Wargame Rules – Morale

I have felt for some time that our current morale rules make it too easy to pass when casualties are received.

They are decided by 1D6, plus or minus from a short chart.  The most important plus is 1 for a general within 4” and the same for a formed brigade in support.   The most important minus is 1 for C class troops and for each casualty.   The current morale chart is:

3 or more – pass test

1 or 2 – fail and shaken

0 or less – fail and rout

In general most brigades pass test with 1 or 2 casualties.    When they lose 3 casualties they automatically rout.   This usually results in melee lasting at least three rounds, when both sides often rout with 3 casualties.

I wanted to provide a wider range of possibilities.   First to reduce the number of rounds of melee, but also to introduce more uncertainty into the game in general. 

The new rules are also decided by 1D6, plus or minus from the same chart.   The new morale chart is:

6 – past test

5 – pass test

4 – fail and disordered

3 – fail and disordered and retreat full move

2 – fail and shaken and retreat full move

1 – fail and rout full move

Disordered - rallied automatically at the start of their next move

Shaken - has to rally by passing morale test next move

Rout - causes brigades within 4” to test morale

 

We have only used these new rules in one wargame, and the result has been dramatic.

First brigades are more likely to rout

Second they are quite likely to retreat either disordered or shaken

 

Trained brigades with no casualties almost always rally next move

But it does cause considerable disruption for the defending player

And it can cause delay for the attacking player

 

I am not sure how much I like these new morale rules

It does reduce the number of melee considerably

And I quite like the unforeseen consequences of a low dice throw

But I am not sure whether either of us like being the one who rolls the low dice

It will take a few games to confirm whether the balance is right

And it has given me a project until we start hill walking again in September.

Talavera Campaign – Day 2

Campaign Map

In the north the French attack Villacastin

Guerrilla attack a convoy from El Casar to Segovia

They are driven off with light casualties, supplies delivered to Segovia

 

In the centre 2^nd Anglo-Spanish army concentrate at Maqueda

Guerrilla also attack a convoy from Madrid to Mostoles

They are also repulsed with light casualties and the supplies delivered to Mostoles.

 

In the south the French occupy San Martin

3^rd Anglo-Spanish army retreat to Torrecilla

A third guerrilla group attack a convoy from Valdemoro to Carranque

They suffer heavy casualties and again the convoy arrives safely at Carranque

 

The Guerrilla take advantage of the French advance to attack their lines of supply.

However all three attacks fail, and the Spanish suffer casualties

All three convoys arrive safely and without any casualties

Battle of Villacastin

The town of Villacastin is situated on a crossroads in a valley with mountains to the east and west, it is occupied by 7^th Spanish corps.    1^st and 2^nd British corps occupy the high ground to the west.

 

General Vandermaesen has orders to take the town.  To do so he has two French and one Polish corps.   He has high ground to cross in order to reach the town  On his left 13^th Polish corps must cross a large hill.   29^th French corps must advance through the pass in the centre.   28^th French corps has open ground, but dominated by a farm.

End of battle

This was a costly battle for both armies.  

The Poles bore the brunt of the fighting.   By nightfall three of their six brigades were in rout.   1^st British corps also lost heavy casualties, and also had three brigades in rout.

On the opposite flank 28^th French corps were expected to be the main attack, due to the open ground.  However neither side could gain an advantage and at nightfall the French attack was called off.

General Vandermaesen created a reserve from half of the Polish corps, including their artillery.   He supported 29^th French corps and their attack on Villacastin until their infantry stormed the town.  He then redirected the reserve to support the Polish attack on the left.   The French took the town, and held it despite a determined counter attack by the British.

At nightfall both sides have six brigades in rout and have suffered heavy casualties.   But the French take the town and win the battle.  

Comments

The Spanish guerrilla made an early appearance in this campaign.   Providing there are no French corps within two squares they are allowed to attack either convoys or garrisons.   These engagements are decided by a simple dice throw as follows:

01 guerrilla rout with 30% casualties

02 guerrilla rout with 20% casualties

03 guerrilla rout with 10% casualties

04 guerrilla capture supplies, escort no casualties

05 guerrilla capture supplies, escort 10% casualties

06 guerrilla capture supplies, escort 20% casualties

 

The guerrilla were particularly unlucky with dice rolls of 3, 3 and 1

The new rules allow for a fast moving, and unpredictable, game.   However it would appear that hand to hand fighting does tend to be prolonged, often lasting two or three moves.   This is because at the end of each phase any brigade which received casualties has to test their morale.   Usually both sides receive casualties, and both sides pass their morale test.   There is no reward for breaking off the melee and retreating, so both sides continue until one side, or both, rout.   A brigade with three casualties automatically routs, causing friendly brigades within 4” to also test their morale.

