Ingolstadt Campaign – Day Six

Campaign Map

17 August 1813 – Southern Germany – Day 6

French attack Ingolstadt and retreat to Lauf
7th French army – retreat to Lauf
8th French army – attack Ingolstadt
9th French army – rally and resupply at Manching

Aus
1st Austrian army – regroup at Buxheim
2nd Austrian army – defend Ingolstadt
3rd Austrian army – rally and resupply at Emsgaden

Battle of Ingolstadt – End of Battle

8th French army, commanded by Marshal Mortier, attack Ingolstadt
2nd Austrian army, commanded by General Klenau, defend Ingolstadt

French have 9 infantry brigades, 3 cavalry brigades, 3 corps artillery
Austrians have 10 infantry brigades, 3 cavalry brigades, 3 corps artillery

Both armies are full strength, less brigades detached on garrison duty.

Ingolstadt is the main administrative centre for the Austrian army
It is also the campaign objective for this campaign phase

The Austrians advanced to attack the Bavarians as they entered the table and started to cross the three bridges. The Bavarian cavalry crossed first and deployed to allow the infantry and artillery to cross behind them.

On the left 6th Austrian dragoons charged and routed the 24th hussars. This delayed the rest of the Bavarian corps, until their artillery deployed on the northern bank and routed the Austrians dragoons.

On the right 22nd Bavarian corps took a big risk in placing their artillery on the right bank of the river. This allowed them to force the elite Austrian division holding the right bank to retreat, and it also allowed them to engage the rest of the Austrian corps on the left bank. The Austrian artillery redeployed to engage the enemy gunners, but this allowed the rest of the Bavarian corps to attack along the left bank and take the first objective – the ford.

The Bavarians now attacked the hills in the centre and on the left, the second and third objectives. This developed into an infantry melee, and the Austrians lost both

Having secured all three objectives the Bavarians won the game and the campaign.

Comments

The Austrians were deployed on the table at the start of the game, but out of artillery range of the bridges. The Bavarians moved first and managed to get all three cavalry brigades on the enemy side of the bridges, to protect the infantry and artillery as they crossed the river.

On the left the Austrian cavalry charged and routed the Bavarian cavalry. This delayed the right hand corps and almost won them the game. The Bavarian artillery unlimbered and fired on the rallying Austrian cavalry, hitting them and causing 10% casualties. The cavalry failed their morale test and routed.

This is a good example of how a good, or bad, dice roll can affect the whole game. In this case the luck favoured the Austrians in game move 2, but deserted them in move 3. In effect it saved the whole game. Had the Austrian cavalry passed their morale test, their artillery could have deployed within short range of their side of the bridge. This would have prevented one third of the Bavarian army from crossing and ensured an Austrian victory.

A daring plan can also have an impact. On the right flank the Bavarians risked putting their artillery on the right bank of the river, leaving them no artillery on the left bank to counter the Austrian gunners there. The elite Austrian infantry division on the right bank had no answer to the approaching artillery, and retreated to abandon their side of the ford. The Bavarian gunners could now fire at close range on the mass of Austrian infantry on the left bank. The Austrians retreated and the Bavarians took their first objective.

The hills in the centre and on the left were the second and third objectives. Both were decided by prolonged infantry combat. This was decided by the luck of the dice, and this time”lady luck” smiled on the Bavarians.

Interesting, and very enjoyable, wargame for both of us.

Ingolstadt Campaign – Day Five

 

Campaign Map

16 August 1813 – Southern Germany – Day 5

French attack Buxheim and occupy Manching
7th French army – attack Buxheim
8th French army – regroup and resupply
9th French army – occupy Manching

Austrian defend Buxheim and retreat to Emsgaden
1st Austrian army – defend Buxheim
2nd Austrian army – regroup and resupply
3rd Austrian army – retreat to Emsgaden

Battle of Buxheim – End of Battle

Seventh Bavarian army is commanded by Marshal Massena
First Austrian army is commanded by General Schwartzenberg

On 13 August Massena was defeated at the first battle of Buxheim
He retreated to Lauf and the Austrians occupied Buxheim

The remainder of the Austrian army has retreated east
As a result Schwartzenberg is isolated at Buxheim
Whatever the outcome of this battle he will have to retire east

The Bavarians have 10 infantry brigades, 3 cavalry brigades and 3 corps artillery
The Austrians have 9 infantry brigades, 3 cavalry brigades and 3 corps artillery

The Bavarians were winning this game until move 9, when the reserve cavalry charged the Austrian artillery in the centre. If they could take the guns the cavalry would dominate the centre and allow the Bavarian infantry to take the T junction. They already held the farm on the right, and would thus hold two of the three objectives and win the game.

