Short Napoleonic campaign – A campaign report.

[Whirlwind]

Please see here for a report of the campaign a couple of us have just finished playing. The campaign was written by George Gush and published in Miniature Wargames 31, and is set in Northern Italy, as the French look to attack the Austrians…

[Norm S]

Firstly, thanks very much for all the time and effort you put into running this.

Secondly thanks to my French opponent Mick and congratulations on a fine victory.

I really appreciate the above summary and the situation maps. I think this style of play is the only way to really appreciate fog of war fighting. I know that by the time I received news and then sent orders out, those orders were often already out of date as the situation on the ground had moved on. This sharpens / concentrates your thinking on trying to anticipate what the other side will do next when setting orders.

Towards the end, I knew I had lost Modena and Bologna (and therefore the game) and ordered the Austrian forces to do a fighting withdrawal to the northern cities to try and mitigate the size of the French victory, but I also gave the commanders the freedom to leave Italy and save the army if that became essential.

Again, thanks for your time and patience in seeing this through. Cheers Norm (Archduke Charles).

[Whirlwind]

Thanks Norm, appreciate it – and likewise appreciate your efforts in making this such a fun and interesting game.

[Aethelflaeda was framed]

Had a great time, but i did think the scale a bit off…yeah, I am a high priest of concentration and not being able to put a whole corps in a space was a bit disorientating at first but i got used to it.

Not that I really knew what the results were from being out of LOC at the time, but I think a 10% attrition rate would be way too high historically, at least for French armies who weren’t such rigid adherents of staying in supply lines. Mostly it would be a problem for extended periods in depleted areas, say maybe a week or more for food and fodder, and only after a major battle for ammunition resupply.

I really enjoyed the time lag for orders , I never really knew where or how strong my own troops really were, much less the enemy…we didn’t even know how many troops we faced even at the start. Norm always kept me worried about when and where the Austrians would show up in concentration to counter attack. It made for a great and tense game as i hoped I could bluff my way around the southern flank avoiding the spread out and central Austrian defenses, who didn’t know for sure what my avenue of advance was to be. My goal was to catch an Austrian isolated division on the initial advance while my own forces had surprise and hopefully local superiority in numbers and quality.

My general orders were loose, stressing aggressive attacks and staying concentrated as I knew the time lag would make any micro managing of complex plans obsolete after a week. I wasn’t going to be like Napoleon in Paris sending detailed orders to his marshals in Spain in 1811…but i was more than willing to sacrifice the whole army to lack of supply if it meant taking the bases. I might have made a mistake about not wishing to defend the LOC but I got lucky!  My general on the spot knew better.

Great game I would love to play again and might even be inclined to host a game myself based on this game.

Mick Hayman
Margate and New Orleans

[Whirlwind]

Thanks Mick. Really pleased you enjoyed yourself, and lots of useful points there for consideration.

[Aethelflaeda was framed]

If you want a decent attrition rate system, you might look at the OSG boardgame series: Campaigns of Napoleon (the famous Napoleon at Bay was the first game going back to Avalon Hill days).  It takes into account size of the force, distance from magazines and supply sources, rates of march and staff administrative levels. Shouldn’t be hard to adapt.  And I do think calling our game’s battalions “Brigades”  and Divisions as Corps is pretty easy.  Might even be able to add some vedette units as well.

Mick Hayman
Margate and New Orleans

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