Our Test Battle: Verbreitnet

Here are some previews of our test battle for tomorrow, the imaginary 1813 battle of Verbreitnet.

Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher in Bautzen, 1813 by Bogdan Willewalde

First, Terrain

As described in my blog post the other day, terrain can affect movement and line of sight or both. Terrain that affects movement can be in the form of linear obstacles or disruptive terrain.

I don't want to make terrain a big complication in tomorrow's game, so we'll have four types of terrain:

Medium woods: disruptive area terrain that can slows movement by 50%, acts as light cover, and blocks line of sight of more than 150 paces from one unit to another in the woods. Line of sight is not obstructed to/from units on the perimeter of medium woods. Units must be on the perimeter to charge or be charged by units not in the woods. Movement into or through woods must be input as movement in disruptive terrain.

Streams: simple linear obstacles that have no effect on line of sight. Movement to cross streams must be input as movement crossing a linear obstacle.

Gentle hills: simple line of sight obstacles that do not affect movement. We won't worry about crests; units entirely on the other side of a hill (not on the hill) will not be visible to units on the opposite side; if on the hill they will be visible.

Fields: grain fields that do not affect movement but block line of sight to/from units on ground level unless to/from a unit on the perimeter of the field. EXCEPTION: the line of sight to/from units on hills will not be affected by fields. Artillery bouncethrough will not be blocked by fields if the fire is at an otherwise visible target.

Orders of Battle

Below are the orders of battle for the two sides in the battle of Verbreitnet

The French have a division that consists of two brigades of infantry and an attached cavalry brigade. Their total strength is thus ten battalions of light and line infantry,  two batteries of artillery, two composite regiments of light cavalry, and a battery of horse artillery).

The Allies have a division that consists of two brigades of infantry and a brigade of cavalry. The infantry brigades each consist of a regiment of line infantry with attachments (in one case a battalion of grenadiers and an artillery battery, in the other a battalion of riflemen, two battalions of poorly trained reserve infantry, and an artillery battery). The cavalry brigade consists of six detachments of light cavalry (three Prussian and three Russian) and a battery of horse artillery.

Each officer and each unit has a three-digit number, a name, and some defining characteristics. 

The letter ratings you'll see work just like classroom scores: an A+ is the best and a D- is the worst (it actually goes below D but, like all high school students, we'll hope you don't see any scores like that!)

Distances are all measured in paces; for our 15mm battle, we'll be treating each inch as 50 paces.

Officer characteristics are a letter grade that summarizes their leadership and tactical ability and a distance--the officer's zone of influence. When it's time to attach and detach leaders to help boost units' abilities, officers can attach to any unit within their zone of influence (but it's best to attach them to units they or their subordinates command).

Unit characteristics are more complicated. 

• First is their total casualties and their starting strength (hopefully every unit's first number is 0, since battle hasn't yet commenced!). 
• Then a letter rating summarizing their shooting, close combat, class, and experience. I wish that the OB printouts would show those factors separately, but wishes are not, alas, horses.
• Then a cryptic note indicating their skirmish abilities. This will start with a capital E if the unit can adopt extended order (up to half its strength in a dispersed skirmish line and the remainder in close order providing supports). Then either sk+ or sk-. the first indicates a unit with offensive skirmish ability--usually a company trained to skirmish well in front when the rest of the unit is formed into line or column. The latter means a unit with defensive skirmish ability, usually units able to send their third rank forward to protect the unit's immediate front when deployed, but not fully trained subunits capable of moving well ahead and disrupting the enemy.
• Finally, there's arms information: the unit's primary firearm (cannon for artillery, longarm for infantry and cavalry) and that weapon's ranges (canister and roundshot-effective for artillery, close and maximum for longarms; artillery roundshot-maximum range is a little more than twice effective range in most cases).

