napoleonic wargaming

Campaign Ma

Main French depot at Hellin – 18 days supplies

French occupy Je
Spanish attack Huelma
Guerrilla brigades active

Germany 

My campaign has been designed to provide interesting battles to wargame, with the minimum of administration.   To this end I have created a fictional map of Europe, where historical boundaries have been replaced by military regions and districts.   You will see from the map that there are nine regions in Germany, each consisting of 9x9 squares.   Each square is a wargames table.  

The Erfurt region is outlined in white.   There are nine major towns in the region, including the city of Erfurt in the centre of the map.   Each town has nine squares, and each would have a named town.   Each town would be the subject of a battle/wargame.

The campaign is divided into a series of phases.  The objective of each phase would be to take and hold one of those nine towns.   There is the possibility to fight nine different battles, but normally six would be sufficient

Central Germany – Stage 1

Erfurt Region is part of Central Germany.   On this map the city of Erfurt is outlined in white.   This map shows the main roads (red) connecting major cities and secondary roads (yellow) connecting towns within the Region.   It also shows major rivers.   In addition it shows the borders of historical regions, such as Westphalia, Bavarian etc.   These are not important in the campaign, but are used to help place my fictional military regions within historical boundaries.

When I started the campaign my intention was to fight a series of campaign phases within one military region.   Erfurt Region would be the disputed area to be fought over.   Dusseldorf Region would be the French rear area and Dresden Region the Russian rear area.

When Erfurt district became the next campaign phase I would produce a detailed campaign map showing the nine squares.   The French would start the phase deployed within the Erfurt district, the Russians within Gera, but mostly in the three squares forming the border between Fulda and Erfurt districts.  The campaign would start when the Russians crossed the border into Erfurt district.  The campaign objective would be the city of Erfurt, and the army which took and held the city would be the winner.

It soon became obvious that there was a major flaw in this deployment.   If the Russians were unable to fight their way into Erfurt district, or if they were forced to retreat out of it, there was no campaign map to allow this to happen

Central Germany Stage 2

This map was the result.   It shows the cities of Erfurt and Gera.   The campaign objective would still be Erfurt, but if the Russians were driven back the French could now cross into Gera district and continue the campaign.  The map is slightly bigger, with 12 squares in place of the earlier 9 squares. 

After a while I realised that if the French lost Erfurt and were forced to retire, they had to move off the map.  This meant that it would not be possible for them to regroup and counter attack in an attempt to retake Effort.

Central Germany Stage 3

The latest map includes a larger area.    All of Erfurt district is now included, and also half of Gera region so that both cities are shown.   There are now 15 squares on the campaign map, allowing the possibility of 15 different battles.

One major advantage of this larger map is the opportunity to show the lines of supply/communication between the major cities.   This aspect has not played a major role in my campaigns to date, except in Spain.   However I want to have the possibility to include them should I wish to do so.   It allows an extra dimension to the campaign which is always useful.

It may well also result in longer campaign phases.   I have also found that because there is now a very real possibility of the French army launching a counter attack to retake Erfurt, the Russian commander is much more careful to avoid heavy casualties in the early part of the campaign.

In most campaign phases the attacker takes casualties to take the three squares adjoining the border.   He is then much weaker when he attempts to take the next three, which include Erfurt.   But it is worth taking extra risks because once the city is taken he has won the campaign phase.   With the possibility of a counter attack, or if he runs out of supply, he must now ensure that his army is capable of holding the city, not just taking it.

