Supply Rules

"Feed me! Clothe me! Pay me!" Always me, me, me, never a thought for their poor monarch who has three palaces, a mistress, and a wife. Oh, the travails of being king (Mel Brooks notwithstanding).

Actually, supply rules can be as complex as you can stand. Let's see, this is the 18th Century, so for each combatant figure one hanger-on. Officers will have two to seven non-combatants that they support, and then we get to the general staff. There should really be a separate supply train just for the general staff. You never know when you're going to have to entertain all sorts of people. Hmm, and then there's the support staff, the necessary jugglers, acrobats, and so on. Even the Ladies of Negotiable Virtue (did you know the Croix de Guerre was awarded to two ladies of a Mobile Field Brothel for their activities in the French Indochina War?)

Let's say one man consumes one unit of food and one unit of water every day. An army of 50,000 would consume 50,000 units of food and 50,000 units of water every single day, whether they are in camp or marching. But then there are the horses. it turns out that the 18th Century average for a 50,000 man army was 30,000 horses. it's not just the cavalry, it's the artillery, it's the ones pulling the wagons, and so on. A horse consumes roughly ten times what a man consumes. A man can eat meat, a horse can't, but let's skip over that. And they both drink water. So This 50,000 man army needs 350,000 units of food, and 350,000 units of water every single day. This explains all of the campaigns in the river valleys of Northern Italy and those in the Low Countries. That's where the food and water were.

And I haven't even touched on the hangers-on, lackeys, servants, wastage, and so on. They would often destroy more than they would eat. No wonder soldiers were perpetually short of food.

When I do the calculations for a 50,000 man army, I come up with the food requirements of China. The spreadsheets to feed, pay, and clothe these people would be a game in itself. So let's try the Freddie the Lesser game system approach.

A Simpler Way -

A stack of counters can be fed out of a depot or a city if they are within six movement points of that source. The line cannot travel through an enemy occupied hex, so you can't supply an army from a besieged fortress (I saw someone claim that he could in a different boardgame). Now if that depot is within six movement points of a city, it can supply troops six further points away from the depot, and so on. You can have a line of depots stretching across the map, provided they all are connected to a depot (that's connected to a depot, that's...) that sooner or later connects to a friendly and unbesieged city.

That depot must be garrisoned by at least three strength points. Someone has to work the ovens and so on.

To establish a depot, a force of at least ten strength points spends an entire turn in one hex doing nothing but establish the depot. The beautiful thing is you don't need a general in order to not move.

Attrition from Supply

Oh my goodness, something has happened to the supply lines. If this was the Napoleonic period it would probably be that Corsican fellow. But it's not. So we get to have rules about what happens when there is no food.

Simple. Every stack loses one strength point per turn when the stack is out of supply. This is actually fairly benign, but it suggests keeping all of the men in one place. Independent columns are subject to the same thing.

Let's add that you cannot roll for the conclusion of a siege when the besiegers are out of supply. Fighting battles to interrupt a siege was very 18th Century.

But Wait! There's More!

So let's stick an addenda into the movement rules. Something to encourage people to spread out a bit so they can move, because moving 50,000 men and 30,000 horses down a single road is almost impossible. Think traffic jams, for starters.

So, if a stack has more than, oh, 30 strength points in it, it has one less movement point available from whatever it rolled. This modifier is applied after the die roll and checking for attrition. If it has 60 or more strength points, it has two less movement points available, again, after the die throw and checking for attrition.

So, march divided, fight united. This sounds Napoleonic, but it was obvious much earlier. Marlborough used it during the Siege of Lille.

So that is the basis for the supply. Astute observers will note that I spoke in terms of movement points, not hexes. Supply lines through rough terrain will be shorter, and they will be much longer on roads. That's the idea.

Movement

Basics

In the game Frederick the Great, a turn is a couple weeks. That originally seemed too long; but after doing some thinking, that could amount to 30 turns in a campaign season.. So that seems adequate for a game, and means we don't have to tie ourselves down to a specific movement rate. Aside, I can remember a treadhead getting upset because "everyone knew" that a Panther tank could move at 30 miles per hour, and the movement rate in one game implied that they only moved at 10 miles per hour. Somehow the concept that tanks were not ships couldn't sink in.

The basis of movement is the hex. The map for Blitzkrieg is covered with hexes. Movement from one hex to the next costs one movement point. But the different terrain types will cost more. For rules purposes any terrain other than clear costs one movement point more. Thus rough terrain is woods, and hills. Crossing a river or entering a an enemy occupied hex costs one movement point more.

