This past Saturday, October 6th, we had a spectacular Snappy Nappy Campaign in a Day event, held once again at the superb gaming store, The Portal, in Manchester, CT. The GM, Michael Seibert, outdid himself. Here is the background on the campaign as prepared by by GM Mike:
SPRING 1813 AND THE LEAD UP TO THE BATTLE OF LUTZEN & BAUTZEN
The Aftermath of the retreat from Russia: shifting alliances 20 December: The last remnants of the Grande Armée entered Königsberg (modern Kaliningrad). 30 December: Convention of Tauroggen: Prussia took its first step towards abandoning her alliance with Napoleon. Prussian General Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg – whose 15,000 men formed Napoleon’s army’s left wing but which had become isolated during the retreat – claimed neutrality and thus de facto joined the Russians and abandoning his French allies under Macdonald. He enshrined his decision in the armistice known as the Convention of Tauroggen, from the town where it was signed, not far from Tilsit. This marked the first break in the international chain of the French coalition. Whilst Yorck became a traitor in the eyes of the French, (and the Prussian King, Frederick William III initially claimed that Yorck had acted unilaterally), later it became clear that the king was not exactly unhappy with Yorck’s action and it served the monarch in his political maneuvers for it to be seen as independent. It is true that officially Yorck was arrested and brought before a court martial. However, a mere two months later, the Franco-Prussian alliance had completely broken down and the general was released. Certain Prussian towns (notably Landsberg an der Warthe (now Gorzów Wielkopolski in Poland), Neustadt, and Muchemburg in East Brandenburg) rose up against the French occupier. Alexander I then appointed the patriotic, but liberal Prussian politician Baron von Stein as governor (at the rank of state minister) of the lands soon to be liberated. Stein immediately went to East Prussia (with the patriotic poet, Arndt) to gather an Estates General in Königsberg, which led to the levying of a Landwehr, formed of volunteers and conscripts. 11 January: A “senatus-consulte” was published making legal for Napoleon to mobilise troops normally sedentary to a total of 350,000 (100,000 conscripts from the draughts for 1809 to 1812, 150,000 from the draught for 1813 and 100,000 from the National Guard). A further decree dated 5 April, 1813, permitted the mobilization of troops in the National Guard (in total 92,000 national guardsmen were to serve in the army in 1813). 3 February: A Prussian edict ordered the creation of a volunteer corps (almost a Landwehr) – a few weeks later numbers had swelled to 8,000. 22 – 27 February: The Treaty of Kalisz formalized the Russo-Prussian alliance, setting aside all previous distrust. A sacred – indeed quasi-religious – mission to impose peace and to depose Napoleon was laid out in the preamble to the treaty. As to the details: – Prussia would supply 80,000 regular troops for the Northern Alliance and raise a Landwehr and other volunteer corps;
– article 6 stipulated that neither side would agree peace or ceasefire without the agreement of the other; – article 7 made it a top priority to bring Austria into the war; – as to the reconstruction of Prussia, it was to be recreated in a form that match that of pre-1806 but which not necessarily geographically identical. Difficult negotiations regarding precisely what Prussia’s eastern frontier would be were left to a later date. 3 March: Anglo-Swedish alliance treaty. Britain in return for some trade advantages in the Baltic agreed to pay Sweden £1 million by October of the same year and to support Sweden’s claim to possess Norway. Bernadotte agreed to put 30,000 men into the spring campaign against Napoleon. 4 March: Russians troops under Chernychov entered Berlin and French forces withdrew behind the Elbe. Wittgenstein and Yorck were to enter the capital on 11 and 17 March respectively, and the King himself was finally to re-enter his capital on 22. 16 March: Blücher’s Prussian corps crossed the Silesian border into Saxony. 17 March: Prussia declared war on France. The King made a “call to the people” (An mein Volk) encouraging them to take up arms in a “war of liberation”. It was however not clear to whom Frederick William addressed his call. Was it to Germans in general, or just Prussians? In the end those who responded were of many different political colours, running from nationalists, via those who hated reform, to Prussian patriots rather than German pan-nationalists. But they all agreed on one thing: the expulsion of Napoleon from Germany. Mid March. Britain re-opened diplomatic channels with Prussia and immediately sent 54 cannon and arms, ammunition and stores for 23,000 men to be shared by Prussia and Russia. 