Springtime for Nappy in Poland, 1807
The Prussian army was all but destroyed in the twin defeats of Jena and Auerstadt in October 1806
and the subsequent pursuit. With Russian allies on the way, Prussia stubbornly refused to negotiate
terms, even after the fall of Berlin. The bitter winter fighting in February of 1807, culminating in the
bloody but indecisive battle of Eylau left the French happy to return to Winter quarters. However, the
great fortress of Danzig on the Baltic sea remained in Prussian hands, and the French placed it under
formal siege in late March of 1807. despite several attempts to relieve the fortress, the French under
Marshal Lefebvre received its surrender and entered the city on May 27, 1807; He subsequently was
invited to breakfast with the Emperor. Napoleon greeted him saying, “Monsieur le duc, do you like
chocolate? Napoleon then handed him a present, saying that he had earned it buy his capture of Danzig.
“Duke of Danzig, accept this chocolate.” It was only when he returned to his camp that he discovered
that the box of “chocolates” contained 300 one thousand franc notes, and realized that he was now a Duke of the
Empire!
With the fall of Danzig, both sides knew that the resumption of hostilities would soon follow. This
Campaign in a Day starts with the situation in June, 1807. Napoleon needs to defeat the Russians and
the remnants of the Prussian army if he is to impose peace terms on King Frederick William III.
Snappy Nappy Player list, October 3, 2026 – Springtime for Nappy in Poland, 1807
French (12)
James S (Bernadotte)
Karl N (Davout)
Mark M (Ney)
Michael K (Lannes)
James C (Napoleon/Bessieres)
Chris B (Massena)
Rob P. (Soult)
Eric B (Lefebvre)
Mitch A (Murat)
Rich M (Grouchy)
Doug O (Poniatowski)
Dick W (Mortier) - Ken H.
Allies (11)
Kevin C (Bagratian)
Brian C (Sacken)
Alex P (Uvarov) Dan B
Steve C (Prussian)
Sean S (Bennigsen/Constantine)
Nathan S (Golitsyn)
Mike Seibert (Tolstoy)
Russ L (Docturov)
William B (Essen) Shyler
Mike Smith (Gorchakov)
Bob R (Lobanov)
23 Players total- the largest ever! As usual, we had some cancellations (greyed out players),but were fortunate to be able to backfill all of the positions. We usually expect a 10 - 15% cancellation rate - Life happens!
Campaign Rules: Snappy Nappy Campaign in a Day: Springtime for Nappy in Poland, 1807
We will be using the Snappy Nappy rules written by Russ Lockwood. If desired, copies can
be ordered from On Military Matters.
Below is a summary of the Rules additions / clarifications that we will use in October.
If you have not played Snappy Nappy before, fear not. James will provide everyone with a
10-15 minute brief before the Marching orders are given.
Also, I am attaching the Snappy Charts for you to look over and get acquainted with.
I will also have printouts of these charts and the map if you don't bring your own copies.
This is really all you will need, but bringing a pen and a tape measure may be useful. We
typically provide coffee and doughnuts in the AM, and pizza at lunchtime; beverages can be
purchased at The Portal, which we encourage you to support with additional purchases!
As usual, the first 2 Turns will be synchronous; after that each table proceeds on its own
sequence.
Empty Tables
If the table you are moving on contains no enemy units, do one turns worth of movement,
then wait 1 minute. If no enemy appear, repeat as needed, with a 1minute delay between
moves (a good time to write or read messages!). If Rallying on an empty table, similarly, you
must wait 3 minutes after making Rally attempts before making additional attempts, etc;
remember that the first hit cannot be rallied off.
Deployment Zones
Movement between tables is via Deployment Zones (DZ) only. These are grey on the maps
and tables. The size of the Deployment Zones vary, depending upon the quality of the road
net and other factors. As many units as can reach the Deployment Zone and fit within it it can
enter on a given turn. Those troops then arrive on the next table at the road indicated on the
Table Maps. If they encounter enemy troops on that table, they can decide to “bounce back”
to from whence they came. They cannot keep bouncing back continuously, however. If they
decide to enter a table with enemy troops, ordinarily the opposing side must have a FULL
move before the new troops can act. If there are enemy troops opposite the Deployment
zone, and you desire to enter, ordinarily those troops must be moved back 6” from the
Deployment Zone to allow some space for Deployment. If controversy arrives, get the GM or
Assistant GM to resolve the issue.
Deployment Zone delays (speed up player participation) :
At any time, a player with troops he desires to enter a table from a DZ may appeal to the GM
to allow these troops to enter without waiting for a full opponent turn. The GM may give the
green light for entry if in the GM's judgment the entering troops would not unduly affect the
tactical situation, effect undue risk to the enemy. The GM may impose movement and/or
attack restrictions such as no attacks on enemy, stay 12" from enemy, enter the table by no
more than 2", etc. The idea is try to be fair to both sides, but still speed up player
participation.
Basic Rules
TERRAIN
On the table maps:
Orange/Gold = Main Roads (not too many in Poland!)