French Forces

Division Grise - Attack
  [ 101] General de Division Grise - Active D+ [650 paces]
	[ 111] 1/3rd Artillerie                  0/ 200 [ 8] C+            6pdr [Medium] [400  750]
	[ 112] 2/3rd Artillerie                  0/ 200 [ 8] C+            6pdr [Medium] [400  750]

    Brigade Jaune - Attack
    [ 102] General de Brigade Jaune - Active C- [300 paces]
	[ 101] 1/6th Legere                      0/ 600      B- Esk+       SB.Musk.[1st] [ 75  200]
	[ 102] 2/6th Legere                      0/ 450      B- Esk+       SB.Musk.[1st] [ 75  200]
    Regiment Argent - Attack
    [ 105] Colonel Argent - Active B+ [250 paces]
	[ 103] 1/37th Ligne                      0/ 750      C  Esk+       SB.Musk.[1st] [ 75  200]
	[ 104] 2/37th Ligne                      0/ 600      C  Esk+       SB.Musk.[1st] [ 75  200]
	[ 105] 3/37th Ligne                      0/ 600      C  Esk+       SB.Musk.[1st] [ 75  200]

    Brigade Vert - Attack
    [ 103] General de Brigade Vert - Active B- [500 paces]
	[ 106] 1/14th Legere                     0/ 450      C+ Esk+       SB.Musk.[1st] [ 75  200]
	[ 107] 2/14th Legere                     0/ 450      C  Esk+       SB.Musk.[1st] [ 75  200]
    Regiment Lilas - Attack
    [ 106] Colonel Lilas - Active C+ [175 paces]
	[ 108] 1/49th Ligne                      0/ 750      C- Esk+       SB.Musk.[1st] [ 75  200]
	[ 109] 2/49th Ligne                      0/ 750      C- Esk+       SB.Musk.[1st] [ 75  200]
	[ 110] 3/49th Ligne                      0/ 600      C- Esk+       SB.Musk.[1st] [ 75  200]

    Brigade Cramoisi - Attack
    [ 104] General de Brigade Cramoisi - Active B+ [500 paces]
	[ 113] 1/1st Artillerie de Cheval        0/ 150 [ 6] C+            6pdr [Light]  [400  550]
    Regiment Blanc - Attack
    [ 107] Colonel Blanc - Active C [175 paces]
	[ 114] 8th Chasseur a Cheval             0/ 300      C- Esk+       SB.Carbine    [ 50  100]
	[ 115] 12th Chasseur a Cheval            0/ 240      C- Esk+       SB.Carbine    [ 50  100]
	[ 116] 21st Chasseur a Cheval            0/ 240      C- Esk+       SB.Carbine    [ 50  100]
    Regiment Noir - Attack
    [ 108] Colonel Noir - Active C [225 paces]
	[ 117] 2nd Chevau Leger                  0/ 240      C- Esk+       SB.Carbine    [ 50  100]
	[ 118] 4th Chevau Leger                  0/ 240      C- Esk+       SB.Carbine    [ 50  100]
	[ 119] 6th Chevau Leger                  0/ 240      C- Esk+       SB.Carbine    [ 50  100]

	Strengths:
		losses/active
		     0/  6000	Bayonets
		     0/  1500	Sabres
		     0/   550	Artillerists
		     0/    22	Cannon

		     0/  8050	Total of all arms
		            9	Colors present

Allied Forces

Division von Gruen - Attack
  [ 501] Generalleutnant von Gruen - Active C- [650 paces]

    Brigade Blau - Attack
    [ 502] Oberst Blau - Active C- [300 paces]
	[ 501] 1st Silesian Grenadiers           0/ 600      B   sk-       SB.Musk.[1st] [ 75  200]
	[ 505] #2 Foot Artillery                 0/ 200 [ 8] C             6pdr [Medium] [400  750]
    Regiment Vier - Attack
    [ 504] Major Vier - Active C+ [225 paces]
	[ 502] 1/1st Silesian Infantry           0/ 600      C   sk+       SB.Musk.[1st] [ 75  200]
	[ 503] 2/1st Silesian Infantry           0/ 600      C   sk+       SB.Musk.[1st] [ 75  200]
	[ 504] Fus/1st Silesian Infantry         0/ 600      C+ Esk+       SB.Musk.[1st] [ 75  200]