19 March: Frederick-William and Alexander I signed a manifesto or convention Breslau, calling all German Princes in the Confederation of the Rhine to support “freeing the common homeland at the risk of being deprived of their States.” The purpose was to broaden and consolidate an anti-Napoleonic alliance, not to start a national German uprising. 24 March: Sweden entered the anti-Napoleonic alliance and declared war on France. 27 March: Dresden fell to allied troops under Winzingerode, and Prussian troops fanned out towards Leipzig. This was not only for strategic reasons but also because Saxony could provision allied troops more easily, thereby releasing pressure on Silesia. This action drove out Frederick-Augustus I, King of Saxony, an ally of France, out of his capital. The later however did not (as he should have done) head for France but rather retreated towards Prague accepting Austrian intermediaries in his dealings with Napoleon. That he was gradually “changing his system” was shown by two refusals a) to allow French reinforcements into the fortress at Torgau and b) to put a division of heavy cavalry at the disposal of the Grande Armée.
The inexorable Russian advance 2 April: Meanwhile towards the Baltic coast, far away from the Saxon theatre, the Battle of Lüneburg took place south of Hamburg. Russian light forces, Chernychov’s and Dornberg’s Russian ‘Flying columns’, were successful a French division under General Morand. An earlier allied invasion of Hamburg under the Prussian general Tettenborn (late January 1813) had been successful, but those troops were finally forced to abandon the city (30 May) when faced with Davout’s strong counter-offensive, Bernadotte’s refusal to send reinforcements, and a general unwillingness on the part of Hamburg inhabitants to rise up and shake off their French occupiers. 3 April: 180 000 new conscripts were called up in France, some of whom belonged to an early conscription of the class of 1814. These were called the “Marie-Louise”. 3-5 April: Indecisive battle at Möckern between Wittgenstein’s Russian army and Prince Eugene’s army of the Elbe, but one which forced Eugene to retreat to the line of the Elbe river. 15 April: Napoleon left Paris for the front. He was to reach Mainz a mere 48 hours later. After initially intending to head north and liberate the fortresses at Stettin and then Danzig (modern Gdansk in Poland), and then prevented from executing this plan by Eugène’s abandoning of Berlin and retreat to Magdeburg, Napoleon decided to head south towards Dresden in Saxony. The two advantages of this plan? This would be a sign to the Princes of the Confederation of the Rhine that he meant business. And it would also create a major military event on the Austrian border designed at discouraging Austria from entering the war on the allied side. 18 April: Torun (Thorn) French garrison surrendered, followed by Spandau on 24th. The Empire strikes back 30 April: The main French army, together with the one from the Elbe, advanced on Leipzig. Napoleon had 200,000 men at his disposal and between 25 and 28 April concentrated 140, 000 of them in a new Army of the Main near Weissenfels. The allies facing the Emperor numbered only 100,000. 1 May: As Lauriston’s avant garde began occupying Leipzig, Marshal Béssières was killed by a cannonball during an encounter at Rippach. 2 May: French victory at Lützen. Attempting to take advantage of Napoleon’s army on the march and backed up against the river Saale, the allies moved into attack mode. However, Napoleon was expecting them. Much of the action on the allied side was sustained by the Prussians, with the Russian only entering in support later on in the afternoon. After much taking and losing