It might seem odd that there aren't different kinds of woods, and we don't take into account mountains. Armies tend to stay away from jungles, The Wilderness, the Alps, and so on. That's because armies have to eat. There's a good reason armies campaigned in rich agricultureal districts.

What about rivers? These are rivers significant from a military obstacle. This means th the stream that barely comes to the knees won't effect an army, but the Rhine is. So crossing a river might involve a ford such as the Rappahanock, or a bridging train. So one extra movement point more.

Roads are not your ordinary dirt path, or the ones that go from village to village. Roads paved with good bridges, drainage, and things like that. So roads negate terrain, and forces on a road pay only 1/2 movement point as long as they stay on the road.

Initiative

Troops cannot move without a general (well, there's one exception, but this is voluntary movement).

Generals are rated for their 'get up and go'. Take a look at the Kipling poem "Stellenbosch". Some generals are more willing to move than others. In Freddie terms, this is a number that you add to the throw of 1d6 to to find out how far the general moves (and the men with him). Some generals are really sluggish, and this number is negative. Some will march their troops into the ground, and have the initiative of three. The most a stack can have is six movement points. If the resulting modified die throw is greater than six, there will be attrition (which we'll cover later).

Generals have ranks, and they must be moved in the order of their seniority. The highest ranking general in the stack is the one who controls the whole stack for initiative.

What about cavalry? Don't they move faster? Well, yes, and no. Horses get tired, need periodic rest, and so on. In the American Civil War there were cavalry raids galore, but the horses walked, didn't trot. Cavalry commanders out-thought their pursuers, not outran them. After all, the column gains its strength from all of the men/horses together, so losing them due to stragglers means you weaken their power. So they move at the walk, which is about the same as a walking man. While this isn't intuitively obvious, horses aren't motorcycles or bicycles. They need periodic rest, food, and water.

What about force marches? Actually, this isn't a column running, it's troops marching when normally they would be resting. The Union VI Corps, on its march to Gettysburg, did a force-march and traveled 31 miles in 24 hour period. Marlborough's men, on their way to Oudenarde, did a force-march, and covered 50 miles in one day! Note, 10-15 was normal.

So all of this will move stacks of troops around the map. Next we'll cover what happens when they need to eat. Supply can be complicated (I've written some complex supply rules), but they can also be simple and yet effective.

The Project

I haven't given up on miniatures gaming, I've just been terriby lax about it. But any hobby you've pursued for 48 years cannot be put aside completely. So this is the inception of The Project.

What is it?

I have often felt the best tabletop games are generated by a campaign system. Years ago Jeff Cox and I did a campaign using the old SPI map for Cobra, and fighting the battles with the King's War Rules. It was a lot of fun, and we soon had a result. We also had a lot of battles that had reasons for being, and were not even fights on even terrain. Back in Indiana I took part in a WW1 Naval Campaign in the Med, and we mostly used General Quarters to resolve the fights, though some other rules were used for small ships and small-sized actions. We had really interesting fights that involved unequal forces, and the battles had strategic consequences.

This latter is often missing from most tabletop games. Oh, you're told that seizing this town or that ridge will give you a strategic victory, but too often there is a fight to the last soldier. With a campaign you have to preserve your forces for another day.

IMHO one of the best campaign systems around for boardgames was Frederick the Great, originally by SPI, but later Avalon Hill. You quickly learned that you could fight lots of battles, and have no army left, or you could preserve your forces, fight only when the situation warranted it, and spend a lot of time worrying about supply, your objective (usually a fortress), and so on. Whole campaigns could be fought without a major battle. Or you could rush right out, find the enemy, smash at him, and trust everything on one roll of the dice. If you lost, you could see your fortresses fall one after another, helpless to do anything to stop the onslaught.

The germ of the idea.

Two of the minor countries from the old Avalon Hill game Blitzkrieg are gearing up for a war. The political differences between Ober-Bindlestiff and Saxe-Schweinrot are many and deep, and mostly rooted in dynastic concerns. It's the 1730s or 1740s. Such fanciful things as cadenced step and so on are not around. I'm going to "write" the rules for the campaign (based on the Frederick the Great system), and then fight it out. The battles will be fought in miniature with the Volley & Bayonet, Road to Glory rules, though there might be a few modifications made to those rules if we hit some sticking points.

