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Thursday 1 September 2022

The Franco-Prussian War of 1810: 15th March to 7th April 1810

The battles (the Battles of the Northern Frontier) between the French Imperial Guard and 1st Divisions and Prussian Guard and 1st Divisions had been fought. Both the Prussian Divisions were beaten and suffered the loss of 8 SPs and 10 SPs respectively. The French Divisions lost 1 SP and 4 SPs respectively.

As a result of the Battles of the Northern Frontier, the Prussian Guard Division fell back to O6 and the Prussian 1st Division fell back to N4

The French Imperial Guard Division recovered 1 SP from the French Replacement Pool, which now now stood at 42 SPs. The division had returned to full strength. The French 1st Division recovered 2 SPs from the French Replacement Pool, which now stood at 40 SPs.

The Prussian Guard Division recovered 3 SPs from the Prussian Replacement Pool, which now stood at 45 SPs. The Prussian 1st Division recovered 4 SPs from the Prussian Replacement Pool, which now stood at 41 SPs.

Turn 8: Thursday 15th March/Friday 16th March 1810

  • Black 8: Prussians moved 1st to O4 (1)
  • Black 10: Prussians moved G to P6 (1)
  • Black 10: Prussians moved G to Q6 (1)

Turn 9: Saturday 17th March/Sunday 18th March 1810

  • Red Queen: French moved IG to O7 (3)
  • Black Ace: Prussians moved 2nd to N10 (1), 3rd to S8 (1), 4th to S5 (1), and G to R6 (1)
  • Red 5: French moved 3rd to I9 (1)

The French 1st Division recovered 1 SP from the French Replacement Pool, which now stood at 39 SPs.

The Prussian Guard Division recovered 3 SPs from the Prussian Replacement Poll, which now stood at 38 SPs. The Prussian 1st Division recovered 3 SPs from the Prussian Replacement Pool, which now stood at 35 SPs.

Turn 10: Monday 19th March/Sunday 20th March 1810

  • Red 8: French moved 4th to K11 (1)
  • Black 2: Prussians moved G to R5 (1)
  • Black King: Prussians moved 2nd to P8 (4) and G to R4 (1)

Turn 11: Tuesday 21st March/Wednesday 22nd March 1810

  • Black 5: Prussians moved 3rd to R8 (1)
  • Black 9: Prussians moved 3rd to Q8 (1)
  • Red 3: French moved 1st to N5 (1)

The French 1st Division recovered 1 SP from the French Replacement Pool, which now stood at 38 SPs. The division had returned to full strength.

The Prussian Guard Division recovered 2 SPs from the Prussian Replacement Poll, which now stood at 35 SPs. The Prussian 1st Division recovered 3 SPs from the Prussian Replacement Pool, which now stood at 32 SPs. Both divisions had returned to full strength.

Turn 12: Thursday 23rd March/Friday 24th March 1810

  • Black 6: Prussians moved 3rd to Q9 (1)
  • Red Ace: French moved IG to O6 (1), 2nd to K10 (1), 3rd to I10 (1), and 4th to L11 (1)
  • Red 4: French moved IG to P6 (1)

Turn 13: Saturday 25th March/Sunday 26th March 1810

  • Black 7: Prussians moved G to S4 (1)
  • Black 8: Prussians moved 4th to R5 (1)
  • Red 5: French moved 2nd to L10 (1)

Turn 14: Monday 27th March/Tuesday 28th March 1810

  • Black Joker: A D6 die score of 2 meant that the Prussians could not move any more of their formations for four game turns (i.e., until Turn 19)
  • Red 8: French moved 2nd to M10 (1)
  • Red 7: French moved 3rd to J10 (1)

Turn 15: Wednesday 29th March/Thursday 30th March 1810

  • Red 9: French move 4th to M11 (1)
  • Red 3: French moved 3rd to K10 (1)
  • Red 4: French moved 2nd to N10 (1)

Turn 16: Friday 31st March/Saturday 1st April 1810

As it is the end of a month, both sides received recruits to their Replacement Pools. The French received 6 SPs (2D6 scores of 3 and 3) and the Prussians received 4 SPs (2D6 scores of 2 and 2). The French Replacement Pool now stood at 44 SPs (38 + 6 = 44) and the Prussian Replacement Pool now stood at 36 SPs (32 + 4 = 36).