of the villages around Gross görschen, the superiority of numbers on the French side began to tell. Threatened both on the left and on the right, the allies were finally saved by nightfall, which allowed them to retreat and avoid a debacle. Shortage of cavalry however meant that the French could not capitalize on their victory. The allies made an orderly retreat, reaching Bautzen on 12 May. 8 May: Napoleon retook Dresden. Frederick Augustus, seeing the result at Lützen returned to alliance with France, and ordered the fortress at Torgau to open to French troops. General von Thielmann, the commander, delayed as long as he could and then fled to join the allies. 14 May: The coalition dug in at Bautzen, planning for a second Borodino. 20-21 May: Battle of Bautzen. French victory. The allied troops of 96,000 men were outnumbered by Napoleon’s army, which stood twice as many by the end of the battle. The French emperor’s battle tactics (of producing a strong feint along the whole line, causing the allies to bolster it with reserves and to strengthen the left, while the main French, overwhelming, attack was planned against the allied right) should have created a second Friedland. A crucial error late in the day on the part of Marshal Ney (he got overexcited and attacked the allied centre rather than its crumbling right) allowed the Russians and Prussians to make a remarkable retreat largely unscathed. The greater number of better cavalry also played a crucial role in saving the allies. A Saxon officer on Napoleon’s staff, Baron von Odeleben, described the retreat as “a chef d’oeuvre of tactics. Although the lines of the allies had been as it were thrown on the centre, the French could not succeed either in cutting off part of their army or capturing their artillery”. So, despite his superiority in generalship and sheer numbers, Napoleon could not force the decisive victory. It only pushed the allies back behind their retreat lines. Furthermore, allied casualties were less than half those of the French forces. 22 May: Metternich suggested an armistice to the combatants. Though the French caught up with and harried the retreating Russians and Prussians, they were unable to derive any advantage in the face of remarkable skill in the Russians rearguard and cavalry. Napoleon himself, eager to finish off the Russians, drove on his avant garde, but at Hollendorff as he was leading his troops through the village, a ‘magic’ cannon ball tore through his entourage, killing General Kirgener and mortally wounding Duroc, a bitter blow for Napoleon as he greatly liked the latter. 26 May: Allied victory at the battle of Hainau: the cavalry rear-guard of the coalition took the French pursuers under General Maison by surprise. 27 May: the Grande Armée reached the rivers Katzbach and Oder. 28 May: The French relieved the siege of Glogau. 29 May: Barclay de Tolly replaced Wittgenstein as commander in chief of the Prusso-Russian army. 30 May: Davout reacquired Hamburg.
3 June: Oudinot, on his way to Berlin, was stopped at Luckau by the Prussian Bülow. 4 June: The Armistice of Pleiswitz, Napoleon’s great mistake. Regardless of the continuation of hostilities, diplomacy had continued to function. The allies were hoping for the intervention of Sweden and a decision from Vienna finally to join them. However, on the back of two victories and in a powerful position to divide and conquer the allies and to cause and uprising in Poland, Napoleon (perhaps with a little more boldness) could have continued the campaign two more weeks, driven a wedge between the allies and obtained better peace conditions. The allies were at their lowest after the defeat at Bautzen with the Russians desperately lacking supplies and ammunition considering a retreat in Silesia and the abandoning of Prussia. The Prussians were considering how to make a last stand in Prussian territories which they could feasibly defend. The Prussian had not risen up (this was to be no second Spain) and the Landwehr had not been a success. And Austria was still playing hard to get. For the allies to stay close to the Austrian border in the expectation of alliance was becoming untenable – the land near Schweidenitz could not be defended by 100,000 men. However, Napoleon too had lost men, had a great deal of men sick and injured, and he lacked the cavalry to force a decisive victory. Furthermore, his conscripts, though they fought with bravery, needed a little respite. And more time would allow him to bring up more men and also more cavalry. So he accepted the proposal by Austria of negotiations and a congress (potentially in Prague). It is very likely that Austria was laying a trap for Napoleon, and he was not unaware of this. However he thought he could control events given a rest period. On hearing the news, Barclay de Tolly received Langeron (so the latter noted in his memoirs) “with a great burst of laughter: this explosion of happiness was by no means normal with Barclay. He was always cold, serious and sever in spirit
Theater Map given to the players
“The battlefield is a scene of constant chaos. The winner will be the one who controls that
chaos, both his own and the enemies”
Napoleon Bonaparte.
