1807 Campaign

In 1807 Prussia decides to restart the war with Bavaria. I made a new, much larger hex map for this one.

May 1st 1807: Prussia begins mobilizing its troops.
May 10th: Prussia's first regiment and cuirassiers cross the border into Bavaria.
May 12th: 1st regiment and cuirassiers attack the Bavarian town in hex 2529.

There's the town. Prussian units approach while a bavarian unit fires.

Bavarian musketeers first fall back, then turn and get a flank charge on arrogant cuirassiers
who forgot to move out of position. Not to worry, the much more deadly cuirassiers fight off
the flank charge and take the Bavarians prisoner.

Three Prussian columns converge on the town, slaughter the garrison and win the battle.

The Prussians then added the town to their kingdom.

The Bill: Prussia: 780 musketeers dead, 360 wounded. 60 Cuirassiers wounded. The wounded will be ready to fight again in about a week. 

Bavaria: 780 killed, 1140 prisoners.

May 13th: A day late, Bavaria begins mobilizing.

May 15th, noon: Prussian second regiment and Landwehr battalion arrive at the Bavarian town in hex 2116.

The Battle of Shornberg - 1806

May 23rd 1806 - Prussia leaves a garrison of 300 in Bavarias capital, then marches back north to defend their territory from the French.

May 25th - Bavarias second regiment, plus survivors from the first, arrive at their capital and easily capture the Prussian garrison and retake their city.

May 26th - France takes the city of Floft and leaves a garrison.

May 29th - The Prussian army arrives back in their capital and waits.

May 30th - France takes the city of Steinshaft. France now controls all prussian territory except their capital. 

May 31st - Bavarian army arrives at the gates of Shornberg the Prussian capital, and elects to wait for the French to arrive.

June 3rd - The French and Bavarian armies attack and the battle of Shornberg begins.

Prussian right flank. Curiassiers in the rear, Landwehr in the forest.

Prussian left flank. Grand battery on the left side of the picture, musketeers and a howitzer battery
on the hill.

The French. Voltigeurs and Chasseurs.

The Bavarians.

Somewhat later in the battle, Bavarian regiments wheel about onto the Prussian rear.

The Prussian Landwehr cheer as they destroy a unit of Voltigeurs.

But the rest of the Prussian army is destroyed in a battle of attrition from musket fire and
charges. The Landwehr are taken prisoner, and only the cuirassiers and howitzer make it to
safety. The grand battery was forced to flee from combat with the Voltigeurs.

The French and Bavarians are now the uncontested rulers of this corner of Forgotten Germany. Their were only two battles in this campaign, but lots of fun map maneuvering. I like the Solo Wargamers Guide campaign rules, and they work well with Guard Du Corps. Until next time, thanks for reading!

Forgotten Germany - A Napoleonic Campaign

Welcome to Forgotten Germany, a little noticed or mentioned piece of the former Holy Roman Empire. The rest of Europe cares little what happens here, there is very little of strategic value to fight over. Armies here are counted in regiments, not divisions. As Europe burns with the Napoleonic wars, no belligerent pursues these lands with any interest, and generals assigned here are third rate at best. These generals are left almost entirely to themselves, even making and breaking alliances with foreign powers with no regard for their nations stance!

On May 1st 1806, General Pierre of France is ordered to take this area for the French empire. General Heinz of Prussia begins mobilizing his forces in response seven days later.

May 7th: The last regiment of Voltigeurs arrives at the French muster area and are ready to march. 

May 13th: Prussians finish mustering at Schornberg.

May 15th: French cross the river Muse by ford.

May 16th: French take Barkensnapt unopposed. Prussians attempt to enter French lands by way of Bavarian territory - Bavaria doesn't respond well and declares war!

May 21st: Bavaria begins mobilizing their troops.

May 22nd: Prussia attacks the Bavarian city of Warink.

May 22nd 1806: The Battle of Warink.

Warink is defended by a single regiment of Bavarians.

Prussians attack with a regiment of cuirassiers and four battalions of infantry - the rest of
their army kept in reserve.

Bavarian musketry sends the battalion on the right retreating through the battalion on the left -
they are now both unorganized.

Prussian curiassiers charge the diminished Bavarian square, breaking both it and
the bavarian line behind them.

The single remaining bavarian battalion retreats to reform another day. Victory Prussia.

The Butchers Bill:

240 Prussians killed, 120 wounded.

420 Bavarians taken prisoner, 540 dead.

The small Bavarian army has taken losses it can ill afford. The Prussian army is mostly intact, while the French have yet to shed blood.