The gunners caused casualties, the cavalry rolled 1 on their morale test and routed. The rallied Austrian cavalry charged the reserve Bavarian brigade, which was disordered by the rout, causing them to rout as well. It was now the Austrian cavalry who dominated the centre, and caused the Bavarian centre to halt and form square.

The Bavarians took the farm, but lost it to a counter attack.

They attacked the hill, but lost the skirmish battle and were forced to retreat.

A convincing and well deserved Austrian victory

Comments

Another game when the apparent winners lost everything in just three moves, and all due to the luck of the dice. In fact we had to play an extra move to determine the winner of the final battle for the farm on the right.

Some wargamers may not like this type of result, in which victory can turn to defeat in the last three of twelve moves. But we really enjoy this element of luck, which makes a game interesting right up to the last move.

It can be annoying if one side has a long series of good, or bad, dice. But when it is evenly balanced, but the critical dice throw is the decider it heightens our enjoyment of the game. “Horses for courses” as they say

Ingolstadt Campaign – Day Four

Campaign Map

15 August 1813 – Southern Germany – Day 4

French attack Manching and occupy Bergheim
7th French army – rally and resupply at Lauf
8th French army – occupy Bergheim
9th French army – attack Manching

Austrian defend Manching and retreat to Ingolstadt
1st Austrian army – regroup and resupply at Buxheim
2nd Austrian army – retreat to Ingolstadt
3rd Austrian army – defend Manching

Battle of Manching – End of Battle

9th Bavarian army, commanded by Marshal Ney, attack Manching
3rd Austrian army, commanded by General Mervedt, defend Manching

Bavarian have 9 infantry brigades, 3 cavalry brigade, 3 corps artillery
3 infantry brigades are detached on garrison duty
They have 1 cavalry and 1 artillery casualties (200 men)

Austrian have 10 infantry brigades, 3 cavalry brigade, 3 corps artillery
2 infantry brigades are detached on garrison duty
They have 2 infantry, and 3 cavalry casualties (1100 men)

The Bavarians start the battle with just two days supplies, the Austrians have 4 days
If Ney is defeated, his army will have to retreat with just one day’s supplies
If they run out of supplies they will suffer attrition casualties (400 men per day)

The Austrian army occupy the three objectives at the start of the battle.
They also outnumber the Bavarian infantry
Their battle line is further north than usual, to support the hill on the left

The battle opens when the Austrian reserve cavalry charge the enemy guns
The gunners evade to nearby supporting infantry squares
The Bavarian cavalry then charge, and rout both Austrian brigades

On the left 7th Austrian corps has more infantry than 25th Bavarian corps
They move forward to attack, led by their cavalry brigade
The Bavarian light horse charge and rout the Austrian hussars
Without cavalry support the Austrian infantry are forced to retreat in square
With no support the garrison of the inn also retreats.

8th Austrian corps in the centre hold their ground
But without cavalry support the infantry are forced to form square
26th Bavarian corps advance forcing the Austrians to retreat

9th Austrian corps have two infantry brigades on the hill
They are attacked by three Baden brigades, lose the fire fight and are routed

Comments

I expected the Austrians to win this battle.
They outnumbered the Bavarian infantry ten to nine brigades
Both sides started with battle casualties, but neither had any advantage

The Austrians were unlucky to lose all three cavalry melee.
This forced their infantry to form square, and left their artillery vulnerable to attack
The Bavarians were quick to exploit their advantage

The Austrians lost two cavalry melee in the centre, due to poor dice
However they might have recovered with their attack on the right
But luck was against them again, when they lost the third cavalry melee

Without cavalry support the Austrian infantry were forced into square
This left them with no defence against Bavarian artillery and infantry in column
When charged by Bavarian cavalry, their gunners all ran to the nearest square for safety

The only exception was the hill on the left
Cavalry cannot fight on hills, and guns are ineffective
Two good Austrian infantry brigades held the hill
They were deployed in line, which should have held their own against enemy columns
But the Bavarian infantry did not charge the hill
They halted and sent their skirmishers forward
Again luck deserted the Austrians
They lost the first round of skirmish, and never recovered

An interesting game, but I feel the Austrians were particularly unlucky
And in Wargaming, as in life, there is no real answer to excessive bad luck.

Battle and Campaign Casualties

 

 

The only purpose of my 1813 campaign is to provide interesting battles to wargame.  Each campaign phase is now designed to provide about 9 battles

However I also want the campaign to recreate an acceptable Napoleonic strategic appearance.  This second objective has long caused me serious problems in designing and managing the campaign.

