Battle of Mockern, October 16th, 1813: The Scenario

    The Battle of Mockern was part of the larger series of actions comprising the Battle of Leipzig. Napoleon had ordered Marmont to join him at Libertkolwitz, but the attack by Yorck's Prussian Corps made that impossible. This scenario has been adapted for Field of Battle from the scenario for Napoleon's Battles by Rafael Pardo; I have allowed the French use of all the troops in the area. Poor staff work resulted in Sacken's Russian Corps not playing as large a part in the action as they could have; to reflect this, Sacken and all his sub commanders are rated at LD8 (worst possible) for this action. This game will be played at Historicon Thursday July 18, 2013 at 6PM.

Scale:

1 unit = 1200 I, 800 Cavalry, or 12-16 guns. 1" = roughly 50 yards.

Terrain map for the Battle of Mockern, October 16, 1813

Terrain:

The River Elster is passable only at the bridges. The Pleisse stream is Class II, but Artillery may not cross it except at the bridge. The woods are Class III terrain. The Hills are all class II Terrain. The villages are all Class II terrain. The earthworks redoubt between Wahren and Lindethal is Class II terrain.

Orders of Battle:

VI Corps - Marshal Marmont  LD12 (also acts as C-in-C)

(12 Infantry, 3 Cavalry, 5 Artillery)  Skilled Sequence Deck

20th Division - GD Compans  LD12

2 French Marine Infantry  DD8  CD10

2 French Provisional Light Infantry  DD6  CD10
6# Foot Battery  DD6  CD12

21st Division GD Lagrange  LD10

2 French Legere  DD6  CD12

2 French Marine Infantry  DD8  CD190
6# Foot Battery  DD6  CD12

22nd Division: GD Freidrich  LD10

2 French Ligne  DD6  CD10

2 French Provisional Line  DD4  CD8
6# Foot Battery  DD6  CD12

5th Light Cavalry Division - GD Lorge  LD12

1 French Chasseur a Cheval  DD6  CD10

1 French Hussar  DD8  CD10

25th Light Cavalry Division - GD Norman LD12
1 Wurttemburg Chevau-Leger  DD6  CD10

Corps Artillery:
1 12# Foor Battery  DD6  CD 12+1
1 6$ Horse Battery  DD8  CD 12+1


Independent Divisions (Ney) LD12
(4 infantry, 3 Cavalry, 2 Artillery)

27th Division - GD Dombrowski  LD12+1
4 Polish Line/Vistula Legion Infantry  DD6  CD12
1 Polish Uhlan  DD8  CD12
1 Polish 6# Foot Battery  DD6  CD10

4th Heavy cavalry Division - DeFrance  LD12
2 French Dragoon  DD6  CD12
1 French 6# Horse Artillery Battery  DD8  CD12+1


III Corps - Souham  LD12
(12 Infantry, 4 Cavalry, 5 Artillery)

8th Division - Brayer  LD10
2 Provisional Line  DD4  CD8
2 Provisional Light  DD6  CD10

6# Foot Battery  DD6  CD12

9th Division: Delmas  LD10
4 French Line  DD6  CD10

6# Foot Battery  DD6  CD12

11th Division - Ricard  LD12
4 French line  DD6  CD10

6# Foot Battery  DD6  CD12

23rd Light Cavalry Brigade: Beurmann  LD10
1 Baden Light Dragoon

6th Light Cavalry Division - Fournier  LD10
2 French Chasseur a Cheval  DD6  CD10
1 Chevau-Leger-Lancier  DD6  CD12

Corps Artillery:
1 12# Foot Battery  DD6  CD 12+1
1 6# Horse Battery  DD8  CD12+1


"French" Totals: 28 Infantry, 10 Cavalry, 12 Artillery = 50 units total
74 Morale Points (see terrain objectives below). 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st (Prussian) Corps - Yorck  LD12 (also acts as C-in-C)
(15 Infantry, 5 Cavalry, 7 Artillery)  Average Sequence Deck

Advance Guard - Katzler  LD12
1 Prussian Schutzen  DD8  CD10
2 Prussian Landwehr  DD4  CD10
1 Prussian Hussar  DD8  CD10
1 Prussian Landwehr Cavalry  DD4  CD10

6# Horse Battery  DD6  CD12

1st Brigade - Steinmetz  LD10
1 Prussian Grenadier  DD8  CD12
2 Prussian Landwehr  DD4  CD10
6# Foot Battery  DD6  CD12

2nd Brigade - Mecklenburg  LD10
3 Prussian Line  DD6  CD12
6# Foot Battery  DD6  CD12

7th Brigade - Horn  LD10
1 Prussian Line  DD6  CD12
2 Prussian Landwehr  DD4  Cd10
6# Foot Battery  DD6  CD12

8th Brigade - Huenerbein
3 Prussian Reserve Line  DD6  CD10

6# Foot Battery  DD6  CD12

Reserve Cavalry - Juergas  LD10
2 Prussian Dragoons  DD6  CD12
1 Landwehr Cavalry  DD4  CD10

Artillery Reserve 
1 Prussian 12#  DD6  CD12+1
1 Prussian 6# Horse  DD6  CD12


Army Group Langeron (9th, 10th Corps, Korf's I Cavalry Corps) - Langeron  LD12
(10 Infantry, 3 Cavalry, 6 Artillery)