The Armies

The Foot in both armies is the multi-battalion regiment. In theory a regiment has 2,000 men, though some 1500 take the field. The rest are held back as training cadre (the depots). In V&B terms, a regiment in the field starts with three hits, or 100 men. As units get worn down from attrition and combat, replacements will be sent forward from the depots to make up the numbers.

The Horse is a mix of armored and unarmored cavalry. Regiments vary wildly in size, so they have been organized into Inspections, each of which fields a brigade of some 2,000 men, or 4 hits in V&B terms. Again, replacements are sent forward as needed. But the real replacements are in the winter. So armies will get smaller as the campaign goes on.

The Artillery does not have a depot system. Guns are expensive to make, but the men can be trained. They are organized in three components: first, the artillery assigned to the infantry. These are 'dedicated guns', or what were also called 'regimental artillery'. Then there are the field artillery, organized in battalions. These are assigned to a field army. Lastly are the fortress guns, and this includes a siege train for each army. These gunners train at the fortresses, and garrison them (with the depot battalions),

The Dragoons are not many, and don't appear too often in the major battles. They are mounted infantry, and are used for the outposting, recons, and so on, what light troops did later on. There most decidedly aren't hussars, chevaulegere, or the like.

These forces are all gathered under an army general, who has subordinates to assist him. And that will assist in the movement system.

So there will be more to come as the campaign rules are put out for people to see.

The Fall Campaign - Part 3

The Situation

Simply put, the French Army is scattered between Sedro Wooley, Mount Vernon, Conway, Arlington and a few points in between. The main chunk of the Allied Army is leaving Arlington after a night action at Swede Hollow with the intent of crossing the Stillaguamish River at Conway and escaping northward (or at least to Fidalgo Island).

Other parts of the Allied Army are north of Burlington, at Conway (on the west side of the river), or guarding the approaches to Fidalgo Island. The French Army is attempting to cut off the Allied Army at Conway. That seems simple enough...sort of. Did I add that the Allies are low on ammunition, have one company of artillery, and a lot of unorganized men who could be a problem? I didn't think so. Life is not rosey for the Allied commander.

There is a ford at Conway (as well as the Bridge). The two French Blesois Regiments are dug in at Conway, in two redoubts and the town itself. And the French Army is marching to relieve them as fast as units can get straightened out and on the road.

Referee's Notes - I had to do some calculating, along with TripMaker and Map Quest. Both Allied and French troops were converging on Conway, and I had to calculate how long it would take to get them there ("there" being within 1 mile of Conway). I assumed the following:

1. Couriers travel at 8 mph;


2. One hour after receiving orders, units march;


3. Units march at 2 mph, including cavalry;


4. Proper march discipline would be followed.

The Situation "Develops"

The Allied Army had left Arlington at 10 AM. They had rested, had eaten, and had managed to resupply some ammunition. They had even recovered some guns and artillery ammunition that the French had not yet sent south as trophies (enough to form a battery). They were planning on marching to Bryant, then west on the Stanwood-Bryant road, then north on the main road to Conway. They had a total of 16 miles to go. They chose this route as it bypassed the French forces west of Arlington, and it might disguise where they were going (for a bit). Unbeknownst to them, all of the Allied cavalry was put in the van, leaving none to cover the rear. The Atrasos Cavalry promptly scouted them, and I arbitrarily ruled that they soon knew which way the Allies were going. The earliest the Allies could get to Conway was 6 PM.

The French Commander Ponders....

Starting at 7 AM, the first couriers went north from the small French force holding on west of Arlington. This merely reported the facts, as known at the time: the Allies had attacked from up the valley and Arlington was swamped with fugitives. The commander of the Atrasos Cavalry reported that the pursuing force sent after the Allied army was in full retreat or scattered (he had no word from the 1/1st Germans, they had been falling back under pressure when last seen), and that the Allies were now entering Arlington. More couriers followed:

• 8:00 AM - The Allied army is in Arlington, looting, and so on. French forces west of Arlington are 3rd Germans, Atrasos Cavalry and fragments of 2/1st Germans. Even allowing for exaggeration, something bad had happened. Patrols were now attempting to ascertain more, but ther was a lot of Allied Cavalry around Arlington (he named the units);


• 9:00 AM - looting has subsided. Reports are that the commander of the Allied army is at Arlington. This is based upon scouting and direct observation;


• 10:30 AM - Allied troops are marching north on Route 9. Patrols have been sent north on the main road with orders to scout the Stanwood-Bryant road and report both to HQ and the commander of the Atrasos Cavalry

Another Referee Note - I was playing the part of the French Commander west of Arlington. The French were coming from Sedro Wooley (14 miles), Burlington (9 miles) and Mount Vernon (5 miles). But they had to get their orders. And that could occur only after the French commander realized what was going on.

