Grand Empire - Musketry and Artillery Tables

Rule Hacks of the Day

Following on from the previous post about scaling troop formations at 1:120 scale for Brigade / Regimental level , I thought I would have a hack around with the Empire V stats to see what I could come up with to produce a combat mechanism that works well at this scale.

Today I am looking at the effects of Firepower from massed musket volleys and batteries of cannon of various calibers. In this section, I am looking only at material losses and casualties caused by firepower. (Morale - I will look at later)

Back to the Future

First place to start is Empire V.

30+ years old already, but still one of the most detailed systems out there. Being a product of the 80's .. it has a real old school feel to it, which in this day and age tends to cop a lot of flack for some reason. Somewhat unfortunate I think, because it is not THAT hard at all.


Out of interest, there is still quite a solid community around this rule set, which given the age ... and the excellent new offerings in the same market, is quite remarkable. There is probably a good reason for that.

For those of you that dont yet know - Empire uses an amazingly detailed combat resolution system that involves quite a few calculations, LOTS of tables, LOTS of troop grades, and even pages of flowcharts to get you through small sections of the rules. If you like detail, you will love Empire.

For combat results from firepower - everything is worked out to the percentile, roll a few dice, lookup a few tables, and calculate the casualties from everything to artillery fire and musketry.

Casualties are then displayed as number of figures rendered ineffective.

First, a few GOOD things about this system :

• The effects of firepower are deterministic. If you do the right thing and line up a decent attack, you will produce casualties.
• You cannot get ridiculous results due to unusual die rolls.
• The calculations are backed by a lot of serious period research.
• The mechanics of the calculation .. whilst they do involve a lot of different tables, are actually pretty simple, clean and consistent.

For me, thats 4 really really really good reasons to have closer look at Empire.

"Modernizing" Empire

Now, there have many attempts to make use of this excellent source material in the Empire combat charts, and jazz it up with more modern gaming mechanics make it faster / more fun to play.

A lot of these have got the maths right up to point, by keeping the probabilities of the average results in line with  the Empire probabilities.

You can do this by substituting the fun 'bucket-o-dice' method with a probability curve where the peak sits inline with the peak of the original probability curve.

However - and this is a BIG however, the standard deviation of the probability curve on the bucket-o-dice method is wildly larger than the more deterministic approach used in the original Empire.  Makes for a good game, but its still not so good mathematically.

A little bit of spread is not a bad thing - those random outlier events do add some uncertainty to the game, which can add flavour when they happen at the right time. But its not that amusing when thousands of muskets roar at close range ... and some really odd dice rolls tell you that it had no appreciable effect. Thats not fun - even when it happens to the opponent.

So, I have put some effort in with these new tables to find a better balance between deterministic results and fun mechanisms .. whilst keeping the maths more inline with the original.

Summary of The Approach

A quick summary of the things that I am trying to do with this are :

1. REDUCE table lookups and calculations to a minimum. I get enough of that at work ... gaming time should be fun.
2. ADD some gaming chrome.
3. ADD some fog of war. 
4. Make some minor adjustments applicable to brigade / regimental level gaming.

Approach taken :

Reducing table lookups is simple enough. A combination of dice and rules of thumb provide well tested mechanisms. You find this approach being used in a lot of systems that are popular at the moment.

Just have to be careful with the maths and that whole standard deviation issue.

One thing that I find hurts my brain during a game is die roll modifiers. I hate them !!  Just having to add +1 here, and -2 there may be simple enough, but I find that it requires that you set aside some of your short term memory to perform these calculations.  Dont like !


Fog of War / Brigade level adjustments.

One thing with Empire is that you tend to play the game at both Corps/Army command level as one game, and Divisional/Brigade commander at another. Its almost like 2 games in one - and that sits well when you have lots of players in the game.

Because of this, there is a lot of detail at the battalion level (number of casualties for example), that an officer at the Corps level would really have no way of knowing during the battle.

To translate a game up to brigade level, where you are just a Corps commander only, it is best to hide some of the detail happening down the line.

Ive taken a Schroedinger's Cat approach to this, and defined 'Casualties' as something a little more rubbery. Its a mechanism that comes out of KISS Rommel - WW2 operational scale rules, that is so simple and yet so coincidentally accurate.

When a 'base' of figures gets to half strength, its considered 'killed'. But 'killed' bases can be randomly recovered during the game. In a WW2 context, this is modeled as a whole battalion vanishing off the map as it is dispersed. It may re-appear on a good roll of the dice, or it may be lost for good. As Corps commander, you don't know the full details until after the event,

So I like that mechanism enough that I think I will use it for naps as well.

