End of 1813 Eisenbach Campaign

Strategic map showing battles fought

We have just finished the Eisenbach phase of our 1813 campaign.   A daily record of the campaign and reports on each battle can be found on the Campaign Diary Blog

http://1813pbemcampaigndiary.blogspot.com.es/

This was the fourth campaign phase in central Germany between the Second French and Russian armies.  It lasted 13 campaign days and there were seven battles fought.   The French won four, the Russians won two and there was one draw.

We started the campaign on 22 September and finished on 30 November 2016.

When we were wargaming the PBEM phase of the campaign I expected to game about one battle each week.  But now that it is a solo game we only managed seven in ten weeks.   This is mainly because there is no pressure to maintain the pace of the campaign required when other players are involved.   I can also take much longer on the map movement, and play around with manoeuvre and plan battlefields.

The most important change during this campaign is the change in recording battle casualties.   Previously casualties were replaced at the rate of 400 infantry or 100 gunners or cavalrymen each day that the corps did not move.   Providing that they could avoid battle long enough, the corps would be returned to full strength.

I have now changed the rules so that any brigade which suffers battle casualties will always have at least 400 infantry or 100 gunner or cavalry casualties.    This is 10% of a brigade strength.  It means that the brigade will suffer loss of combat and morale for the remainder of the campaign.

By the end of the campaign most brigades started the battle with 10% casualties.   This had a huge effect on wargame tactics, because those brigades were always at  a disadvantage when engaged by a full strength brigade.  

A simple amendment, but one which has greatly improved our enjoyment of the campaign battles, and which presents interesting penalties even when both sides are evenly matched.