...and Acts

The French Commander was at Mount Vernon, along with 14 battalions of infantry and four regiments of cavalry. Mount Vernon is 22 miles from Arlington, 25 if you go by side-roads. The first courier arrived at 10 AM. Just after the noon courier had arrived (sent at 9 AM), the French commander began sending his own couriers. By 1 PM the couriers had arrived at Sedro Wooley and Burlington, and the troops were on the road by 2 PM. The forces at Mount Vernon had marched at 1 PM. They would start arriving at Conway at 3:30 PM.

The troops from Burlington would arrive at 6:30 PM. Those from Sedro Wooley would arrive at 9 PM (dark is at 8 PM). Clearly this was going to be a mis-match, but on who's side?

The Armies Start Converging

The French - Fourteen battalions of infantry, a battery of artillery and four regiments of cavalry arrived at Conway at 3:30. The French Commander had been there with an Advanced Guard, surveying the scene. He sent cavalry patrols farther south, looking for the Allies, and he pressed forward right behind them. Reports came in. The Allies were advancing up the main road, but were still well short of Conway. The French Commander saw the opportunity, and ordered his men forward into the hills. They would try to occupy the same positions they had occupied before, only facing the other way round.

By 5:30 PM he had his troops depoloyed for battle, their front covered by a dry streambed, their left on a steep hill, their right hanging a bit, but the ground dropping steeply to the Stillaguamish. It wasn't the best position, but it would do.

The four battalions of infantry, the advanced guard that had been at Burlington, had stopped in Mount Vernon to guard the bridge. But they had two regiments cavalry with them. Those had been sent ahead. They had force-marched on a good road in dry weather, so they made 4.5 miles/hour. They arrived at 5:00 PM, and were deployed in a second line by 5:30. The force from Sedro Wooley had marched through Mount Vernon. They would not make it to this fight in time. The French Commander debated whether he should use them or not. After some thought he had them stop in Mount Vernon. This was a gamble, but if things didn't go well here, he would still have a force in being. And if any Allied troops crossed the river, the troops in Mount Vernon could also cross the river and maybe catch some of the Allied troops as they worked their way across Fir Island. Splitting his force like this was a risk, but he decided it was worth it.

The Allied Commander was a little surprised to contact the French around 4:00. He had hoped to take them more by surprise than he obviously had. But if a fight was necessary, then so be it. He didn't have many choices, but on the off-chance that something could be found, he sent patrols to his right to see if they could find a way through, say, MacMurray, and north to Sedro Wooley. Might as well cover all chances.

As the skirmishing increased the Allied Commander sent all of his cavalry forward. This shoved the French Cavalry back a bit, and allowed him to see the French position. The position wasn't unassailable, but any assault would be desperate. Still, he thought an attack could always be stopped by night. And when it was, maybe his men could escape to the right. His mind made up, he ordered his troops to shake out into line of battle for a fight.

The Forces
The Allied forces numbered 26 battalions of somewhat beat-up and tired infantry, along with eight regiments of cavalry and a scratched together artillery. Morale was not high, a lot of regiments were now M4 instead of M5. This reflected that the troops had marched and fought for the last 20 hours without adequate rest or nourishment. The exhaustion levels of the troops were changed to reflect that. All told, the French could muster (theoretically) 19,000 men for this action.

The French forces were outnumbered better than 2:1 in foot. They had had only minimal time to prepare, but the ground was broken, and the men were of good morale. One welcome reinforcement, the 2nd Germans came marching in from MacMurray on the Colonel's own initiative (actually referee's initiative). This boosted the French troops to 15,000 men.

The French were present first, and arrayed themselves in the traditional two lines, with Croissant and Navarre in the first line (left to right) and Provisionaire General, Procurer General, and the 2nd Germans as part of the second line (reading left to right). TheProvincial Grenadiers were held out of the line of battle and slightly detached to the left en potence as a flank guard. The Horse was deployed in two formations to the left of the foot, with the cavalry of the Maison the farthest out on the left. The rest of the cavalry was deployed with Bartillart and Courvoisier in the first line, and Absinthe and Crapaud in the second. The artillery was on the right next to a steep slope that protected their flank.

