Start of wargame
It is very unusual for us to fight a seventh battle in a campaign phase. Normally we fight one battle for each town, and then decide the winner based on casualties, routs and supply situation.
In this campaign, possibly due to the new rules, it was really hard to decide the winner at the end of the sixth game. So I decided to fight a seventh game, mostly because I wanted to see if I could resolve fighting for a large built up area.
I used a little artistic licence to rally routed brigades at the end of the sixth battle, and also to redistribute battle casualties within a corps.
The French started with 9 infantry brigades, 2 cavalry brigades and 2 corps artillery
The Russians has 10 infantry brigades, 2 cavalry brigades and 2 corps artillery
The Russians put 4 infantry brigades in the city, and divided the remainder on either side
End of wargame
The French had a formidable task. They had similar numbers to the Russians, and most brigades on both sides had 10% casualties. The sheer size of Bayreuth made it very difficult to attack with infantry.
However the attacker does have the initiative, and can reinforce the corps tasked with the main attack. This is done by taking infantry, cavalry or artillery from the other two corps and putting them under the command of the CinC. He can then commit this reserve at a critical time and in a critical place.
In this game he supported 10th (Young Guard) corps on his left. However this did not work as well as expected, mostly due to the very effective Russian gunners.
It also allowed 1st Russian corps to attack his right flank. They routed the French cavalry, artillery and half the infantry. But a determined counter attack by the remaining two French infantry brigades held the Russian advance. The result was a draw.
In the centre the French did force the Russians to abandon the southern half of Bayreuth. But the Russian artillery prevented them from occupying the two sectors, and they were never able to attack the northern half of the city.
At nightfall the Russians still hold half of Bayreuth
They have three infantry brigades and two artillery batteries operational
The French have five infantry brigades, but no cavalry or artillery
The Russian gunners prevent the French infantry from holding half of city
The French have lost 5 infantry, 4 cavalry and 1 artillery casualties (2500 men)
The Russians have lost 13 infantry, 5 cavalry and 1 artillery casualties (5800 men)
The French have 5 brigades in rout; the Russians have 9 brigades in rout
The Russians were declared the winners.
Comments
The Russians had a considerable advantage in their artillery. Both batteries had 12 pdr guns, which gave them a plus 1 advantage. Neither had any casualties, unlike the French artillery who both had 10%. Repeated attacks on the Russian guns were driven off, mostly because the French cavalry had casualties from previous battles.
The French advantage was their superior skirmish skills. Most of their infantry were B class; most of the Russian infantry were C class. The French required a roll of 5 or 6 to inflict a casualty on the garrison. The Russian infantry required a 6, and if they had 10% casualties could not hit the French at all. It was this advantage which forced the garrison to retreat from the southern half of the city.
At nightfall both sides had fought to a standstill. The French infantry still outnumbered the Russian by five brigades to three. However they had lost all of their cavalry and artillery, and the Russians still had two artillery batteries. Each had 10% casualties, but still prevented the French from entering the city. Without cavalry or artillery the French had no answer to the Russian guns.
So despite an apparent French win, having caused more Russian casualties and routed more brigades, the Russians won because it would be near impossible for the French infantry to attack in the face of such effective artillery.
The French were also running very short of supplies. Normally they would have regrouped and resupplied after the first day of fighting at Bayreuth. By attacking again on the second day they used up their final supplies and would have to withdraw in order to resupply.
Another very enjoyable game and a fitting one to decide the winner of the Bayreuth campaign phase. It was also a real test of our new rule system, with all forms of combat taking place and extensive morale testing.
Thistlebarrow -
ReplyDeleteReading through these accounts, especially this and the one previous, I feel that the Russian defenders, though at nightfall still holding the towns they were entrusted to hold, would probably have abandoned them overnight and fallen back to another position. The 'Bulletin' would then announce, of course, the French victories.
The 'Battle of Bayreuth' would probably still be so reported by Napoleon's scribe. It is not hard to imagine, though, that the failure to secure the objective by nightfall might constitute a strategic setback - e.g. the Russian army escaping overnight and in good order, the routed units having rallied and been brought under command.
I once remarked (out loud) that 'it is hard to win battles'. I was rubbished, of course, but still believe it. Once you get to horse and musket armies, they tend to be pretty hard and resilient, with strong powers of recovery. Very rarely are armies completely smashed. Good rule sets - such as your own - tend to reflect that, I think.
Cheers,
Ion
Hi Ion
ReplyDeleteI think you have grasped it very well, and that you are completely correct.
Had these seven wargames been "one off" games, then the French would have won them all.
In each cast the Russian army had been defeated in terms of casualties, and often number of brigades routed. But the French consistently ran out of time and could not take the game objective, the Russian held town.
The constraints of the campaign are that there are 12 active hours in each day, and 12 game moves in each wargame. This means that the wargame rules have to be designed to allow for a "winner" in 12 moves. This in turn divides each wargame into three sections of four moves each. During the first four moves the attacker (usually the French) arrives on the table and advances into artillery range (12") and then deploys. During the next four moves the attacker must achieve an edge, either by inflicting casualties at the point of attack, or reducing the enemy artillery of cavalry. Obviously during this section the attacker is just as likely to be the one receiving the casualties! During the final four moves the attacker moves into contact with the defender and hopefully wins the melee/firefight.
With our previous rules we had achieved this balance, and though the attacker did not always win, by move 8 it was clear whether he ever would. If he had not achieved an advantage by then, he was very unlikely to win the final melee/firefight.
The new rules are working well, but it is taking longer than anticipated to achieve the balance to allow the attacker to actually take the objective.