Pink = Secondary Roads
Green “Woods”= Rough (cavalry and Artillery may not enter)
Brown “Hills”= Broken
Black Buildings = Unless otherwise marked, all are Towns, and can hold one two units,one
of which can be Artillery. Fortresses are indicated on the Campaign and Table maps by a Star
– all are roughly 4”-6 square.
Marshes and Lakes/Sea are impassable to all troops.
Almost all the rivers shown are Major Rivers (darker blue on Table maps) and may only be
crossed at bridges, whether permanent or pontoon. Regardless of the actual terrain, they
count as being 2” wide (thus no small arms fire across them)
A few Table maps have Minor Rivers (lighter blue on Table Maps) For the purposes of this
campaign, they cost ½ move for infantry and cavalry to cross. Artillery (and Pontooniers) may
cross ONLY at bridges.
If combating troops on the opposite bank, the defenders count as in Rough Terrain. Units in
rivers cannot fire. All minor rivers are 1" wide (thus NO small arms fire across them).
PONTOONIERS: Each side will have one unit. Pontooniers may not attack or initiate Melee.
Pontooniers move as Foot Artillery To build or take down a pontoon bridge, once the
Pontooniers (Engineers) are in position, check once per turn as per the rules;
Success = D10 roll of 7+; if unsuccessful, the next turn they need a 6+, if unsuccessful
again, then on the following turn they need a 5+, and so on. It takes one success for a Minor
River, 2 successes for a Major river to complete a bridge. The pontooniers cannot be used
for anything except building or taking down pontoon bridges. Permanenty bridges maynot be
removed or destroyed during the game.
COMMAND:
In general, the troops of a command should remain together. Cavalry may be detached as
scouts, etc, and troops may be dropped off as Garrisons, etc (see token forces below).
Command radius will be 18” for all nationalities. Orders section on Snappy rules will not be
used.
All communications must be in writing through the GM, except when the command figures of
two or more players are present on the same table, in which case they may all converse
freely. Players may not wander around scouting out the action on tables where they have no
troops stationed.
SUPPLY:
1) Supply status will be checked once an hour, on the hour.
2) Any troops actually occupying the buildings of a Town (1 building), or occupying a Fortress
are always “in supply”
3) French forces must otherwise trace supply to Marienburg.
4) Allied forces must otherwise trace supply to Konigsberg. .
5) Supply MUST be traced through the Towns and/or Fortresses on each table. These will be
marked with a Poker chip – White for uncontrolled, Blue for French control, Red for Allied.
Moving through such location(s) is enough to establish control.
On any given table, if a side does not control ALL of the Towns/Fortresses on that table,
supply may traced into but not THROUGH that table.
6) Any troops that are found to be “Out of Supply” will take one and only one Morale check
roll immediately, with results imposed immediately.
Additionally, Troops that are out of supply may not advance more than 6” from their present
positions; otherwise they may only move towards their base of Operations.
TOKEN FORCES
Some difficulty can arise when players leave token garrisons behind to hold critical bridges
and bottlenecks, etc. It can unduly penalize opponents encountering such token forces when
they have to twiddle their thumbs, unable to move because their opponent keeps running
away to do moves in a much bigger battle on another table. Of course, delaying the enemy
(within reason), as well as getting notice of the movement of enemy troops into the area, are
the two main reasons for leaving token forces to begin with.
1) A "Token Force" consists of not more than 3 units of infantry, or a single Cavalry or Artillery
unit. Combined arms forces are never considered "Token Forces".
2) Wherever possible, the owning player will play their own troops provided that it does not
unduly slow play on that table or elsewhere.
3) Another player on the same side, or the GM or their assistant may be assigned to run the
force if necessary to maintain the flow of the game.
4) Failing any of those, or by the consent of the owning player, the Token force may be run by
the opposing player following the Default Orders given to the Token Force as follows:
Place a pre-printed card underneath the token force when it is detached,
that gives it Default Orders:
- Hold at all costs, always orienting to fire on the nearest enemy.
- Withdraw as quickly as possible away from the enemy.
- Withdraw as quickly as possible towards Deployment Zone _________ (fill in the blank).
In the absence of a Default Order, "Hold at all costs" is assigned.
On encountering the Token Force, and after suitably informing and getting the OK from the
GM, a player could run his own troops and pretty easily and reasonably run the opposing
token force. Mostly the token force is not going to move (or will move away as quickly as
possible), so one only needs to do trivial movement or roll shooting and morale for it. The
Token force will impose a 60 second delay per unit each turn on the cycling of the active
player. In other words, a Token Force of 3 Infantry units would impose a 3 minute delay per
turn cycle upon the opposing player. The timer on a cell phone or similar can be used to track
such delays.
Special Rules for Spring 1807:
If an Army commander becomes a casualty, all friendly units on the same table must take
one and only 1 Morale Check. (the same as for loss of supply).
If a Guard status (4+ base save) unit routs, all friendly units on that table must take one
and only 1 Morale Check.
Corps Exhaustion:
If a Corps loses 60% of its units or more, the enemy receives 2 Victory Points. The number of
losses to cause exhaustion is listed on each Command's card. There is no other effect.