Thanks for reading!

Guard Du Corps - Napoleonic rules by Rudy Scott Nelson

So here's my new toy:

Three card stock sheets of charts = FUN!

I just happened to see this game on Ebay. I'd never heard of it, but the price was good and shipping was very low, so I took a chance. I'm glad I did. I have a soft spot for old OOP rules, and with all those charts I new it would be different to todays games. This one is from 1987. In some ways it's more complicated than WRG horse and musket, but it's written in plain english instead of Barkerese which helps a lot. The multitude of charts allows for a wider range of results than simple d6 rolls. There's also a very comprehensive list of troop ratings for all the major nations of the wars, and a bunch of minor nations most napoleonic-newbies like me have probably never heard of. It also lists differences in capabilities by year. Very helpful.

All troops are rated with a 2 character code. French line infantry from 1813 are 5D. The number from 1-10 is fighting ability, the letter is from A-G and rates morale. Prussian line troops from the same year are better at 6C. Number of figures per average sized battalion is listed, with french having 8 figs per battalion and prussians 12, at a 1:60 troop scale.

Time to play!

Rolling on the set up charts, I find that this game will take place in Germany, in the Fall, and with Clear weather. Armies fighting in their own country get a morale bonus. Clear weather means no special rules, but rain and snow are possibilities with effects on movement and visibility. You roll for weather change after 4 turns, each lasting 15 minutes of game time.

The armies: 

France had 6 battalions of Chasseurs who I rated as line infantry. Also 6 battalions of Voltigeurs who I rated as Legere, able to skirmish. Two large battalions of Bavarians rounded out the French roster.

Prussia had 5 battalions of line infantry, split into two regiments. Also a small battery of 2 six-pounder cannons, and a regiment of Cuirassiers. The Cuirassiers are rated 8B, meaning they are almost as good as you can get.

 

The calm before the storm. The French will be arriving from the left, the
Prussians the right.

French chasseurs surge onto the field, preceded by skirmishing voltigeurs.
The prussian battalions march straight ahead.

The Prussians charge, the voltigeurs evade back. Melees break out between the opposed line units.

Melee is a risky business in Guard Du Corps. You cross-index the melee rating of each unit, add modifiers, then arrive at a percentage chance of the attacker winning. A single d100 roll and you have a winner! One further roll determines by how much they won. In the above picture, in the far distance the cuirassiers charge a bavarian square - bad idea, after calculating the odds the cuirassiers had only a 5% chance to win! They lost and fell back.

A scrum develops in the center of the battlefield.

In the back right bavarians menace the cuirassiers. The prussian cannon are approached
by French chasseurs.

A turn later and the cuirassiers have fled. Most of these units you see are French.

The only prussian infantry to not be wiped out, still advancing bravely.

The Prussian cannon about to be overwhelmed.

I really enjoyed my game of Guard Du Corps. I'm glad I bought it. If you're interested the author has made an updated version available for free at
http://www.deepfriedhappymice.com/html/gw_gdc.html

Of course, that won't be as cool as my original 1987 version, staple bound with card stock handouts, but you'll make do. Thanks for reading!

Drowning in Conscripts

My Napoleonic armies are growing at a satisfying pace, so it's time to fight a battle.

The French
General La Porte, CnC 100pts
General Le Blanc, general Le Jeune: 80 pts

General Le Blancs brigade:
3 Line Battalions 177 pts
2 Bavarian Battalions 136 pts

General Le Jeunes brigade:
4 Conscript battalions 180 pts

Generals Porte and LeBlanc are bold, Le Jeune is cautious

673 pts

LeBlancs line troops on the left, LeJeunes conscripts on the right.

The Prussians

CnC General Heinz 100 pts
Generals Verbot and Weir - 100pts

Verbots brigade
4 Musketeer battalions 272 pts
2 six pounder cannons 90 pts

Weir's brigade
9 Cuirassiers 90 pts

652 pts

All generals cautious.

Prussian Cuirassiers, 2 six pounders, 4 battalions of line. The six pounders scored
a total of only 2 hits all game - time to cane those guys!

The French advance right across the field, sending skirmishers ahead.

A cuirassier charge sends the conscripts in on the left fleeing (later rallied), but their charge is stopped
by a hastily formed square. Although I notice some of these poorly trained troops
are facing the wrong direction!