Most, if not all, historical campaigns follow the same general principles.  The attacking general aims to achieve overwhelming odds and a strategic advantage for the opening battles of the campaign.   This was particularly so during the Napoleonic period.  Having achieved this initial objective the attacker would follow up and seek to destroy the weakened enemy army.

Any wargamer will quickly realise that this is not going to achieve my objective of interesting wargames.   And certainly not six or more battles/wargames per campaign phase..   In most wargames casualties are much higher than in historical battles.   It is very hard, if not impossible, to wargame a tactical retreat.   This is particularly true if the wargame rules used rely heavily on luck, in the form of dice.  

If the winning army is allowed to aggressively pursue the retreating losing army, the second and subsequent battles will be very uneven.  This is because it is hard to win a wargame when one side starts the game with many more casualties than the other side, and particularly if those casualties are in cavalry or artillery.

It did not take me very long to realise these limitations.    And given that I wanted each wargame to be enjoyable, I have to find a way to reduce the impact of losing a wargame.   I did so by allowing both armies to be reinforced to reduce the effect of battle casualties.  

First I kept the actual wargame casualties, but moved them into one infantry brigades per corps.   For example if there were seven infantry casualties spread between four brigades, I would concentrate them all in one brigade with seven casualties and three brigades with no casualties.   This worked quite well, because both armies would have three full strength brigades and the odd casualties in the fourth brigade would mean it was non operational.

But it didn’t work so well with artillery and cavalry casualties.  There is only one brigade of each per corps, so they could not be concentrated in one brigade.   In my rules each casualty is minus 1 on morale and combat tests, so a brigade with two casualties is effectively non operational.

I overcame this problem by keeping all casualties in the brigade which received them, but reducing each brigade to just one casualty.   This meant a slight disadvantage for such a brigade of minus one for combat and morale tests.   Because both armies had similar numbers of brigades affected this worked reasonably well.   I have used this system for many years.

In my current campaign rules each army has nine corps, divided into three armies of three corps each.   These armies can only move east or west, and consequently remain opposed to the same opponent throughout the campaign phase.  If one side has more brigades affected than the other, this will remain a problem throughout the whole campaign phase.  

However recently I have become increasingly aware that even these reduced casualties can give the winning side too much of an advantage.   And particularly when the casualties are cavalry or artillery.

Using one 6 sided dice, adjusted by appropriate plus and minus factors, to decide all combat and melee tests give a fast and decisive result.   When two very experienced players regularly game together this is necessary to avoid long and protracted wargames.   But it can make it very difficult to overcome casualties.

For example in counter battery fire a total of 6 is required at long range, and 5 or 6 at close range.   If one side has just one casualty it is impossible to hit the enemy gunners at long range.   It is also difficult to prevent enemy cavalry from charging and routing the gunners.

I have therefore decided to play test a dramatic change in the rules.  In future battle casualties will be recorded, but ALL will be replaced before the next battle/wargame.   I appreciate that to most wargamers this would be too drastic to be acceptable.   And if the aim was to replicate historical campaigns I would agree with them.   But our aim is to wargame battles where both sides have an equal chance of winning each game.   Otherwise the player who loses the first battle of a campaign will almost certainly lose all subsequent battles also.

Already we start each new campaign phase at full strength.   This change will mean that we now start each battle/wargame at full strength.  I am not sure whether this adjustment will remove some of my enjoyment of the campaign itself, which is why I am going to play test it to see how we feel about it.

Ingolstadt Campaign – Day Three

Campaign Map

14 August 1813 – Southern Germany – Day 3

French attack Bergheim and retreat to Lauf
7th French army – retreat to Lauf
8th French army – attack Bergheim
9th French army – regroup and resupply

Austrian defend Bergheim
1st Austrian army – advance to border
2nd Austrian army – defend Bergheim
3rd Austrian army – regroup and resupply

Battle of Bergheim – End of Move 2

The Austrian army was deployed on the three game objectives at the start of the game.

All three are in the centre of the able, the bridge on the left, the road junction in the centre and the farm on the right.

The first two battles of the campaign had not gone well for the French army, and it was essential that they won this one. In previous battles the defender had placed troops at both ends of a bridge, the attacker then put an equal number of troops to attack the bridge. The winner of this isolated combat did not have any effect on the main battle. So this time both commanders ignored the left bank of the river.

The battle opened with a cavalry melee on the left, which the Austrians won. The Bavarian army deployed out of artillery range, and moved their guns forward. For a short time there was an ineffective counter battery battle, which allowed the routed Bavarian cavalry brigade to rally.

