Some Thoughts on Sam Mustafa's LaSalle Rules

Hello friends and welcome back to the blog, which appears to have drifted unhelmed into the second week of February.   Th usual apologia of being preoccupied, particularly with painting some entries for this year’s running of the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge.    You can find my entries here (28mm Foundry Victorian civilians and 6mm Baccus Napoleonic French), here (15mm Darkest Star SF troopers shown here last month), here (Victrix ancient Germans), here (first 3D printing efforts), and here (more Victrix ancient Germans).

In the last month, my podcast partner James and I have managed to put out Episode 11 of the Canadian Wargamer Podcast (more to say on that in another post) and I’ve done some terrain work, as well as jumped into the 3D printing world, of which, more at another time.  So it’s been a productive month, at the cost of my blogging.

During this last month, I was introduced to Sam Mustafa’s LaSalle (2nd ed) Napoleonic rules, which could be described as the tactical cousin to Sam’s operational rules, Blucher.   I think that’s a reasonable comparison of the two.   After a brief play of a few turns at the local FLGS, I decided to try them at home as an excuse to spend more time with my 6mm Naps collection.  I decided on the first scenario in the LaSalle rules, “Les Avant-Gardes”, a shortish (10 turn) meeting engagement game.

 

Here are the opposing forces at en Turn 1.  I chose two 300 point forces.  Austrians (right) have a large Avant-Garde brigade featuring two light cavalry units, one horse and one foot battery, and 6(ish) infantry regiments of mixed quality, and a second brigade of three dragoon (shock or heavy cavalry) regiments along with a horse battery.   The French (left) have a light cavalry brigade of three regiments and a horse battery, an infantry brigade (six regiments, mixed quality, and a foot battery) and a second heavy cavalry regiment of three dragoon regiments.   The Austrians start by owning the bridge in the centre and the two towns of Stromthal (top) and (Niederkreuz (bottom).

The Austrians got to go first, and thus got the jump on getting to the bridge at the end of turn 1 with a Hussar and Uhlan regiment, and horse artillery coming up in support.  The large French infantry brigade realizes that it has to 1) check the enemy cavalry at the stream and 2) try to reinforce the cavalry to contain the Austrians at the bridge.

I had a slight dilemma with my basing, as my 6mm figures are all based on single stands in line formation, which works well enough in gams like Blucher or General d’Armee where one stand = one unit and it’s easy to assume that the unit is in the best formation for the situation (Blucher is especially good at this).  However, LaSalle calls for units to be composed of four stands, to represent column of march (the stands in a row of 1 wide and four long), mass (stands ranked two by two), line (four abreast) or if infantry square (two by two but each stand facing out in a different direction).  I attempted to split the difference by using two stands to represent one unit, though since all unit enter the game in column of march, I had to make notes on each unit label to determine when a unit had changed formation into the more tactically useful mass formation.   Square (back to back) and line were much easier.

At the end of Turn II, the Austrian dragoons and French infantry regard each other on either side of the stream at the top.  The French have gotten one of their two elite infantry into line to face the advancing mass of Austrian infantry.   Austrian hussars and uhlans have made it across the stream and the French light cavalry are shaking out to meet them.

First clash, French and Austrian light cavalry slam into each other.   In this case, the melee is inconclusive, just an opening skirmish, but generally in LaSalle cavalry units in melee seem to have a much better chance of winning decisively or breaking and being removed from play if the melee goes poorly.   It forces the player to think carefully before committing the cavalry.   All of these stands except fo the one on the right are Baccus figures, painted by me in the last few years, and I’m quite pleased with the result.

 

At the end of Turn 3, on the French side (blue circle), note:

#1 All three regiments of the light cavalry brigade are now deployed against the Austrian bridgehead after the first inconclusive clash.  This should give the French a melee bonus for outnumbering the enemy in the next turn.

#2 Three regiments of the infantry brigade are now in square.   This was a special formation change chosen at the start of the turn in the Intervention Phase.  Players at the start of their turn can choose to set their commander aside to intervene on the battlefield and make an emergency formation change for any friendly unit within 4 base widths of the CinC figure.   The upside is that this formation change does not cost a Momentum Point (MP), which in Lasalle is basically an initiative point, one of a limited amount of credits which allow you to do things during the turn.   If the CinC isn’t set aside for the Intervention Phase, he can be used to generate between 1-3 MPs for use during the turn.