Figure Scaling Effects

The default scaling in Empire is :
1" on the table = 40 yards, and 1:60 for the figure scale.

For whatever reason, I will be playing at 1:120 scale, which is half that of the default. I have taken that into account with the tables generated below.


Using a figure scale of 1:120, and a ground scale of 1" = 120 paces  (distance that troops march in 1 minute at quick time pace in perfect conditions), which provides a convenient mapping scale of 1' on the table = (almost exactly) 1km in real life. Nice !

With a figure scale of 1:120, that gives me little bases of 3 figures, representing 360 troops in 3 ranks on a 30x20mm base.  (120 men per rank on a frontage of around 120 paces).  2 of these bases make up a French Battalion at full strength for example.

A visual description of battalions of 3 rank troops in a variety of formations on the table top.

For troops in 2 ranks, I will be using   2 figures on a 1" x 0.5" base representing 240 men.  I kind of like the quirky idea of having the continental troops based on the metric system and the Brits on imperial system bases.

Crazy perhaps ... but it makes sense to me in a perverse way.

So now, after having crunched the numbers with all the various casualty charts, which depend on a number of factors such as :

• The troop grade of the firer
• The number of ranks firing (3 vs 2)
• The range of the shot.
• The formation of the target unit (Column/Line/Square/OpenOrder/Skirmish/ClosedColumn)
• The cover of the target unit.

I have come up with a single table that takes all of the above into account, and then expanded the probabilities out to work for my 3 figure troop bases above.

Also works for my 2 figure British bases ... since in both cases, a 'Base' of troops at full strength is always 120 muskets bringing fire to bare.

Representing Casualties - Whats in a Kill ?

I will cover this question now, before looking at the charts, so at least it is explained what is meant by a 'KILL' before you read the casualty charts.

In vanilla Empire, with a figure scale of 1:60, each KILL represents 1 casting to be removed from play.

So thats 60 troops taken out of the battle - either dead, wounded, disheartened, or whatever.

At 1:120 scale, each of my figures represents '2 castings' in Empire terms at 1:60 scale.

So a base of standard line infantry in 3 ranks needs the equivalent of 6 KILLs to wipe them out.

That presents the possibility of a quite a bit of bookkeeping. Don't like bookkeeping !

So I am defining KILL as meaning this, at this scale of the game :

• Each KILL means that 10 troops are actually killed, 20 are actually wounded, and the other 90 that make up the casting are in various states of distress. They could even be out of action due to helping the wounded.
• A line of troops in 3 ranks can take more damage than a line of troops in 2 ranks ... since as men drop to the ground in the front, others push forward from behind to take their place.
• Therefore, a KILL represents a good portion of a rank from 1 casting pretty much out of action for one reason or another. 
• A UNIT of troops in 3 ranks can handle having 3 KILLs and still perform effectively. When it takes the 4th hit, 1 BASE is removed from the unit.
• A UNIT of troops in 2 ranks can handle having 2 KILLs and still perform effectively. When it takes the 3rd hit, 1 BASE is removed from the unit.

At the Corps commander level,  these 'LOST BASES'  are known to be out of action, but you dont know the full extent of the damage. Each hourly round, the player(s) can take actions to recover troops from these lost bases, and possibly get them back into action.

Hence the Schroedinger's cat quantum thing - you don't know whether the cat is dead or alive until you look in the box .. so until that happens, the cat is considered somewhere in limbo.

Musketry Fire


Musketry fire involves any small arms fire from any large group of weapons, at ranges from out to 300 paces, down to 50 paces.

This includes battalions of infantry firing volleys at the enemy. This can also include volley fire from the light infantry formed up in closed ranks  .. and it can also include prepared volley fire from cavalry armed with carbines at close enough range.

This method also applies to masses of unformed troops firing aimed shots in open order (eg - 1813+ Prussian musketeers in open order).

For units firing in Skirmish order ... that is  treated differently. See the section on Skirmish Fire below.

'Volley Fire' in this sense means a number of volleys fired during a short period of a minute or 2.

If a unit does very well, it may unleash 3 rounds a minute of solid aimed fire with great discipline.

On the other hand, a unit may start off with a decent enough volley, before panic sets in and shots become sporadic.

What we are looking for here is the overall performance of the unit in a short but sharp period of firing.



Procedure :

For each unit firing a volley as a group, run through the following steps :

1. Roll 2 firing dice for the whole volley.
2. The TYPE of dice used depend on the Firing Class of the unit.
3. Check the pair of dice, and determine from that what the overall performance of the unit was.
4. Make any adjustments according to the sitations below.
5. Now lookup the table, cross referencing the number of bases firing with the overall performance of the volleys.  This is the number of KILLS.
6. Now apply some extra D6 rolls if there are any special circumstances, as listed below.

