“The battlefield is a scene of constant chaos. The winner will be the one who controls that chaos, both his own and the enemies” Napoleon Bonaparte 1813
Spring Campaign in a Day: The GM Report
Some may say chaos goes naturally with Snappy Nappy. The Fog of War, the 1813 maps, the Cossacks! And of course the GM adding these new rules about tables and movement. The challenge for these generals was to try and take control of the chaos.
Most people know the big Napoleon battles of Austerlitz, Waterloo, and likely Leipzig in the Fall of 1813. But not many know how important the spring battles of 1813 were to the future of Napoleons empire and how it set up the Leipzig campaign in the Fall of 1813. The dire situation of the military retreat from Russia and depth of political intrigue that followed was fascinating.
I wish to express immense thanks to Peter and Mark for advising & helping me from the very beginning of this journey to the actual game day GM work. Also thanks to James for his help and confidence building, and for Russ’s sage advice. My goal was to create a Historical, playable event. Keeping true to & teaching the history is very important and I wanted to share that history in a fun manner. I hope my efforts left a bit better understanding of the situation in 1813.
The History & Development
I decided to do the Spring campaign which revolved around the 2 main battles of Lutzen & Bautzen. Both French victories, but they suffered many more casualties. The lack of cavalry also hindered the pursuit and allowed the Allies to retreat and get away without the Austerlitz type battle Napoleon so desired. The French needed to go on the offensive to reestablish control over the German states and more importantly convince Austria Kaiser that another beating was going to be had from a victorious French army if they entered on the wrong side. The campaign lent itself nicely to a historical start and a finish. Napoleon entered the theatre in mid-April and an Austrian brokered Armistice occurred early June. 6 week timeline.
I read several books and many web pages, magazines and pulled some information from games, such as War & Peace (yes The Mark “I am Ney” Mclaughin 1980’s version) , Lutzen, and sadly the unpunched counters from Struggle of Nations. George Nafziger book Lutzen and Bautzen: Napoleon’s Spring Campaign of 1813 was an immense amount of detail and numbers. I also read Michael Leggiere’s book Napoleon and the Struggle for Germany, Vol 1. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and took a lot of political inspiration from it.
The Forces
I found and used rosters from George Nafziger, a really fantastic collection of months of actual troop strengths coming out of Russia in 1812 thru 1813. The French OOB was pretty straight forward, divided into Corps that were steady throughout the campaign. The Allies were a completely different story. The Russians and Prussians brigades were actually intermixed into Corps or Armies or wings. And each battle from March to June saw a different OOB command structure. The numbers of troops for these brigades was not clear either, but I was able to triangulate several sources to determine starting strengths from the battle of Lutzen and Bautzen. I then created a Coalition Army which was a combination of both battles. And for game OOB, I made 3 Prussian only Corps, and 5 Russian only Corps. There were 12 French Corps, one of which was a two-unit 2nd Cav Corps that remained in reserve the whole battle.
The French army was in bad shape and needed to be rebuilt. It consisted of many conscripts, National Guard, Marines & sailors, and a mix of Spanish veteran cadres. Few veteran and elites. The Russians while all veterans, had suffered many casualties in 1812 and continued to campaign through winter at the Czars insistence. As such in Saxony they were a long way from their supply sources, so these veterans were understrength and I made these troops seasoned instead of veteran. The Prussians had just built their army mostly from scratch as they had about 20,000 troops supporting the French in Russia. But they had instituted the Krumper system which continually rotated troops into the ranks to be in accord with the strength restrictions that Napoleon had set upon them as since the 1807 treaty. As such these troops were not conscripts, but a bit better and I made them a combination of seasoned and veteran. Each side also had Guard units. I limited the “Guard” value to one unit each per the above rational. The rest were Elite or Veteran. The Artillery was surprisingly even in number of cannons, easy to balance both Armies. The real difference was the lack of French Cavalry due to the losses in the Russian Campaign. The Allies had a 3:1 advantage in the number of Cavalry units. I was interested to see how that would play out, being that the burden of attack was upon the French. The French had about 200,000 men in theatre, while the Allied Coalition had about 130,000 men of slightly higher quality. I used a points system based on James’s analysis of combat strength using unit quality and combat power, for a points ratio French to Allied of 1.1 to 1.