Light Infantry:
(Legere, Jagers, etc.) Have Lt. after their Morale number. For the purpose of this game, they
treat Woods (Rough Terrain) as Open for Movement ONLY (i.e., no movement penalty for
them in woods).
TRANSIT TABLES
These are locations that do not have an established table set up, but can be moved through.
Entering or leaving these tables will impose a delay as noted on the Map for that table.
Troops entering and exiting a Transit Table must log in and out on the sheet for their side. If
opposing forces encounter one another on a Transit table, in general, the smaller force will be
pushed back. However, if both sides are composed of 3 or more units, and the players agree
(or the weaker side doesn't wish to withdraw), the terrain for a “Floating Table” will be
promptly set up and the action played out there. We plan to leave at least 2 tables vacant for
this purpose.
Victory Points:
For each enemy Corps that reaches exhaustion +2
For each of the primary tables with all Towns and Fortresses on it under your control +1
French, if Konigsberg is captured +3 additional
Allies, if Marienburg is captured +3 additional
VP difference
0 marginal victory for Allies
1 - 2 marginal victory for higher side
3 – 5 minor victory for higher side
6 – 7 major victory for higher side
8+ decisive victory for higher side
Springtime for Nappy in Poland, 1807: French Briefing.
With the fall of Danzig and his rear areas secured,, Napoleon feels much more confident resuming the fighting with Russian and its Prussian allies. The troops that were besieging Danzig, some other German allies, and some Polish forces under Prince Poniatowski will be available to swell his army as time progresses. Unfortunately, the swarms of Cossaks roaming the Polish countryside have prevented the French from gaining much intelligence about the location of enemy forces or their plans.
Spring 1807 in Poland
Emperor Napoleon I +3
Start: Marienburg 624 points total
One company of Seasoned (7+) Pontooniers can be deployed with any French command of
Napoleon’s choosing.
“Start” means within 12” of that location
I Corps, Bernadotte +1 45 pts Start: Elbing
X: 6
III Corps Davout +3 61 pts Start: Allenstein
X: 6
IV Corps Soult +2 43 pts Start: Morag
X: 6
V Corps Massena +2 50 pts Start: Gradjewo
X: 6
VI Corps Ney +2 52 pts Start: Bartenstein
X: 6
II Corps Lannes +2 55 pts Start: Kwedina
X: 7
Cavalry Reserve Murat +2 63 pts Start: Marienburg
X: 6
VIII Corps - Marshal Mortier +1 42 pts
Start: Marienburg 30 minutes after Turn 2 X: 6
Dragoons Grouchy +1 39 pts Start: Ilawa
X: 5
Imperial Guard Bessieres +1 86 pts
Start: Marienburg - 2.5 hours after Turn 2 X: 4
Reserve Corps Lefebvre +1 42 pts
Start: Ostrau (40 minute delay after Turn 2) X: 6
Polish Troops Poniatowski +1 46 pts
Start: Gradjewo (15 minute delay after Turn 2) X: 6
Springtime for Nappy in Poland, 1807: Russian Briefing
With the fall of Danzig and his rear areas secured,, Napoleon will feel more confident resuming the fighting with us and our Prussian allies. The troops that were besieging Danzig, some other German allies, and some Polish forces under Prince Poniatowski will be available to swell his army as time progresses. Fortunately, the swarms of Cossaks roaming the Polish countryside have prevented the French from gaining much intelligence about the location of our forces or their plans, but have provided us with considerable intelligence about them. Major forces are said to be located at Marienburg, Elbing, Bartenstein, Allenstein, and Morag, among others. The troops under Marshal Ney at Bartenstein appear to be somewhat isolated and vulnerable to attack.
Bennigsen +2 Starts at Eylau 581 points total
One company of Seasoned (7+) Pontooniers can be deployed with any Allied command of Bennigsen's choosing.
“Start” means within 12” of that location
Advanced Guard - Bagration +2 71 pts
Start: Angerburg X: 8
Right Wing Cavalry - Uvarov +1 41 pts
Start: Eylau X: 5
Left Wing Cavalry - Prince Golitsyn V +1 51 pts
Start: Goldap X: 5
1st Division - Grand Duke Constantine +2 73 pts
Start: Tilsit 2.5 hr after Turn 2 X: 5
3rd Division - Sacken +1 47 pts
Start: Tayiau X: 6
6th Division - Gotchakov +1 46 pts
Start: Friedland X: 6
7th Division - Dockturov +1 49 pts
Start: Eylau X: 6
8th Division - Prince Essen +1 42 pts
Start: Heilsburg X: 6
** Six inches total of fieldworks may be emplaced
anywhere on the Heilsberg table except on a road or
bridge before the first Move starts
Reserve Corps -- Peter Tolstoy +1 52 pts
Start: Kovno X: 8
17th Division - Lobanov +1 47 pts
Start: Tilsit (30 minute delay after Turn 2) X: 6
Prussian Corps - L’Estoq +1 62 pts
Start: Konigsberg X: 8
Not given to the players, but to help the reader follow the action, here is the GM's Master Table Map for the Campaign; tables in green are Transit Tables, Tables in red are permanent tables