    Brigade Gelb - Attack
    [ 503] Oberst Gelb - Active C [350 paces]
	[ 506] 1st West Prussian Schuetzen       0/ 600      C  Esk+       Rifled Musket [125  300]
	[ 510] 1/1st West Prussian Reserve       0/ 600      C-  sk-       SB.Musk.[2nd] [ 75  200]
	[ 511] 2/1st West Prussian Reserve       0/ 600      C-  sk-       SB.Musk.[2nd] [ 75  200]
	[ 512] #4 Foot Artillery                 0/ 200 [ 8] C             6pdr [Medium] [400  750]
    Regiment Sieven - Attack
    [ 505] Major Sieven - Active C [175 paces]
	[ 507] 1/1st West Prussian Infantry      0/ 600      C   sk+       SB.Musk.[1st] [ 75  200]
	[ 508] 2/1st West Prussian Infantry      0/ 600      C   sk+       SB.Musk.[1st] [ 75  200]
	[ 509] Fus/1st West Prussian Infantry    0/ 600      C+ Esk+       SB.Musk.[1st] [ 75  200]

    Brigade Krasny - Attack
    [ 506] Generalmajor Krasny - Active C+ [450 paces]
	[ 513] #6 Horse Artillery                0/ 200 [ 8] C             6pdr [Light]  [400  550]
    Brigade Grau - Attack
    [ 507] Oberst Grau - Active B [500 paces]
	[ 514] 1&2/1st Silesian Hussars          0/ 240      C+ Esk+       SB.Carbine    [ 50  100]
	[ 515] 1&2/2nd Pomeranian Hussars        0/ 240      C+ Esk+       SB.Carbine    [ 50  100]
	[ 516] 1&2/2nd Silesian Uhlans           0/ 240      C- Esk+       SB.Carbine    [ 50  100]
    Brigade Chernit - Attack
    [ 508] Colonel Chernit - Active C [300 paces]
	[ 517] 1/Tatar Uhlans                    0/ 240      C  Esk+       SB.Carbine    [ 50  100]
	[ 518] 1/Grondo Hussars                  0/ 240      C  Esk+       SB.Carbine    [ 50  100]
	[ 519] Pskov Dragoons                    0/ 240      D+            SB.Musketoon  [ 75  200]

	Strengths:
		losses/active
		     0/  6000	Bayonets
		     0/  1440	Sabres
		     0/   600	Artillerists
		     0/    24	Cannon

		     0/  8040	Total of all arms 

10 Colors present 

Next Time: Charges, Firing, and Rallying!

Carnage & Glory: Infantry, Artillery, and Terrain

 Continuing our introduction to Carnage & Glory...

Prince Bagration at the Battle of Borodino by A.Y. Averyanov

Infantry

Infantry, like cavalry, have a type (heavy or light), a strength, a number of subunits (in this case companies--all infantry units are battalions), weapon type (some type of smoothbore or rifled musket; very backward troops may also have some proportion of pikes or even simply hand weapons), and may have one or more colors. Infantry units may also be assigned battalion guns--small, light cannon that are dragged by hand with the infantry as it advances or retires. 

Infantry, like cavalry, are also rated for combat, fire, class, and experience. And, also like cavalry, infantry may be trained to fight in extended order (a large part of the unit dispersed in a loose firing line with the remaining portion in close order behind them) and/or capable of skirmishing defensively (small numbers of skirmishers protecting the unit from other skirmishers) or offensively (larger numbers acting both defensively and aggressively to disrupt opposing units with fire).

French Imperial Guard Artillery artist unknown

Artillery

Artillery units represent batteries (their subunits are sections), which were generally company-sized units. They are either horse artillery (in which not only the caissons and limbers have horse teams, but all the gunners have riding horses as well) or foot artillery (in which most of the the gunners must trudge along on foot). Artillery are also rated as having military or civilian trains. Most armies had stopped using civilians to manage the teams that pulled their artillery limbers and ammunition caissons, as they would often leave untimely, taking the horses with them and leaving the gunner high and dry. Some armies, however, could not afford to replace the cheaper civilian teamsters with expensive military units and had to take the chance that their guns might suddenly find themselves stranded.