The Map & Table Mechanics
Taking advice from the above Snappy Veterans, my goal was to try to create a campaign of maneuver. I was going to need a lot of tables. Every starting table was going to require a bit of marching, and except for Blucher everyone got to some other tables. I had 15+ tables, utilizing every one that the Portal had. To enhance the maneuver of Corps, I watched a video that Russ Lockwood sent last year about a Spanish Snappy Nappy campaign run by an Australian gaming group. They used additional “transit” tables (X) inserted between actual tables. I added time delays mostly 5 minutes to simulate the time it takes to march across an actual table. I had 11 of these 8.5 X 11” tables. These “X” tables also had a road network which players had to make decisions to determine which direction to go based on the large overall map. I used 62 index cards to designate road movement between all tables. The players figured this system out pretty quickly with Mark’s watchful eye early on helping. I used a logbook for Generals to record when they entered a transit table, and when they left. What a gold mine of information to track the troop movements it provided! On the Bad Duben X table, the Prussians entered 1st, left, came back. Before leaving again to search another table, they bounced the French 1st Cav who had to retreat back to his same starting table. It was 30 minutes later that the Cav successfully again entered and left Bad Duben transit town and headed north toward Berlin.
The 15 game tables were great looking, and I thank the team of Peter, Mark, Russ & James for supplying the terrain. One of the dilemmas I had, and was cautioned about, was the use of Major rivers on tables. There were 4 major river crossings that the French absolutely needed to own. My intention was to spread the French Corps out to prevent a massing of armies on a single table. I think it worked, we at one point had 6 tables with battles raging, and had 4 separate table battles going on at the conclusion of the campaign. (GM objective achieved!) But the issue of the bridges still posed a problem if the Allies chose to defend them or destroy them with the engineering units. So I made the Wittenburg bridge a deployment zone, of which the French would own it just by entering the table. The Magdeburg bridge was actually a transit table. Historically Eugene destroyed the bridge over the Elbe, and a fort protected the surroundings preventing any other bridge building. No crossings could occur here, funneling the armies to the south. The Dresden bridge actually was 3 bridge crossings on the table. The French needed to take only one to earn the point. The last bridge was actually being held by a Neutral Saxon Corps. I did not tell the players about this ahead of time and they needed to discover this during the game, that the bridge was occupied. The French could earn the VP by convincing the Saxons to join the French side. And, as it turned out, the 1st French Cav unit that captured Bautzen did just that.
Victory & Diplomatic Objectives
Pre campaign I wanted both C in C’s to ponder the options presented to them. I created a series of table objectives (13 pts) that the French had to capture to reflect the fact that they had the burden of attack. They started with one objective. If they gained no more Napoleon would have gone straight to the isle of Elba. The objectives were spread out, north and south, and along the Elbe to hopefully prevent either side from concentrating all forces on a single table. This clearly placed the burden of attack on the French, but I did not want the allies to sit back, as historically they went on the attack even though they had the smaller force. So I created Diplomatic point incentives for the Allies to have an opportunity to get Austria on their side. A +4 VP incentive could almost guarantee a victory if they could only take Jena or Magdeburg. Not an easy task, but it would have taken quite a lot to convince the Kaiser to leave his neutral position. Historically the Austrians stayed neutral until after the June Armistice ended in August. The French took Breslau historically, but were defeated before Berlin. Historically the French had a minor victory at 9 pts. Our French generals did one better scoring 10 pts for a tactical victory, but not quite good enough to prevent the Austrians from joining later in the summer and going on to winning the battle of Leipzig.