Main French depot at Hellin – 27 days supplies

French attack Jean
No Guerrilla brigades active

13th French army – retreat to Ubeda
14th French army – attack Jean
15th French army – resupply at Huelma

1st Spanish army – retreat to Linares
2nd Spanish army – battle of Jean
3rd Spanish army - resupply at Alcaudete

Guerrilla brigades have no opportunity to attack French convoysFrench have 9 infantry brigades, 2 cavalry brigade, and 3 corps artillery
3 infantry and 1 cavalry brigades are detached to protect lines of supply
They have lost 1 infantry and 1 artillery battle casualties (500 men)

Spanish have 13 infantry brigades, 2 cavalry brigade, and 3 corps artillery
They have lost 3 infantry, 1 cavalry and 1 artillery battle casualties (1400

There are three game objective
The bridge on the left, the woods in the centre and the farm on the right
The army which holds at least two at the end of the battle is the winner

On the right 40th French corps have to cross the hill to reach the farm
They are outnumbered by 4th Spanish corps, but manage to capture the farm

In the centre 41st Baden corps are also outnumbered by 5th Spanish corps
They fight their way into the woods, but are routed by the Spanish infantry

On the left 42nd Polish corps match two infantry brigades on the left bank
The CinC takes command of the rest of the corps on the right bank
They force 6th Spanish corps to withdraw and secure both ends of the bridge

Having taken two of the three objectives the French win the battle

Comments
Once more the French had to avoid unnecessary casualties
They were also at a severe disadvantage, having detached 3 infantry and 1 cavalry brigades
They put the best two Polish infantry brigades on the left bank of the river, and took the bridge

On the right bank they forces the Spanish to retreat, but were unable to inflict serious casualties

In the centre they had a similar problem, but routed the Spanish cavalry with artillery fire
This allowed their infantry to enter the woods, but they were routed by a counter attack

On the right the French were attacked as they attempted to deploy between the farm and the hill
It was only when the Spanish cavalry were routed in the centre that they could attack the farm
After two rounds of melee the French infantry had to retreat into the centre of the farm
But they managed to rally and keep hold of the farm until the end of the battle.

This battle was decided by the infantry melee for the woods and the farm.
In both, the French had committed their elite brigades to the attack
However due to really poor dice (three 1’s out of four rolls) they lost the melee
They were driven out of the woods, but managed to just hold the farm

Another very enjoyable wargame, but it has made me ponder whether I should replace my D6 for D10 to determine combat and morale. No decision yet, I need some more play testing to confirm whether it is just bad/good luck, or the odds need to be wider.

When I first started wargame campaigns, many years ago, I was striving to make the wargame campaign as like a real campaign as possible.   To this end I carried forward all battle casualties from one battle to the next.  I quickly realised that the result was usually that the side which lost the first battle also lost the campaign.  This was because wargame rules make it very difficult for a weaker side to beat a stronger side.   It was a very important lesson, and one which dictated how I would design all future campaigns.

I remember reading (in an old Wargames Newsletter I think) that a wargame battle will never be the same as a real battle – no matter how hard you try.  And the more experience I gained the more obvious and true this proved to be.   In fact the more you try, the more obvious it becomes.   This is true in map campaigns, but even more so on the wargames table.   Scale is impossible to overcome, as is terrain.    So I quickly accepted that whilst trying to make a wargames campaign feel like a real campaign is a reasonable aim, the most important objective is that it should be enjoyable.   After all, it is a warGAME.

When I created my current campaign I designed it to provide interesting and enjoyable wargames.  That was, and is, the primary objective.  To this end it was important that all wargames should be enjoyable for both players, and thus both should have a reasonable chance of achieving their aim.

My wife is my regular, indeed now my only, opponent.   After many years we can anticipate what each other will do in a given set of circumstances.  This is particularly so when we wargame, if only because there are a limited number of wargame options.   Consequently the element of luck, in the form of a dice, determines pretty well all of our wargames.

Each casualty in our wargames represent 10% of the unit concerned.   This is translated into minus 1 in all morale and combat tables.   We use a 6 sided dice to determine all morale and combat, so minus 1 is a disadvantage, but not a deciding factor.  In fact it is the same penalty as a unit gets for being conscript, whilst an elite unit gets plus 1.

During a wargame most units will carry out their orders, even if they are conscript.   When they receive one casualty they will usually still be able to do so.   Two casualties make it more likely that they will lose a combat or fail their morale.   When they receive three casualties they automatically rout.

At the end of a campaign battle casualties are transferred from the wargames table to the campaign map.   Next day the loser retreats one days march, winner occupies the town which had been the objective of the battle.   Second day both armies halt, redeploy, resupply and replace all battle casualties except 1 for each unit.    Any unit which suffered casualties during the previous battle will carry 10% casualties for the remainder of the campaign.