Artillery unit strength is computed by multiplying the number of artillery pieces in the unit by 25. They can be assigned a variety of different types of cannon or howitzers as the primary battery pieces (even rockets are available!), and a battery assigned cannon can also be allotted a number of howitzers. These latter are deducted from the total number of guns input from the battery and assigned an appropriate type based on the main battery strength; so, for instance, a six-gun battery composed of light six-pounder cannon that is allotted two howitzers will end up with four light six-pounders and two light howitzers. Many nations assigned howitzers in this way to supplement a battery's cannon, while some formed batteries entirely of howitzers. Like cavalry and infantry, artillery are rated for combat, fire, class, and experience. 

Closing the Gates of Hougomont by Robert Gibbs

Terrain 

In Carnage & Glory terrain affects line of sight and movement. Line of sight is important both for fire and because units can only charge units they can see at the beginning of a turn. You, the player, may know that there's a line of enemy infantry on the other side of that ridge, but until your cavalry crest the ridge, they can't declare a charge on the blighters. 

For movement purposes, terrain either doesn't materially affect movement (unobstructed open ground that's either flat or very gently rolling) or slows movement and disrupts formations. The latter types of terrain are further divided into either linear obstacles (hedges, walls, streams, creeks) or disruptive terrain (area terrain such as swamps, brush, woods, or much more significant linear barriers, like entrenchments, fordable rivers, or ravines). Included among disruptive terrain are BUAs (built-up areas--villages and towns) and strongpoints, one of the most famous of which is the Belgian ferme-chateau of Hougomont, shown above. Linear obstacles include deployed artillery batteries (a relatively narrow band of obstacles that need to be passed), while disruptive terrain includes limbered artillery (a much broader area that has to be navigated). Linear obstacles can be affected by engineering work during a game; for example, pioneers might be detailed to break a hole in a stone wall for artillery to pass through.

In our introductory scenario, I want to keep complexities to a minimum, so I'm inclined to keep the terrain pretty simple--nothing as complex as buildings or fortifications, maybe some woods, a stream, and some gentle hills.

Next Time: Charges, Firing, and Rallying!

Carnage & Glory: Officers and Cavalry and Developing a Scenario

 

The Battle of Leipzig by Vladimir Moshkov

Onward To Battle!

OK, having hit the high points of the rules, the next thing we need is a scenario to try them out. I have all the different modules, but I also know that the player who suggested the game, Scott "La Salle" B. is goofy about the French First Empire, so a Napoleonic scenario seemed warranted. I looked through the figures I had ready to hand, and a late-war (1813+) battle between French and Prussians seemed to be suitable. 

A historical battle or a hypothetical or imaginary one? A historical scenario, using a historical order of battle (OB) has the appeal of seeming more "real" and allowing players to match their wits against those of their historical counterparts. But history also has all kinds of funny angles, rough edges, and pointy bits that interfere with smoothness and simplicity. So for this test case, I'm going to make up a small engagement that might have been fought, drawing on historical OBs for inspiration, but also smoothed and simplified to make things easier and less distracting. Since in 1813 it was surely fought in Germany somewhere, I'll call it Die Schlacht bei Verbreitnet. I had a clever idea of naming it after the German word for example or test case, or sample, but I seem to have goofed somewhere, as this seems to mean "spreads", but I'm stuck with it now, so let's move on.

What size of battle? Something the battle of Leipzig (pictured above) is probably beyond the scope of C&G even with a whole club's resources. But since at least one of our players will be a C&G novice, the size of the battle should be constrained. I want to keep the number of troop units per player manageable, since a beginning player will be new to thinking out what all the options are for using their troops.

Another reason to keep the OB on the smaller side is the table I can easily set up for video gaming, a tabletop measuring 4' x 6'. Even when using 15mm figures and C&G's 1 inch = 50 paces, a table that size should not be overloaded with troops. So I thought maybe a division of infantry and a brigade of cavalry on each side. 