If the firer is of varied types, then either average the class, or resolve separate attacks .. up to you.

Note that some very poor  units (militia, etc) only get 1 firing dice.

Note - that as in the real Empire rules, a unit's Firepower skill follows that unit's rating. Old Guard shoot as Old Guard,  Grenadiers shoot as Grenadiers, etc.

Some units have a different firepower skill to their general morale grade. For example, Russian veteran line might be classed as Conscript line for fire results, but fight defensively as Crack Line.

Whatever works for you ...

Another method that could be used is to use consistent morale grades for firing, but DROP the calculated "Overall Unit Performance" level down a grade if that force is known to have exceptionally bad muskets, a shocking supply of gunpowder ... a shocking epidemic of dysentery in the ranks ... or whatever situation the campaign calls for.

Something to play with anyway.



Firing Dice Used :

Firing Unit Troop Grade	Dice 1	Dice 2
Old Guard	D12	D10
Guards	D10	D10
Grenadiers	D10	D8
Elites	D8	D8
Crack Line	D8	D6
Veteran Line	D6	D6
Conscript Line	D6	D4
Landwehr	D4	D4
Trained Militia	D6	NONE
Untrained Militia	D4	NONE

Firing Unit Overall Performance :

If BOTH dice are 8+	The unit has fired a SUPERB series of excellent Volleys
if BOTH dice are 6+	The unit has demonstrated a SPLENDID display of musketry
if BOTH dice are 4+	The unit has got off a number of FINE volleys
if ONLY ONE dice is 4+	A REASONABLE effort - at least one decent volley has been fired
if NONE are 4+	A poor showing, one half decent volley and SPORADIC fire
if NONE are 6+ and ANY roll a 1	Some misfires and sporadic panic shots - a PITIFUL effort
if BOTH are natural 1's	An ABSOLUTE DISGRACE !

Adjustments :

• Firing unit in open order - drop result DOWN 1 level.
• Firing unit is shaken - drop result DOWN 2 levels
• Firing unit is broken - drop result DOWN 3 levels

In the case of Militia firing with a single D6, a '1' results in an absolute disgrace, 2 for a Pitiful effort, 3-5 for a poor showing, and 6 for a reasonable volley.

In the case of Untrained Militia ... a single D4 with :

1. An Absolute Disgrace
2. A Pitiful Effort
3. Sporadic shooting
4. A Reasonable effort.

Old Guard can also put in an Absolute Disgrace ... but the chances are less than 1%. They are more than 50% likely to put in at least a Splendid display of shooting.

Landwehr are interesting. They will usually put in poor showing most of the time, getting in a half a proper volley before firing sporadically at will. On some rare occasions though (1 in 16 chance), they will hold it all together and put in a series of fine volleys .. as good as any Veteran line unit would be expected to perform.



Firing Unit Performance vs Bases Firing = Number of KILLS

				Musketry Bases (6 castings equiv) Firing vs LINE
			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
Superb !!			2	3	5	6	7	9	10	12	13	15	16	18
Splendid !			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	9	10	11	12	13
Fine shot			1	2	3	3	4	5	6	7	8	8	9	10
Reasonable			1	1	2	2	3	4	4	5	5	6	7	7
Sporadic			0	1	1	1	2	2	3	3	3	4	4	4
Pitiful			0	0	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	2
Disgraceful			0	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2

Range Effects on Musketry :

Range Effects

0-1"

-2"

-3"

-4"

Muskets

N/A

Steady, aimed fire from Rifles. Can roll any 1 dice again.

Sharpshooters

Use chart above.

Rifles

D6 for each kill 4+ = save

D6 for each kill 3+= save

Grrrr .. blogger can be a pain to get formatting of tables right sometimes !!

What the above means, in plain English - is that KILLs from muskets have no save at up to 1",   a 50% save up to 2" and a 66% save up to 3".

Sharpshooters do a little better at longer ranges, as do Rifles.

Rifles get a slight bonus at ranges between 120-240 paces, as they can spend a little more time at that range on getting the breathing right and landing a good shot, as they are trained to do.


Fine Tuning the results for special situations (D6 per kill) :

• Target in Square or Column:   5+ = extra kill.
• Target in Open Order.:  6 = Save
• Target is in Skirmish Order: 5+ = saved.
• Target in Cover: 4+ Heavy, 5+ Medium, 6 Light = save.

.... and thats it for musketry  !