#3 You’ll se a single figure circled here.  That’s a brigade commander, but in light of what I just said in #2, I discovered that in the Basic Lasalle rules, one doesn’t need sub-commanders, their function is factored into the number of MPs you get per turn.   Each player starts wit 1 MP for each brigade on the table (representing the initiative of sub-commanders, I guess), then 2 MPs for the HQ (the base area behind each army, not represented in this battle) and then between 1-3 MPs (1d6 roll) if the CinC is not set aside in the Intervention Phase.  

On the Austrian side (white circles), note in the photo below:

#1 Light cavalry of the Austrian Avant-Garde Brigade, Hussars at the top and Uhlans below, and their horse artillery moving into position.    The unit crossing the stream behind the Uhlans is the Av-Garde Landwehr infantry regiment, which has orders to get into the village of Nieuderkreuz and get comfy there.

#2 Lead infantry regiments (Grenz and Jaeger) regiments of the Av-Garde brigade are in mass formation and are trading volleys with th French elite infantry regiment holding the far side of the crew.   Note that all three regiments have little circular stands in front of them.   These are skirmish stands.  In Lasalle, an infantry regiment in Line or Mass formation can deploy skirmishers, which have a variable value (all French skirmish stands have a value of 3, Austrian Grenz and Jaeger value 3, Austrian line value 2).   During the Skirmish Phase at the start of each turn, both players total the value of their skirmish stands and roll d6 = total skirmish value, counting “6s”.  Players get a Momentum Point for every 2 sixes rolled, and the player with more sixes gets the initiative next turn.  The French were doing fine with skirmish points until their regiments started going into square and lost their skirmish capability.  This is a nice feature of the rules, that the ability of infantry to dominate the battlefield can be denied in the face of a cavalry threat.

#3 (white circle, blue number, top) the three Austrian cavalry regiments face off against the French infantry across the creek in what will become an ongoing standoff.    The Austrian horse artillery have unlimbered and are bombarding the French, but in LaSalle artillery is not overwhelming.  It can chip away a target’s cohesion over time, but it’s just one tool on the battlefield.

On the

 Turn IV was rough on the French, seeing the Austrians draw first blood.  In the photo below, note:

Austrian (white circles):

#1 Landwehr regiment gets comfortable in Nieuderkreuz, finds the tavern, and settles in.  No one will trouble them for the rest of the battle.  This cements 1 VP for the Austrians, assuming that the sudden death victory (five units lost on either side) isn’t invoked.

#2 Austrian Grenz and Jaeger units charge across the stream into the French elite infantry regiment in line, and rout it in combat, removing it from the table.   In combat units get an advantage if they outnumber the enemy, but troop quality doesn’t enter into the combat factors, which are based on the modified strength of the unit plus a 1d6 die roll.  Here the French just rolled badly.   Another illustration of Momentum Points:  it costs the Austrians 3 MPs to make that charge - 1 MP to move a Force (the Avant Garde brigade), 1 MP to charge, and 1 MP for a complication (crossing the stream).  So 3 MPs out of the average total of 5-7 for each side per turn doesn’t leave a lot left over to do other things, but it worked out well for the Austrians.

#3 The Austrian Hussars and Uhlans team up to charge and route the centre French hussar regiment.  French have now lost two units - they lose there more and it’s an Austrian Sudden Death victory.

French (blue circle) #1: a fourth infantry unit has to go into square versus the Austrian dragoons.   These are mere conscripts, but they will (spoiler alert) turn out to be the stars of the battle.   The conscripts are supported by the Foot Artillery battery on the hill behind and above them, which help anchor the French centre.

Action shot of the Austrian infantry charging across the stream to rout the French.  In the foreground, another regiment of the Avant Garde brigade is crossing the bridge to expand the Austrian foothold on the far bank.  It all looks rather grim for France.

 At the end of Turn 5, French fortunes are restored somewhat.  In the photo below:

French (blue circle) #1:  The French hussars are also seeking MVP status.  After being charged by their Austrian counterparts and handily defeating them, they are themselves free to charge the Austrian infantry crossing the bridge.   The Austrians, alas, are caught in Mass, so they face a terrible Combat modifier for being in a Disadvantageous Formation and are annihilated.   In LaSalle, infantry in square are surprisingly resilient in melee, provided that they aren’t exposed to too much incoming fire, which is how Napoleonic battles should work, I think.