Napoleon Conferring With Desaix at Marengo by Keith Rocco

Officers

Command in C&G is mostly about being able to rally and encourage troops. Orders exist and do constrain action, but they're limited part of the game. Also, officers are "used" on a unit-by-unit basis; if an officer succeeds in supporting a unit (encouraging it in combat, rallying it afterwards), he's usually done for that turn. So even having good officers, a force can be handicapped if they don't have enough officers. So the number of officers has to scale to the number of units. If one side has a division of two brigades, getting a divisional commander and two brigadiers is going to be almost useless if each of the brigades has 4-6 units; three officers for ten or more units is too few.

Officers have to be rated for command level, leadership ability, and tactical ability. Command level determines what the range of their effectiveness will be once battle begins--the more senior the command, the larger his zone of influence. Leadership ability determines how well the officer issues and receives orders, but more importantly how they help units deal with adversity--it helps keep units in line when the enemy attack and it helps rally them to the standard when morale is faltering. And leadership contributes to the army's initiative. Tactical ability also contributes to initiative; it also guides the leader's eye when planning an attack and helps when units are seeking to charge.

1807, Friedland by Ernest Meissonier

Cavalry

How to represent cavalry units on the tabletop? Each regiment was composed of a number of squadrons, each squadron of a number of companies or troops, and each troop had a certain number of officers, NCOs, and common soldiers. When creating an OB, what should our tabletop units represent--regiments, squadrons, or troops? The designer has remarked that he tends to vary cavalry representation by how much flexibility he wants to give a commander. Very flexible? Each unit is a squadron. Less flexible? Each unit represents several squadrons. Least flexible? Each unit is a regiment. Of course, this varies too by the size of the unit; a 200-man 1814 cavalry regiment is like a large squadron, while a full-strength Russian light cavalry unit of 1,000+ men would be impossibly huge to represent as a single unit. One also has to think again about manageability; if one side has a division of infantry, that may be eight or more infantry battalions (single units in C&G). But a division of cavalry represented as individual squadrons might be sixteen or more squadrons. If each of those is a unit the player has to maneuver, fight, and rally, the player will run out of focus (and officers) far too quickly. For larger battles with more units, it's best to make cavalry units represent larger formations--groups of squadrons or (especially if the regiments are low in manpower) entire regiments.

In addition to how to represent cavalry units, each unit has its characteristics, like those of leaders, that have to be determined. Most important is its type (heavy, light, lancer) and its strength in numbers. Other factors include how many subunits it consists of (which will determine how nimble it is in executing evolutions), what sort of firearm it carries (if any: almost all cavalry carried some sort of musketoon or carbine for skirmishing and dismounted use, though many never used them in full-scale battles), and whether it carries colors (very important in the morale result of combats, if unit should lose a color or capture one of the enemy's), and who it reports to (what its chain of command is). Is the unit trained in skirmishing? And most important of all are its ratings for shooting and for combat (excellent, good, average, poor, contemptible), its class (guard, elite, line, militia, irregular), and experience (crack, veteran, trained, conscript). All units are rated on these characteristics, and the interaction of these (which do not change in the course of a battle) with a unit's actions and those of its opponents help to determine its fatigue and morale state (which generally start a battle at a high state, unless otherwise dictated by a campaign or historic battle circumstance).

Next Time: Infantry, Artillery, and Terrain!

Carnage & Glory: A Few Basics

With the 1757 kleiner Feldzug over, my next project is introducing a friend to Nigel Marsh's excellent computer-moderated Carnage and Glory II miniature wargaming rules. One of the other players in the KF1757 campaign suggested it, and I gladly agreed, as I'm fond of the game. In fact, from trawling through my email archive, I'd guess that I've been playing these rules on and off for about ten years. Readers who have been with this blog for a while will recall my mentioning it a few times before, in the context of playing battles of the American Revolution and, before that, of the British Civil War.

Carnage & Glory: Scope

The C&G rules cover a goodly portion of European and American military history of the gunpowder era from 1600 to 1871, with modules for pike and shot, the late seventeenth/early eighteenth century, the era of Frederick, the Napoleonic era, and the early industrial era (the American Civil War and those of mid- to late-nineteenth century Europe). In my opinion, the rules fit well into the tactical arena; a beginners' game might feature a brigade or two on each side, but with sufficient space and players, one can play corps-sized actions with them. Playing a full-scale battle of the 18th or 19th century, with multiple corps on each side, is a significant challenge, I believe, given that all the communication and resolution of action has to be routed through a single instance of the program. It might be possible to find some way for several users to tag-team on a single platform, or to break a single large battlefield into separate sections run simultaneously. But the system's command and control system is somewhat basic; a grand battle like Austerlitz or Solferino would probably be suited for playing with a system that's more specifically focused on command and control and that handles units at a slightly higher scale.

