing
By mid-morning, as expected, the Prussian Guards arrived drawn by the sound of gunfire. Incredibly, the French also reacted expeditiously and their 2nd corps arrived at the same time (this took some exceptional dice rolling to occur)

View from behind the French lines. The 2nd Corps arriving en masse behind the embattled army.
Soon the crisis of the battle arose. The Prussians were driving the French back all along the line. It looked like defeat for legions of Napoleon was soon to follow.

The Prussian “masse de decision.” The Guards arrive on the field and prepare to assault the central village.

View from the French 2nd Corps. Could the “thin blue line” hold?

On the French left the Prussians had advanced and captured the line of villages driving the French before them.

While on the French right the Prussians consolidated around the captured village but struggled to advance against the French gun line.
A confused, bloody fight up and down the line resulted. In the midst of the turmoil the French Guard reached the field (a 2nd incredible dice rolling sequence with around a 5% chance of success resulted in their arrival.)

On the French right wing they mount a furious assault to try to retake the village.

While in the center the Prussian juggernaut appears unstoppable.

Portions of the 2nd Corps and the Guard allow the French to drive the Prussians back in the center with tremendous losses.

Panorama of the battle as the fighting rages

One last desperate attempt by the Prussians to drive through in the center.

While on the French right things have stabilized. The Prussians will keep the village they’ve paid for in blood but their advance has been stopped cold.
The final Prussian assault failed in the center. At the end, the French held their line and as night fell, the Prussians fell back after suffering horrific casualties. After recouping casualties suffered, in the To The Last Gaiter Button campaign rules that’s easier for the defender than the attacker, the losses looked like this:
French – 16 bases lost out of 85 engaged
Prussians – 25 bases lost out of 100 engaged
After the battle the Prussians retreated to regroup while the French also pulled back into the relative safety of Metz in order to try to regain their strength from the losses over the last two days.