Wednesday 19 August 2020

Third Day – Third Battle




3 March 1813 – North Germany - Day 3

In the north both 3rd French and 1st Prussian corps regroup and resupply
In the south 13th Polish corps enter Wolfenbuttel, 3rd Prussian corps retreat
In the centre 1st and 4th French corps attack Brunswick
 
Table at the start of the Game
The game started with 2nd Prussian corps in the middle of the table. 
Both 4th Prussian and 4th French corps will enter the table at the start of move 1
1st Old Guard corps would arrive on the table at the start of move 5
All of this was dictated by the campaign. 

This had the makings of a really interesting wargame
First there would be two corps per side, so more tactical options
Second they would be staggered in their arrival, again offering tactical options.
Equally important, both Prussian corps would be on the table from move 1
4th corps would not come into action until move 4 or 5
But they would be seen approaching, which would threaten the French player (me)
End of move 7
The Old Guard entered the table at the start of move 5
By then 4th Prussian corps was approaching 4nd French corps
Napoleon sent forward his cavalry brigade to counter the Prussian cavalry
They immediately charged the Prussian cuirassiers
This caused the rest of 4th Prussian corps to halt and deploy

By the end of move 7 (of 12 game moves) the rest of the Old Guard were in position
You can see that 4th Prussian corps are further back than 2nd Prussian corps
This meant that the Guard infantry were unlikely to reach them before nightfall

Meanwhile 4th French and 2nd Prussian corps were knocking hell out of each other
And they would consider to do so until the end of the game
By then 4th French would have lost 6 infantry and 2 cavalry figures
2nd Prussian corps would have lost 13 infantry and 4 cavalry figures
Three French and four Prussian corps would be in rout

I am particularly pleased that I use my French guard brigades regularly in my games.
There are three corps, 1st Old Guard, 2nd and 3rd Young Guard
The Young Guard are not much better than a regular French corps
But the Old Guard have one elite infantry and one cavalry brigades
However the rest of the corps in First French army have no elite troops

This game proved just as interesting as it promised.   The staggered arrival of corps added a lot of tension to the game, and as the attacking French commander I found that I had to hold back and try to time the arrival at the battle of the Old Guard.   Not sure that I got it right, but it was a great game.

After three defeats things are not looking well for the Prussians.   I suspect that they will have to retreat, concentrate and try to recover before a final large game to decide the outcome of this campaign phase.

2 comments:

  1. Paul,

    I’ve been rather distracted over the past week or so, mainly due to catching a terrible summer cold, and I’ve only just caught up with your recent campaign action,

    It has been a very interesting series of actions, and the new campaign maps and campaign system seem to be working well.

    All the best,

    Bob

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  2. Hi Bob

    Thanks for your comment

    Sorry to hear about your cold. Summer colds are always worse, possibly because it is uncomfortable enough in the heat, without the added discomfort of cold symptoms. And even more worrying in these times of coronavirus. Hope it is short lived.

    I have completed all the maps for the new campaign system, and started work on the higher level administration. Meanwhile this campaign is really just to allow me time to do all of that. Fortunately the maps are all working well, and the higher level of command seems to be ok. It will not be fully tested until I start feeding the results of each campaign phase back into the higher level 1813 command level. Sounds very complicated, but its not really. It is all about having a narrative between campaign phases which will result in where the next phase in that campaign area will be fought.

    At the very least it gives me something to do during these very hot Spanish summer months. Hopefully we will be able to get our walking group out and about in September. It will be too hot for mountain walking, but we should be able to manage some shorter valley walks.

    Get well soon

    Paul

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