I will have to look at both the melee and morale rules to see if I can solve this problem.

Talavera Campaign – Day 1

Campaign Map

The start of the Talavera campaign on a complicated looking campaign map.   Three French armies on the right, three Anglo-Spanish armies on the left.   French garrisons and supply trains on the left (blue), plus Spanish guerrilla bands (yellow).   The campaign opens with the French attack on San Martin (centre bottom).

Battle of San Martin

Spanish corps occupy the walled town of San Martin in the centre.   British corps in reserve on the left and right.   Three French corps will arrive bottom of table at the start of move 1.

A walled town adds plus 1 to the garrison for melee and firing casualties.   This makes it a very tough nut to crack for the attacking army, and usually means it is left until the end, with the main attack on the corps either side.   However in this case it is held by the Spanish, who are the weak link in Wellington’s army.   They can melee OK, but not skirmish, so they have no reply to French skirmish fire.   However they do have plus 1 for morale, so are hard to “wear down”.

End of battle

The Polish lancers lost the cavalry melee early in the game, which prevented the Vistula legion from pressing home their attack.   Officially a draw, but really a British victory.

Very interesting fight for San Martin.   It took 8 moves for the French to take the left hand section of the town, only to lose it again on move 9 to a Spanish counter attack.  However the whole town was taken on move 10 by a determined (and lucky) French attack on both town sections.

Convincing French victory on the right.   The French cavalry also lost the melee on this flank, but the French artillery were more effective and softened up the British infantry for the French attack.   Two French brigades routed, but all six British brigades routed.  

Comments

The key to the battle was San Martin.   The Spanish put their two best infantry brigades into the town and the remaining two brigades in reserve.   Artillery were on the left and cavalry on the right.   The artillery proved ineffective and were soon forced to withdraw.   The cavalry were routed, but rallied again – however too late to take any further part in the battle.   The French were free to send their infantry forward to attack the town.

By move 4, the four French infantry brigades were firing on the garrison.  In the new rules only skirmish fire is allowed, and C class skirmishers were ineffective.   The Spanish infantry were all C class, and one of the four French brigades.   Because of wall around the town, the French skirmishers required a roll of 6, with 1D6.   The French artillery also required a roll of 6, with 1D6.   So each move the French had four opportunities to hit the garrison.  

On the left they caused two casualties by move 8 and took the left town section by storm.   They had caused no casualties to the garrison of the right town section.   On move 9 a Spanish counter attack routed the French brigade.   It looked like the Anglo-Spanish would win the game.   But on move 12 the final French attack took the right side of the town and the garrison of the left side failed their morale and also routed.

I am very pleased with this wargame.   It has proved that the Spanish can hold their own, providing that they are given an easy to defend position.   It also proved that the British and French were equal in combat ability.  The British had held on the left, but lost on the right.

As always the whole thing depends on the luck of the dice.   But this felt like a really even handed game, where either side could win.   At the start of move 10 it seemed very likely that the French would lose.   At the end of move 12 it was clear that they had won.

Talavera Campaign – British Order of Battle

1 British corps

One of the most important principles of our 1813 campaign is that all ten armies should be evenly balanced in their combat effectiveness to ensure that both wargamers have a level playing field.  This is to say that neither side should have a wargame army that is very likely to win most, in not all, wargames.

There are five campaign areas in the 1813 campaign.   In northern Europe there are three French, one Prussian, one Russian and one Austrian.   By 1813 all of these armies were more or less equal.   The Russian campaign had destroyed the “old” French army.   Most of their replacements were newly recruited conscripts.   I have used artistic licence to redress the lack of French cavalry.   So all six armies have equal numbers of infantry, cavalry and artillery.  And each have a national strength and weakness.   For example the Russians have good artillery but poor skirmishers.

2 British corps

However Spain is a problem if I want to maintain any semblance of historical ability.   Wellington won all of his formal field battles.   The Spanish lost all of theirs.   There are lots of reasons why this was so, and none of them help me to achieve balanced wargame armies.  