Austrian #1:  Now it’s the turn of the Austrian infantry to be pinned.   With the victorious French hussars (Fr #1) on their flank, the Jaegers have no choice but to go into square, depriving their cohorts of the firepower they could bring to bear on the French centre.

Austrian 2#: As all the smoke along the stream in the centre top attests, the French squares are putting out as much musketry as they can.    This fire, combined with that of the French supporting artillery, is starting to hurt the Austrian dragoons.  One of the three dragoon regiments has withdraw to the top of the hill north of Stromthal to rally.   In LaSalle, units start with varying numbers of strength points, which can be reduced by fire and melee combat,  Units will break and rout if they run out of strength points, but the owning player can attempt to rally units, which offers a chance (better if the unit is better quality and better still if they unit is removed from musket range (4 BWs).  A die is thrown for each strength point lost (LaSalle calls them Disruption Points, I think) and these can either be regained or permanently lost if the roll fails.  However, a Rally attempt for a Formation (brigade) costs one of your precious MPs, so there’s an opportunity cost to rallying.

Went the day well for the Austrian battery now defending the bridge alone against the French hussars?

 Not really.  They got off one shot, then tried to limber and evade, failed, and were ridden down, taking the Austrians to three units lost.

 

End of  Turn 6 and noteworthy below:

Austrian #1 The doomed Uhlans of the Av Garde Brigade gallantly face two French Dragoon brigades, which will sweep the Uhlans off the table in Turn 7.

Aus #2 The Jaeger regiment could be pushing hard in the centre, but having learned from the bridge debacle that infantry not in square are delicious morsels for enemy cavalry, it now finds itself in square, where its superior musketry only gets one d6 per facing of the square, meaning that it can do very little.

Meanwhile, the two Grenz regiments and the dragoons take turns battering the French squares along the stream at top centre, with little to show except for slowly mounting casualties.

French #3 The French hussars, the surviving unit of the light cavalry brigade, find themselves across the river, having annihilated an Austrian infantry regiment and a foot battery.  They’re a little depleted but they’ve done well for themselves.

End of Turn 7 and noteworthy below:

Austrian #1: After the demise of their Uhlan colleagues (outnumbered 2-1 by the fresh French dragoons, they didn’t really have a a change, the Ave Garde Horse Artillery battery has limbered up and is bugging out.  Now ith 4 units lost, the Austrians lose the game if they lose a fifth unit and that battery is easy prey for the two FR dragoon regiments facing it.  The French hussars on the far side of the river have moved away to rally and regroup, so the horse gunners might have a chance of escaping.

Aus #2:  The reserve infantry of the Av Garde brigade is now uselessly in square, facing the threat of the FR Hussars that have crossed the river.

Aus #3:  Momentum points are being burned as the Austrian dragoons throw themselves at the French squares, and the two Grenz units vainly try to dislodge the (FR #1) conscript square in the centre,  It just won’t budge!  Meanwhile, the FR artillery on the hill in centre is steadily chipping away at the weaker of the two Grenz regiments. Finally, the Jaegers on the bottom of the #3 circle have gone back into Mass formation and have moved forward, hoping for a shot at driving the French artillery off the hill in the centre.

FR #1: Fighting off charge after charge, their ranks thinning but unbowed, the French conscript infantry in square in the centre continues to defy the odds.

At the end of Turn 8, things are very tense and it’s going to go well or poorly for the Austrians in the next turn.

Aus 1: Hoping to contest the bridge, a regiment of conscripts from the Av Garde brigade crosses the river and forms square facing the French horse.  Meanwhile, the Austrian horse artillery has safely escaped and is out of the fight.  The Landwehr in the village are just happy someone else is fighting the battle.

Aus 2: The Jaeger regiment, in mass formation, is heading straight for the French battery on the hill.   They are within the 4BW charge range of the French dragoons to their left flank, and if the French charge first, the Jaegers are kaput.  It will depend on who goes first.  Meanwhile, the mass of Austrian dragoons and the two Grenz units are hoping to finish the French conscripts in the centre, which, if the Jaegers do their job, takes the French to 5 units lost and sudden death.

Fr 1: The French dragoon brigade has wheeled and is ready to charge.

Fr 2: The hussars, out of frame, are rallying this turn.  With all the nearby infantry in square, they might just make a run at the village of Stromthal behind the Austrian centre and take the Victory Point.

