Standoff in Scandinavia, part 3

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The Swedes have 2 impetus; they turn INFANTRY FIRE. 

Eagle’s eye view of the battlefield, note all the “smoke”, indicating “unloaded” units. 

The Swedes, however, decide to hold the card, and draw MELEE. 

In the battle of the small cavalry units, the Swedes are victorious! 

The Swedish Cuirassiers change the Livgard til Hast… routing them!

Next, the Swedes draw Artillery Fire, and act upon it immediately. 

Accurate shooting by the Swedes cripples the opposing Danish battery. 

Just managed that overhead shot!

More well aimed fire!

The Swedes win the LD roll off even for 1 impetus. Now they decide to play their INFANTRY FIRE card. 

An ineffective volley – the Swedish commander call for a do-over!

BAM!  The opposing Danes are routed with heavy losses!

With a “chicken” (Disorder) and two rocks (hits/Unit Integrity losses), it’s not surprising this Swedish column’s fire has little effect upon the opposing Danish footguards. 

“Ja , der powder gevetted ist!”

The damaged battery’s fire disorders the Swedish battery, but causes no losses.  

Danish cannister empties many saddles in the Swedish Cuirassiers, but they hold firm. 
That’s a hit, Sven!
Whilst the Danes have 1 card remaining (a critical INFANTRY FIRE card), the Swedes have no cards left, so the deck is shuffled, and the Infantry Firepower card is unused. Note that if the opposing Leadership die rolls for initiative are tied, that will also end the card, with the decks shuffled, and any unplayed or unused cards are lost! That concludes the first turn of the battle; both sides are running low on Army Morale points!

Standoff in Scandinavia, Part 2

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The Swedes turn TACTICAL ADVANTAGE; this card can be played at any time; it is now a reroll card rather then a simple UP 1 or DPWN 1 to any roll, potentially much more impactful. We will see. The Swedes hold the card (not technically in their “hand”). 

Swedes turn ARMY MORALE; this must be played, but with no troops yet in combat, and no lost or routed units, this card is is both “free” and without effect; thus another card is drawn in its place

Swedes tun LULL: this must be played, and the Danes attempt to seize the Imitative! 

If the Dames Leadership die for their C-in-C beats that of the Swedes, they get a “free” impetus point. That fails to happen here. 
The initiative passes to the Danes anyway, as the Swedes are out of impetus. They turn SPECIAL EFFECT (Wild Card). Each Danish Command individually can use this card as whatever they feel they need most. 

A Double Magic Move for the Infantry Brigade. 

The Cavalry rolled a single move; situation after both commands have acted. 

This Danish Brigade rolls a single magic move.
Situation after their move. 

Swedish infantry opportunity fires, causing one hit; there is no disorder as the Swedes rolled ODD. 

The Danes fire back, after taking into account the effects of the opp fire, but fail to have any significant effect. 

A triple Move (no magic) for the central Danish Reserve Brigade. 

The prior Danish Brigade now chooses to fire its “loaded” artillery, which it does to effect!

The Danish advance; Swedish opportunity fire is ineffective (being both disordered and with 1 hit didn’t help!). 

The fire of the Danish Livgards til Fods is more effective, inflicting more damage on the Swedes, and forcing them back! 

Double Magic move, with an EVEN roll, the skirmishing Danish Jagers will ignore the usual move penalties for the Class II hill.
The combined opportunity fire of the Swedish battery and infantry just manages to be enough to through the Danes back a bit in Disorder, and with some losses. 

A single move for the infantry and their attached battery. 

Single move for the Cavalry and Horse Artillery. 

Situation thereafter. 

2 Danish regiments volley fire at the Russian Jagers, diving them back in Disorder with losses.
The second Danish card is a MOVE: they opt to act on it rather than exchanging it for one of the other two cards in their hand. 

Triple Magic Move for the Danish Cavalry and their Horse Artillery!

“Hold on a minute there, Hans!”Swedish Horse Artillery Opp fire forces their Danish counterparts back in Disorder with losses; this also prevents them from unlimbering! Meanwhile, the Danish Fynske Light Dragoons and the Bosniaks charge home into Melee!

