On Thursday afternoon Professor Gary Sheffield and I were able to fight the second and third battles of this campaign online via Skype. On this occasion he took command of the French (as General Lucas in the first battle and General Dupont in the second battle) and I commanded the Prussians (as General von Kluck in the first battle and General Lettow in the second battle). We used the revised draft of my FP3x3NapPW rules and fought the battle on a 3 x 3 grid of 6-inch squares.
Situation
Two French divisions (1st and Imperial Guard Divisions) had crossed the northern frontier between France and Prussia. They were faced respectively by two Prussian divisions (1st and Guard Divisions).
The southernmost French force was the Imperial Guard Division. It was commanded by General Dupont and comprised:
- 1st Guard Grenadiers (Elite)
- 2nd Guard Grenadiers (Elite)
- 1st Guard Chasseurs (Elite)
- 2nd Guard Chasseurs (Elite)
- Guard Horse Artillery (Elite)
- Guard Lancers (Elite)
The Prussian force was the Guard Division. It was commanded by General Lettow and comprised:
- 1st Guard Infantry (Elite)
- 2nd Guard Infantry (Elite)
- 3rd Guard Infantry (Elite)
- 4th Guard Infantry (Elite)
- Guard Artillery (Elite)
- Guard Dragoons (Elite)
The Terrain
The French Reserve Area was on the left of the map and the Prussian Reserve Area was on the right.
The Battle of the Northern Frontier: The southernmost battle
Initial positions
General Lettow deployed his entire force on the battlefield. In the centre he placed himself alongside the Prussian artillery and cavalry units, and placed two infantry units on either flank.
In response, General Dupont deployed a double-strength column of infantry unit on his left flank, an infantry unit in the centre, and his artillery and a further infantry unit on the hill on his right flank. He kept his remaining troops (a cavalry unit) in the French Reserve Area.
Turn 1
The French attack began with the French artillery unit firing at the foremost right-hand Prussian infantry unit ... which it hit, causing the loss of 1 SP.
The column of French infantry moved forward towards the already-weakened foremost right-hand Prussian infantry unit, whilst the other two French infantry units advanced towards the Prussian positions.
The Prussian artillery unit fired at the French infantry unit directly in front of them, and caused them to lose 1 SP.
This was followed up be the Prussian cavalry unit charging the French infantry unit in the centre ... but they were effectively beaten off with the loss of 1 SP.
The foremost left-hand Prussian infantry unit moved into the wood to fight the French infantry unit that was in there, but they lost the encounter and were forced to fall back.
Turn 2
The French artillery unit fired at the Prussian artillery unit and missed. The column of French Infantry advanced into contact with the weakened foremost right-hand Prussian infantry unit and destroyed it!
In the centre the French infantry unit continued its fight with the Prussian cavalry unit, and was forced to withdraw.
The French infantry unit in the woods fired at the foremost Prussian infantry unit, but their fire was ineffective.
The Prussian cavalry unit withdrew to the Prussian Reserve Area to regroup and recover. This enabled the Prussian artillery unit to fire at the French infantry unit in front of them, but unfortunately they missed.
Turn 3
The Prussian artillery unit fired at the French artillery unit and caused it to lose 1 SP.
The right-hand Prussian infantry unit charged the column of French infantry, and forced them to fall back.
Once again, the foremast Prussian infantry unit attempted to dislodge the French infantry unit in the wood ... and failed yet again and was forced to retreat.
The column of French infantry took the opportunity to regroup and recover before making any further attacks.
The French artillery unit fired at the Prussian artillery unit, with the result that the Prussian artillery unit lost 1 SP and General Lettow was killed!
The French infantry unit in the wood fired at the foremost left-hand Prussian infantry unit, and inflicted the loss of 1 SP.
Turn 4
The French column of infantry charged forward and engaged the right-hand Prussian infantry unit, causing it to lose 1 SP and to fall back into the Prussian Reserve Area.
The French artillery unit fired at the Prussian artillery unit, but missed it.
At this point, the French cavalry unit moved onto the battlefield, and the French infantry unit in the wood fired at the foremost left-hand Prussian infantry unit, but to no effect.
Fearing that the French were about to win the battle, the Prussian cavalry unit charged out of the Prussian Reserve Area and engaged the French column of infantry. Unfortunately, they were already weakened by earlier losses, and were destroyed in the process, leaving the column of French infantry in a position to move into the Prussian Reserve Area once they had regrouped and recovered.
At this point it was obvious that the French had won the battle, and the remains of the leaderless Prussian Guard Division withdrew.