Carnage & Glory: Method

The game is played jointly on the tabletop--with miniatures (or with counters)--and on the computer. Most often, one player acts as umpire, collating input from players and feeding it to the program, then taking the "replies" from the program and passing them back to the players. An example of this sort of exchange might see a player call out, "The Foot Guards battalion, number 101, fires a full volley, 100 percent, at the Regiment Auvergne, number 503, at 50 paces," with the umpire replying, "The French are staggered, taking 20 casualties!" 

The program keeps track of a variety of data about the units and leaders in combat, including order and disorder, unit formation, morale, casualties, fatigue, and ammunition. This allows the system to deal with more complex interactions than players would be able to handle without a great many markers and a good deal of rules fatigue. While players can always petition the umpire for detailed information about their units (petitions the umpire is free to grant or refuse), the most that players generally know about their troops is their facing and formation, a general indicator of their morale (good, hesitant, failing, routing), and the feedback they get when they attempt some fatiguing action (changing formation, moving through difficult terrain, firing, or charging or defending against a charge). 

One aspect that is not always greeted with joy is that the program handles all the randomization as well. Many wargamers, especially miniature gamers, are used to rolling their own dice; a good deal of the story-telling that surrounds this sort of gaming concerns players' luck--good or bad--with dice, and rolling dice gives players an (illusory) sense of control over the fate of their miniature battalions.

Carnage & Glory: The Black Box

The downside of the system holding all the information and only releasing bits of it at a time is that it can be something of a black box. Not only do players not have complete information about the units under their command at any given time, they don't have complete information about how the system works.

In most wargames, players can estimate the effect of actions by using the data that they have about their units and the charts and tables the game includes to derive, if not certainties, at least estimates about likely outcomes. If units with a given strength attack an enemy of a known strength under certain conditions, they will not know the outcome for certain, but they know the range of likely outcomes and the percentages associated with them. For example, an attack of 3:1 odds will produce a complete defeat of the enemy 1/6 of the time, a repulse of the enemy 2/3 of the time, and a repulse of the attackers 1/6 of the time, with established modifiers should the enemy be holding especially defensible ground, the weather be bad (rain or snow), or leaders on one or both sides be especially likely to affect the outcome.

In Carnage & Glory, none of these sorts of computations can be made. Not only do players not know with any degree of certainty many of the factors that influence the strength of their own forces, they know even less about the enemy. And most importantly, they know nothing about the calculations that in another game would be represented by the combat results table. Instead, players must attempt to make assessments of likely outcomes based on their knowledge of the tactics of the period as understood by modern military history. And, of course, they have to rely on that knowledge and understanding being common between them and the game designer. Lacking that knowledge, they have to rely on the experience of other players familiar with the system, on insights provided by the designer in his notes on the rules, and/or on trial and error.

Carnage & Glory: Some Insights To Start Off With

Fortunately, the designer provides a good deal of helpful advice in his manuals. He provides clear descriptions of what the basic unit status (what the player sees on the table) means, results like Unsteady, Disordered, or Shaken. He explains what the compulsory movement markers that units may get mean (No Advance, Halt, Retire/Retreat, and Rout), and he explains what morale (of both units and armies) and fatigue represent, how they can be lost, and how they can (sometimes) be restored.

Without going into too much detail, one can summarize threats to morale and causes of fatigue rather simply: don't try to do too much. 

Of course, army and unit morale at the start of a battle will be based on the experience and training of the units in question. They'll be reduced as troops become fatigued and as units take casualties. They can be recovered (at least to some degree) by the active intervention of officers. And not just any officers; units respond best to officers from their chain of command. Any unit will be glad of attention from the army commander (assuming he isn't a buffoon), but the infantrymen won't be very impressed by the dashing hussar officer sent over from a nearby cavalry brigade, any more than the hussars would have much faith in the plodding infantry brigadier waving his little spadroon.