 

Austrian disaster!  With the initiative, the French spend a MP for a volley command, and fire the artillery across the heads of the conscripts and into the weaker of the two Grenz regiments directly to the front of the French guns.  Three hits and each one a kill!  The Grenz regiment only has three strength points left, and it’s gone.   French victory!

Final dispositions.

I ended the game with a very favourable impression of these rules.  As with other Sam Mustafa rules I’ve played, the mechanisms aren’t overly complex, and the game feels playable and yet realistic enough and sufficiently “Napoleonic”.  There is that “rock/paper/scissors” feel that you want with infantry vs cavalry, and as I noted earlier, artillery can have an impact (it was the cause of the French win) but is not overwhelmingly powerful.

What I enjoy most about it is the turn sequence.  The opportunity to “interrupt” another player, which usually happens when units are within 4BWs, would require players to think hard about the best use of their Momentum Points before committing to an action that would give the opponent a riposte.    The first time I played Lasalle was head to head and it certainly felt very tense.

Having just played the Basic game, it is several notches below TFL/Reisswitz’s General D’Armee in complexity.   I will definitely try the second scenario in the rules along with some of the Advanced Rules.  An added bonus was getting my 6mm figures back on the table, and that felt like a victory in itself.

Tell me how you liked this format for an AAR - did the numbers in the photos and the explanations in the text help you follow the battle?

Cheers and blessings to your die rolls.

MP+

 

More 6mm Napoleonics: Baccus French

On the heels of my last post about 3D printed 6mm figures, here are some “old school” (do we call them that now?) cast metal 6mm Napoleonic French from Baccus that marched off the painting desk just before New Years.

 

The figures are Baccus code NFR02 French Elite Infantry 1806-1812.   I’ve painted them all with red hat plumes, cords, and epaulettes to make them easily distinguishable on the table top as an elite or veteran unit.  Flags are likewise from Baccus.

This is my standard base for 6mm foot or horse figures, and is the Base Width that I use for measuring if using Sam Mustafa’s LaSalle or Blucher rules.

I have a considerable stash of Baccus figures yet to paint - Bavarians as well as Revolutionary era French in bicornes, so I have lots to work on while I get the teething issues with my Elegoo Mars 3 printer sorted out.  Elegoo thinks the machine shipped with a defective LCD panel, which means the light came out everywhere and the print pattern was impossible.   They’re sending me a replacement part from China, so I may order a second machine to play with while I wait.

Cheers, and blessings you your brushes,

MP

 

Playing Lasalle with 3D printed 6mm Naps

“Hey, Mike, want a free army?”   That wasn’t how I’m usually greeted by V, the owner of my Friendly Local Gaming Store, and I was immediately suspicious, as V is a canny operator who has managed to stay in the retail hobby business for decades.   

“What’s the catch?”  I asked warily.

“No catch”, V said cheerfully, “you just have to paint it.”    V, who is a tireless (and sometimes cranky ball of energy), is an historical gamer at heart, even though the bulk of his business is a carefully balanced supply of action figures, GW kit, Airsoft gear, and Eurogames.   He’s also a born again 3D printer, has just bought a ton of .STL files, and proudly showed off a mass of 6mm figures that he’s recently stamped out.  Here is a stand of Spanish infantry in their distinctive bicornes.   As you can see, they are designed in the same block style that Warlord uses for their 18mm ACW and Napoleonic range, though less detailed.

And from the back.   The legs are not terribly distinct, and they are very well equipped for Spanish troops, but shouldn’t be that hard to paint.   

The .STL files also include a command stand (front left in the photo below), not terribly say to see in the black primer that V has used.   A command stand and three rank and file units make up a unit of foot in Sam Mustafa’s LaSalle rules, which V wants to use to play large battles.

Here are some photos of a LaSalle battle that V and I played this last Monday, an Anglo-Dutch army below facing off against the French.  V has painted enough figures to have a decent battle, and at 6mm, seen while looking down at the table while standing, they look perfectly acceptable.

 

LaSalle was new to me, though I’ve played Blucher and the concepts are generally familiar to anyone with some experience of Sam Mustafa’s games.  The game allows some tactical choices, while the fluid turn sequence, in which players can pass the initiative back and forth while spending momentum points (of which there are never enough) keeps things interesting.

The cavalry in V’s STL files print singly and look good enough when based, though they are all guys in shakos and swords, so it’s rather generic.