The Allies deployed the English on the left with the Dutch in the center. The cavalry was massed on the right in two lines. The mob of fugitives was sent to the far left. By 7 PM everyone was in position. Knowing that sunset was within the hour, the Allied Commander told his men there would be no battle unlessthe French attacked. Instead, every regiment sent out their pickets, and the men were quietly pulled back. His scouts had found a flank road.

The Allies Slip Away
The French commander ordered up the four battalions left at Mount Vernon. He toyed with a night attack (I reminded him of the first fight of the campaign), then ordered his pickets to cover the front and his men to be up before dawn. The Allied Commander rested his troops until midnight, then sent one regiment of cavarly and the mob of unorganized men wading across the ford in the Stillaguamish. The noise and uproar this caused brought the French Commander to the front to see what was going on. After some thought he ordered some troops forward to see what was happening.The troops from Navarre move forward in the dark, clashing with the troops of the 100-Acre Woods Foresters. The noise was loud, and the firing fierce, but the troops were too far away to hurt each other very much. Casualties were very few, more from men tripping over things in the dark than actually being hit by bullets.

While this was going on, the main Allied Force was quietly moving to their right, well beyond the line of French pickets. They found the road the scouts had uncovered, and the troops made their way along it as quietly as possible. Everyone was tense. By orders, no muskets had been loaded to prevent any accidental shots giving away the game, and all noisy items had been left behind in the camps. By 1 AM the bulk of the Allied army was on the road and descending from the hills onto the Conway-MacMurray road. There the leading elements were turning east to MacMurray, where they would then turn north towards Sedro Wooley. That's when trouble erupted.

Things Heat Up
The French Army had long planned to deploy on this very ground (back before the campaign started this was their chosen battlefield). The men knew every path and road in the area. And the commander of the French Maison cavalry kept hearing things to his front. So he sent out scouts. They returned with reports of Allied pickets in the area, lots of Allied pickets in the area. Being a cavalry officer, the commander of the Maison was not without enterprise. He sent for the nearest infantry, the Provinicial Grenadiers, roused his men, passed word to the line cavalry beside him, and sent a messenger to the Army Commander. All of that done, and his men ready by now, he moved forward with the intent to cause as much mischief as possible.

Referee's Note - I handled the action near the ford as a probe rather than as an attack. This meant the troops advanced until they could see "something", at which time quite likely firing would break out (throw 1d6, firing breaks out on a 3-6, I threw a 4). The men would halt to fire. This caused panic among the unorganized men (very logically) and it also pinned the English to the area (not realized by the Allied commander). On the other flank, the French commander had told me he wanted his pickets "well-forward and active". So this meant there was a chance to find out what was going on (throw 1d6, discover on a 5 or 6, check every hour; at 1 AM I threw a 6). Deciding that the nobility in the French army were likely to be head-strong and aggressive (especially cavalry commanders in the Maison du Roi), I decided that the local commander would do the professional thing (send messages), but he would also go stick his finger in the hornet's nest to see what happened. But he wasn't entirely stupid, he had those grenadiers handy, too. I decided that it would take an hour to get everything ready, so at 2 AM we would have things happening. I played this out in 30 minute turns.

The Engagement
For maximum impact the French deployed all three units in one line, the Grenadiers a Cheval on the left, Maison du Roi next to them, and the Provinicial Grenadiers on the right. They moved forward with orders to "smash everything in front of them". They hit the line of Dutch infantry in column of march. The regiments Limbeek and Westmalle, near the tail of the column, were caught totally by surprise and scattered in the first charge. The French cavalry pursued those men vigorously, while the Grenadiers wheeled to the west and hit the next unit they found, Kriek. Again, the Grenadiers closed to melee, utilizing their SHK. It wouldn't have mattered, Kriek was in column of march and unable to defend itself. But when Fortune smiles, it smiles hugely. The dice were thrown anyway, and up came a pair of 6's. Kriek was removed from the Allied order of battle. Two other regiments were behind Kriek, Dalrymple and Murray. Dalrymple had warning of what was going on and managed to deploy. The Grenadiers slammed into them anyway. Dalrymple inflicted one hit on the Grenadiers, but took two in return. As Dalrymple disintegrated, Murray had a chance to go stationary. The English were coming up behind them, and the Buffs were on their flank in support. But the French line cavalry was showing up, now, as well as more French infantry. Everyone could see this was only going to end one way. By 5:00 AM the Allied troops still present were surrendering at discretion.