First round between the Danish Light Dragoons and the Sweuish Smalands Lette Dragoner results in an 1 pip edge to the Danes; the Swedes are Disordered. 

2nd round is another 1 pip edge to the Danes; the Swedes are already Discorded, and the Danes rolled even so they keep good order. Note that the highest possible score is “12”, not 13!

The 3rd round is different, and the Swedes are Routed with heavy losses, while the Danes maintain their cool and their Order. 

In the charge of 2 small units, the Bosniaks get the short end of the stick, but the Swedes are disordered (rolled odd). 

Double Magic Move!

An inefective Danish Volley… but wait; the Danish C-in-C plays his Tactical Advantage card to re-rol1 his D12. 

It works, and the Swedes suffer fairly heavy losses, but stand their ground in good order. 

Double Magic Move!

A missed opportunity when the skirmish fire of the Jagers fizzles. Wheres that TACTICAL ADVANTAGE card?  Oh yeah…
Single no frills move; the Danish Artillery opens up on the Svea Livgards, and causes heavy losses!

Situation after the move, and some more ineffective fire, this time by the Kings Livjagers. 

Single Magic Move. 

Situation thereafter. 

Single move.

The Danish infantry finds comfortable lodgings in the village, and decide to practice some hygge. The Cavalry are less sanguine, rolling a big fat 1. Uff da!  No move for you boys!  
Having finished that run of initiative, we’ll break now until the next part! 

Standoff in Scandinavia, part 1

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For this variant, the small sequence deck mis in many ways similar to that used in Battle Command – each side has 9 cards. Additional cards could be added for arrival of reinforcements, unique events, weather changes, etc. The Special Event card here is used as the “wild card”. 
As always, the action begins with both C-in-C’s rolling their Leadership Die; to keep things simple, for this game every commander is rated as LD 10; ordinarily, they might vary form a low of D8 to a high of D12+1. Red dice will represent the Danes throughout this reports, whereas blue and sometimes yellow dice belong to the Swedes. The Danes have won the first initiative, and as their roll is EVEN, both sides will get 2 impetus. Having won the roll, the Danes opt to act first. This is pretty much as in Battle Command. The first of their 2 cards is ARTILLERY FIRE. With most batteries having little or no targets, the Danes take this card into their hand, hopefully to be used later. . 
The second Danish card is Tactical Advantage. This must be played, but as in FoB and Battle Command, it can be held and used at any time of the player’s choosing, even when they do not have the initiative. The Danes hold the card, which does NOT count against their hand limit of 2 cards. 
The Danes still have one more impetus to use, and turn ARMY MORALE. With no units lost or routed, it does NOT cost an impetus to play. With no combat yet having occurred, no Leader Survival tests are needed, either.  
Thus, the Danes turn yet another card. This is MELEE, which allows most units to charge and imitate melee if they are within 1/2 move distance of the enemy; once again, no units would qualify, so this card is taken up into the Danish hand. 
The Danes turn LEADERSHIP. This cards allows units to rally off hits, recover from Disorder, and rally routers. Once again, with the game having just begun, there is little to do with this card, which does also allow units to change facing or formation, and allows leaders to move. Having reached their hand limit, the Danes MUST play one of the three cards. The choose to play the LEADERSHIP card, and the officers carefully inspect the formations of their troops. The initiative passes to the Swedes!
The first Swedish card is MOVE; this is pretty much a no brainer to act upon right now, which they do! 
A “Triple Magic Move” for this brigade of three Swedish battalions (won even, with a difference of 6+ pips). The “Magic” (won even roll) allows one segment to be used for changing facing or formation of the units of that brigade. This was not felt necessary here. . 
Positions after the advance. 
The Swedish cavalry roll a “1” – which means they cannot move, but instead consume their rations of Lutefisk. 
A “Double Magic Move” for this Swedish brigade
Post move positions. 
7 – 1; a Triple move, minus the magic. positions of the Swedish reserve after executing their advance.
Positions of the next brigade after a Double move (9 – 4). 
Last Swedish infantry brigade’s positions after a single move (3 – 4). 
What is it with the Swedish cavalry this initiative. More Lutefisk to the front!
The second Swedish card is MELEE; with no possible use for the card at the moment, it is taken up into the Swedish hand. 
LEADERSHIP is turned; the Swedes decide to act upon this card now, even though there are no troops to rally. 
An attached Russian battery unlimbers to target some Danes across the shallow river. 
An attack column is formed for potential crossing of the flod. 
The left flank Swedish brigade changes facing to cross the river. This completes the first initiative for both sides. 
It’s getting late, and Blogger has decided to insert all my photos in reverse order today, so we’ll pick up the narrative again in the next post!