All casualties do not have the same effect on future battles.   Cavalry and artillery casualties have a much more important influence than infantry.   This is because of their role in the battle as a whole.  

The attacking side must degrade the enemy artillery before they advance their infantry into long range, and even more so into short range, of the enemy guns.  Failure to do so will almost certainly result in a failed attack and the loss of the battle.  There are only two ways to degrade artillery.   First is to kill their gunners.   Second is to kill their supports, whether infantry or cavalry.     

Counter battery fire in the Napoleonic period was not very effective.  Nor should it be in our wargames.   In my rules it requires a roll of six using 1D6.   This will result in 10% casualties to the enemy artillery.   They can still do serious damage to attacking infantry.

The most effective way is to charge the guns with cavalry.   The cavalry advance half a move, the gunners test morale.   If the gunners pass they fire at the cavalry at close range (2 to 6 for a hit).   The cavalry then have to test their morale.  If they charge home the gunners automatically rout with 10% casualties.   The cavalry are then milling around the deserted guns, disordered or shaken, with 10% casualties.   If the enemy cavalry are within charge range they are in serious trouble.

Our rules are simple to understand and use, but this example will demonstrate that they still provide difficult tactical challenges even to a player very experienced with their use.   I hope that this will also demonstrate that rules do not have to be very complicated to have enjoyable games, even when the rules are fully mastered.

Main French depot at Hellin – 36 days supplies

French attack Linares
Guerrilla brigades active

13th French army – attack Linares
14th French army – regroup and resupply at Jodar
15th French army – rally, regroup and resupply at Huelma

1st Spanish army – defend Linares
2nd Spanish army – regroup and resupply at Jean
3rd Spanish army - rally, regroup and resupply at Alcaudete

14 guerrilla brigade – attack convoy to Mortalalla – fail and rout – guerrilla lose10%casualties
15 guerrilla brigade – attack convoy to Minateda – fail and retreat – no casualtiesFrench start with 9 infantry brigades, 2 cavalry brigades and 3 corps artillery
Spanish start with 14 infantry brigades, 2 cavalry brigades and 3 corps artillery
Both sides have battle casualties, but the Spanish more than the French
Two of the Spanish infantry brigades are militia

The French cannot afford to lose too many casualties, particularly cavalry or artillery
They are only half way through the campaign, and will have to detach more brigades as garrisons
The battle plan is to concentrate artillery from 37 and 38 corps as a reserve grand battery
This will leave 37 corps (on the right) too weak to attack, they hope to pin 1 Spanish corps

The French are reluctant to use their cavalry against the Spanish artillery
And even the grand battery is unable to weaken the Spanish gunners
So the attack on the left and in the centre is slow to develop

The French do rout 2nd Spanish corps in the centre
They then attack the woods on the left and in the centre
The Spanish infantry put up a stiff defence and hold both woods to the end of the battle
There are no sufficient French infantry to attack the farm on the right
The Grand Battery do pound it, and cause 20% to the garrison
But the garrison hold their position and the farm at the end of the battle

Throughout the battle the Spanish withdraw as necessary to avoid the French artillery
But they mass behind the woods on the left and centre
They then counter attack as soon as the French infantry enter the woods, and mask their guns
Two French brigades are repulsed, and one Spanish brigade routs
But the Spanish continue to hold at least one section of woods at the end of the battle

This is a well deserved Spanish victory

Comments
The campaign is going exactly as planned.
It is anticipated that there will be 6 to 9 battles, and this is the fourth.