Wellington’s army was Anglo-Portuguese.   By 1813 his regular Portuguese brigades were considered good enough to fight alongside his British brigades.   However in my campaign they are mostly C class.   There is one Portuguese brigade and three British brigades in each corps.   The British are either A or B class.

This would normally be sufficient to balance the combat ability of the French and British corps.   However in Spain the French also have the added burden of their supply lines and Spanish guerrilla activity.   This requires the French to detach brigades to guard their lines of supply.   It also disrupts their ability to maintain a constant supply to their forward corps, and can cause them to abandon their advance to sort out the rear area.   This is all historically correct, but it makes it difficult for the French to win a campaign based on wargames rather than real battles.

3 Spanish corps

The British and Spanish each have three armies of three corps each.

As an experiment I have removed one British corps in each army, and replaced it with a Spanish corps.   Two infantry brigades are B class, the remaining two are C. All four are C class firing and skirmish.  The cavalry and artillery are also C class, but they have 12 pdr guns which are superior to most of the French.

I think I can get away with this on historical grounds.   In the latter part of the Peninsular War Wellington was appointed as Commander in Chief of the Spanish armies.   He found this more of a disadvantage than an asset.   In fact his Spanish troops behaved so badly when he invaded France in 1814 that he sent them back into Spain!     

The intention is that the Spanish corps will be a permanent problem for the British wargamer.   It will be one third of his wargame army, far too big to be ignored.  It will have to fill one third of the battle line in each battle, and will always be a weak spot.  

However I don’t want the British player to lose every battle, so we will have to see whether this is too much of a disadvantage.   We can only do so by play testing it on the table.   By the end of the Talavera campaign we should be able to confirm whether it is a temporary error or should be a permanent feature.  

Talavera Campaign Phase

Map of Europe

As I explained previously, the 1813 campaign has continued uninterrupted as we play tested the new wargame rules.   We devoted the Bayreuth campaign phase to that project.   We have completed the play test and the rules have replaced our previous wargame rules.

The next campaign phase will be set in northern Spain and feature Talavera.    Most of you will be aware that this is not a refight of the historical battle on 28 July 1809.   No attempt has been made to recreate the historical orders of battle or the terrain it was fought in.

This will be the 88^th campaign phase since the campaign began in 2009.   It will be the 14^th in the sixth revision which started in 2020.

The campaign map shows battles fought in the sixth revision.   Talavera is the white star.   Each square is approximately 30x30 miles, is a military region and the area of a campaign phase.

Map of Spain

This map shows the military regions in Spain.   British v French in the northern half, Spanish v French in the southern half.  Talavera is the white star.  The other stars record which army won the previous five campaigns fought during the sixth revision. Each square on this map is approximately 10x10 miles and is a military district.   Each square is also a wargames table.

Madrid Region

This is a more detailed map of the Madrid region.   It shows major towns, main roads, rivers and mountain ranges.   This is used for strategic planning, and to decide what sort of terrain each campaign phase should have.   For example in the Talavera campaign the river Tagus flows between Talavera and Madrid.   The north of the river there is a mountain range, but flat ground south of the river

Talavera Campaign Map

Note that this map does not show the entire Talavera district.   It shows the area between Talavera and Madrid, with the district border in the centre of the map.  This is because the French are attacking Talavera.   The French base and main depot is at Madrid.   This will be subject to attack by Spanish guerrillas during the campaign.   Each square on this map is also a 2x2 foot square on the wargames table.  This map shows all of the terrain which will appear on the table, including towns, villages, farms, woods and small hills.  This map is used to create the wargames table and transfer a campaign battle to a wargame.

General

The new wargame rules have upset the balance between the national armies, and particularly between the British and French in northern Spain.   All armies in the campaign are designed to have national combat advantages and disadvantages.  For example Russian armies have more effective artillery, but less effective skirmish ability.   The aim is to make both armies more or less equal in combat ability, but require the wargamer to make use of their strengths, but guard against their weakness.   Nowhere is this truer than in Spain.   I am currently working on an order of battle which will balance the historical strength of the British army against the less effective French.  

More about this next time.