I agreed to take four of the Spanish stands home to test paint.   My own 6mm collection is single based, which work well for games like Blucher and TFL’s GdA.    Forunately they are about the same length as V’s bases in mass formation.

And two bases of my figures placed end to end equal’s V’s four bases formed in line, so our collections are roughly compatible.   V is quite pleased that I have large, ready painted French and Austrian armies (and apparently the makings of a Spanish army) so I think our two collections are generally interoperable.

I can happily foresee some H2H 6mm gaming in the new year, barring another lockdown.  It’s looking rather grim here a the moment.

Blessings, my friends.

MP+

Picking Up Pickett

 

I’ve set up an American Civil War battle because I wanted to try the Pickett’s Charge rules from Too Fat Lardies|Reisswitz Press.  I’ve chosen the terrain randomly, using the Terrain cards included in the Longsreet/Sam Mustafa rules and assigning four Terrain Cards randomly per side. 

 Chosing a side randomly, the Confederates have to attack.  The key terrain feature is the ridge held by the Union (top right), so that is the Confederate objective.

 The Union are defending with one brigade of four regiments, all of average size and training, and one battery, and deployed first.  The Confederates enter the table wth five regiments, also average size and training, and one battery.   Pickett’s Charge is written for divisional or larger size battles, and the heart of the rules have to do with the management of brigades.  I’ll try that once I get the basic mechanics sorted.

 Confederate general Ginger Purrsival inspects his brigade.

 “I need more time and more men.   I could march to his flank, and get around him.   Then I could bat him around like a mouse and eat him."

How will the Confederates fare?  I hope to show you more soon.

Blessings to your dice rolls!

Awaiting Pickett's Charge, Or, Do I Need Another Set of ACW Rules?

A lot of this going on at my games club lately.  Would it be better with another set of rules?

I noted with interest this recent interview by Sidney Roundwood, one of the Too Fat Lardies braintrust, with Dave Brown, the designer of the forthcoming Pickett's Charge rules. 

 PC, as I will hence refer to it, is being published by TFL under their new imprint, Reisswitz Press.  As TFL's Richard Clarke explains it, Reisswitz will allow TFL to support the work of other rules writers who share what one might call the Lardies philosophy of  ''a large dollop of Clausewitzian friction and an emphasis on command decisions ''.

While I am exited by this news and always happy to support one of Big Rich's projects, I suppose a fair question would be, ''Does the hobby really need another set of ACW rules?  Now I am not a tyro in this genre of gaming, but I'm not exactly a grognard either.   I started 25 years ago playing Johnny Reb II and found it somewhat maddening.   One worked through long lists of modifiers, which gave the impression of realism, but units could charge and strike like summer lightning, in a way that seemed profoundly unrealistic because it didn't seem to reflect any command and control issues or any tactical limitations of the period.  I vividly recall having my mouth drop open when I closed in on an enemy formation from its rear, only to see the unit about-face and charge me before I could get a volley off.  I suppose one could pivot a tank like that, but not a line of 600 men in the midst of a battle.

Since then I have dabbled in Black Powder and find it somewhat generic.  The activation rules are a attempt to model friction, but they seem essentially a random element.   Readers of this blog will know that for the past two years, Sam Mustafa's Longstreet has been my ACW drink of choice.    I will go to great lengths to defend these rules - they are simple, they force difficult decisions on players at every step of the way, and they capture the narrative arc of the war, so that there is an appreciable difference between a fight in 1861 and one in 1865.   In the campaign game we are currently playing at the club, I can assure you that it is more fun to be late war Union than it is to be the early war Union, as the faces of our Reb opponents get grimmer with each battle!

Just two ways in which it is very satisfying to be a late-war Union player in Longstreet

At the same time, while the cards in Longstreet can be very satisfying when you stick an Interrupt card in your opponent's spokes at a key moment, they are a little, well, gamey.   Longstreet is a game where you watch your hand just as closely as you watch the battlefield, and while the mechanism is ideal for the kind of three hour club matches we play, it may be the reason why true ACW grognards will always look down their nose at Longstreet, which is unfair, because I don't think Sam aspired to make a game that would appeal just to grognards.

There are other established ACW rules out there which I don't know at all.   Fire and Fury is probably the most well known rules set I have never played, which is odd, because Regimental F&F is probably ideally suited to my 28mm collection.  I noted with interest the late John Hill's Across A Deadly Field rules, published by Osprey last year, but felt committed to Longstreet and didn't buy it.  Beneath these two titles lurks a veritable iceberg of other ACW rules.

