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Saturday, 5 February 2022

Napoleonic Battle Campaign Game (Part 4)

As the battle progresses into late morning. It is Red (Austrian) army's move and they choose to advance the unopposed Corps III on their right flank in preparation for an attack by Corps II. No tabletop action this turn. Blue (French) opted for a similar approach in their campaign turn, pushing forward their Corps I to support any attack by their Corps II.

Both armies move forward their unopposed Corps as support. 

It as now Red (Austrian) army's turn again and they push forward their Corps II. They are hoping to have replacement units arriving on the flank from their unopposed Corps III, while Blue (French) will have to rely on only their reserves. Should Red (Austrian) army win this action, then they will win the battle because they will push Blue Corps III off the map.

Red (Austrians) make an attack pushing forward their Corps II.

The tabletop will reflect the map of the area occupied by both Corps. Both sides are not at full strength (8 units) and replacement units will start arriving in the early turns of the tabletop game.

The map terrain will decide the tabletop. Each square represents 2x2 foot on the tabletop.

Order of battle...

Blue (French)

  • 4 x Infantry (one unit is being used as skirmishers in the central woods)
  • 2 x Artillery

Red (Austrian)

  • 4 x Infantry (one unit is being used as skirmishers in the central fields)
  • 2 x Artillery
  • 1 x Cavalry

Armies deployed on the tabletop.

A view from the Blue (French) side.

An important game and both sides will be relying on reserves, Blue to hold the position and Red to overwhelm Blue and win the action and battle. The rule on reserves allows a reserve unit, or flanking unit from an unopposed Corps, to arrive providing an army does not exceed 8 units on the tabletop. 

Reserves did not always arrive in a timely manner. So to create some uncertainty reserves can only arrive when a "no effect" chance card is drawn. I use the 15 chance cards described in One Hour Wargames chapter on solo wargaming when playing these actions. There are 5 "no effect" cards in the chance deck which will allow 5 reserves to arrive providing the 8 unit rule is met.
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7 comments:

  1. Steve J.5 February 2022 at 18:39

    Thanks for the campaign update and let's hope the chance cards favour the Austrian reserves, as I always play the Austrian side in games where I can:)

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    1. Peter5 February 2022 at 21:16

      As a solo gamer I get to enjoy both sides, French an Austrian.

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    2. Jonathan Freitag5 February 2022 at 21:55

      Agreed, Peter! In solo play, one gets to enjoy the action from both sides. Looking forward to seeing how the battle plays out.

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  2. Gonsalvo6 February 2022 at 00:09

    Oh my gosh, I have been asleep at the wheel to miss this fine project (Mostly dealing with the Omicron COVID surge the past month)/ On the plus side, that means I have a great series of posts to read now.

    Long live the Emperors!

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    1. Peter6 February 2022 at 07:43

      Thank you. It is a small campaign and I am hoping for between 4 to 6 games from it.

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  3. Norm6 February 2022 at 04:28

    Oooh, this looks tight. On paper the French perhaps can hold their own for perhaps 2 turns while the Austrians close and then a further 2 turns of fighting, giving some chance for a ‘no effect’ card to turn up, but their left flank is very vulnerable and going to need all the help it can get …. at least the reserves are close by.

    On the other hand, the Austrians can afford to take losses and keep pouring fresh replacement units in until the enemy breaks!

    Will be very interesting to see this one play out.

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    Replies
    1. Peter6 February 2022 at 07:50

      With an unopposed Corps as support certainly allows the Austrians to replace losses and maintain the pressure. While the French will just want to hold on for 15 turns without drawing on too many reserves. 15 turns is a long time in OHW games.

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