.... almost !

Firefight Resolution Shortcut :

Empire V provides a fairly comprehensive firefight resolution system that measures what happens when 2 units fight it out with volleys. This result is in addition to any losses from the shooting itself.

This can get a little involved at times, depending on the situation. Here is a quick shortcut that gets straight to the point :


Whichever side scored the best Overall Performance Result in the musketry round above .. declare them the winner, and roll for the firefight result on Table 2.

If its too close to call, or the 'loser' has some significant advantage such as being in cover, or has a leader attached ... or if there is any doubt at all who the winner clearly is - then roll on Table 1.

Easy !

Artillery Fire :

Same trick with artillery here.

1 model gun at this scale represents a half-battery of 6 guns, spread out about 20 paces per gun.

Procedure :

1. Measure the range (in inches)
2. Count the number of gun models firing.
3. Cross reference to determine the number of KILLS.

Each whole number on the chart = 1 kill.
Each fractional number on the chart = probability of another kill.

e.g.  1.7 kills = 1 definite kill, and a 70% chance of a second.

70% can be translated as 'Roll D10  <= 7'.



Firer Class Adjustments :

• French Old Guard :  ALWAYS round up to the next whole number. So 2.0 on the table = 2 kills, but 2.1 kills on the table = 3 kills.  
• 1st Class batteries. If fraction die fails to score an extra kill, but is EVEN, then its still a kill after all.
• 2nd Class batteries.  No change.
• 3rd Class batteries. If fraction die gains an extra kill, but is ODD, then it is not a kill after all.

Artillery Table :

			Light Cannon				Medium Cannon				Heavy Cannon
		1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4
Range	1"	0.7	1.4	2.1	2.8	0.9	1.8	2.7	3.6	1.2	2.4	3.6	4.8
to	3"	0.4	0.8	1.3	1.7	0.5	1.1	1.6	2.2	0.9	1.8	2.7	3.6
Target	5"	0.4	0.7	1.1	1.4	0.4	0.8	1.3	1.7	0.6	1.2	1.8	2.4
	8"	0.2	0.4	0.5	0.7	0.3	0.6	0.9	1.2	0.4	0.8	1.2	1.6
	12"	0.1	0.1	0.2	0.2	0.1	0.2	0.4	0.5	0.2	0.4	0.6	0.8
	18"					0.1	0.1	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.3	0.5	0.6
	24"									0.1	0.2	0.2	0.3

Fine Tuning the results for Special Situations (D6 for each kill)

• vs Square: 4+ = extra kill.
• vs Column: 6 = extra kill for 2nd rank. 5 = extra kill if more than 2 ranks of bases in the column.
• vs Open Order.: 5+ = saved
• vs Skirmish Order: 4+ = saved.
• vs Cover. 3+ Heavy Cover, 4+ Medium Cover, 6+ Light Cover.

Skirmish Fire :

Representing skirmish capability can be a bit of a nightmare.

To do it 'properly', you probably need to break down the types of skirmishers into several different classes, and give them all different probabilities of causing some sort of damage to the enemy.

Thats all well and good until you actually calculate all those factors, roll the dice, and then 90% of the time find that the result of skirmish fire is pretty much negligible in the big picture of the whole battle.

Not that I want to skimp on detail, but I just feel that detailed modelling of skirmish fire is a low  return on investment in a brigade scale game.

So - Stick to the way that Republique handles skirmishing very nicely.

Real Simple Skirmish Rules :

• Each UNIT with no serious skirmish doctrine ... gets 0 skirmishers.
• Each BATTALION of an army with Semi-Skirmish capability can put out 1 skirmisher per battalion.
• Each BASE of a unit of trained light infantry can put out 1 skirmisher per base.
• Each FIGURE of a unit of elite light infantry (95th rifles, etc) can put out 1 skirmisher per figure.  (2 per base)

Skirmisher combat :

• All skirmisher fire is effective out to 4"
• Count up the total number of skirmishers in a contested firefight on both sides. Skirmishers from opposing sides cancel each other out, so one side should have an 'overlap' of skirmishers to shoot at the main body of troops.
•  Roll D10 for each skirmisher in the overlap.  Natural 0 = 1 KILL.

For UNIT who fight in close combat who are unlucky enough to still have some of their companies deployed out of the line as skirmishers  .... -1 on the dreaded ACE table for EACH skirmisher still deployed.

So - if a French Legere regiment of 6 bases has all 6 skirmishers out and it gets hit by enemy cavalry .... its a -6 on the ACE computer,  which represents the fact that the unit as a whole is in big trouble !!

Thats all for now.

