Semi-witz 1813 scenario

    Napoleon's defeat of the Allies at the Battle of Dresden (August 26-27, 1813) brought the French very little fruits from their victory, followed as it was by defeats of Vandamme at Kulm, Mac Donald at The Katzbach, and Oudinot at Gross Beeren. Napoleon appointed Matrshal Ney to replace Marshal Oudinot in command of yet another drive towards Berlin. This lead to an engagement with elements of the Allied Army of the North, under the command of Crown Prince Carl-Johan of Sweden (the general formerly known as Marshal Bernadotte of France), on September 6, 1813. The battle began with an engagement between the troops of  Bertrand and Tauentzien outside the village of Dennewitz. I will be hosting a six player Napoleonic game the Sunday after Thanksgiving, using Field of Battle, 2nd edition by Brent Oman/Piquet. It is going to be  (very) loosely based upon the terrain and forces involved at in this battle, hence the title of Semi-witz!

"French"Army of Berlin  - Marechal Ney  LD 10

IV Corps, GD Bertrand   LD 10

Infantry Division (Wurttemburg) - GD Franquemont  LD 8

3 Wurttemburg Line  DD6 CD10

1 Wurttemburg Light  DD6 CD12
1 Wurzburg (3rd CoR regt) Line  DD4  CD10

1 Wurttemburg 6# Foot Battery  DD6 CD10

Infantry Division (Polish) - Dombrowski  LD 10
1 Provisional Croatian Regt  DD6 CD10 

4 Polish Line/Vistula Legion  DD8 CD12
1 Polish 6# Foot Artillery  DD6 CD12

Cavalry Division,  von Jett  LD 8

1 Wurttemburg Chevau-Leger  DD6 CD10

1 Polish Uhlan  DD8 CD12

1 Polish Hussar  DD8 CD10

IV Corps Artillery

1 French 12# Foot Battery  DD6 CD12+1

VII Corps, Reynier  LD 10

Infantry Division (Saxon) - Lecoq  LD 8

4 Saxon Line  DD4  CD10

1 Saxon Light  DD6 CD12

1 Saxon Guard  DD8 CD12

1 Saxon 6# Foot Battery  DD6 CD10

Infantry Division (Italian) - GD Fontanelli  LD 10

4 Italian Line  DD6 CD10

1 Italian Light Infantry  DD6 CD12

1 Italian Guard Infantry  DD8 CD12

1 Italian 6# Foot Battery  DD6 CD12

Cavalry Division - Von Lindenman  LD 8

1 Saxon Hussar  DD8 CD12

1 Saxon Cheavu-Lager Lancer  DD6 CD12
1 Italian Guardia di Onore  DD8 CD12

VII Corps Artillery

1 French 12 # Foot Battery  DD6 CD12+1

XII Corps - Marechal Oudinot  LD 10

29th (Bavarian) Division - Raglovich  LD 8

1 Bavarian Jager  DD6 CD12

4 Bavarian Line  DD6 CD10

1 Bavarian 6# Foot Battery

13th Infantry Division (Baden/Hesse) - Pacthod  LD 10

2 Baden Line  DD6 CD10 

1 Baden Jager  DD6 CD12
2 Hessian Line  DD6 CD10

1 French 6# Foot Artillery  DD6 CD12

Cavalry Division  Beaumont  LD 10

1 Bavarian Chevau- Leger  DD6 CD10

1 Hessian Chevau-Leger  DD6 CD10

XII Corps Artillery

1 French 12 # Foot Battery  DD6 CD12+1

Reinforcements:

Infantry Division, GD Morand  LD 12

1 French Legere  DD8 CD12

4 French Ligne  DD6 CD10

1 French 6# Foot Battery  DD6 CD12

III Cavalry Corps - Arrighi  LD 10

1 French Chasseur a Cheval  DD6 CD10

1 French Hussar  DD8 CD10

2 French Dragoons  DD6 CD12

1 French 6# Horse Battery  DD8 CD12+1




Allies: Army of the North - GL von Bulow  LD 10
Von Bulow was functionally in charge of the battle for almost the entire day, thus he will serve as C-in-C


4th Prussian Corps - Tauentzien  LD 10

1st Brigade - Dobshutz  LD 8
1 Prussian Grenadier  DD8 CD12
2 Prussian Line  DD6 CD10
2 Prussian Reserve  DD4  CD10
2 Prussian Landwehr  DD4 CD8
1 Leib Hussars  DD8 CD10
1 Uhlan  DD6 CD10
1 Landwehr cavalry  DD4 CD10
1 Prussian 6# Foot Battery  DD6 CD12

