Start of Halle Campaign

Germany Campaign Map

This will be the 21^st campaign phase set in Germany, and the 7^th in central Germany.

The map above shows the location of each campaign, and the colour indicates which side won.   The white star is Halle.

Marshal Davout commands the Second French Army, and the Russian Army is commander by General Wittgenstein.   Of the previous six phases the Russians have won only one.

Central Germany Campaign Map

This map  is designed to show relative positions of cities and towns, plus major terrain features such as rivers and hills.  It forms part of a series of maps covering Europe and the five campaign areas.  They are North, Central and Southern Germany, plus North and South Spain.

All of these maps are designed to show the location of all cities and towns in relation to each other.   The major cities and towns are the objectives of each campaign phase. 

The Halle campaign area is outlined in white.   Halle is centre of the square, and the remaining eight towns consist the rest of the campaign area.

Halle Campaign Map

This map is used for the campaign movement.   The red roads are major international routes, the yellow ones are national routes.

The map shows the location of each corps and depot at the start of the campaign.   The French are the aggressors.  They have concentrated along the Bavarian-Westphalian border with the objective of taking and holding Halle

 

Halle Wargames Map

This map is used to transfer the campaign battle onto the wargames table.  It covers the same area as the campaign map, but shows the wargame detail.   Each square has a number in the top left, which indicates which scenic square is used to create the wargames table.   Villages and fortified farms are numbered, to identify the model to be used.   Smaller farms are either hedge or wall.   Trees indicate the number of model trees to be used.   All of this details is just to make it easier to create same terrain on the table as is shown on the campaign map.

Campaign Comment 

It would be too complicated to cover the history of the campaign and the orders of battle.  However all of this is covered in great detail on the Campaign Diary Blog.  So if you would like to know more about the Halle campaign please follow this link

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

1813 Campaign - Command and Control Information

Campaign Map for 29 October 1813

In the past I have tried to explain how the campaign administration is run.    It is really difficult to do so without seeing what I actually use.   The whole thing is too much to put on here, but this is an example of 1^st and 2^nd British corps on 29 October 1813.

On the map you will see that 1^st corps is attacking 7^th French corps at Ribadeo. 

2^nd corps is moving south to Ourense.

I hope to explain what is involved in the issue of those two orders

Order of Battle for 1^st and 2^nd British Corps

This chart only shows the two corps concerned, there is a similar chart for 3^rd and 4^th British corps.

1^st corps shows the commanding general as Stewart, who is an average commander

Each brigade is listed with the following information

Strength – at start of campaign

Class – A would be elite, B is average, C is poor

Fire – effective volley fire, A would be veteran, B is average, C is poor

Skirmish – skirmish ability, A would be riflemen, B is average, C is poor

Casualties – current casualties, always keep first 400

Garrison – if a brigade is detached for garrison duty

2^nd corps shows the same information

But note that three brigades are in rout

Current Daily Orders

There are only three British depots at present

Santiago has been captured by the French, and lost their 3 days supplies

Ourense is the new main depot, they have received 7 days and issued 1 days

Corunna starts with 1 day, it receives 1 day and ends with 2 days

1^st British corps starts the day with 4 days supplies

It does not receive any because it has orders to attack

It always uses 1 days supplies each day

It ends the day with 3 days.

2^nd British corps starts the day with 3 days supplies

It has to retreat because it lost a battle

Therefore it does not receive any supplies and ends the day with 2 days

Campaign Comments

This is the information which will decide what orders are given to each corps.

If you look at the map you will see that 1^st British corps is cut off from the main depot at Ourense, because the French have captured Santiago.

The only depot available to them is Corunna (covered by the symbol for 1^st corps)

If you check the depot you will see that Corunna has only one days supplies at the start of the day.   And that is the only depot available to resupply both 1^st and 3^rd British corps.

I appreciate that all of the above is quite complicated, and I hope that I have been able to explain it well enough for you to understand the command and control information available to the CinC when he writes his orders at the start of the day.

I trust that you will also see that Wellington took a big risk ordering 1^st and 3^rd corps to attack Ribadeo.   If they lost the battle they would still have 3 days supplies, but they would only have Corunna to resupply.  And that depot only receives one days supplies each campaign day.

End of Santiago Campaign

Campaign phases in Northern Spain

This was the seventh campaign phase set in Northern Spain.   It was the fourth victory for Wellington.

You can see from the map where each phase took place, the sequence of the campaign and who won.

Each campaign phase is stand alone, casualties are not carried forward from one phase to the next. 

The overall 1813 campaign is a framework for the phases, which in turn are a means of creating interesting wargames to fight.    The flow of the campaign does follow from who won the last phase.   But it is more important to fight each phase in a new location, than to follow too closely the result of the last campaign phase.

Battles fought in Northern Spain

During the Santiago phase there were six battles fought.  The British won 3 and the French also won 3.

Since the start of this campaign there have been 36 battles fought in Northern Spain.   The British won 20, the French won 15 and there was 1 draw.

Campaign phases in Europe

This map shows the current 32 phases fought throughout Europe

If there are any who have followed my 1813 campaign since it stated back in April 2009 they may well be confused that there are only 32 phases.  In particular anyone who took part in the PBEM campaign may not be able to find the phases they took part in.