9th Division - Udom  LD10
1 Russian Line  DD8  CD8
2 Russian Jager  DD8  CD10

15th Division - Kornilov  LD10
2 Russian Line  DD8  CD8

6# Foot Battery  DD6  CD12

8th Division - Ourusov  LD12
2 Russian Line  DD8  CD8

6# Foot Battery  DD6  CD12

22nd Division - Tourchaninov  LD8
2 Russian Line  DD8  CD8
1 Russian Jager  DD8  CD10

Corps Artillery Reserve:  LD8
3 Russian 12lbers  DD6  CD12+1
1 Russian 6# Horse Artillery  DD6  CD12

I Cavalry Corps - Korf  LD10
2 Russian Mounted Jagers  DD6  CD10
1 Russian Hussar  DD8  CD10


11th Corps - Sacken  LD8
(6 Infantry, 5 Cavalry, 5 Artillery)

10th Division - Lieven  LD8
2 Russian Line  DD8  CD8
6# Foot Battery  DD6  CD12

27th Division - Neverovsky  LD8
2 Russian Line  DD8  CD8
6# Foot Battery  DD6  CD12

16th Division - Repminsky  LD8
2 Russian Jager  DD8  CD10

Corps Cavalry - Vassilshikov  LD8
2 Russian Hussars  DD8  CD10

Attached Cossacks - Karpov  LD8
3 Cossacks  DD4  CD8

Corps Artillery -  LD8
2 Russian 12# Foot  DD6  CD12+1
1 Russian 6# Horse   DD6  CD12


8th Corps - St Priest  LD10
(8 Infantry, 2 Cavalry, 3 Artillery)

11th Division - Gourialov  LD10
4 Russian Line    DD8  CD8
6# Foot Battery  DD6  CD12

17th Division - Pillar  LD10
2 Russian Jager  DD8  CD10
2 Russian Line  DD8  CD8

Corps Cavalry - Borozdin LD12
1 Cossack  DD4  CD8
1 Uhlan  DD6  CD12

Corps Artillery -  LD8
1 Russian 12#  DD6  CD 12+1
1 Russian 6# Horse   DD6  CD12

Allied total: 39 Infantry, 15 Cavalry, 21 Artillery = 75 units total
75 Morale Points

Deployment:

French troops are set up as shown below. Allied Troops are set up as shown (the Artillery Reserve for Army Group Langeron sets up with Udom's command, and the 1st and 2nd Prussian Brigades may start up to 6" on the table in the same area as indicated for Katzler's Advanced Guard ).

Deployment map for the Battle of Mockern, October 16, 1813

Reinforcements:

Allied:

The rest of the 1st (Prussian) Corps may enter the table  deployed, along the edge behind Katzler's advanced guard on the first Allied MOVE card

The rest of Army Group Langeron enters deployed, along the table edge behind Udom and Korf's starting positions on the second Allied MOVE card

St Priest's 8th Corps enters in column of March along the allied baseline opposite Podelwitz on the third Allied MOVE card.

Sacken's 11th Corps starts entering the table in March Column down the road in the center of the table that runs by Breintenlee on the fourth Allied MOVE card; The Corps Cavalry enters first, and no more than 1 command of the Corps may enter the table on each subsequent MOVE card. 

French:

Souham's 3rd Corps may enter in March Column along the right edge of the table between Seehausen and the hills starting on the third French MOVE card.

Victory:

The French Morale Point total reflects control of all the objectives on the  table. If they are lost, the following MP's are subtracted form the French Total (the MP's for each objective are subtracted from the French total if/when they are lost; they are not added to the Allied total (unless the French have reached zero MP, in which case the usual rules apply). 

Mockern                                                                 - 6 MP

Long Ridge adjacent to Mockern                            - 6 MP

Bridge at Mockern                                                  - 3 MP

Widderitzsch                                                             3 MP

Cluster of Hills between Podelwitz and Seehausen   - 3 MP

Middle road exiting French side of the table             - 3MP

July 23, 2013 -After running the game at the convention, I'd suggest the following changes to the above:

1) completely omitting Sacken's Russian Corps from the game
Reasoning: too many troops for the table size for optimal game, arriving too late for a three players game, and Sacken took little part historically anyway.

2) allowing 8th and 15th Divisions of Langeron's command to enter on the first Allied MOVE card, with the rest (22nd Division plus Corps Artillery Reserve) entering on the second allied MOVE card
Reasoning: need to reduce overcrowding and speed up the pace of the game in FoB terms

3) allowing St Priest's Corps Cavalry to arrive on the first Allied MOVE card, his 17th Infantry Division on the second allied MOVE card, and the rest of the corps on the third Allied MOVE card.
Reasoning: same as #2 above.

4) only allowing Souham's 8th Infantry Division as French reinforcements, entering on the second French MOVE card. Thus, the French 11th Infantry Division, Beurmann's Light Cavalry Brigade, and Souham's Reserve Artillery will play no part in the battle.

These changes would also reduce the French to 42 units, and their  Morale points to 66; on the allied side their units would drop to 59, and their Morale points to 66.  Finally, the game would play better (faster) with TWO players each for Marmont and York.

Peter