Springtime for Nappy: Poland 1807 Campaign in a Day, part 7 - GM's Report

This scenario involved fighting in a relatively small area (confined by the Austrian border in the south, and the Russian border at the river Nieman to the East. That made it likely that there would be 3-4 substantial battles almost immediately. I wanted to leave some opportunity for maneuver to the South, where, historically, little or no fighting occurred. The set up offered an opportunity fore the Russians to get the jump on the French, but over time the French would exceed the Russian in strength (although considerably less than in actual fact). The French had the edge in Leader quality ratings, the Russians had more and heavier artillery (in this case less than they had in actual fact), but the French artillery was of better quality on average. 

The Russian players had a lively discussion about their options with their C-in-C; because of the efforts of the Cossacks, they had a pretty good idea where the main enemy formations were located. They debated several strategies, but settled o this one above. 

On the French side, the Cossacks prevented the Emperor and his Marshals from having any real idea as to where the enemy forces were located. It also seems that they disrupted correspondence between the Emperor and his Marshals (James had email provider problems), leaving the Marshalate to rough out a plan on their own, that the Emperor might or might not implement!

As is often the case in war or wargames, neither side's plans survived contact with the enemy!

Opening Moves

French                                                                 Allies

Symbol    Command                Player                        Symbol    Command                Player

  I                Bernadotte            James S                        1            Constantine              SeanS

 II                Lannes                  Michael K                    3            Sacken                      Brian C    

III                Davout                  Karl N                          6            Gortchakov              

IV                Soult                      Rob P                            7            Dohkturov                Russ L

 V                Massena                Chris B                         8            Essen                          Shiloh S

VI                Ney                        Mark M                       R            Tolstoy                       Mike S

VIII            Mortier                  Ken H                          17            Lobanov

 C                Murat                    Mitch O                       Pr            L'Estoq

 D                Grouchy                Rich M                       AG            Bagratian                 Kevin C

 P                 Poniatowski          Doug O                      C Rt         Uvarov                       Dan B

 B                Lefebvre                Eric B                         C Lt         Golitsyn                    Nate S

 G                Bessieres                James C

 

Situation about 20 - 30 minutes after Move 2 (Poniatowski, Mortier, and Lobanov are just arriving)

Situation circa 11:30 AM

Situation circa 1 PM; Both sides Guard Corps have just arrived in the theater, the Battle of Suwalken is underway between Poniatowski and Lobanov on a "floating" Transit table, and Lannes and Murat reverse course and march to Braunstein, whilst Davout pulls back to Bischofsberg. 

Situation circa 2 PM. Prince Golitsyn's cavalry and Constantine's Imperial Guard arrive at Suwalken; "Too rich for my Royal blood!"observes Poniatowski, who beats a hasty retreat back towards Rastenberg. Golitsyn pursues, and Constantine countermarches. Meanwhile, Lefebvre's Bavarians attack Gortchkov at Bartenstein, closely followed by Davout. I'm not really  sure where Lobanov headed off to after the battle; perhaps the Transit logs will tell that tale!

Situation at the end of the Campaign: Davout and Lefebvre have reduced Gortchakov to exhaustion, but the arrival of Constantine and the Guard prevents any further exploitation at Bartenstein. Golitsyn, finding Poniatowski's positions at Rastenberg not worth attacking,  goes on a grand march arriving at Eylau by the end of the campaign. Part of Massena's men are rallying at Allenstein. I'm still not entirely sure where Grouchy and Lobanov wound up!

    As previously noted, both sides would up having the same number of Victory points, with the Russians controlling 2 more tables (Braunsberg and Rastenburg, both of which fell in the last 30minutes of the game, while the French had one exhausted Corps (Ney) and the Russians had two (Essen and Gortchakov). By the terms of the scenario, that made it technically a marginal Allied victory. The French really didn't make efficient use of their forces, leaving some of their best troops (Davout, Lannes, Murat) out of combat most of the day. In retrospect, had they used these troops to punch through at Bartenstein much earlier and/or support Poniatowski's end run, the out come might have been significantly different. The French Imperial Guard was largely wasted in Garrison; a few of Mortier's Hessian units could have done that job, freeing up the elite troops for a heavy blow elsewhere. Contrast the timely interventions of the Russian guards, twice stabilizing otherwise dangerous situations.

    Thanks to all of the players and especially, my assistant GM Mark T; it was a great day of gaming. I am looking forward to our doing the Summer/Fall of 1777 in North America, 250 years after the Saratoga  and Philadelphia Campaigns, in October next year. ASnd of course, the event would be all but impossible without the great gaming space at The Portal game store in Manchester, CT. 

Yet to come, the final part of the history of this Campaign in a Day event, the message and transit table logs.