This is because there have actually been five different parts of the non-stop campaign:

First was a Solo campaign from April 2009 to October 2009

Second a PBEM campaign from October 2009 to July 2013

Third a PBEM campaign from July 2013 to March 2015

Fourth a PBEM campaign from March 2015 to February 2016

Fifth a Solo campaign from February 2016 to date

During that period there was actually 75 campaign phases!

The reason for these different parts of the same campaign is that is have constantly evolved and changed to incorporate new idea and in particular new maps.

For example the third campaign moved into 1814 and the campaign in France.   This was an experiment which lasted for a year.  

The fourth campaign was back in 1813, and the clock turned back to April.   This was a PBEM campaign, and when I changed it back to a Solo campaign I had an armistice to rearrange the map again.   The current stats deal with the fourth and fifth campaign.

Quite complicated, but it was necessary to deal with the changing circumstances.  I have never hesitated to take liberties with the overall 1813 campaign.  I have always considered it a framework for the campaign phases.   It is the phases themselves which are important, because they produce the battles which are fought as wargames.

So another campaign phase comes to an end.   You would think after almost eleven years I would be getting bored with it all.  But to be honest I am really looking forward to the next phase.

Santiago Campaign – Day 12

Campaign Map on 30 October 1813

7^th and 16^th corps retreat to Oviedo

Both are now out of supply, and will lose attrition casualties until they resupply

There are only 5 days supplies at Oviedo, but that is sufficient for them to regroup

It will however take some days before either are operational again

Their retreat in the north also force 8^th and reserve corps to retreat to Lugo

Both are low on supplies (two days each) and there is only one day at Lugo

They will have to continue their retreat to Astorga, and resupply from Sanabria

The French retreat allows guerrilla bands to occupy both Ribadeo and Santiago

Wellington’s army is also running short of supplies (two days each)

But he is much closer to his supply depots, and will be fully supplied within two days

This will allow him to move on to the offensive

Soult is well aware of his desperate situation, he orders a general retreat.

Campaign Notes         

It was interesting to see how the French managed to lose the campaign, despite making most progress through the campaign.    They managed to push Wellington into a small area between Santiago and Ourense.   One more victory would have sent the British back into Portugal.

However it was extremely difficult for the French to concentrate against such a good defensive position.  

This was largely due to the supply system, and the luck of the Spanish guerrilla in disrupting it.   If the French could have concentrated and regrouped at Corunna and Lugo they could have routed the British.   But it proved too large an area, and too many and much too long supply lines

It is also interesting to note that both 4^th British corps at Ourense, and 13^th Polish corps at Ponferrada took no active part in the campaign at all.   Yet they played a vital role in the eventual victory.

Ourense commands the vital road to Portugal, along which all supplies must move.   It had to be held by a strong corps, which meant that 4^th corps could not be used to support the main army.   It might have been replaced by a corps which had suffered heavy casualties, for example 2^nd British corps.   But that would have invited an attack by the Polish corps over the river Minio.   Had they taken Ourense that would have been the end of the campaign.   Worse still Wellington would have had to retreat to Corunna to save his army (sound familiar?)

I am very pleased with how this campaign went.   It was uncertain right up to the last  battle, which could just as easily have been won by the French as the British.  The Spanish guerrilla again played a vital role in the campaign.  Not because they were a formidable enemy, but because they could not be ignored.   It was sometimes tempting to do so, but that was when they then rolled a 6 and captured Astorga.  

                                          

Santiago Campaign – Day 11

Campaign Map on 29 October 1813

8^th French corps occupy Santiago and secure depot and three days supplies

Ourense is now the main British depot

9^th militia (guerrilla) occupy Astorga with its three days supplies

They ransack the town and burn all official buildings

Sanabria is now the main French depot

10^th French brigade (the ex garrison of Astorga) rout towards Oviedo

They are ambushed by 5^th militia (guerrilla) as they near the town

They try to surrender after a brief fight, but all are killed

Wellington is faced with a choice

He can either move south and retake Santiago

Or he can continue to attack in the north before the French can recover

He decides to abandon his lines of supply and attack Ribadeo

1^st and 3^rd British corps attack Ribadeo, both are well supplied

The town is defended by 7^th and 16^th French corps, who are both short of supplies

Battle of Ribadeo

Both armies start the battle with previous battle casualties.

This leaves them both with fragile morale

Wellington takes command of both corps artillery, and deploys them in the centre

The remainder of his army are kept in reserve out of artillery range of the French

He concentrates his artillery on the nearest French infantry brigade

They already have casualties, and are soon shaken

He moves his artillery to the next infantry brigade

Again they have casualties, and soon break and run

This causes the shaken infantry to test morale, they fail and also rout

This in turn has the same effect on the nearby dragoon brigade

With his centre in rout Soult orders his flanks to withdraw

Campaign Notes

Wellington took a risk in ordering an attack

The French has longer range 12 pounder artillery

And he could easily have suffered the same fate as Soult

However he was lucky, and he rolled better dice!

Both of the French corps started the battle with just two days supplies

The compulsory retreat will leave them out of supply

They will have to retreat, and accept attrition casualties, until they can resupply

The retreat will allow the Spanish guerrilla to retake Ribadeo and its depot

They already occupy Astorga, and control the French rear area

8^th corps and the French reserve have occupied Santiago

But they are now very exposed to attack from both north and south

The situation of the French army is desperate.