The fifteen 4 x 6 foot tables:
Table 1 – Weimar
Table 2 – Jena
Table 3 – Hof
Table 4 – Altenberg
Table 5 – Lutzen
Table 6 – Halle
Table 7 – Bernberg
Table 8 – Leipzig
Table 9 – Chemnitz
Table 10 – Dresden
Table 11 – Wittenberg
Table 12 – Grossbeeren
Table 13 – Bautzen
Table 14 – Luckau
Table 15 – Dresden – bottom, Prague – top
Overview of all the table after setup Friday night
Same from the opposite direction
A 16th table was used for the 50+ index cards representing the road network, and the “transit tables; more on them annon….
View of the board and card game area of The Portal on Friday night
Orders of Battle (and cast of characters):
Below some excerpts about the Prussians.
Regarding a war of maneuver, Blucher and his staff assumed that the entire region between the Elbe and Thuringian Forest could support an army of 60,000 men for three days only, Especially because the Allied cavalry had already utilized part of the region for sustenance. By dispatching strong detachments to the rear and flanks of the French army the Prussians calculated they could limit Napoleons range for foraging to perhaps half of the region between the Elbe and Thuringian Forest.
At a time when communications move only as fast as a couriers horse, Scharnhorst’s position as Chief of Staff required him to campaign with the Prussian field army. He was the brains. Blucher the brawn
Blucher declares he would subordinate himself to Russian commanders in the Spring of 1813. But he learned his lesson and in the Fall of 1813 he would listen to no one !!! Neither generals, statesman, nor Monarch.
Prussians
1st
Corps, von Blucher +2 Kevin Carrroll
5
Infantry Seasoned 7+
1
Infantry Elite 5+
1 Jager
(Light) Veteran 6+
1 Uhlan
Seasoned 7+
1 Hussar
Veteran 6+
1
Dragoon Veteran 6+
1 Medium
Foot Artillery Veteran 6+
1 Heavy
Foot Artillery Season 7+
1 Medium
Horse Artillery Vet 6+
Corps,
von Yorck +1 Russ Lockwood
3
Infantry Seasoned 7+
1
Infantry Veteran 6+
1 Jager
(Light) Veteran 6+
1
Dragoon Veteran 6+
1 Hussar
Veteran 6+
1 Medium
Foot Artillery Season 7+
1 Medium
Horse Artillery Vet 6+
Corps
General von Bulow +1 Brandan Shaw
2
Infantry Seasoned 7+
1 Jager
(Light) Veteran 6+
1
Grenadier Veteran 6+
1
Infantry Conscript 8+
1 Hussar
Seasoned 7+
1
Dragoon Seasoned 7+
1 Medium
Foot Artillery Season 7+
1 Medium
Horse Artillery Veteran 6+
1 Heavy
Artillery Seasoned 7+
1
Pontoonier Company
Reserve
von Rohde
2
Infantry Seasoned 7+
Some excerpts about the Russians.
The Czar hoped to end French control of central Europe, and confine France to its natural borders of the Rhine. No talk was made at this time of regime change.
Kutuzov was drafting a plan to delegate the main burden of the struggle against Napoleon to the British, Prussians & Austrians.
Russians
Allied
Army Commander, Kutusov +3 (died historically at the outset of the campaign, and also in this event, throwing the Allied Comand sytructure into some chaos).