Field of Battle – Hand of Cards variant ideas, and a solo play test

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In thinking about Field of Battle (3rd edition), and Battle Command, I wanted to try a variant using the concepts of impetus and deck composition based upon Battle Command, but using a hand of cards concept based upon the optional rules in classic Piquet, and also a “Wild Card” in place of the options in Battle Command. 

Initiative as in Battle Command – C-in-C’s roll their LD, High roll chooses to go first or second, won even = 2 initiative, won odd = 1 initiative, tie =  end turn, reshuffle. 

Sequence Decks (one of each):

Infantry Fire

Artillery Fire

Move

Melee

Leadership

Brilliant Commander

Lull

Tactical Advantage

Army Morale – no initiative cost to draw or ply IF there are no units in that army that are routed, destroyed or have involuntarily retreated off the table. 

[Any Special Card(s)] – no imitative cost to draw or play

When a card is turned, it MUST be played immediately if it is  not one of the bold faced “action cards”.

Tactical Advantage (new definition)  is played immediately for 1 Impetus cost, but it can still be held and used at any time until the end of the turn, at no additional impetus cost; it does NOT count against the hand limit. 

Other non-action cards must be acted upon when played (Lull, Army Morale, any Special Cards).


The Hand of Cards:

According to the C-in-C’s rating, they may hold a number of cards in their hand for later action:

Abysmal – none

Poor – 1 card

Average or Skilled – 2 cards

Exceptional – 3 cards


Playing cards and using the Hand

For each initiative point, a card may be played from the player’s hand, or a card mat be drawn. If  a card is played from the hand, that uses up 1 impetus. 

When an action card is drawn, it is shown to all players; the C-in-C can then decide to either play it, or take it into their hand of cards, up to the limit for the C-in C’s rating; this could include swapping the drawn card for one from the hand, which would then use up 1 impetus. . 

No more cards can be played or drawn than the number of impetus won (aside from cards that have no cost to turn/play). 

 

Lull card:  should the enemy seize the initiative, then they will have the same options as a normal won 1 initiative above. 


New Card definitions

Tactical Advantage:  This now allows a REROLL of any ONE die roll (by either side), EXCEPT an Army Morale check. 

Brilliant Commander:  This is a WILD card and allows each Command group to individually use it as any of the other 5 possible actions that they choose!

 Move: Routers MUST move when this card is turned, even if it is taken into the players  hand; in that case, the routers must move again when the card is actually played and acted upon. 


 To try this out, I set up a test game using my Danish and Swedish Napoleonic armies.  I chose them as they hadn’t seen action in quite a while, where my Austrians and Rhine Confederation troops have seen a lot of action ion 2024. Many of my French, Russian, and Prussian troops have already been organized in to commands for the big Spring 1813 Campaign -n – a day event in a little over 2 weeks.  2024. 

To keep things simple for the test, all leader will be rated LD 10 on both sides. 


