Campaign Map on 15 September 1813
Giron orders 3rd corps to move into Molina
The rest of
the field army will retreat behind the town and attempt to rally
3rd corps are already
out of supplies and lose 400 attrition casualties
4 guerrilla brigade attack Riopar
and suffer 10% casualties
5 guerrilla brigade attack Albacete
and suffer 10% casualties
6 guerrilla brigade attack Elda,
draw and continue attack
The French are also desperately
short of supplies
Suchet orders his three corps to
hold their position and resupply
He can only use the two days at
Hellin, because Riopar and Elda are under attack
Campaign Notes
Once again the French have won
Once again they have failed to
destroy the Spanish army
The Spanish have retreated
south in some disorder.
But they have placed their
least damaged corps in Molina
The remainder have retreated
south of the town and will attempt to rally
Three guerrilla brigades have launched
attacks on French depots
Two are the forward depots at
Riopar and Elda
The third is the main French
depot at Albacete.
Suchet is desperately short of
supplies
One of his corps has run out,
the other two have just one days left
He has ordered them to
resupply, but only two days supplies are available
He staked everything on a
decisive win at Molina, and failed
His forward and main supply
depots are under attack from guerrilla brigades
He no longer has the option of
renewing the attack
Nor the option of just
holding his present position
Unless he can resupply each
corps will lose 400 casualties each day to attrition
In two or three days his army
will start to disintergrate
He must take steps to
re-establish his lines of supply
Fascinating stuff! Could Suchet not push south one more time and take the Spanish depot at Molina? He has three corps in fair shape versus Giron's army in a shambles. But maybe I'm being too bloodthirsty :)
ReplyDeleteI'm consistently impressed by how your very simple system produces meaningful restraints and challenges. I'd love to see indicators of remaining supplies per corps and depot on the map, so readers can better understand the supply situaion. But I understand if that's too much of a hassle.
I like the way that Suchet's victories on the battlefield haven't guaranteed a successful outcome to the campaign. A much more realistic result than one normally sees in wargaming.
ReplyDeleteAll the best,
Bob
Hi Yuri
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments.
Its always difficult to know what to include in the campaign diary and what to leave out. The daily corps supply is vital, but depends on a lot of things. Particularly in Spain where there are also the guerrilla to contend with. I think it would be too complicated if I gave the exact numbers of supply per corps and in each depot for each day.
The constraint is that each French corps can only hold a maximum of four days supplies. They must then remain within three squares of a depot, remain stationary and not be engaged with the enemy in order to supply.
At present they have sufficient supplies in their various depots, but unfortunately most are not within three squares.
If they fight a battle they are unable to supply that day. If they move they cannot resupply that day. So they must ensure that they have at least two days supply before they accept a battle. They must then resupply before they pursue. They can choose to ignore these limitations, but there is always the prospect of attrition casualties at the rate of 400 per corps per day until they can resupply.
The supply rule is very simple, but it is surprising how much it restricts the options of both armies. But in particular the one who is attacking and moving further away from his established depots.
regards
Paul
Hi Bob
ReplyDeleteNice to hear from you again.
I may have made the French too weak in this campaign phase. Normally they are allowed a reserve corps of four infantry brigades to provide garrisons for their depots. In this phase they have to supply all garrisons from the three combat corps.
However this will be an advantage if the French have to retreat, they can then deploy to take advantage of their garrisons.
The result is that the French have had to be cautious when they attack. If they lose too heavily to win a battle, they will not be able to maintain their advance. This is what is happening at present. The guerrilla have made it much worse, but even without them the French would be having problems by now.
The problem for the Spanish is that they are not strong enough to take on the French in a formal battle. Their previous casualties have made them very brittle in a morale test. And their lack of cavalry makes it very difficult to advance and attack.
As always the outcome will be down to a lucky, or unlucky, dice throw in the next major battle. I have no idea who will win the campaign. The Spanish have only to survive to do so. The French must break and rout the Spanish army to win.
best regards
Paul