Seems familiar.  You never forget an elephant.

Curiously, one set of ACW rules I have played is the set entitled They Couldn't Hit an Elephant (TCHAE or 'Elephant') published sometime around 2008 by TFL.   I can't recall who was the main author behind it, whether it was Clarke or someone else.  I did play TCHAE quite a bit when it came out, and remember liking it, but thinking it a tad abstract.   You can find a thorough review of TCHAE here.

Briefly, TCHAE shows the influence of TFL's popular WW2 rules, I Ain't Been Shot, Mum (IABSM), in that it uses a system of blinds to bring hidden units into the battle, and uses a card activation system to determine the order in which commanders are activated.   Once a commander is activated, he gets a number of commands, or pips, determined by an average dice with some plus or minus mods depending on how skilled or wretched the commander is.   Commanders use their pips to achieve tactical effects: moving and changing the formation of units, rallying them, etc.   Also, the IABSM influence is seen in the random termination of each turn when the Coffee Card (shades of the Tea Break card) is drawn.  Units that have been given pips to reserve their fire can shoot on the Coffee Card.

Not everyone liked TCHAE.  One review noted the occasional ambiguities of the rules and some frustration with the TFL philosophy that the rules are as much a toolbox as they are a complete system.

Last week I sent Richard Clarke a message on Twitter, asking him if he could say how TCHAE differed from PC, and he was honest enough to say that it was years since he had played Elephant and didn't remember much about it.  I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised by this answer, since rules publishers need to publish new product to stay in business, and hopefully each iteration brings improvements from lessons learned.   In terms of TFL's evolution, one hopes that PC is to Elephant what Chain of Command is to IABSM, a natural development of concepts and mechanisms.

What I see in PC from the Roundwood interview is a more nuanced approach to command and control than the pip system.  I like the idea that brigade commanders see their degree of control start to degrade as the battle wears down their troops.  I also like the idea of the commander sending staff officers to try to keep units on task.    I suspect that PC has jettisoned the idea of blinds, which I never felt worked very well for the ACW in the scale (28mm) that I play it in, though perhaps in 6mm.

So, while I am curious to get my mitts on PC, I am going use this Thanksgiving Weekend to put some ACW figures on the table and see how TCHAE plays after five or six years.

In the meantime, blessings to your die rolls!

MP

Solo Scharnhorst 4 - The Battle of Karlseck - Kaltenbach Begins

Back in February I posted a lot of guff about an experiment using Sam Mustafa’s battle generator for Blucher, Scharnhorst to play a solo Napoleonics mini-campaign.  I ended with the two sides having blundered into each other for the climactic battle of Karlseck-Kaltenbach, in which Napoleon and some fictitious Marshals, named after some innocent colleagues of mine, took on Napoleon’s equally fictitious Austrian nemesis, Duke Kurvi-Tasch, to battle for the strategic town of Kaltenbach.

You can find the account of the final maneuvers to the battlefield  here.

A reminder of the dispositions.  Austrian’s left to right:  I Korps:  Grenzer Division, Infantry Division w. Kurvi-GTasch, Cavalry Division;   Independent: Sachsen’s Lt Cavalry Division on the far righ

French right: Legros’ Infantry Division

Centre: Napoleon with the Guard and Dupont’s Light Cavalry Division

Left: Moisan’s Infantry Division

Napoleon is expecting one more division, the infantry of Lafreniere, at some time, but does not know when.  Lafreniere is one square south of Karlseck n the map.

 

Initial moves.  Sachsen’s cavalry cross the stream and move on the French left, while the cavalry division with its horse artillery from K-T’s Korps move in support.  Napoleon orders Dupont’s cavalry division, three light and one dragoon brigades, to move to intercept them.

In the centre, K-T marches south towards Napoleon’s position,  His plan is to pin the French centre and allow Groll’s Korps, when it arrives, to roll up the French left.  K-T’s division is very solid, a grenadier brigade and three veteran infantry brigades, supported by heavy artillery, so Napoleon has something to worry about.

On the Austrian left, K-T sends his division of three Grenzer brigades straight south to threaten Karlseck and hopefully pin some of the French there.    Moisan leaves two brigades to hold the town, and moves his other two, with his heavy artillery regiment, to support Napoleon in the centre.  Breaking Moisan’s corps up means that if I want to use the two brigades left behind in Karselck, I have to roll for them separately towards my random points cost each turn.  I hope i won’t have to move them much.