Some additional twists to the basic game
Roving Cossacks were stealing French orders/messages, and sending them along to the Russian CinC before routing message back to the intended French commander. Kutuzov died right before we started (historically he died April 28, but not before setting the allied strategy in motion.) The Czar appointed Wittgenstein to replace him. However, several senior Russian generals refused to follow his orders. I did not want to be totally cruel to the Allied CinC, so I invented the Scharnhorst rule. He was Bluchers chief of staff, but very influential in setting up the entire campaign strategy. I would allow messages to be sent as long as he was alive. Historically he died after the battle of Lutzen as he was shot while leading a charge. I rolled a D10 to see if he was killed on each message sent. (normal D10=10). He did not die this day.
The French conscripts historically were not used to marching great distances. I had a rule that the 2nd French Corps to enter on their starting table would be strung out and could only move at ½ speed until the 1st French Corps exited the table. However, in the early chaos, since we started late, I did not enforce this rule.
All the Prussian generals could earn a +1 to their leadership skills if they occupied Jena, as a sort of revenge to the 1807 humiliation they received in defeat. Kind of an incentive to put their neck in a noose.
Czar Alexander is obsessed with beating Napoleon. The Russian Tormasz Corps with Alexander attached must move west until they contact French Army. This requirement ends when Czar sees combat. (Or out numbered 3 to 1 Corps on a table). I did not have to implement this rule, as Tormasz did receive orders (from Kutuzov) to cross the Elbe and seek battle.
If the allies Beat Napoleon in an early battle (before noon), (-1) DP for French.
If a French Corps retreats off a table with Napoleon present before noon, it is seen as a sign of French weakness in the eyes of minor allies and Austria. This would have earned the Allies a Diplomacy point.
The Saxon garrison is neutral & blocks Torgau bridge crossing to both sides. Negotiations with the King of Saxony must take place. You must roll a 10 on a D10. Command rating added. Napoleon adds +7. Alexander adds +0
+1 to Coalition if troops are on Jena table.
+1 to side which controls Leipzig.
If a Corps reached Exhaustion Level = 75% casualties ( stands lost) then that would provide a VP to the other side. I wanted this in the back of the Corps commanders minds before taking a high risk move.
“History is written by the winners”
- Napoleon Bonaparte
Game On or Campaign On!
The spring campaign begins approximately April 20, 1813 with Napoleons arrival from Paris a few days earlier. The French Armée of the Elbe, commanded by his step son Prince Eugene, occupies the fortress of Magdeburg and its surroundings, behind the Elbe and the Saale Rivers. They are about 50,000 strong. Approximately 250 miles to the south at Wurtzburg, Napoleon is concentrating the new French Armée du Main. The 160,000 men are screened by the Thuringian Forest. Maréchal Ney is assigned the advance and takes his large III Corps east to search for a good place to bring the Allies to battle. Napoleon issues orders to the Armée du Main to march thru the forest. The Guard Cavalry leads the IV corps on the northernmost road to Erfurt, the supply source. Their objective is twofold, to meet up with Eugenes forces and take the important city of Leipzig. The Guard Infantry is ordered to meet and follow the III Corps, which is at Jena. The VI Corps takes the southernmost route thru the forest toward Hof, with orders to get to Dresden. XII Corps coming from Bavaria follows VI Corps to Hof. The French are unaware of the Allies locations, only getting some unreliable Austrian newspaper reports of potential whereabouts. The lack of cavalry is hurting the gathering of intelligence. Since Eugene is so far away from Napoleon, Eugene has issued orders to the French 1st Cav, V Corps and his own XI Corps to advance en mass toward the Wittenburg bridge, and cross over to head to Berlin.