Wargame Rules Review – Bayreuth Campaign

Bayreuth Campaign Map

Over the past sixteen weeks I have used the Bayreuth Campaign Phase of our 1813 campaign to play test the new rules.   Rather than set up one off wargames, I have run the Bayreuth campaign as a normal phase of the ongoing campaign.   Bayreuth was the next campaign due to be run, and it has in no way affected the running of the campaign on the computer.  

In fact I planned this when I first decided to rewrite the wargame rules.   In March 2023 I started work on a new set of rules.   At that time I was nearing the end of the Merida Campaign Phase of the campaign.   I expected that it would take at least weeks, and possibly months, to write and play test a new set of rules.   So rather than put the campaign on hold, I decided to use the battles from the next phase to wargame the new rules.  

When I started work on the campaign map for Bayreuth I took care to ensure that as wide a variety of terrain as possible was available.   This is quite normal because the regional map, in this case Erfurt, only shows major terrain features such as roads, rivers and cities.   These are transferred to the district map, which is the one used for the campaign.  

On the campaign map I have freedom to choose where to put hills, woods, villages and farms.   It is these minor terrain features which determine the wargames table and the flow of play. 

The rules worked well playing the wargames provided by the Bayreuth campaign.   There was no need for any major rewrite.   It was only during repeated Wargaming that I could determine how well firing, melee and morale worked.   For example in this campaign the French had a big advantage when skirmishing.   This is because the Russian infantry have good morale, average musket fire but poor skirmish ability.   The French infantry would move to skirmish range (4” from the enemy) and skirmish.   The Russians would then have to advance to musket range (2” from enemy) where they would be on a par with the French musket ability.

On the other hand the Russians have very effective artillery.   I have simplified artillery fire so that all guns have a maximum range of 12”, which is the same distance as cavalry charge range.   In counter battery fire guns need to roll 6 at long range, or 5 or 6 at short range.   However 12 pdr guns have plus 1.   6 pdr guns have minus 1.   9 pdr guns fire par.   The Russians have 2x12 pdr and 1x9 pdr guns.  The French have 1x12 pdr and 2x9 pdr.   It does not sound like a big advantage, but on the table it often proved decisive.   As the French advanced the Russian artillery always got at least one chance to fire before they could unlimber.   One hit would reduce the French fire ability by minus 1.

These changes were deliberate, but they still took a little getting used to in the fast ebb and flow of a wargame.   Cavalry was used to threaten enemy artillery, or at least force them to redeploy to counter the cavalry.   For example if the French artillery were deployed on the left of the corps, the cavalry were placed on the right. The Russian guns could not cover both targets.   They could, of course, use their own cavalry to counter the French horsemen.     But half of the Russian cavalry were Cossacks, who were at a disadvantage against the better trained French horsemen.  These were factors which had to be taken into account before the game started, and would take a little time to adjust to.

There was only one major change in the rules.   All combat is decided by using 1D6 dice, plus or minus factors such as casualties, training, supports etc.   The side with the highest total would be the winner, the other the loser.   This was my first draft:

Total 1          Winner lose 2 casualties    Loser lose no casualty

Total 2-5       Winner lose 1 casualty       Loser lose 1 casualty   

Total 6          Winner lose no casualty     Loser lose 2 casualty

I quickly found that this gave too much advantage to a roll of 1 or 6.   The side who lost the two casualties would often fail their morale and rout.   The winner would have no casualties and could continue to attack.   This gave winning cavalry in particular a very strong advantage.

I only have to make a minor change to remedy this unexpected result.   The second draft was:

Total 1 or 2   Winner lose 1 casualty       Loser lose no casualty

Total 3 or 4   Winner lose 1 casualty       Loser lose 1 casualty

Total 5 or 6   Winner lose no casualty     Loser lose 1 casualty

This still gave a decided advantage to the side that rolled 6, but it still gave the losing side a reasonable chance of winning the resulting melee check.

I am still working on towns, and particularly walled towns.   I am looking at different options to either storm or lay siege.   At present sieges are a paper (or rather computer) exercise.   The garrison can hold for as many days as they have supplies.   But this is often 2 or 3 days, which is a long time is the usual 6 or 7 day campaign.   I would prefer the storm option, but getting the balance right between attacker and defender is difficult, particularly with the high or low dice throw problem

But I am confident enough to have replaced the printed rules with the new ones.

Wargame Rules Review – Seventh Wargame

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 10^th (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 1^st 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.