The French have to detach increasing numbers of infantry brigades to garrison captured towns
They also have to detach one of their cavalry brigades to protect their lines of supply
This means that as they advance they become weaker and weaker

The Spanish military garrison of each town become a guerrilla band when the town is captured

This means that they become stronger and stronger as the French advance.
The French have the same number of cavalry and artillery as the Spanish
But they are heavily outnumbered in infantry brigades

The French normally concentrate their artillery to batter the area of attack
They then send their cavalry to defeat the enemy cavalry, and hopefully their artillery
If this fails they used their concentrated artillery to out gun the Spanish gunners
The more cavalry and artillery casualties they receive the harder it is to do this

These tactics mean that the French get weaker as they advance and capture enemy towns
At the same time the Spanish get stronger, and attack the French lines of supply

In addition the Spanish have finally come up with a winning battle tactic
They keep their corps intact, and deploy their artillery to cover open ground
This means that the corps opposite the French without artillery will have an advantage
They keep their infantry behind cover of the three game objectives
By doing so they avoid artillery casualties, but can counter attack as the French advance
They keep their best infantry behind each objective to make the counter more effective
It worked to perfection in this battle, leaving the French unable to take even one objective

I was the French player in this game, but I was still very pleased with the outcome.

Wellington’s Army of four corps

Over the years I have collected and replaced my 20/28mm wargame figures many times since I bought my first box of Airfix in the mid 1950s.   Generally the older figures were replaced with better and dearer ones, and the old collection was always sold to help pay for their replacements.   There were four major manufacturers, but many more collected over the years, including a brief attempt to make my own.   First were Airfix, second Hinton Hunt, third Minifigs, and fourth Front Rank.

There were also many orders of battle over the years.  My first collection was what was available and what I liked the look of.   It was about 1971 that I found a book in the library about collecting 54mm figures which may have been called “Collecting Model Soldiers”.  It had chapters on organising armies and resulted in my first attempt to write an order of battle.

I experimented with Airfix Ancient Britons v Romans, but my real love has always been Napoleonic.   I started with British and French, and gradually extended to Prussians, Russians and Austrians.  Then came French allies such as Polish, Bavarian, and Italians etc.   I think the last was Spanish.

For many years my wargaming was inspired by Wellington and Waterloo.   As the years passed I became interested in all things Napoleonic, and started to study Napoleon’s campaigns.   I knew about Wellington in the Peninsula, but not much about the Spanish battles.

By 1980 I had a collection which included all of the major nations involved in the Napoleonic Wars, and many of the minor ones.  I also became more interested in the battles of the Iberian Peninsula, and with it my knowledge of the Spanish army increased – as did my collection of Spanish wargame figures.

In 1998 I began my final reorganisation.  I created an order of battle which would include all of the major nations and decided to collect them in three scales.  The 6mm figures would be Heroic and Ros, 18mm would be AB and 28mm Front Rank.

The order of battle for all three scales was designed to fit my 12x6 foot wargames table.   There would be 8 infantry units of 36 each, 4 cavalry of 8 each and 4 guns with 4 gunners.   Minor nations, such as Polish or Bavarian, would have 2 infantry and 2 cavalry plus 2 guns.   Small nations, such as Italy, Westphalia, would have 1 infantry and 1 cavalry and would use French guns.

It was 2004 when I finished painting and basing the last figure, just about the time we started thinking about moving to Spain for our retirement.   A permanent wargames room was always an essential part of our retirement plans.  But it soon became clear that we would probably not want to run a wargames club, so a smaller table was more appropriate.   We decided that we would settle on a 6x6 foot table.   However our order of battle was too large for this smaller table.   After much consideration I decided that the ideal number of figures for such a table was half of our current order of battle.   Each nation would have 4 infantry units of 36 figures, 2 cavalry of 8 and still 4 guns.   This would give us 144 infantry, 16 cavalry and 4 guns for each major nation.   I considered that this would be just right for the proposed 6x6 foot table.   However it did mean that I would have to sell off half of my three different scale armies.   Fortunately they were all popular manufacturers, newly painted and almost unused.   Also being in the UK postage was not a problem.   It took just over a year to sell them all, but the last one went a few months before we moved to Spain.

We had bought our Spanish house “off plan”.   This meant that we had a lot of say in the interior design of the house, and we were able to create an under build to house our wargames collection and table.  