The Prussian position was not good. They had lost a further 10 SPs and had the French had only lost 4 SPs. When combined with losses in the other battle that was fought, the Prussians had lost a total of 18 SPs (the equivalent of an entire division!) whereas the French had only lost 5 SPs.
Afterthoughts
It was obvious that the use of large columns of determine infantry was a battle winner, even when their opponents were Elite troops. As a result, the rules need to be revised slightly to reduce the advantage such columns currently enjoy, but to ensure that when properly combined with artillery and cavalry attacks, they should be able to overcome almost all enemy units they engage in combat.
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Bob,
ReplyDeleteAnother interesting battle report on a game with your FP3x3NapPW rules, which I look forward to seeing very much.
I hope you won't mind if I make a comment about the style in which you write these reports? IMHO the report, and hence the game itself, would seem more like an engagement between opposing divisions if you referred to troops by their unit designations, rather than simply as "the foremost right-hand Prussian unit" &c.. I find that usage tends to create an impression of nippy little battalions of toy soldiers, rather than the larger formations.
Strictly speaking, the Prussian force would be called a Brigade as they had been forbidden to have divisions by the French.
Best wishes,
Arthur
Arthur1815 (Arthur),
DeleteI hope to send you a draft of the rules later today.
I take your point about naming the various units during the battle report, and will try to do that in any future ones. The problem is that when I am trying to fight a battle online, record what is happening, and take photos, I don't always have time to record every detail.
In my Napoleonic rules, I have tried to use consistent names for my formations, and have termed the Prussian brigades as divisions so that readers are not confused by the apparent disparity of formation sizes. Likewise, I have given each division a unit of cavalry that I have termed a regiment, even though I know that this is not necessarily historically correct.
All the best,
Bob
Bob,
ReplyDeleteThank you, I've just received the draft FP3x3NapPW rules. I understand your point about not confusing readers, and it does make sense for those not familiar with the historical terminology. Today on TMP someone was asking what the first number meant when referring to units such as the 5/60th Foot!
For me, using period terms helps to create a sense of the historical era that can seem lacking when a game has very stylised, simple rules. It's also the reason I like to add detail about the injuries (or close shaves) experienced by the commander and his entourage, as you will see in due course.
Best wishes,
Arthur
Arthur1815 (Arthur),
DeleteI hope to put all the battle reports together into a book, along with a copy of the map and the tabletop and campaign rules. If I do, I’ll rewrite the battle reports to include the unit designations as I have the ORBATs and photos to help me.
All the best,
Bob
Bob,
DeletePut me down for a copy!
May I make another suggestion? Readers will find it easier to follow the action if formations on opposing sides don't have the same number in their title. So, avoid having the 1st French Division (or Brigade or Regiment) face the 1st Prussian equivalent. Or you could use Roman numerals for one side, so readers can tell easily which is which - a technique often used in books.
Best wishes,
Arthur
Arthur1815 (Arthur),
DeletePerhaps the best was forward is for me to adopt the German method of numbering using a full stop after the number (e.g. 1st Infantry Division becomes 1. Infanterie-Division) This would avoid me having to redo the entirety of the existing text.
All the best,
Bob
Really enjoying your Campaign and Battle reports Bob and I like the idea of a write up in book form.
ReplyDeleteMaudlin Jack Tar,
DeleteCheers! Judging by what’s happened so far, there’s plenty more to come.
My other two campaign books seemed to sell well, so this would make a great addition.
All the best,
Bob
Another interesting battle, but the life expectancy of Prussian generals is distressingly low. How are you handling unit activations for armies whose general has been killed? I use the initiative roll for the number of units that may move, but make an army without a general roll twice and take the lowest result.
ReplyDeleteMark Cordone,
DeleteAs my opponent would tell you, I have had some appalling runs of bad dice results, hence the death of two Prussian generals in two battles!
I like the idea of using the lower of two activation dice scores for armies without a general and will probably incorporate it in the next draft of the rules.
All the best,
Bob
BOB,
ReplyDeleteI could indeed see this type of game suiting 6mm Armies with the space required for battle being very tiny by comparison. Stay well there in London. Cheers. KEV.
Kev Robertson (Kev),
DeleteThe figures we used in this game were 25/28mm, the terrain was made up from nine 6-inch squares, and my figures bases were 50mm wide. If I scaled everything down by 50% and used 3-inch squares and 25mm wide bases, I could use loads of 6mm on each base and still have a game that can be played on a tea tray.
Keep safe and keep well,
Bob