Russian
wing Commander, Wittgenstein +1 Michael Kneis
Cossacks
2
Cossacks Conscript 8+
1st
Corps, von Berg +1 Kevin Roller
1
Jager (Light) Veteran 6+
1
Line Seasoned 7+
1
Dragoon Seasoned 7+
1
Cossacks Conscript 8+
1
Heavy Artillery Seasoned 7+
1
Horse Artillery Veteran 6+
1
Pontoonier
2nd
Corps, Winzigerode +1 Peter Villani
2
Infantry Seasoned 7+
1
Jager (Light) Seasoned 7+
1
Cossack Conscript 8+
1
Mounted Jager Veteran 6+
1
Hussar Veteran 6+
1
Dragoon Veteran 6+
1
Uhlan Seasoned 7+
1
Light Battery Seasoned 7+
1
Horse battery Seasoned 7+
1
Horse Battery Veteran 6+
Reserve
Corps, Tormasov +1 Brian Carmody
1
Guard Infantry Guard 4+
2
Grenadier Infantry Elite 5+
1
Guard Jager Veteran 6+
2
Cuirassier Elite 5+
1
Light Cavalry Seasoned 7+
1
Medium Artillery Seasoned 7+
1
Medium Horse Artillery Veteran 6+
1
Heavy Artillery Seasoned 7+
Milleradovitsch
+0 Rolando Pantoja
4
Infantry Seasoned 7+
1
Dragoon Veteran 6+
1
Cossack Conscript 8+
1
Medium Foot Artillery Seasoned 7+
1
Medium Horse Artillery Veteran 6+
1
Heavy Artillery Seasoned 7+
Army
of the West, Barclay de Tolly +2 Rolando Pantoja
Reinforcement
1.5 hours late.
3
Infantry Veteran 6+
2
Infantry Seasoned 7+
1
Dragoon Seasoned 7+
1
Medium Foot Artillery Seasoned 7+
1
Medium Horse Artillery Veteran 6+
Reinforcements:
Voronzov +0
2
Infantry Veteran 6+
1
infantry Seasoned 7+
The Austrians are neutral, with a Corps stationed at Prague,. Both sides hope to convince the Kaiser to intervene on their side.
Austrian
Corps, Schwarzenburg +1 (Potential to join the Allied acuse)
1
Grenzer (Light) Seasoned 7+
5
Line Infantry Seasoned 7+
1
Hussar Seasoned 7+
1
Uhlan Seasoned 7+
1
Medium Artillery Veteran 6+
1
Heavy Artillery Veteran 6+
Instructions to Napoleon, delivered a few days before the event:
I, Chief of staff Berthier, will need some orders for Armee du Main marching through the Thuringian Forest onto the Saxon plains beyond. There are 4 routes from Wurtzburg. Please assign the road, and the order 1st, 2nd or 3rd if more than one Corps are on the same road. This will determine the deployment zone to start campaign.
XII Corps is already assigned to be on Route 4, delayed at least to Turn 3.
IV Corps, VI Corps, Guard Infantry, Guard Cavalry all need route assignment. They will appear on Turn 1.
Route 1 is a main road and in the best condition. This also leads to your supply source at Erfurt. There is an infantry garrison at Erfurt already protecting the ammunition.
Route 2, 3 & 4 are of the same lesser quality roads.
On Saturday, Marchal Eugene will determine the order of March for the Armee of the Elbe at Magdeburg. This is because of the heavy Cossack activity and couriers are finding it tough to get thru to the fortress HQ. To ensure communications are established, some unit from the Armee of the Elbe must make contact (be on same table) as a unit from the Armee du Main. This will relieve Eugene from the responsibility for issuing orders.