The attacking player ordered all three corps to attack, with the cavalry leading. The cavalry melee was won by the Bavarians, and the Austrian infantry had to form square. The supporting attacking infantry smashed the squares, and the Austrians retreated.

Both sides lost a lot of cavalry and gunners, but the Austrians also lost morale and five brigades routed.

Overnight the Austrian army retreated, and abandoned the walled town of Bergheim

Comments

This campaign has gotten off to a bad start, with the attacking French losing the first two battles. This is very unusual, because the attackers have a distinct advantage in the early battles of each campaign phase. The defenders are dispersed and must concentrate to fight. In addition the attackers have fewer brigades detached on garrison duty. So they normally manage to take the first three objectives, which are the border towns. The advantage then shifts to the defenders as they can dictate where the next three battles will take place, and collect their detached garrisons as they retreat from the border towns.

If the attacking army fails to take the border towns, or worse still are forced to retreat back across the border, then effectively the campaign phase has ended and the defending army wins. In addition there are only three battles fought, rather than the anticipated six or more.

In this campaign the Austrians won a technical victory at Weichering, where they held one of the three objectives and disputed a second, however they suffered more casualties and had to retreat the next day.

They won a decisive victory at Buxheim, and the French/Bavarian army had to retreat back over the border.

So this battle was critical for both sides. If the Austrians won again, then they would win the campaign. In fact they lost, they will have to retreat and the campaign continues.

My Blogging Experience

 

In April 2009 I started work on my first blog, which was called “Walking Napoleonic Battlefields”.  It was a record of the many holidays Jan and I have spent exploring battlefields in Belgium, Germany, Italy, Spain and Portugal.   Our first such holiday was to Waterloo in July 1971 and the last recorded was our second visit to Austerlitz in July 2002.   The aim of this series of blogs was to explain how we planned each visit and illustrated by photos we had taken at the time.    There is no better way to understand a battle than to walk the battlefield yourself.  And particularly if you have researched and planned the holiday yourself.   I hoped that by explaining how easy it is to do others might be encouraged to do so themselves.   I don’t have any stats for this blog because I used a different email address to set up each blog, and no longer have the passwords

In May 2009 I started my current 1813 Napoleonic campaign, and at the same time I started a blog to record the progress of the campaign and to provide a permanent record of all the battle reports.   It is a campaign diary, with one entry for each campaign day and one entry for each battle report.   I am not a great believer in the stats provided by the blog, but at present it states that I have 1001 posts and have had 122344 views.

Also in May 2009 I started a second blog called “Jan and Paul in Spain”.   This would be a record of our life here and the aim was to keep our family and friends in the UK informed of how our life in Spain was progressing.   Apart from Wargaming, our main interest was hill walking.   Within weeks of arriving in 2006 we had joined a local walking group and most blog entries recorded our many walks in and around our home in the Jalon Valley in the Costa Blanca.   The blog stats confirm I have posted 1084 posts and claim there have been 335220 views.

It was not until July 2009 that I started the fourth blog called “Napoleonic Wargaming”   This would allow me to air my general views on my favourite subject, as distinct from the factual reports on “1813 Campaign Diary”.  I didn’t have any clear idea just what I would post on this one, but it would allow me to expand on rules and Wargaming experience on the campaign diary.   According to the blog stats I have written 1069 posts and there have been 548863 views.

“Walking Napoleonic Battlefields” was a one off project, and would only last as long as it took to research and post each visit.  

“Jan and Paul in Spain” was started as a longer term project.   The first blog covered our move to Spain in 2006, so there was a considerable amount of work to catch up to 2009.    I have always recorded our holidays and day trips by taking photographs, and then filing them on my computer using a series of annual, monthly and then daily folders.  I continued this when we moved to Spain.   The photos taken of each walk and holiday formed the basis of the blog, with a short description or summary as appropriate. As I was now using a digital camera it was easy to take more photographs of each walk.   The blog also allowed other members of the walking group to share with their own family and friends.   So it is quite possible that there were indeed such a large number of views.   Remember that each blog would probably be viewed by the same family member or friend.

“1813 Campaign Diary” was also planned as a long term project.  However I did not understand how blogs worked, so I expected to have to start a new blog for each campaign phase, or mini campaign.   The first one was called “1813 Campaign – Magdeburg” and for some time I created a new blog for each phase.   It would be a few years before I realised that by using the labels function I could separate each campaign phase on one blog.   This system also changed over the years as I developed a better “filing system”.   By its very nature this blog provided content for a new blog post each week, and continues to do so. 