If the above ideas appeal in any way, I hope you get a chance to playtest some of those ideas in a brigade scale game.

I would be very keen to hear any feedback.

Aside from the charts above, just use standard Empire for the rest of the actions in the game ... which I am finding that despite the perceived 'bulk' of the rulebook, its really quite a sensible system with fast common sense rules that have a good period feel to them.

Next article - I will have a look at the dreaded issue of modelling Morale.

So far, I don't see any huge clunkuness or other problems with the way that Empire tracks morale. Might just need to make a few minor tweaks to accomodate the different scaling, and attach some sort of meaning to the use of the Sabot bases.

Musings on basing, troop scales, sabot bases and fog of war.

Unit OOBs, Formations and Basing at 1:120 scale

Experimenting with rules variations, and doing a lot of reading .. so I've decided to make a slight shift in scale, and model the battles at 1:120 figure scale for the next lot.

In the ramblings below, I will have a look at scaling and basing at 1:120 figure to troop ratio, some rules ideas for modelling brigade scale combat, a bit of fog of war, dealing with casualties, and having a look at some of the French for the Jena Auerstaedt campaign.

Battle of Jenastaedt 1813 - The Assault

Battle of the Day

... continued from Part 4

Events in the early afternoon, around half past one :

The Russian engagement on the left has all but fallen into chaos.

A fierce engagement has cost them their remaining infantry regiment, whilst the forward most regiment has now lost contact with the commander as it proceeds to loot and destroy Jenastaedt itself.

Battle of Jenastaedt 1813 - The Bombardment

Battle of the Day

.. continued from Part 3

General Allied situation at 1040 hrs :

Over on the Russian left flank, the Russian artillery is now finally in effective range, and begins to pour fire into the remaining French artillery. In an artillery duel at around 800 metres, with twice as many guns, the Russians should wear the French down here in short time.

Meanwhile each Russian infantry brigade begins the slow work of rallying and getting their lines back into fighting order.

Battle of Jenastaedt 1813 - The Firefight

Battle of the Day

... continued from Part 2

The main French forces are now engaged in the pinning attack. Lets see if the attackers can hold it together, as the hammer of 1st Corps begins its general advance to assault the pinned French units.


Events on the Allied Left up to 1000 hrs :

For almost an hour, the Russians engage les Invalides on the left flank, maintaining contact with the French and drawing them into an extended firefight.

At the start the French were reeling from the attack ....

Battle of Jenastaedt 1813 - The Advance to Contact !

Battle of the Day

Continued from Part 1

At 0600hrs, the battle begins ...

All goes well for the advance. By 0630hrs the French have been spotted, and both the Russian and Prussian Divisions successfully roll to upgrade their orders from 'Probe' to 'Engage'.

Note that that in front of each unit is their current order - a yellow token representing the Probe order, and behind the unit is the next order in the queue - an orange arrow representing the Engage order.

At the end of the NEXT turn, the order is advanced on the queue, and each Division will begin a more aggressive Engagement action.

Battle of Jenastaedt 1813 - Inital Deployment

Battle of the Day

Just setup for the next battle, in this one I want to test out my new Command and Control HouseRules to allow my Allied forces to engage in a limited pinning attack on the main French position

All going well, the pinning attack in the centre should not be too bloodily contested,  so the lower quality Russo-Prussian mob in the middle should survive the action without running off the table in panic.

Hopefully the French will also get delayed long enough to allow the main hammer blow to fall. (Austrian 1st Corps on the right wing)

Geographical situation prior to the action.

The City of Jenastaedt sits on a juntion of a major river, and is surrounded to the North by rolling hills, some woodlands, and a number of farmyards and villages.

Being a large well stocked city on a bridgehead, Jenastaedt is strategically important in the campaign.

The French currently hold Jenastaedt, and Allied scouts have setup camp to the NorthEast.

House Rules - Command and Control mods for Republique

Gaming rule mods of the Day

Some experimental ideas that I will be using for my next solo Napoleonic test game.


Situation :
The Allies have a slight problem. They outnumber the French, but thanks to the superior French command system, the Allies are finding it difficult (if not impossible) to force a combat where they can actually make use of their superior numbers. The French can effectively dance around them, and create local superiority almost every time. Not good :(

Mission :
For the coming battle, the Allies have 2 Corps commands vs a single higher quality French Corps. The Allied plan involves lightly engaging the French with their 1st Corps in a pinning move, and hopefully holding them in that position to allow the 2nd Corps to take their flank with a general assault.