French
Emperor
Napoleon I, C-in-C +3 James Carmody
Imperial
Guard Infantry, Mortier +1 Bennett Kneis
1
Old Guard Infantry Guard 4+
2
Young Guard Infantry Elite 5+
1
Young Guard Infantry Veteran 6+
Young
Guard Heavy Artillery Veteran 6+
Imperial
Guard Cavalry Bessieres +1 Mitch Abrams
2
Guard Cavalry Elite 5+
Guard
Medium Horse Artillery Elite 5+
3rd
Corps, Marshal Ney +1 Mark McGloughlin
1
Hussar Veteran 6+
A/3rd
Corps Souham +1 Mark McGloughlin
2
Legere (Light) Seasoned 7+
2
Seasoned Line 7+
2
Conscript Line 8+
1
Veteran Line 6+
1
Medium Artillery Veteran 6+
1
Medium Artillery Seasoned 7+
B/3rd
Corps Girard +1 William Neyland
2
Conscript Line 8+
1
Veteran Legere (Light) 6+
1
Seasoned Line 7+
1
Baden Line Seasoned 7+
1
Hessian Line Seasoned 7+
1
Medium Artillery Veteran 6+
1
Medium Artillery Seasoned 7+
6th
Corps Marmont +1 James Sulzen
1
Legere (Light) Elite 5+
1
Legere (Light) Veteran 6+
2
Veteran Line 6+
2
Seasoned 0Line 7+
1
Conscript Line 8+
1
Heavy Artillery Seasoned 7+
1
Horse Artillery Seasoned 7+
2
Medium Artillery Veteran 6+
4th
Corps Bertrand +0 Nate Seibert
1
Legere (Light) Veteran 6+
1
Veteran Line 6+
3
Seasoned Line 7+
1
Provisional Croatian Seasoned 7+
1
Wurttemberg Line Seasoned 7+
1
Wurttemberg Line Conscript 8+
1
French Medium Artillery Seasoned 7+
1
Wurttemberg Medium Artillery Seasoned 7+
12th
Corps, Oudinot +1 Rob Painter
1
Italian (Neapolitan) Light Veteran 6+
3
Seasoned Line 7+
2
Conscript Line 8+
2
Bavarian Line Seasoned 7+
1
Bavarian Medium Artillery Seasoned 7+
1
Heavy Artillery Seasoned 7+
1
Medium Artillery Veteran 6+
Army
of the Elbe, Prince Eugene 1+ Sean Seibert
1
Light Cavalry Veteran 6+
5th
Corps, Lauriston +1 Sean Seibert
6
Conscript Line 8+
3
Seasoned Line 7+
1
Heavy Artillery Seasoned 7+
1
Medium Artillery Seasoned 7+
1
Medium Artillery Veteran 6+
11th
Corps, MacDonald +1 Steve Tarro
1
Legere (Light) Veteran 6+
1
Line Veteran 6+
4
Seasoned Line 7+
1
Medium Horse Artillery Veteran 6+
1
Medium Artillery Veteran 6+
1st
Cavalry Corps, Latour Maubourg +1 Karl Newbauer
1
Light Cavalry Elite 5+
1
Cuirassier (Heavy) Elite 5+
1
Wurttemberg Cavalry Seasoned 7+
1
Horse Artillery Veteran 6+
Reinforcements:
2nd
Cavalry Corps, St. Germain +0 Rich Moore
1
Light cavalry Seasoned 7+
1
Cuirassier (Heavy) Seasoned 7+
Saxon
VII Corps, Reynier +1 Rich Moore
1
Legere (Light) Veteran 6+
1
Line Conscript 8+
1
Medium Artillery 6+
1
Medium Artillery Seasoned 7+
2
Saxon Line Seasoned 7+
1
Saxon Heavy Cavalry Elite 5+
-Note
Saxons are Neutral at start of campaign
At
Start Reinforcements/Garrisons
1
Polish Line Seasoned 7+
at
Erfurt
1
Westphalian Line Seasoned 7+
at
Bernberg
Basic Rules
Spring 1813: Napoleon & the Struggle for Germany – The events of April to May, 1813
Event Special Rules (in addition to Snappy Nappy by Russ Lockwood – formal Orders section ignored -except “Rally”)
TERRAIN
On the table maps:
“Woods” = Rough (cavalry and Artillery may not enter)
“Hills” = Broken
Buildings = Villages, Town, City, Fortresses are roughly 4” or 6” square
.
The ELBE is the only Major River (darker blue on Table and Campaign maps) and may only be
crossed at bridges, whether permanent or pontoon.
All other rivers (lighter blue on Table and Campaign Maps are Minor Rivers. For the purposes of this
campaign, they cost -1/3 move for infantry and cavalry to cross. Artillery (and Pontooniers) may cross
ONLY at bridges.