“Napoleonic Wargaming” had no long term plan.   I wanted to be able to post a different subject each week.   Having to work to a timetable is something I enjoy, and prospective readers would know that a new post would come out each Sunday.   It would be a general blog where I could explore all the different aspects of Wargaming this period.   I could explain problems experienced with my ongoing 1813 campaign, or explore different ideas for new maps or rules.   However right from the start it required inspiration for something new each week.   The advantage of wide range choice of subjects is that I could work on posts as and when I had inspiration.   I would often have four or five posts in reserve.   Recently I have found it more difficult to find something new to write about, and I decided to post a summary of my “1813 campaign diary” as a regular series on “Napoleonic Wargaming”.   Each one has a map, a short description of campaign movements and also of the daily battle.  In addition I would comment on the actual wargame, particularly if I had encountered a problem with the rules.

I feel that this latest development has become too much a part of “Napoleonic Wargaming” blog, and I am now looking for something different to break up the weekly posts.  I will let you know when I have found it. 

Ingolstadt Campaign – Day Two

Campaign Map

13 August 1813 – Southern Germany – Day 2

French attack Buxheim and occupy Weichering
7th French army – attack Buxheim
8th French army – hold Amberg
9th French army – occupy Weichering

1st Austrian army – defend Buxheim
2nd Austrian army – advance to border
3rd Austrian army – retreat to Manching

Battle of Buxheim – End of Battle

7th Bavarian army, commanded by Marshal Massena, has orders to attack Buxheim
1st Austrian army, commanded by General Schwartzenberg, has orders to defend Buxheim

Bavarians have10 infantry brigades, 3 cavalry brigade, 3 corps artillery
2 infantry brigades are detached on garrison duty

Austrians have 9 infantry brigades, 3 cavalry brigade, and 3 corps artillery
3 infantry brigades are detached on garrison duty

The Austrians know that the French have attacked the town of Weichering, but are not yet aware of the outcome of that battle. 2nd corps is deployed close to the border to observe any enemy movement. 1st and 3rd corps are under orders to move forward at daybreak to support 2nd corps.

Massena is aware that he has lost the element of surprise, and orders his army to advance at first light and attack Buxheim

For the first six moves the battle goes well for Massena.
On the left 21st corps deployed north of the hill, 3rd Austrian corps south of the hill
In the centre the cavalry reserve, and 21 corps artillery, support 20 corps
On the right 19 corps have forced 1st Austrian corps to withdraw from the farm

At the start of move seven the cavalry reserve move forward to engage the Austrian cavalry
They lose both cavalry melee and rout with 10% casualties to each brigade
The Austrians have received no casualties, the nearby artillery fail to hit them at short range
One brigade charge and rout the gunners, the second brigade charge and rout infantry brigade
The Austrian cavalry rally and are still full strength, they have broken the Bavarian centre

Massena abandons his attack on the farm and orders his army to retreat

Cavalry Melee

Comments

In one move an almost certain Bavarian victory turns into complete defeat.

The Bavarian commander combines two cavalry brigades to form a reserve, and puts it in the centre to support his main attack. The Austrian commander quickly follows suit, to counter this move.

This leaves one cavalry brigade, on the right of the table. The Bavarian cavalry charge and rout the Austrian brigade. This leaves them with a decisive advantage on their left flank.

The Bavarian reserve cavalry now advance, to clear the way for the main attack in the centre. They are immediately charged by the Austrian reserve cavalry. The Austrians roll a 5 and a 6, this means the Bavarian cavalry have received 10% casualties to each brigade. They test their morale and roll a 1 and a 2, they fail and both rout

The nearby Bavarian artillery fire on the nearest Austrian brigade, they need a 2 or more to hit at close range, and they roll 1. The Austrian cavalry rally and are both full strength. One brigade charges the gunners, who are too close to react, they rout with 10% casualties. The second brigade charges the nearest infantry brigade. The infantry test morale to form square, they roll a 2, this means they are shaken and cannot react. The cavalry charge home and rout the infantry with 10% casualties.

The Bavarian centre is broken, and worst than that the Austrian reserve cavalry are still full strength. The Bavarian infantry in the centre form square, as do the infantry to their right behind the hill. Both corps start to retreat in square.

The Bavarian left are still in a very strong position. They have driven the enemy out of the farm and sent their grenadier brigade in to take possession. Their cavalry and artillery are pushing back the rest of the Austrian corps. However with the centre and right in retreat, the whole Austrian army can turn on them. So they must also retreat.

A very dramatic end to the battle. But also a very disappointing one. No one likes to win a game, or lose one, solely on the luck of the dice. Very good Austrian dice combined with very poor Bavarian dice has brought about this result. But a game is a game, even if the result will have a dramatic effect on the whole campaign, which is only on day two out of nine.