The Prussians under Blucher are eager to keep the French as far away from Berlin as possible. Blucher has crossed the Elbe and after marching thru Leipzig and has positioned his Corps and Winzingerode Russian Corps at Altenburg, in anticipation that the French may be coming from the south. The rest of the Allies are on the east side of the Elbe. Wittgenstein has the Allied right wing, consisting of Blucher, Yorck, Bulow and Berg Corps. They are positioned north of Wittenburg, with Bulow closer to Berlin. The Russian main army commanded by Tormasov is at Bautzen, with the Advance Corps under Milleradovitch at Dresden. The Allied Coalition about 130,000 men is under the command of Kutuzov. He orders all the corps to the west side of the Elbe to seek out battle. April 28th, Kutuzov dies. The Czar chooses Wittgenstein to continue the campaign. However, there is a problem with this choice. 3 Russian commanders are senior to Wittgenstein and refuse to follow his orders. That is Tormasov, Milleradovitch and Barclay de Tolly with 15,000 men is still weeks away marching to Saxony. But all is not lost, as the brilliant Prussian Chief of staff Scharnhorst is able to coordinate allied orders and convince the Russians to follow. That is as long as he is alive. Scharnhorst is part of Bluchers command, and could possibly get himself killed in the heat of battle. If that happens, only the meddling Czar could intercede with these 3 Russian commanders. Speaking of meddling, the Czar insists the Tormasov Corps continue to advance to the west until he sees battle. His intention is to push Napoleon back to Frances natural borders.
The Allies have the advantage in scouting since without much French Cavalry the Cossacks have free rein to roam the Saxon countryside. Some advanced scouting did indeed find some Bavarian infantry at Hof, confirming Bluchers suspicions. Additionally the Cossacks are capturing French couriers and their messages, giving the Allied CinC the advance info before the actual intended French commander.
The Thuringian Forest does delay the French a bit, but Ney has the 3rd Corps marching toward Altenburg. They collide with Winzengerode & Blucher, and begin a very long battle that will last until the end of the campaign. The French XII Corps appears on the Allied left flank and the weight of numbers steadily forces back the Allies. Blucher does a masterful job of maintaining a fighting withdrawal back to Altenburg. Millderadovitch briefly arrives as reinforcements, but is eventually called to go defend Leipzig. Ney’s battle plan creates a grand battery and makes steady forward progress.
Eugene’s Armée du Elbe advances past Bernberg on the way to Bad Duben. However, the 1st Cav is bounced back to Bernberg by Yorck’s Prussian Corps. As Eugene prepares for battle, the Prussians make their way to Halle looking for an opportunity to get to Magdeburg or Erfurt. Following Yorck, Berg and Bulow cross the Wittenburg bridge and head to Bad Duben and set up a defense at Leipzig. Bulow makes a brief reconnaissance to Torgau, and is surprised to find it is garrisoned with Neutral Saxons. He sends note to his commanding officer that the Czar needs to come and negotiate alliances with the Saxons. The Czar is busy watching battles vs the French.
The French Guard Cavalry & IV Corps, with Napoleon leading the way, leave Erfurt with a small garrison and head to Namburg and overlook the Lutzen plains. The Guard Cav head to Leipzig, but are met with a solid defensive line and return to inform Napoleon. He decides to try to find another way and heads north to Mersberg & Halle. There they find Yorck’s Prussians chasing away Eugenes small advance reconnaissance. IV Corps forms line of battle and attacks. At same time XI Corps arrives from Bernberg in the north putting the Prussians in bad situation. Yorck quickly evaluates the situation and decides that heading back to Bad Duben is in order. Before Yorck marches out, the French 1st Cav and V Corps find Bad Duben unoccupied and proceed to head north over the Wittenburg bridge.
Milleradsovitch had crossed the Elbe at Dresden and headed to Rochlitz & then Altenburg, remaining in reserve there. Tormasov left Bautzen and followed Millerdovitch all the way to Altenburg. However, he soon received orders from Wittgenstein, via Scharnhorst, to return to Dresden. He got there in the nick of time, as VI corps was just arriving. VI Corps seeing the large force there decided to return to Chemitz with the hope of finding another route.
Far to the north at Wittenberg, V Corps & 1st Cav find no resistance on the east side of the Elbe. 1st Cav decides to head out the north eastern road and V Corps takes the North western road both looking for Berlin. V Corps sends a detachment toward Gross Beeren and Berlin. 1st Cav finds Juterbok, Lukau, Spremberg all unoccupied. Finally they arrive at Bautzen to find an infantry garrison. The Veteran horse artillery does quick work and scatters the defenders. The Cav then occupies Bautzen and then Gorlitz. This has the effect of convincing the Saxons at Torgau to join the French. It also captures the Russian supply depot and puts the Russians out of supply. Barclay de Tolly finally shows up from his long march via Frankfurt and chases the Cav away and re-establishes the Russian supply line.