Denmark


1st Brigade

1 Jager  DD 6 CD 12

2 Line  DD 6 CD 10


2nd Brigade

2 Line  DD 6  CD 10

1 6# Foot Battery  DD 6 CD 12


3rd Brigade

1 Jager  DD6 CD 12

2 Line  DD 6  Cd 10


4th Brigade

2 Line  DD 6  CD 10

1 6# Foot Battery  DD 6  CD 12


1st Cavalry Brigade

Light Dragoons DD 6 CD 10

Hussars  DD 8 CD 10


2nd Cavalry Brigade

Dragoons  DD 6 CD 12

Bosniaks (2 UI)DD6  CD 10

6# Horse Battery  DD6  CD 12


Reserve Brigade

King’s Livjager’s  DD 8  CD 12

Livgard til Fods  DD 8  CD 12

Danish Liv Regiment  DD 8 CD 12

Livgard til Hast  CD 8  DD 12

12# Foot Battery  DD 6  CD 12+1



Sweden

1st Brigade

1 Jager  DD6  CD 12

2 Line  DD 6  CD 10


2nd Brigade

2 Line  DD 6  CD 10

1 6# Foot Battery  DD 6 CD 12


3rd Brigade

1 Jager  DD 6 CD 12

2 Line  DD 6 CD 10


4th Brigade

2 Line  DD 6  CD 10

1 6# Foot Battery  DD6  CD 12


1st Cavalry Brigade

Light Dragoons  DD 6  CD 10

Hussars  DD 8 CD 10


2nd Cavalry Brigade 

Dragoons  DD 6 CD 12

Light Dragoons (2 UI)  DD6  CD 10

6# Horse Battery  DD6  CD 12


Reserve Brigade

Russian Guard Jagers  DD 8  CD 12

Andrea Livgard  DD 8  CD 12

Life grenadiers  DD 8  CD 12

Cuirassiers  DD 8  CD 12

12# Foot Battery  DD 6  CD 12+1

Starting positions, Swedes near, Danes far. 

Swedish left

Swedish center

Swedish right

Danish left

Danish center

Danish right
The minor river takes 2 segments to cross, artillery may only cross at bridges. All hills, woods, and buildings are Class II terrain. The next post will start the recounting of the playtest…

4e Regiment of Dragoons

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This regiment traces its creation back to 1667, in 1684 they were named Chartres-Cavalerie. In 1724, they became Clermont and 1771 La Marche. Their name changed once again in 1776 to the Conti-Dragons, finally becoming the 4e Regiment de Dragons in 1791.

War Record  1792: Fontoy and Valmy,  1793: Martinses and Wissembourg, 1794: Aldenhoven, 1796: Passage of the Rhine, Memmingen, and Friedberg, 1800: Burg-Ebrach and Nuremberg, 1805: Passage of the Lech, Wertingen, and Diernstein, 1806: Golymin, 1807: Deppen, Hoff, Eylau, Heilsberg, and Friedland, 1809: Talavera-de-la-Reine, Ocana, and Medelin, 1811: Albuhera, 1813: Vitoria, 1813: Leipzig, 1814: Bar-sur-Aube, Sezanne, and Fere-Champenoise, 1815: Ligny

 Battle Honors:   Valmy 1792, Aldenhoven 1794, Eylau 1807, and Medelin 1809

3 officers of the regiment became Generals during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars:  Pierre Wathier – General de Brigade 1804,  Count of the Empire 1808, General de Division 1811; Auguste-Etienne-Marie Lamotte – Baron of the Empire 1808, General de Brigade 1809,  Commander of the Legion of Honor 1814; Pierre-Joseph Flour – Baron of the Empire 1812, General-de-Brigade 1813.
I need to add the regimental number to the wreaths in the corners  of their Guidon style flags; The flags are free downloads from Lucas Luber’s Piano Wargames site, enhanced by some paint. The Figures themselves are Piano Wargames 28 mm metals, of course! Lucas’ next Kickstarter will begin in less than 1 month on October 14, 2024. 
The trumpeter wears the usual reversed colors, in this case a scarlet jacket with green collar, cuffs, turnbacks, and pocket ornamentation. The colonel has outfitted him with a red shabraque instead of the regulation dark green one, like the troopers have. Actually, I couldn’t find any documentation to support this, but I liked how it looks, so I went with it… just like the Colonel might have! White horsehair on the helmets was pretty standard for trumpeters, although the colors of the plumes for the trumpeters were quite varied. Elite company trumpeters are often shown wearing white bearskins.