French retreat
towards Brunswick
Just
finished the Magdeburg campaign phase, which was the first of the campaign phase
since I have converted from PBEM to solo.
Both
the campaign and the wargame rules are the same, and the general outline of the
campaign is unchanged. But running it
solo rather than have players taking the role of each army commander has made a
big difference.
Most
important the campaign flows much faster and smoother. I don’t have to wait a week for orders to
arrive, nor do I have to chase them up.
The orders always make sense, and always result in more challenging and
interesting wargames.
However
I do miss the imput and influence of other players. I don’t miss the frustration of having to chase
orders. I certainly don’t miss the
constant effort to replace players who have left, particularly if they have
only taken part for a few weeks. But I
do miss the pressure of working to a timetable to keep the campaign on track. I do miss trying to make sense of twelve
sets of orders each week, translating them to update six campaign areas and
then producing twelve reports which will result in the next weeks twelve sets
of orders. Most of all I miss sharing
the campaign with other wargamers and receiving their imput.
On
the other hand I got more personal enjoyment out of each campaign phase. Although I write orders for both sides, the
campaign design prevents it from being too predictable. The campaign map itself has become an
extended wargames table. I can plan
where battles will take place, and what terrain they will be fought over. The result is more interesting and
challenging wargames.
When
I ran the PBEM campaign both sides had a campaign objective which involved
taking and holding a town or city in the centre of the map. Now that it is a solo campaign one side has
orders to attack, and the other to hold and defend.
However
the wargame rules ensure that the outcome of each battle is very
unpredictable. Jan and I both have a
comprehensive knowledge of the rules, and rarely make a mistake. So the outcome almost always relies on the
luck of the dice.
The
outcome of the battle, and in particular the casualties received, will greatly
affect the subsequent flow of the campaign.
The supply rules will often force
a halt, with dire consequences for that side.
I
had thought that it might become too predictable when I wrote orders for both
armies. But I am pleasantly surprised to
find that I have become much more involved with the progress of the attacking
army, frustrated when they fail to achieve their campaign objective and quite
excited when they win a critical battle.
Magdeburg
has been a good example of what I mean.
Napoleon, with the Imperial Guard as part of his First Army, had a
campaign objective of taking that city.
Blucher desperately needed to hold it if he was to prevent the French
from taking Berlin. To do so would
really mean the end of the campaign in northern Germany.
I
was rooting for the French, as the attacker they would carry out my campaign
plan. But I was quite concerned what
would happen if they did in fact win. I
need not have worried. There were only
two battles in this phase of the campaign, and Napoleon lost both of them. In fact that meant that I lost both of the
wargames. Given that one quarter of the
French army were the Garde they really should have done much better. However luck, and the dice, decided
otherwise.
The
campaign lasted one month of real time and I enjoyed it much more than I
expected. I am really looking forward
to the next phase and planning how Wellington can take his army from Oporto
into Spain.
You
will find the Magdeburg campaign diary and battle reports here