The Allied Commander wanted to turn back and fight the French, but now his army was too strung out to deploy. So he pressed on, writing off a good chunk of his forces. His cavalry reached MacMurray at 6 AM, with what was left of the foot right behind them. The troops turned north towards Sedro Wooley. Safety, of sorts, was only a few miles away. As the morning wore on, the Dutch cavalry stayed behind to form a rearguard, while the English cavalry raced ahead to guard the Sedro Wooley-Mount Vernon road. By 10 AM the bulk of his men were across the river. The action was over, what was left of his army was safe, and he could now try to figure out how to explain what had happened (after he figured it out) in this most unsatisfactory campaign.

The Reckoning
The Allied Army lost all of the English Foot captured, and five infantry other regiments just removed, killed, wounded, captured. They also lost most of the unorganized men rounded up as captives (the cavalry regiment that had escorted them made it back to safety after a long and somewhat hair-raising escape). All told, the Allies lost 12,500 men from all causes (of which 7,500 were in organized units). The French lost scarcely 500 men in this action, mostly last ditch shots, or attempts to stop the Grenadiers when they got on a roll. In terms of battle casualties, the Allies lost 1,500 men.

The Campaign Winds Down

When the Allied Army crossed the river at Sedro Wooley, this effectively ended the campaign. Oh, there were still odds and ends to clean up. There were a couple of German Regiments in Allied service that could be captured if they were unlucky, but things were so confusing after the Battle of Conway Heights that nobody remembered. The German regiment opposite Conway decamped early in the morning, and marched to the bridge to Fidalgo Island. There they joined up with the other German regiment. Covered by the Frambozen Cavalry, this tiny force, less the battalion watching Anacortes, marched up Chuckanut Drive. Though it took a couple of days, they were able to arrive in Bellingham without molestation (though a bit hungry). Just over 1,500 unorganized men made the march out with them. The battalion watching Anacortes was lifted off Fidalgo Island a day later by the Allied Navy. That marked the official end of the campaign. There were no more Allied troops south of the border, nor were there likely to be any time soon. Several days later the Autumn Rains started, ending the season for marching.

The Allied Army was a mere shadow of what it had been. The French were better off, but only just.

The objectives of the Allies, to extend their control over the Skagit River Basin, and control of Whidbey Island and Anacortes and hence the lower Sound, were not met. The campaign could be judged a complete failure. The political fall-out was complex (and outside the scope of this narrative). But peace feelers were extended during the rainy season, and Spring did not bring a new campaigning. In all essentials, peace broke out. This, of course, laid the groundwork for a future war, but that is another story.

A Comment on the Tactical Rules

The battles were fought using the 1st Edition of Volley & Bayonet by Frank Chadwick. All of the cavalry were on regimental bases, which made them very fragile (one hit/regiment).

If I were to fight the campaign again (and we did, sort of), I would put the cavalry on brigade bases. This is mostly because the doctrine of the time was already migrating to the use of cavalry brigades as opposed to regiments. This was in large part because of the recognition of two factors. First, that individual regimental strengths varied widely, depending upon the success of the Colonel-Proprietor. Second, that cavalry was best used en masse. Dragoons, however, would be on regimental stands because my reading of the literature of the period indicates that this was the way it was usually done.

Now the 2nd Edition of the rules is out, Volley & Bayonet, The Road to Glory. I would use these the next time the two sides face off. When will that be? Well, there was another campaign that followed the one I'm currently detailing, a campaign that emphasized scouting (one side didn't). That will get detailed later.

A word on armies/rules/&c. All of my Marlburians are for V&B. I've tried various other rules for the period, and like V&B for its subtlety and simplicity. Long gone are the days when I felt complexity gave a better game.

I saw this in a game of Wagram I read about using the rules Two Hundred Years Ago. This club lovingly painted up every battery, battalion and regiment from that battle. They rented a hall. They laid the troops out. They got through three turns(!) and then had to pick up. I read the rules and concluded that a simple time-motion study precluded ever doing anything with them aside from small actions.

Historically most wargames rules work best with small forces. This is partly because the foundations of the hobby were from (mostly) WW2 gaming, and there you didn't think of divisions, the gamers who had been through that war thought in terms of companies/troops and battalions (at the highest level). Scotty Bowden changed that with Empire 1. Suddenly my 1:20 Napoleonic army (2 divisions) became two corps! I felt like a corps or army commander, not a glorified regimental commander. And part of Scotty's secret was a time-motion study that simplified the mechanics. But even so, by the end of a battle spread over three or four of our days, we would be so exhausted that we'd just say "throw the dice and we'll look it up if it's close."