A sneaky battalion attempts to take the prussians in the rear.

This time the conscripts in the foreground flee the cuirassiers charge, but
another square stymies the cavalry again. Meanwhile they are taking musket fire.

Cuirassiers shot at from three sides - wiped out by shooting.

A book of army lists from the 80's. It made my troop organizations more fun.

While the cuirassiers were getting shot up, two prussian battalions rout after
musket fire from regulars, and one cannon has been removed. One battalion was rallied.

The two battalions in the lower left corner are all that remain of the Prussians.

The French conscripts destroyed the Prussian cavalry. In the centre regulars from both sides gave as well as they got. The Prussians did well on their left, but only destroyed two bavarian battalions and it wasn't enough. French win 344-316. A close battle, a four percent difference from the starting strengths. Neat! Better luck next time Heinz, and maybe train some new artillery crews as well.

Thanks for reading!

Prussia vs. France and her Bavarian Buddies

Time for another game of WRG napoleonics.

France
CnC: General Pierre, cautious
Two battalions of 1000 light infantry each
Two Bavarian battalions of 600 men and one of 400 men.
468 points

Prussia
CnC: General Heinz, bold
3 Battalions of 800 men and one of 400 men.
Two 6 pounder cannons
414 points

I used random deployment once more. The 800 man Bavarians and a full sized battalion of Prussians ended up in reserve.

Prussians.

French and bavarians. The French on the right flank are skirmishing to run through the woods.

If you go down to the woods today, you're in for a big surprise...

The Prussians deployed mostly on the left flank, and wheel to face the enemy. A cannon
is exposed and alone in the distance. The foreground Prussians took a long time to get into the fight.

The French skirmish line tries to charge the lone cannon...but are flank charged by
Prussians, breaking them. They fled for several turns.

The Prussians reserves randomly arrive in the perfect spot - A French columns flank! They
wanted to charge but a french column is too intimidating, even when flanked. Instead they deploy into line.

Not to be outdone, the Bavarian reserves arrive as well...far out of the way in the left
background. After a few turns of double time they begin to fight.

The Prussian reserves trade fire with French and Bavarians.

General Pierre rallies the French battalion. Not good for the Prussians.

The Prussian semi-circle - the left, centre and rightmost units, begin to bend...

And the Bavarians charge their unsteady enemy, breaking the line and taking 600 prisoners. I called it a day.

So the French win, thanks in part to their Bavarian allies.

My longest game yet. Fun. Getting to know the rules better. It's nice when a mass-combat game lasts long enough to be satisfying, even though I only had a few units. Phil Barker recommends playing with armies two to three times bigger, but those would hours long affairs. Maybe someday, when I have more figures.

Thanks for reading!

WRG 1685-1845

I recently picked up a bunch of Hat Industrie's 28mm hard plastic napoleonic figures. I really like painting the figures and they're very easy to assemble, most coming in just two pieces. And they're very cheap! I've also painted up a few Perry napoleonics, and now I have enough french, bavarians and prussians for small games. I decided to try wrg's rules for the period, because they're free, and also because it's a system where each figure counts. Each figure stands for 50 infantry, so you know how many guys are getting killed with each volley. I was initially disappointed that unlike most older wrg games there's no individual tracking of causalties, but you can't have everything. I still prefer this system to more abstract rules where everything is done by base with no real troop scale at all.

France
2 Battalions, each of 1000 Light Infantry Voltigeurs.
1 allied bavarian battalion of 600 line infantry

Bavarians on the left, then two French battalions. General Pierre in back.

Prussia
3 battalions of 800 line infantry each
2 six-pounder cannons

General Heinz in the back, cannons on the right. One unit of prussians was left
in reserve.

I used random deployment, an idea I got from The Solowargaming Guide, a great book by William Sylvester.

The lines advance. There's not enough room for everyone to deploy into line.

The shooting starts. The bavarians in the left foreground get hit by canister.

The french charge and break a prussian battalion, while the prussians in reserve arrive and march to the sound of
the guns.

A mixed up melee at the end, game called due to time. At the far end the french
and prussian reserves are firing into each other. The cannons have turned to face the
french. The bavarians have all been slain by a prussian charge.

Final score was French 318 Prussia 281. This set has a clever rule where you can surrender troops at any time, and still get more points for them than if you let them all die. Prussia preserved some points from surrendering their broken battalion, rather than letting it get destroyed in rout.

I had fun with both my new figures and my new game. Thanks for reading!