  • Black Jack: Discarded
  • Black 5: Discarded
  • Black 7: Discarded

Turn 17: Sunday 2nd April/Monday 3rd April 1810

  • Red 2: French moved 3rd to L10
  • Red Joker: A D6 die score of 4 meant that the French could not move any more of their formations for one game turn (i.e., until Turn 19)
  • Black 3: Discarded

Turn 18: Tuesday 4th April/Wednesday 5th April 1810

  • Black 6: Discarded
  • Black 2: Discarded
  • Red Queen: Discarded

At this point, all the playing cards had been turned over and the pack was shuffled.

Turn 19: Thursday 6th April/Friday 7th April 1810

  • Red King: French moved 3rd to N8 (4) and 4th to N11 (1)
  • Red 8: French moved 2nd to N9 (1)
  • Black Jack: Prussians moved 3rd to O9 (2)

The Prussian 3rd Division had moved into a square that was adjacent to that occupied by the French 2nd Division and were attacked by them.

8 comments:

  1. Wow! All the French forces are over the border - very aggressive!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maudlin Jack Tar,

      I am now expecting a flurry of battles to take place ... as and when I can fight them!

      All the best,

      Bob

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  2. Hi Bob

    I like the maps, very easy to follow the flow of the battle.
    I find it more difficult to follow the SPs and card system
    This is no reflection on your rules, I always find it difficult to master new rules without playing a few games with them

    I look forward to seeing your battle reports

    Glad to see you have made so much progress so quickly.

    regards

    Paul

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thistlebarrow (Paul),

      The SPs are the values allocated to a unit, thus:
      Infantry regiment: 3 SPs
      Cavalry regiment: 2 SPs
      Artillery regiment: 2 SPs
      General: 2 SPs
      During a battle, a unit can lose its SPs as a result of combat. When all it’s SPs are gone, the unit is destroyed.

      During the campaign, they can regain their SPs from the Replacement Pool, 1/3rd straight away, 1/3rd after six card turns, and the remaining 1/3rd after twelve card turns.

      The Replacement Pool is topped up at the end of each month by 2D6 SPs … which means that over time, a nation’s ability to fight is gradually degraded.

      The card turns are a very simple way to randomise which side can move units and how many units it can move. I’ve used it before for Colonial campaigns and have adapted it for this one. Give it a go and you’ll see how simple and easy it is to use.

      I hope that explains it.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
    2. Hi Bob

      Thanks for the explanation.

      It sounds like a simple, but effective, way to run a solo campaign.

      And it moves at quite a pace too.

      best regards

      Paul

      Delete
    3. Thistlebarrow (Paul),

      I'm pleased that my explanation was enlightening. Sometimes it is very easy to design a mechanism or set of rules that contains assumptions that the designers sees as obvious, but that are not to someone else.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  3. Bob -
    Hard lines for the Prussians when that black Joker turned up! At that point I thought the French had got themselves into an unpleasant looking strategic position - La Garde and 1st Division somewhat isolated and surrounded - the other 3 divisions rather far off... By 7 April the strategic balance appears to be on the French side - marginally...

    Interesting campaign this!
    Cheers,
    Ion

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Archduke Piccolo (Ion),

      The card-driven move mechanism throws up interesting situations, and the Jokers can really switch the initiative from one side to the other …which is great if you are running a solo campaign. It certainly looked as if things were moving in Prussia’s favour, but now the initiative seems to have switched to the French.

      The next battle could be very important to the course of the campaign. If the French can effectively destroy the Prussian 3rd Division, they could end up being able to threaten to besiege Leipzig. The Prussians would then have to decide whether to protect Berlin or move to counter the threat to Leipzig. A difficult to choice to make!

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete

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