1813 Campaign Review

I have started work on the next phase of the campaign, which will be set in Southern Spain.   In preparation I have been updating the maps, and making some new ones.   It seemed a good time to review the campaign to date.

The campaign started in April 2009 as a solo campaign.   I converted it to PBEM in September 2009 and back to solo again in February 2016.   The campaign maps and rules have changed during that period, and it even went into 1814 for a few months before returning to 1813 again!   However the basic concept has remained unchanged.   It is a fictional campaign with a series of mini campaigns, which I call phases.   There are five campaign areas, three in Germany and two in Spain.   It is designed to provide good wargames and to make use of all of my model soldiers and buildings.

It is difficult to calculate the total campaign phases, because when it was PBEM all five campaign areas were in play at the same time.   When it is solo only one campaign area is gamed at a time, and each of the five are gamed in sequence.  This is to allow me to make use of the different wargame armies and scenery in rotation.   However I do know from the campaign records that since 2009 the campaign has provided 111 battles to wargame. 

Since the PBEM campaign was converted back to solo in February 2016 there have been 23 campaign phase, and the location and winner of each is shown on the map above.    If you click on the map it will enlarge and make it easier to understand.   The French only won nine of those phases, and the Austrians remain undefeated after five campaigns.

The next campaign will be set in Linares in Southern Spain, and is the hex with the white star.   I expect to be able to start the campaign this week, and hope to post an introduction here on the blog next week.

1813 Erfurt Campaign

Erfurt Strategic Map

This was a very enjoyable campaign which lasted for three months and provided us with five battles to wargame.   Often our campaigns provide one or two corps battles, but this was had more large battles.   Particularly the last one, which had four corps on each side.   Our wargames table is 6x6 foot and we use 28mm figures.   Three corps fit comfortably on the table, but four per side make for interesting manoeuvre problems.   The tables tend to be quite crowded with scenery which channels movement and makes it difficult to feed in reinforcements.  The battle of Rudolstadt had both a French and a Russian corps arriving at the start of move one.  It worked well for the Russians, who were in defence.  The reinforcements arrived in the right place, and at the right time, to stiffen the wavering Russian right flank.

However the French reinforcements arrived at the far side of the table.   As they made their approach march the rest of the French army moved forward to attack the Russians.   By the time the Westphalian corps arrived and deployed it was too late to commit them to the attack.  The scenery would delay their approach to the enemy resulting in heavy casualties.  And even if they won nightfall would prevent them exploiting their success.

Although I was the French commander it was an interesting challenge.   The Russians held the town at the end of the battle, and claimed a victory.   But they had two of their four corps in rout.   And the presence of the uncommitted Westphalian corps convinced them that they needed to retreat under cover of darkness.

It is very rewarding when the campaign results in complicated wargames like this.   In a one off game I would have sent the Westphalians in to attack, as I would have nothing to lose.  But if I had done so in this campaign game, and if the attack failed with heavy casualties, the Russians would have offered a second day of battle.

We have also been experimenting with the wargame rules during this campaign.

For some time we have been trying to prevent the artillery from firing every move, even if there was little chance of hitting anything.   We restricted the number times each gun could fire, but that proved difficult to keep track of.   We have now started to use smoke each time they fire.   If they don’t fire next move the smoke is removed at the end of the artillery firing phase.   If they do fire there is a minus one on their dice throw for effect.   Mostly the gunners have continued to fire anyway, but it reduces their effect slightly.

We have also introduced this for infantry and skirmish fire.   I have often read how effective a first volley was and this has a similar effect.   It helps the attacker, who previously suffered from constant artillery, skirmish and musket fire as they approached.   Now the defender is more likely to avoid long range fire to make the short range fire more effective.

You will find the campaign diary blog here

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

1813 Campaign – Battle of Castanar

We have fought the first battle of the Cuidad Real campaign.

It was a very small affair with a weak Spanish corps attempting to stop a stronger Italian corps.   Not surprisingly the Spanish lost!

The Spanish had three infantry brigades and corps artillery deployed just north of the town, which was occupied by a militia brigade.   The Italians had four infantry brigades, a cavalry brigade and corps artillery.

The background to the battle is that the French advance south of Madrid had just begun, and the widely dispersed Spanish army were caught unprepared.   The Spanish CinC had issued orders for all four corps to retreat, but the orders for this corps arrived too late.

As a game the Spanish objective was to cause as many casualties as possible before being forced to retreat and abandon Castanar.  

They held out for eight hours/moves, which is two thirds of a day.  They lost 2600 casualties against 1300 Italian casualties.   But this is better than it appears at first sight.

My objective with this campaign is to test attrition rules for a French army operating in Spain.   They are expected to defeat the Spanish regular army when they meet them in a regular battle.   But their supply problems as they advance.

In this particular battle the Spanish lost 6 infantry casualties (400 men each) in one brigade and 2 gunner casualties (100 men each) in their corps artillery.   The Italians lost one infantry casualty (400 men each) in three brigades and one cavalry casualty (100 men) in their cavalry brigade.   The Spanish militia garrison did not suffer any casualties, but they have to abandon Castanar and will become a guerrilla band.

In wargame terms this means that the Spanish have lost one infantry brigade and their corps artillery.   They have gained a guerrilla band.    The Italians have three infantry and one cavalry brigade with casualties.   They will also have to detach one infantry brigade to garrison Castanar.

Under our wargame rules each casualty reduced morale and fighting capacity by one point.   Battle casualties are replaced by 400 infantry or 100 gunners or cavalryman for each day that the corps is stationary and in supply.  However each brigade retains at least one casualty throughout the campaign.  

This means that the all Italian casualties in this battle will affect their effectiveness throughout this campaign.    The Spanish infantry will be replaced, less one casualty/400 men.   Their artillery will be replaced, less one casualty/100 men.  

So although this battle has resulted in a clear Italian victory, they will suffer more in due course because the casualties are spread over more brigades.

The Spanish have lost the battle, but their static militia garrison is now a roving guerrilla band capable to causing attrition problems to the French.

That is what I am trying to achieve.  It will be interesting to see how it works out over the next couple of months.