The Problem :
The problem with this plan, is that in the vanilla rules as they are, an engagement is an all or nothing affair. If you engage the enemy at all from an inferior position, you will likely get mauled and lose a lot of men. The battle will be lost before the flanking force has a chance to make contact.

The Solution :
These proposed rule modifications allow for the commander to introduce an intermediate level of engagement, where they can lightly engage the enemy just to pin them down, with a lower risk of too many losses.

As well as this main objective, these mods add some additional game mechanics to provide a more interesting solo game.

IGO-UGO vs Card Driven :
Age old question that one. Card Driven has a lot of advantages for a solo game, as it truly introduces battlefield friction and chaos.  (also gives a fun game).

On the other hand, I do like the feel that IGO-UGO gives when playing at Grand Tactical level. It does 'feel' a bit more like issued orders have a grave importance, when you know that in each passage of game-time, great masses of troops will move inexorably into danger whether you want them to or not.

Anyway, for these modifications, I will be using IGO-UGO as the turn mechanism.

On to the rules then :

French III Corps vs Austrians - 1809, Part 2

Battle of the Day

... continued on from Part 1

Opening up today's fighting, the scale time is 1340hrs.

Quite late in the afternoon after the early march.

On the extreme flank, swarms of skirmishers from 2 regiments of Legere close in on the demoralised Austrian regiments and pick them to pieces whilst the main line of lights closes with the bayonet.

In the centre of the fight - unfortunately, whats left of the 17eme Ligne in front of the Austrian artillery is all but destroyed.

On the far extent of the fight, the 61eme Ligne is halted by the Austrians and a minor scuffle develops.

Saxon Advanced Guard Division - Jena 1806

Corps of the Day

Today we will put together all of the Saxon units in the Advanced Guard Division at Jena, and see how they operate on the battlefield.

Napoleonic Rulesets - Republique

A quick yack about Republique v5.0, Grand Tactical Rules for the Napoleonic and Revolutionary Wars period.

These rules are available for free download from the War Times Journal, here :
Republique v5.0

They cover the Napoleonic period at Grand Tactical scale, which allows for the re-fighting of major battles in a single gaming session, on a single large board (afternoon, weekend, etc)

With the current popularity of 'battalion level' rules for this period, you may ask 'Why Grand Tactical' ?  Well, thats a good question.

Republique Measuring Stick

Quick Tip of the day - building your own custom measuring stick for gaming.

You would never find a tape measure on a Napoleonic battlefield, but you would find coloured rods used for measuring and sighting guns.

Here is a converted chopstick from the chinese take away, shaped like an RSM's batton, and coloured like an artillery sighting stick.

Useful and cool at the same time.

Divisions on the stick are measured out in cm, and painted in bands on the chopstick.