Fatigue itself will accumulate as units do "work": move at faster than regular speeds--either running or running away--change unit formation, move through difficult terrain, or engage in physical labor like building bridges or clearing obstructions. Units also accumulate fatigue in combat: by firing ranged weapons and by engaging in close combat. Fatigue can be erased by standing down and moving out of the combat zone, but it is removed much more slowly than it is accumulated. Thus a unit that had marched several turns at the double-quick and changed from road column to field column and from field column to line, then marched up a steep hill or through a swampy field, might well be exhausted before it's fired a shot. Likewise, a battery that finds a prominent position and begins firing all its guns continuously at an enemy as soon at they are sighted may well be wholly fatigued with its caissons empty by the time the enemy has arrived at close range and is preparing to charge.

Carnage & Glory: How Does A Turn Go?

The sequence of play in the game is fairly straightforward. There are some details, but essentially consists of 

• Movement
• Combat
• Rallying

At the start of each turn, the system gives the umpire some news as to environmental factors (has it started to snow? is there fog covering the battlefield?), the state of each army's morale, and the arrival of any troops not currently on the battlefield. Which side will have the initiative in the turn ahead is also indicated; that side may decide whether it wishes to move first or second in the coming turn. Players may then issue general orders (orders restrict units' actions somewhat but are not a very big part of the game) and have units begin any engineering work they have in mind (warning: this will be fatiguing and slow--best to do your bridge-building or fortification before the battle begins).

Then comes movement. First, players secretly note and simultaneously announce their intentions to attempt charges with units. These attempts are resolved, placing units that succeed in charging close to their targets. Then the rest of movement takes place, in the order previously determined. Simple movement at a unit's normal movement rate is accomplished without informing the game system, but anything that would involve fatigue (wheeling, changing formation, moving through difficult terrain) is relayed to the umpire so that the system can assess fatigue (and, in some cases, indicate the maximum distance to be moved).

Once movement is completed, all units wishing to fire resolve that action, with the fire of units that are being charged first being resolved first. That activity also serves as a time to test the morale of these targets of charge, to see if they will stand and fight. After those fires are resolved, those of all other units are resolved and the effects assessed (changes in morale/order marked).
After fire combat comes the melee! The results of charges are determined. In most cases, one side's troops or the other's will fall back; in a few rare instances, troops may remain locked in combat until the next turn. If a defender is badly/quickly defeated, attackers may surge past their broken foe and hit another enemy in the same combat phase.

After melee is concluded, available officers are assigned to rally faltering troops. Depending on their rank and ability, officers have a certain zone of influence and may be assigned to any units needing inspiration that are within that radius of them during the rally phase. The system determines the success or failure of officers in rallying troops and may insist that officer remain with the unit in the following turn, or indicate that one officer's influence was not enough to achieve the desired result and allow another to be assigned, if available. 

Here is where the number of officers assigned to an army in its order of battle becomes critical. Officers represent a morale resource for an army, so assigning them in the order of battle is less simply a reflection of the historical rank structure and more an indication of an army's ability to withstand adversity. Both the Blue and Red armies would have regimental commanders, adjutants, brigadiers, and aides de camp (ADCs), but if Blue's command and morale resources were low, a brigade OB might include only the brigadier and its regimental commanders, while a Red formation rich in effective command might be assigned a brigadier with an ADC and all its regimental commanders and their adjutants.

After rally actions have been adjudicated, the system performs morale checks and informs the umpire what units' state is at the end of the turn and which are engaging in compulsory movement (retreating, routing, or pursuing routing enemies).

Coming Next Time!

That's it for my basic summary of the game system. The next post will introduce our test bed for next weekend's game, the Napoleoninc battle of Verbreitnet.

Kleiner Feldzug 1757: The End

The players have decided not to fight out the battle resulting from the August I move nor to play out the last turn of the campaign. So the campaign ends as a draw, with no result. 

Kleiner Feldzug 1757: The THIRD Battle of Prague?