If combating troops on the opposite bank, the defenders count as in Rough Terrain. Units in rivers cannot
fire
All minor rivers are 1″ wide (thus NO small arms fire across them), Major Rivers are 2” wide.
Buildings
Fortress = Can hold 4 units
(Magdeburg is the only fortress in this campaign; can include 1 battery; no cavalry)
City = Can hold 3 units infantry only.
Town = Can hold 2 units. Infantry only
Village = Can hold 1 unit. Infantry only.
Cav and Art can pass thru normally but must exit before combat.
Villages can be attacked by Cav.
ENGINEERS (PONTOONIERS): Each side will have two (2) such units. May not attack or initiate
Melee. To Build or take down a bridge, once the Pontooniers are in position, check once per turn.
Bridge Process: Roll D10 = 7+ Success; if unsuccessful, the next turn they need a 6+, if unsuccessful
again, then on the following turn they need a 5+, etc. It takes one success for a Minor River, 2 for a
Major River.
It may destroy bridges using the same procedure as for Pontooniers laying up pontoons. One success is
required for bridges across a Minor river, 2 for a Major River.
Build Works Process. An Infantry unit next to an Engineer may attempt to build works. Same process
as bridging, i.e. Roll D10 = 7+ Success; if unsuccessful, the next turn they need a 6+, etc.
Adds +1 to enemy to hit rolls.
If on a table without enemy units, a minimum of 5 minute delay between any Engineering attempts.
SUPPLY:
1) Supply status will be checked once an hour, on the hour.
2) Any troops actually occupying the buildings of a Major City (3 buildings), City (2 buildings),
Town (1 building), or occupying a Fortress (roughly 6″ square on the tabletop – can hold up to
4 units within max) are always “in supply”
3) French forces must otherwise trace supply to Magdeburg or Erfurt.
4) Allied forces have their own source of supply. Berlin for Prussia, Gorlitz (via Breslau) for Russian
5) Austrian forces must trace supply to Prague.
6) Supply MUST be traced through the Key location(s) on each table. These will be marked with a Poker
chip – red for uncontrolled, Blue for French control, Green for Russian, Gray for Prussian, white for
Austrian control. Moving through such location(s) is enough to establish control. (Except Cossacks)
On any given table, if a side does not control ALL of the key locations on that table, supply may traced
into but not THROUGH that table.
7) Any troops that are found to be “Out of Supply” will take one and only one Morale check roll
immediately, with results imposed immediately.
Additionally, Troops that are out of supply may not advance more than 6” from their present positions;
otherwise they may only move towards their base of Operations (Berlin -Prussian, Breslau -Russian,
Prague -Austrian, Magdeburg or Erfurt – French).
COMMAND:
Command radius will be 18” for all nationalities. In general, the troops of a command should remain
together. Cavalry may be detached as scouts, etc, and troops may be dropped off as Garrisons, etc (see
token forces below). All communications must be in writing through the GM, except when the command
figures of two or more players are present on the same table, in which case they may all converse freely.
Players may not wander around scouting out the action on tables where they have no troops stationed.
TOKEN FORCES
Some difficulty can arise when players leave token garrisons behind to hold critical bridges and
bottlenecks, etc. It can unduly penalize opponents encountering such token forces when they have to
twiddle their thumbs, unable to move because their opponent keeps running away to do moves in a much
bigger battle on another table. Of course, delaying the enemy (within reason), as well as getting notice of
the movement of enemy troops into the area, are the two main reasons for leaving token forces to begin
with.
1) A “Token Force” consists of not more than 3 units of infantry, or a single Cavalry or Artillery unit.
Combined arms forces are never considered “Token Forces”.
2) Wherever possible, the owning player will play their own troops provided that it does not unduly slow
play on that table or elsewhere.
3) Another player on the same side, or the GM or their assistant may be assigned to run the force
if necessary to maintain the flow of the game.