Battle Report - Battle of Zechtin

The Battle of Zechtin - 28 May 1806

Situation:	26 May 1806 Von Schmettau has seized the village of Zechtin, and began plundering the treasury. Prinz Ferdinand of Saxony responds to a call for help and plans to retake Zechtin by assaulting from the South across the river Zechtenflug. 28 May 1806 - 0800 hrs Light rain and mist lifts, as the battle begins.
Defender:	Von Schmettau, 3rd Division IR 33 Prinz Heinrich - 3 Bn (Green) IR 28 Malschitzsky - 3 Bn (Green) IR 40 Schimonsky - 3 Bn (Green) 8lb Foot Battery + 2 Bn Grenadiers 8lb Foot Battery + 2 Bn Grenadiers Von Schmettau anticipates a direct assault from the bridge towards Zechtin directly from the South / SouthEast. To this end, Von Schmettau has arranged a defence in depth using the infantry regiments in Linear Formation blocking the line of advance. The Artillery Batteries and the Grenadier Bns are held in reserve as a last line of defence before the village of Zechtin. Grenadier Bns are formed in square supporting the defence of the batteries.
Attacker:	Prinz Ferdinand, Advanced Guard Division: 3 Bn Sharfschutzen - Von Pelet (Average) 1 Bn Sharfschutzen - Ericsson (Green) Infantry Brigade Belvilaqua - 4 Bn (Green) Trutschler Hussars - 3 Bases (Veteran) Henkel Dragoons - 3 Bases (Average) 6lb Foot Artillery, 6lb Horse Artillery Prinz Ferdinand plans on crossing the river at the bridge in Column of Attack formation, and advancing towards the right flank. Upon reaching the right flank, Prinz Ferdinand plans to then perform a Grand Tactical wheel to the Left, and then assault Zechtin in Linear Formation directly from the East. Given the defence in depth, it is anticipated that taking the defence in the flank may be the best way through to Zechtin. Orders are to advance to the form up point, bypassing the strong enemy position .. but fighting through any defences as required. After moving to the form up point, a change of orders will be issued to assault Zechtin.
Turn 1 0800 hrs	Elements of Prinz Ferdinand's Advance Guard division push forward at various points along the River Zechtenflug. Here on the far right flank, Pelet's Scharfschutzen push forward to attempt a river crossing, whilst the main force advances across the bridge. Ericsson's fusilier Battalion crosses the bridge first, deploying skirmishers to pin down the Prinz Heinrich skirmishers. Artillery supporting fire from across the river is ineffective at this early hour, so the Horse Artillery is limbered up to join the main column of advance.
Turn 2 0840 hrs	Pelet's Scharfschutzen continue with the fording of the river on the right. Erichsson's fusiliers exchange skirmish fire with the Prinz Heinrich regiment, and manage to slip past and head for the assembly area. Infantrie Regiment Prinz Heinrich pulls in it's skirmishers as the Trutschler Hussars thunder across the bridge in column of attack. The first major clash of the battle is underway. View of the crossing from the Saxon Left, showing the depth of the Prussian defences. Whilst Infantrie Regiment Prinz Heinrich holds the initial line before the bridgehead, Infantrie Regiments Schimonsky and Malschitsky are brigaded together in support to their rear.
Turn 3 0920 hrs	The hussars, in a direct frontal attack against Infantrie Regiment Prinz Heinrich shatter the line and overrun their position. The Prussian line wavers, breaking their formation and leaving the regiment Rattled. (Note on the tactical movement base, the ordered line is broken and 1 casualty marker is added to the rear of the base to denote morale state -2, or rattled). The Hussars have a mandatory overrun move, using up the remainder of their movement allowance. This extra movement, unfortunately, places them outside of the cumbersome command radius of their commander, Prinz Ferdinand. They will now have to wait in their current location until bought back into command by their Divisional Commander. He could well be another turn or 2 away. The Prussians react. Von Schmettau moves to the tactical movement base of the brigaded Malschitsky and Schimonsky Infantrie Regiments. Being on the same tactical movement base, his command bonus is applied to both uinits, and he risks leader injury should there be any ill battle effects on either unit sharing the same tactical movement base. The left-most battery of Prussian artillery is now nicely in range on the Hussars after their overrun movement. (Note - the saved fire marker of stacked cannonballs on the Prussian battery, which denotes that it may fire at double effect next turn.).
Turn 4 1000 hrs	Disaster for the Infantrie Regiment Prinz Heinrich ! The main body of the Saxon infantry, accompanied by Prinz Ferdinand himself crashes into the rattled remnants on the Prinz Heinrich. Too much for the survivors of the Prussian first line - 2 more morale hits plus a panic hit. Panic result for green troops has them fall back a distance of 1 full move (facing enemy), and 1 base surrenders. (Note: The Prinz Heinrich is now in morale state -4, demoralised, which is denoted as a scattered line and a casualty marker to the front of the unit. The prisoners are placed on the tactical movement base for the victors.) The Prussian guns open up on the Hussars, breaking the order of the formation. Divisional Panic Test time for the Prussians. In this system, each tactical movement base in that division rolls for panic under the divisional panic test, applying the results for the worst troop grade amongst all of units on the tactical movement base. (Note: This house rule provides some rationale for the Prussian method of detaching and brigading Grenadier battalions from the main Infantrie Regiments). Not a lucky day for Von Schmettau so far ... the units he is with roll a '10' on a D10, and being troop grade Green fall back 1 full move with 1 base surrendering per unit on the tactical movement base. The Infantrie Regiments Malschitsky and Schimonsky withdraw to the woods alongside the demoralised remains of Prinz Heinrich. 2 extra bases of prisoners can be seen leaving the ranks heading for Saxon custody. View from Pelet's Scharfshutzen on the far right wing. They have almost finished fording the river now, but due to events in the center, they are now out of command radius. Foolish planning on the part of Prinz Ferdinand indeed !. Pelet's Scharfschutzen will now adopt a defensive posture on the banks of the river, and await the arrival of Prinz Ferdinand to take back control of the unit.