Years ago I did Alte Fritz, a 1:75 set of Seven Years War rules. I simplified the mechanics as much as I could, and you could handle a reasonable sized battle on the table. The largest we did was 35+ battalions and 60 squadrons on a side. That was an epic fight that took a good part of a day. Clearly improvements could be made.

Jeff Cox and I took the DBA concept and did Little Big Battles. There a player could handle a corps without a problem, often two. And Jeff and I did one epic battle where we had multiple corps each. But the average player had no problem handling even the extra-large Austrian corps of 1809. The secret was a close attention to time-motion, and the DBA concept of rolling morale and combat results up as one throw.

The only other set of rules that I've enjoyed for large actions (what I prefer) are the V&B rules. I confess that my first experience was very negative, but that was partly because the guy putting the game on at Enfilade! was a nice guy who didn't know the rules all that well. Jeff and I tested them by trying our best to abuse the daylights out of them. It left a sour taste in our mouths.

I went back a few months later after an ACW V&B game. True, I was hung out to dry by my Army Commander (I had Sickles Corps on Day 2 of Gettysburg), but so was Sickles, partly through his own folly. But I cobbled together a line after the initial shock, and managed to fall back in some order and pull more of my troops out of the fight than Sickles (or after he was wounded, Humphries) did. And what was going on felt like what I'd read. I decided to give the rules another try.

I did, and my Marlburians all went on V&B stands. I also mounted my 1813 Prussians for V&B, but haven't touched my 1806 French or any of my SYW troops. We'll see about what happens in the future.

Why didn't I try Napoleon's Battles? I did, and it makes an interesting story. Jeff and I were at a local hobbystore, and the guys there were putting on the Battle of Teugen-Hausen (1809 Campaign). Jeff took the French, and I was given a corps of Austrians. The main Austrian force deploys on a ridge, and my corps was coming up through some woods on their right. The French (Davout's troops) assaulted the ridge, carried it, and swept the Austrians aside.

Jeff didn't just power into the Austrians in a Napoleonic style banzai charge, get mangled, and then have to fight hard with his second division to hold his line while the Austrians massed on his flank. This was unheard of! Instead he massed his forces, and pinned the Austrians in front while trying to turn their left flank. Unheard of! In fact one of the guys who normally gamed with the rules dismissed Jeff's flank attack as something that couldn't work because "the end battalion will simply face". So Jeff got behind the Austrians and hit them from three sides. Their line folded at once.

I took one look at this, and at too many French for my columns of march to hold back. So I used my Advanced Guard division to punch the French back while everyone turned around and marched away. The Advanced Guard division fell back as a mobile rearguard, and after a couple of bad experiences the French followed up cautiously.

The same guys were going to put on Wagram using these rules, and they called me about a month before. They wanted me to take an Austrian Corps because I was "a careful, cautious commander". For some reason this sends my friends into paroxysms of laughter. I declined politely.

I didn't like the feel of Napoleon's Battles (just like I didn't like Piquet). Call it personal preferences. I have not tried Sam Mustapha's Grand Army. For now I'll stick with V&B, and if I want SYW, Age of Reason. For Napoleonics...right now it's a reworked Empire 2, or Guard du Corps. Negotiations are on-going (there are other games involved). We'll see what happens.

Action at Swede Hollow

The Fall Campaign (continued)

The Action at Swede Hollow

Preliminaries

Three days after the Battle of Arlington, the commander of the Allied Army made the decision to cut his way out of the mountains. His decision came as a result of careful pondering (and discussion with the referee). He had the following unpalatable facts on his plate:

1. the nearest "safety" was in Sedro Wooley (at least), 83 miles away by his current route;


2. if he turned east at Concrete, it was over 400 miles before he could be "in supply";


3. he had precious little food;


4. he had almost no ammunition, except that carried in the pouches of a few regiments not engaged at Arlington;


5. he had no artillery;


6. he had several thousand unorganized men looting, marauding, and eating everything in sight;


7. the French were sure to get to Sedro Wooley first, blocking him in the mountains (he could not see how to get an organized force through the mountains back to Bellingham - referee input, isn't going to happen);


8. the French were pursuing him with cavalry (one regiment) and infantry (at least two regiments) - referee observation, he finally began scouting;

Based on the above, his choices were few:

1. he could surrender - unacceptable;


2. he could force march to Sedro Wooley and try to cut his way out;


3. he could try to go west over the mountains and back to the coastal area - no. This would destroy the army.