4th Prussian Brigade - Von Thumen  LD 12 +1
2 Prussian Line  DD6 CD10
2 Prussian Reserve  DD4  CD10
2 Prussian Landwehr  DD4 CD8
2 Prussian Dragoon  DD6 CD12
1 Prussian Landwehr cavalry  DD4 CD10
1 Prussian 6# Foot Battery

Corps Artillery
1 Prussian 12# Foot Battery  DD6 CD12


Russian Corps - Winzingerode  LD 8

21st Division - Laptiev  LD 8
2 Russian Jagers  DD8 CD10
4 Russian Line  DD8 CD 8
1 Russian Hussar  DD8 CD10
1 Russian Cossack  DD4 CD8
1 Russian 6# Foot Battery  DD6 CD12
1 Russian 6# Horse Battery  DD6 CD12

14th Division - Voronsov  LD 8
2 Russian Jagers  DD8 CD10
4 Russian Line  DD8 CD 8
1 Russian Dragoon  DD6 CD12
1 Russian Uhlan  DD6 CD10
1 Russian 6# Foot Battery  DD6 CD12
1 Russian 6# Horse Battery  DD6 CD12

Corps Artillery
1 Russian 12# Foot Battery  DD6 CD12+1


Swedish Corps - Carl Johann, Crown Prince of Sweden  LD 8

1st Division Posse  LD 12
1 Swedish Jager  DD6 CD12
4 Swedish Line  DD6 CD10
1 Swedish Guard  DD8 CD12
1 Swedish 6# Foot Battery  DD6 CD10

2nd Division  Sandels LD 8
1 Swedish Jager  DD6 CD12
4 Swedish Line  DD6 CD10
1 Swedish Grenadier  DD8 CD12
1 Swedish 6# Foot Battery  DD6 CD10

Cavalry Division  Lagerbring  LD 8
Swedish Light Dragoons  DD6 CD10
Swedish Dragoons  DD6 CD12
Swedish Life Cuirassiers  DD8 CD12

Terrain:

The Agger River is a Class 2 stream. All the hills are class 2, as are the woods. The towns are all class 3 terrain. 

Deployment:

The basic deployment will be pretty straight forward as seen above. Field of Battle Has an interesting system for pick up/fictional battles to add a little variety to the setup, which I have never used. I am going to use a modified version of this to make teaks to the basic scenario and deployment. It involves a series of  rolls for Fate and Command Decisions. I will resolve these prior to the game ()and probably detail the process in a separate blog post. This may change the deployments to some degree, and could cause some troops to arrive on the table late.

Reinforcements:

The French have some additional troops arriving - Morand's French Infantry Division and Arrighi's Cavalry Corps. After any adjustments to the scenario are made, the French players must decide which of the three roads each of these will enter on (they can use different roads or the same road for both); the road to Gohlsdorf, the road to Dennewitz, or the road Rohlbeck. When each French MOVE Card is turned, roll a D3 for BOTH formations (D6: 1,2 = 1, 3,4 = 2, 5,6 = 3). If the roll for that command is less than or equal to the current Move card, the command may enter at the designated road, in Column of March. In the (unlikely) event that the road entry point should be occupied by enemy troops, the reinforcements may not enter until the road entry point is recaptured. Both will remain independent commands - only their command group officer and Ney may rally them, make LD rolls for Movement, etc.

Special Rules:

1) Huge Russian Batteries
 All Russian Artillery units have 3 UI instead of the usual 2 UI

2)  Bernadotte's "Precious Swedes"
Swedish Infantry units have only 3 UI each, Swedish Cavalry 2 UI each. Swedish Artillery has the usual 2 UI each

3) "The Bravest of the Brave"
After at least one "French" unit has been routed or destroyed, on subsequent Leadership Cards, Ney must roll his LD vs a D*. If the D8 is higher, Ney MUST attach himself to any infantry Division of his choice within his Command Radius.  All infantry in that Division get an UP! to both their Combat and Defense Die types while Ney is attached, and will use his LD for Movement and Rallying. Ney uses a D12 for Survival tests while attached, and The French use a D6 for Army Leadership while Ney is attached to a Division. If Ney passes the roll, he may  CHOOSE to attach himself as above, or if already attached, may CHOOSE to detach himself and regain overall control of "French" forces, in which case Ney's LD will once again be used for Army initiative (and Army Morale) rolls.

4) Brent's "No Maneuver Card" rule.
No Maneuver cards are placed in the deck. Units can maneuver or change formation on Move cards for the price of 1 move segment. On Move cards with won even rolls, the maneuver/formation change is free. Finally, and most significantly, ordered cavalry can melee on Move cards. Disordered/out of command cavalry still requires either a Melee or won even roll on a Move card.

5) Move 1 Command Card
This card will allow one command of each *player* on that side to move.