Turn 5 1040 hrs	The Saxon Hussars suffer from the effects of fear - although only moderately disarrayed by the artillery fire from the previous turn, they fail their rally attempt and become shaken. (Note: The addition of a riderless horse to the tactical movement base as a casualty marker !) Prinz Ferdinand now leaves the Infantry Brigade and returns to the bridgehead to facilitate the movement of the remainder of his forces across the bridge. Prinz Ferdinand considers it more important to get the famed Henkel Dragoons across the river than it may be to rally the hussars, or retrieve the errant Pelet Scharfschutzen (who are now slacking off a good kilometer away up the river, probably catching fish or washing their socks). Prinz Ferdinand himself directs the Henkel Dragoons across the bridge and into the fray before the village of Zechtin. Von Schmettau responds with cannon fire ... again the cannon is ineffective at this range (being a scale distance of 600m - 1 kilometer depending on the battery).
Turn 6 1120 hrs	Prinz Ferdinand leaves the bridgehead to center his command radius on the assembly point - and to regain contact with the Pelet Scharfschutzen. To Prinz Ferdinand's right, the Infantry Brigade can be seen reaching the forming up point, followed by the horse artillery. ... and finally the famed Henkel Dragoons bringing up the rear of the column. As divisional orders are to assemble at the launching point for the main attack, the Henkel Dragoons must resist the temptation to charge the shattered lines of the Prussians. Finally, the remaining Saxon foot artillery and Divisional Baggage Train begin the long slog across the bridge and towards the assembly point. They will probably miss the remainder of the battle. Von Schmettau responds with the thunder of cannon ! Inching closer, and with the Dragoons presenting an enfilade target, the cannon fire breaks the order of their lines. Von Schmettau orders a general advance back to the center of the defensive position. The Grenadier battalions are detached from guard duties on the artillery, and advance in Line of Attack against the presented flank of the Saxon Division. Von Schmettau himself bravely rides into command of a grouping of Grenadier Battalions. Skirmishers from all units swarm to within range of the disordered Henkel Dragoons ! Disaster may be looming for the Dragoons ! Some good die rolling sees another morale hit on the Dragoons - they are now morale state -3 (Badly Shaken), and with enemy cannon and skirmishers threatening the unit, next round's morale check may be interesting !
Turn 7 1200 hrs	Interesting turn of events at Noon ! At the start of this turn the Saxon position was looking pretty good - Prussian first line of defenses collapsed, and everything proceeding well towards the assembly point. Prinz Ferdinand braves taking direct command of the Shaken Dragoons in an attempt to stablise the situation. On the far right flank of the Saxon line, the Hussars are rallying and the Infantry Brigade wheels into Line of Attack ready for the order to move on Zechtin. Erichsson Fusiliers provide a skirmish screen for the main attack. Saxon Horse Artillery Battery unlimbers and joins the line ready for the attack. Von Schmettau responds by vigorously counter attacking to restore the center of his defense. On the Prussian Left, the Grenadier Brigade in Line of Attack assaults the newly unlimbered Horse Artillery before it can deploy into action. Skirmishers from the deployed Infantry Brigade and the Erichsson Fusiliers throw some amazingly lucky dice and break apart the line of Prussian Grenadiers before their assault on the Horse Artillery lands home. Incredibly bad die rolls from the Prussian Grenadiers see the Horse Artillery successfully defend in the assault, leaving the Grenadiers to fall back and become Rattled. Saxon Right Wing holds firm, and is clear to advance on Zechtin in the next phase of the battle .. once the orders to attack are received. At the rear of the Saxon column, cannon fire and skirmishers take a further toll on the Henkel Dragoons. Von Schmettau himself leading the charge from the head of the 2nd Grenadier Brigade, the demoralised Henkel Dragoons are hit in the flank and the rear by the combined Battalions and Grenadiers of 2 Prussian Infantrie Regiments. The Dragoons are brushed aside. Prinz Ferdinand survives the assault by a whisker as the Dragoons collapse. The Prussian assault pushes forward, breaking through the line and contacting the Saxon Baggage train. Some remnant squadrons of the shattered Henkel Dragoons are captured by the Grenadiers and become prisoners of Von Schmettau himself ! The sad remnants of the once proud Henkel Dragoons flee at full pace back across the bridge to the safety of the Saxon lands. Panic spreads through the Saxon lines ! The Hussars, having seen the fate of the famed Dragoons, decide to withdraw in good order back to the river and away from the horrors of the Prussian cannon. The panic spreads to the Pelet Scharfschutzen, who withdraw in disorder back towards the safety of the river. One battalion of the Pelet Scharfschutzen surrenders to Von Schmettau. In addition to this disaster, the Horse Artillery also decides to join the flight to the river. All that remains in good order amongst the Saxon line is the green troops of the Infantrie Brigade and the Erichsson fusiliers on the far right flank.
Turn 8 1240 hrs	Looking realistically at the current situation, Prinz Ferdinand decides to order a general withdrawal along the river line towards the East, make good his losses ... and to try again tomorrow with a re-organised force.