Napoleon calmly awaits in the centre.  He has three brigades of the Guard, and a brigade of Guard cavalry, as the last reserve.  The Emperor hopes he won’t have to use them, and watches events unfold calmly.  I need a better staff marker/diorama for Napoleon.  Incidentally, in a points game, Napoleon is a good investment.  As I understand the rules, he always allows a Corps to move for only two command points ut of the random total rolled each turn, which is useful.

By about 10:00hrs, things take a nasty turn for the French as Groll’s Korps arrives on their left flank.   Here Groll’s lead division of cavalry (mostly average troops) surges forward while Sachsen’s and K-T’s divisions of horse move up behind them.   Dupont braces for the onslaught and orders his horse artillery to start banging away.   His four cavalry brigades must face eleven Austrian brigades, but fortunately not all at once.  Notice that in the bottom right, my recently painted stands of Cahsseurs a Cheval are retreating to pass through their supports, to force the Austrians to come on and buy some time.

A wider view of the French left flank, showing Moisan trying to get his infantry division and guns ready to support Dupont’s horse and block Groll’s infantry which have yet to arrive.

Slowly but surely, Dupont’s cavalry brigades are asked onto the ballroom floor and begin to dance with the Austrians.  On the far left you can see the first of Groll’s two infantry divisions arriving.

Casualties mount on both sides.  One Austrian brigade is broken and several battered, but Dupont’s troopers are getting mauled and begin to reach their break points.  

Dupont’s weary brigades fall back behind their horse artillery and are withdrawn, meaning that they are removed from the game but do not count as broken units  towards the French break point.  By now Moisan’s four infantry brigades are in a line, their left anchored by artillery, and can take up the slack until help arrives.  Will help arrive?

 

The French pay the price for leaving Dupont’s horse artillery unsupported.  They are overrun by two brigades of Austrian horse and eliminated.  Dupont’s division has now been ruined.  

As an aside, I need to rethink my use of artillery in Blucher.  I like using the limber and cassion stands I have, but they aren’t required by the rules and don’t seem to add much to game play.  With them on the table, an artillery regiment (three batteries combined together in Blucher terms) takes up an awful lot of space.  Other Blucher players have advised me to get rid of them and just add batteries to individual brigades, thus giving them an extra dice, which would probably work well but would seem rather abstract to me.  Hmmmm.

By now it is around 14:00.  On the left, the first of Groll’s infantry divisions has arrived behind his cavalry, but the Austrian die rolls for command points are not always large, and so not every part of the Austrian plan can be implemented each turn.  That, plus the size of the table, s really keeping the Austrians from getting into the game.   Either I use a smaller table, or I give the rules a tweak and allow units that end their turn out of range (more than 6 base widths from artillery, two from infantry) of enemy units to move twice their normal movement rate - this would be a variation of the Blucher rule where units basically get a first free move of 12 BWs since they are usually considered to start hidden.   

It’s getting on for mid afternoon and Napoleon catches a break.  Lafreniere’s infantry division marches onto the table, and is ordered to move left to support Moisan.  Moisan’s artillery regiment and two brigades of infantry will have to block Kurvi-Tasch’s oncoming division by themselves.

 

Marshall Luigi, master of the battlefield.  He is a very social fellow, and I find that I am never stern enough to shoo him off the table.  He just wants to keep me company, I think.  Weirdly, he also hops on the bathroom counter when I am shaving and watches the water go down the sink with great fascination.  Odd little cat.

 

Hopefully by the end of the week I can tell you how it all ended.

Blessings to your die rolls!  MP+

Solo Scharnhorst 3 - The Battle of Karseck-Kaltenbach Begins

On Day 2 of the campaign, Marshall Kurvi-Tasch, the Austrian CinC, had identified, with a high degree of probability, the presence of Napoleon and his Guard in the town of Karlseck.  With Groll’s report of a French corps some distance to the West, the Marshall felt that he could concentrate his forces and crush Napoleon, outfoxing the fox at his own game.