Now the rotary at Bad Duben begins to see a lot of traffic. Berg and Bulow are ordered back north to defend Berlin. They are met at Bad Duben by Yorck. Berg crosses 1st, now trying to cut off V Corps to the eastern flank. Next Yorck crossed the Elbe and faces off vs V Corps. Back at Halle, the French don’t chase Yorck but find an alternate route that leads to Leipzig just as Napoleon wanted. Leipzig is unoccupied, with the rear guard of Bulow heading to Bad Duben. Bulow retraces his steps and comes back to race the French to Leipzig. He will lose this race. Back at the rotary known as Bad Duben, French reinforcements in the form of VII Corps pass thru on the way to Torgau, where they are able to pick up the Saxons. VII Corps heads to Leipzig and puts Bulow in a French sandwich. Unable to retreat, because French XI Corps was at the rotary awaiting opportunity to come in behind Yorcks Corps. As Bulow valiantly tried to hold off 3 French Corps, Millerdovitch showed up south of Leipzig, but it was too late for poor Bulow. His Corps became exhausted. They are however able to decapitate Bertrand IV Corps commander. But the French even the score by knocking off C in C Wittgenstein. Millerdovitch now picks up the race to occupy Leipzig. His battle almost succeeds, but the French Guard cav and IV corps infantry are able to push back the attack. One Victory objective secured for the French.
Tormasov, in the middle of all this action, is ordered to send troops to Bautzen if possible, and to Leipzig which is under attack. He splits his force. The French 1st Cav at Bautzen destroys the small Russian relief force before Barclay de Tolly showed up. The other contingent sped off to Leipzig. However, Tormasov then received orders to return to Dresden, as Marmont’s VI Corps, seeing Dresden occupied by a small garrison, saw his opportunity and began the attack on that Saxon Capital city. Tormasov arrived again in the nick of time to meet VI Corps on the plain before Dresden. They fought it out until Marmont’s VI Corps artillery accuracy was too much for the Russian Guards. The surprise appearance of the French 1st Cav on the eastern side of the Elbe, and VI Corps taking Dresden gave the French two victory objectives.
Back at the Bad Duben “Rotary”, XI Corps is finally able to come in behind Yorck, who thought that Bulow had his rear area covered. But the fog of war was thick with smoke. Now it is Yorcks turn to become a French sandwich. V Corps, loaded with conscripts, out performed this campaign, holding off cavalry attacks by Berg, and a determined attack by Yorck to try and open the road to Berlin back to the Prussians. XII Corps is able to make steady progress on Yorck until the Metternich brokered Armistice ends the fighting. The action here results in the French capture of Wittenburg, a French Victory objective.
But before the Armistice is declared, the Saxons of VII Corps make a forced march to the gates of Berlin via the Juterbok road. There they are met with 2 Brigades of entrenched Prussians. They outflank the position, routing the Prussians and laying siege to Berlin...another French Victory objective.
The armistice was sorely needed for both Armies suffered many casualties. But the allies suffered a bit more, 2 of their Corps reaching the 75% exhaustion level vs one French Corps becoming exhausted. A French Victory objective obtained.
Overall it was a well fought campaign. The tide began to turn late in the campaign. The French were able to obtain 10 VP, for a tactical victory, but it was not enough to change history and prevent the Battle of the Nations in the fall of 1813.
Thanks once again to all the players, and to The Portal game store for hosting the event for 10 years now!
Great read
ReplyDeleteDefinitely helps to tie it all together!
DeleteA great post that ties all that has happened together very nicely.
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed it; thanks to GM Mike!
DeleteGreat to get the overview perspective. Having my orders stolen by Cossacks would be annoying, and probably even more so for Napoleon in the actual campaign. The other rules look good and nicely balances as well to give a real flavour of the times.
ReplyDeleteIt was quite an effort by all concerned!
DeleteWhat an epic. A fantastic series.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Richard. GM Mike tells me he is working on a final post about the Transit and message logs.
Delete