We found that our order of battle of 144 infantry, 16 cavalry and 4 guns per side fit just right on our table.  Our 4 infantry units would be battalions, regiments or brigades depending on what size of wargame we wanted to fight.   All worked well until I decided to create a campaign to provide us with battles to wargame.   Given how comprehensive our collection was, we decided that 1813 would be the most suitable.   However our order of battle was not.   We wanted to play multi corps sized battles, and 4 infantry units of 36 figures did not make sense.

I was determined not to paint any more figures so I was stuck with the numbers and nationalities I already had.  I wanted to be able to use all of my model soldiers, and also all of the terrain on the shelves.   So I decided to have infantry brigades of 8 figures, cavalry brigades of 4 figures and corps artillery of 1 gun and 4 figures.  This would give me 18 infantry brigades, 4 cavalry brigades and 4 artillery.   From this I would create four corps, each of 4 infantry, 1 cavalry and 1 artillery brigades.

This left me with quite a few unwanted infantry figures.   However my original infantry units included skirmish figures.  So there was very few left over when I converted them to 8 figure brigades.   The infantry and cavalry were already two figures to a stand, so no rebasing was necessary.

The whole reorganisation for the new order of battle took a few months, and I was using them on the wargames table long before I had completed work on my 1813 campaign.   Their first appearance on our new wargames table was in June 2006, just three months after we left the UK.   The photo below shows Jan taking part in that first wargame we played in Spain

Jan playing first wargame in 2006

 

 

Main French depot at Hellin – 48 days supplies

French attack Alcaudete
Guerrilla brigades active

13th French army – rally and resupply at Ubeda
14th French army – occupy Jodar
15th French army – attack Alcaudete

1st Spanish army – rally and resupply at Linares
2nd Spanish army – retreat to Jean
3rd Spanish army - defend Alcaudete

9 guerrilla brigade – attack convoy to Elche – capture 3 supplies – escort lose10%casualtiesThe French start the battle outnumbered in infantry by 12 Spanish to 9 French brigades.
French have 3 infantry and 1 cavalry battle casualties
Spanish have 7 infantry battle casualties

The French must weaken at least one of the three Spanish corps before they can launch an attack with any hope of success. This is usually done by the artillery, but can also be achieved by the cavalry. However one of the two French cavalry brigades have casualties, both Spanish brigades are full strength.

The Spanish start the game deployed on the three game objectives. The winner must hold at least two of them at the game.

The Spanish artillery have two 12 pounder and one 6 pounder guns. The French have one 12 pounder and two 9 pounder guns. The 12 pounders have longer range than the 9 pounders and the 6 pounder the shortest range.

The French artillery must move into effective range before they can unlimber and open fire. This means that the Spanish guns will always fire first, possible more than once. To achieve a hit on gunners requires a roll of 6, using 1D6.

Move 4 the Westphalian artillery receive a hit, fail their morale and retreat shaken.
The Spanish dragoons charge the French artillery, receive 10% casualties and rout.

Move 5 French artillery receive a hit, fail their morale and rout. The nearest infantry brigade has to test their morale because of the rout, fail and also rout. The Westphalian gunners fail their morale for being shaken, and now rout

Move 6 both French and Westphalian gunners, and the infantry brigade, fail their morale test and rout a further full move.

Just half way through the game the French have lost two of their three corps artillery. Worse still the gunners fail their morale and continue to rout for two moves. Even if they rally on move 7, it will be too late when they return to their guns to take any effective part in the campaign.

With only two casualties (200 men) the French commander has no choice but to halt the attack, and prepare to retreat. The Spanish are now so much stronger that they are quite likely to take the offensive and attack.

Comments
A very striking example of the weakness of rules which rely on 1D6 for combat and morale. The Spanish artillery rolled two 6s on their first two rounds fired. The French gunners rolled 1-3 in six morale tests.

Using 1D6 results in a fast moving and decisive wargame. Normally it works well, with both sides having their share of good and bad luck. When things do go wrong, as in this game, it is tempting to ignore the dice roll and roll again. But we never do. I was the French player in this game, and must confess to a short outburst at my bad luck. But you have to take the bad with the good. And the Spanish are overdue a win.

Hoping for better dice in the next game.