Penultimate Move in the Campaign

And we trade one crescendo for another! As Frederick gathers his forces at Prague, the mighty army under von Daun sweeps forward into central Bohemia. The two armies traded raid attempts (the Austrians against von Schwerin, the Prussians against von Daun) but both armies' outriders were too alert, and the raids were turned back.

While von Schwerin and Prince Henry led their cavalry forces back to the Prussian main army, Arenberg drew off to Muenchengraetz and Prince Charles remained in position at Gitschina. Perhaps still in shock from the events at Prague, perhaps ready after their bouts with Frederick to let von Daun take up the cudgels while they rest and recuperate.

Another battle royal appears to be in the works at Prague! (the Third Battle of Prague?)

The Armies Coming Together

The Prussian army consists of Frederick, von Schwerin, Prince Henry, Keith, Brunswick Bevern, Mortiz, Ziethen, and Manstein plus 4 Cuirassiers, 4 Dragoons, 1 Hussar, 8 Musketeers, 2 Fusiliers, 4 Grenadiers, 5 Heavy Artillery.

The Austrian army consists of Daun, Colloredo, Nadasty, and Serbelloni plus 3 Cuirassiers, 2 Dragoons, 2 Saxon Cavalry, 3 Hussars, 11 Musketeers, 4 Grenzers, 2 Grenadiers, 4 Heavy Artillery.

The Prussians spent the turn entrenching their position (as the Austrians did at Gitschina in the Spring) and thus give up a point on the scouting table.

Frederick 2 (d6) -1 (engineering) + 6 (Great commander) = 7

von Daun 5 (d6) +3 (irregular cavalry) + 2 (Average commander) = 10

Austrians have local scouting advantage. The two randomly selected maps are 4-5 and 6-4; the Austrians get to pick two more, from which the Prussians can either pick one or pass (to gain an advantage in set up).

Kleiner Feldzug: The Second Battle of Prague

A Day of Rain and Clouds

The Second Battle of Prague somewhat resembled the Battle of the Clouds in the American Revolution. The battle began around noon. Both armies maneuvered for several hours. Then the battle ceased, as an unseasonable fog covered the field. Or so the commanders decided to record.

In fact, the Austrians moved forward to engage the Prussian army, only to find the Prussians imitating a hedgehog. With one flank on a town (which they had filled with their infantry) and their other flank poised on a nearly impenetrable swamp, the Prussians formed a solid front of heavy artillery backed by serried ranks of musketeers and grenadiers, with a small but potent cavalry reserve behind them. FM von Browne, unable to find a way to force the Prussian hedgehog to uncurl without sacrificing a sizable portion of his army, decided to withdraw.

Von Browne, in fact, decided to withdraw inside the defenses of Prague. His reasoning was that his army was large enough to make it impractical for the Prussians to take the fortress by storm. In this he proved correct; the Prussians were not able to concentrate sufficient troops for a storm at any point in the siege lines where a breach could be created. 

However, his army was also so large that the defenders were unable to sustain the siege, as provisions quickly ran out, disease began sapping his ranks, and a major magazine was destroyed by a fortunate Prussian barrage. As a result, the field marshal found himself forced to surrender to the besiegers he had been unable to defeat in the field, and he, his officers, and a major Austrian army were marched off to captivity in Saxony.

The map following the conclusion of July II.

Next Steps

The Austrian cause now firmly rests in the hands of FM Daun. Equipped with a brand-new army straight from the heart of Austria, Daun is facing a daunting task. He must bring the Prussian army under Frederick to battle and defeat it in at least one major engagement, and he must drive the Prussian field army away from Prague in the process. The Prussians are so far victorious in the campaign, but only by the narrowest of margins. Should they suffer a major defeat, and should they be forced to cede control of the area around Prague (whether they maintain a garrison in the citadel or not), the Austrians can still claim a marginal victory. But should Daun, too, be defeated in battle, the Prussians will certainly retain their edge. And should they also continue to hold Prague through the end of April and also manage to seize one or the other of the Austrian supply bases (Pilsen and Bruenn), then Frederick will have earned a decisive victory.