To that end, he gave orders that the light infantry division detached from his own force and shown below as Col 5, would remain in front of Karsleck while he shifted his own Corps (1 infantry and 1 cavalry division) W following the road to B5 and then south to C5, to allow Groll (Col 2) to link up with him.   The Austrians won the initiative on Day 3 and Col 1 executed these orders.  It discovered Col C (Napoleon with the Guard and a cav division) at D5 while the Grenzers of Col 5 reported that another French Corps was moving into Karseck.   That was all the information K-T needed.  Stroking his luxuriant whiskers with satisfaction, the Marshall declared a Battle, since he occupied the centre position at C5.  The squares for the battle, meaning the landscape of the tabletop, would be C4-6 and D4-6. Austrian Cols 1,5 and French Cols C,D will be frozen if Napoleon accepts the battle (he has one chance during the 5 days of Scharnhorst to refuse a battle, at a cost of Victory Points).  The Emperor accepts the battle.

All Columns not frozen now have a chance to reach the battle.   The French turn is next, and Col A (Moisan’s Corps, an infantry division) marches E from D3 to D4.  It has to pay one if its 6 movement points to disengage from the Zone of Control of Col 2, but that leaves it more than enough MPs to arrive on the battlefield and take up position on Napoleon’s left wing.

Now it’s the Austrian’s turn to move unfrozen columns.  Groll (Col 2) and his substantial Corps (2 infantry and 1 cavalry division) know that there is French cavalry (Col B) in D2.  He then orders his Corps to move one square south to D2.  This has two results.  First, Groll will be able to arrive, at some point, on the battlefield as a reinforcement.  However, it poses a problem for Col B.  In Scharnhorst, Columns may not move diagonally.  Col B, which is the best of the French cavalry units, four brigades of heavy cavalry under Marshall Noel, is now cut off from the battlefield.  It doesn’t have the MPs to disengage from the ZOCs of Cols 4 and 2 and reach square E4 to arrive as a reinforcement.  It is out of the battle.

The best French move now is to leave ColB in place.  Col 4, the light cavalry division under Sachsen, does have the MPs to disengage from Col B’s ZOC and march C3 C4 to reach the battlefield, across from Moisan (Col A).  However, the Austrian Col 3 (an infantry division of 4 brigades under Von Lunenburg) will also miss the battle because it doesn’t have the MPs to reach C3 as a possible reinforcement.  Being south of the minor river at C1 really hurts C3.

Here is one satisfying aspect of the Scharnhorst system, in that one can draw up two armies using a points system and, if the points are equal, one can expect an equal contest,  However, with this battle, of the 400 points allotted to both sides, not all of those troops are guaranteed to make it on to the table, so one has a good chance of an asymmetrical result, if one likes that sort of thing.

 

The battle commences on the dawn of day 4.  Here is the deadly field of Karlseck-Kaltenbach.  This battle marks the first official use of my groundsheet, a mix of acrylic craft store paint and artist’s pastel crayons, treated afterwards with artist’s fixative.  The roads are all handmade, using balsa or cardboard coloured with pastels.   At the bottom left is Karsleck, and the village of Kaltenbach is in the centre.   This battlefield corresponds to the six squares of the Scharnhorst map of S Germany mentioned above, with some randomized hills thrown in.

I need more trees.  As you can see, I had to quickly make some river sections (more cardboard coloured by pastel) to provide the rivers required by the Scharnhorst map.    The hedge sections are resin, from Timecast.

 A view of the French side.  Players of Blucher will notice that I am using my batteries to form units, despite the advice of some wise readers, such as Kaptain Kobolod, to fold them into individual brigades.  However, if I did that, I wouldn’t really be able to use my artillery and limber models, would I?  

I forgot to note that Kaltenbach is worth 1 VP.   It was a bit laborious labelling these photos on my Mac.  I had to use Google Slides to caption the photos, and then export them to my laptop so I could upload them to Imageshack.  I need to research better photo-editing tools for the Mac.

 

View from the Austrian side.   Kurvi-Tasch has lots of cavalry, and he has three more divisions that at some point will show up on Napoleon’s left flank, so he’s in a pretty good spot.   He doesn’t know yet what the French have in the way of reinforcements, or that Napoleon can only count on one infantry division possibly coming to his aid.  The Emperor has a very real chance of his flank being rolled up from left to right.

We shall see what transpires.  It may be a bad day for the French, if the Austrians get lucky and Groll’s II Corps enters the table early on. Will the Emperor try to refuse his left flank, or will he seek to savage Kurvi-Tasch’s I Korps before it can be reinforced?