4) Failing any of those, or by the consent of the owning player, the Token force may be run by the
opposing player following the Default Orders given to the Token Force as follows:
Place a pre-printed card underneath the token force when it is detached,
that gives it Default Orders: – Hold at all costs, always orienting to fire on the nearest enemy. – Withdraw as quickly as possible away from the enemy. – Withdraw as quickly as possible towards Deployment Zone _________ (fill in the blank).
In the absence of a Default Order, “Hold at all costs” is assigned.
On encountering the Token Force, and after suitably informing and getting the OK from the GM,
a player could run his own troops and pretty easily and reasonably run the opposing token force. Mostly
the token force is not going to move (or will move away as quickly as possible), so one only needs to do
trivial movement or roll shooting and morale for it. The Token force will impose a 60 second delay per
unit each turn on the cycling of the active player. In other words, a Token Force
of 3 Infantry units would impose a 3 minute delay per turn cycle upon the opposing player. The
timer on a cell phone or similar can be used to track such delays.
Deployment Zone delays (new rule, speed up player participation) :
At any time, a player with troops he desires to enter a table from a DZ may appeal to the GM to allow
these troops to enter without waiting for a full opponent turn. The GM may give the green light for entry
if in the GM’s judgement the entering troops would not unduly affect the tactical situation, effect undue
risk to the enemy. The GM may impose movement and/or attack restrictions such as no attacks on
enemy, stay 12″ from enemy, enter the table by no more than 2″, etc. The idea is try to be fair to both
sides, but still speed up player participation.
Battle Rule: Will be using Snappy Errata # 2 that allows a unit to move backwards facing enemy at 1/3 speed. Also, Light Infantry units may move through woods without movement penalty.
Special Rules for Spring 1813:
Supply supplement:
Most table supply follows normal rules, that is all troops on a table are considered in supply if
the previous table is in supply. The exception to this is over the ELBE river bridges. Failure to
control a bridge can block supply on the other side of the ELBE River.
If a Guard unit routs, all friendly units on the table must take a single MC (similar to supply).
Taking Berlin would cause Prussian mobilization to suffer a big setback. A single Morale
check (MC) must be taken by all Prussians if Berlin is under attack.
Special off board Cities & Towns: Some towns / cities may not be on “a table” (for example
Breslau). There will be a specific area set aside for these “TRANSIT TOWNS” or just “X “.
Transit towns (X) will allow for more maneuver from Table to Table.
If two opposing forces meet at a “X” town, the larger force will bounce the smaller.
To earn VP for taking one of these “X” map cities a Corps will need to exit 2 Infantry and 1
Artillery unit off the appropriate deployment zone to place that City under Occupation/ Siege.
The table they exit from must be in supply. The VP will be counted at the end of the campaign.
There will be 15 Tables to maneuver & battle during the campaign. 8 Transit “X” towns.
Game scale :
Each Inf Unit = 3000 men
Each Cav Unit = 1500 horses
Each Art Unit = 24 Guns
“He who fears being conquered is sure of defeat”
Napoleon Bonaparte
VICTORY CONDITIONS:
The Campaign victor will be determined by a points system as shown in VP Table.
Victory is a level determined by how many VP’s the French capture & hold.
If either Napoleon or the Czar is killed (5 VP to the opposition)
Corps Exhaustion:
Most but not all Corps have an exhaustion level. Reaching approximately 75% casualties will cause Exhaustion, which = 1 Victory point for the opposition. This number (Ex#) will be noted on each player’s Corps card. Very small Corps will not have an Exhaustion level.
Diplomacy
A quick victory could change Saxons allegiance
If French take Bautzen Saxons join the French. If Allie’s take Jena they join the Coalition.
Add to the army (2) Inf at Torgau & (1) Heavy Cav at Dresden.*
Both sides sought after Austria’s allegiance.
Austria is neutral but ready to join with the Army that looks like it will win.
Austria will be rolled for every hour on the Diplomatic table using the modifiers.
A successful roll will move Austria from neutral to belligerent status.
The German troops are shaky.
The Confederation of the Rhine troops are becoming more reluctant to fight. Every hour roll on the Diplomatic table for German morale checks.