4. he could turn on his pursuers.

Of these choices, 2 and 4 were the most "reasonable". But Option #2 meant he would have 83 miles to go with a starving army. The French would have plenty of time to get there first and dig in. He would then have to assault prepared defenses covered with artillery. His chances of winning under those circumstances were nil.

Option #4 offered his best chances. Now that he was doing scouting (he had cavalry superiority), he was learning all sorts of things. One of the more interesting things was that his pursuit consisted of two infantry regiments, 1/1st Germans and 2/1st Germans. He concluded that a bayonet assault would do the trick, and so ordered one. But the units picked for the assault would also be the ones that had ammunition, just in case (as referee I informed him that his chances of winning any given round of combat decreased by not having ammunition, though I didn't tell him by how much - all hits he made would be subject to saving throws, and his opponent got a +1 on his chances to hit).

The Pursuing Force

The pursuing force were left in the hands of the referee with orders to "keep after them, but don't get in over your head". I asked about "digging in every night". The French commander wanted to know how long it would take, and I said "a couple of hours, at least, maybe more". As this would mean the Allies "got away" (his words), he said no, don't. Just "keep close". So I decided that the troops pursued, camped every night with a picket line out, but didn't take "extraordinary" precautions. They did clash repeatedly with the Allied Cavalry, but those were a lot of "facing and staring" contests.

The Fight at Swede Hollow - The Forces

The ground at Swede Hollow broadens out (sort of), stretching all four pursuing German battalions out so they covered the entire front. The 2/1st Germans were on the left with their left flank resting on the stream, the 1/1st Germans were on the right with their right flank resting on steep and heavily wooded (cavalry proof) ground. There were pickets from the Atrasos Cavalry in front, but the bulk of the regiment was behind the German infantry (they were on the left as the ground was "suitable"). Both German regiments had both battalions in line. They were, after all, "sweeping up" the Allies.

The Allies coming down on them were in two columns of three Dutch regiments each, followed by the English. The Allied commander also decided to push a force past the Germans on their left, cross the stream (if they could find a ford) and try to turn the enemy flank. This force consisted of the following regiments: Huegenot, Dalrymple, Murray, and the Frambozen Cavalry.

The assault columns (from front to back) consisted of regiments:

Left Column          Right Column
 Grosch               Koninck
 Amstel               Westmalle
 Grootdefeatfontein   Kofferdam

Referee decisions:

1. all casualties would be permanent, though most would be "fugitives";


2. this would be played in half-hour turns, though the ground scale would not change;


3. I would roll 1d6 for surprise: 4 - 6 meant the Germans were alerted and could go stationary, 1 meant total surprise and the German regiment was disordered;


4. Once a unit was ordered in, the player had no control over it, the unit would "keep advancing";

Swede Hollow - The Fight

The Allied commander gave the order to advance at 12:30. I rolled for surprise for each column: I threw a 3 for the right column, and 5 for the left column. The flanking column was ordered forward at the same time, but I did not have to roll for surprise just yet.

1:00 AM Turn

Grosch attacked the 2/1st Germans. Grosch went disordered (the Germans were already disordered), and Grosch took a hit.
Koninck attacked the 1/1st Germans and were disordered. Koninck took a hit and fell back.

1:30 AM Turn

Amstel attacked the 2/1st Germans. 2/1st Germans took a hit and the Germans were forced back. Westmalle attacked the 1/1st Germans. Both were disordered. Westmalle lost the melee result throw. Huegenot came to the stream and forded it well behind the 2/1st Germans. Atrasos Cavalry were now mounted and ready for action.

2:00 AM Turn

Grootdefeatfontein attacked the 2/1st Germans just as Huegenot came at them from the rear. Dalrymple crossed the stream. 2/1st Germans took a hit and routed from the melee. They ran into Huegenot and Dalrymple. Most of the regiment threw down their weapons and surrendered (referee decision). Kofferdam attacked the 1/1st Germans, and took 2 hits(!). Clearly the 1/1st Germans were not to be trifled with tonight. Kofferdam routed and was removed.

2:30 AM Turn

1/1st Germans were now outflanked. They pulled back into the trees and sacrificing their stationary status. Amstel came at the 1/1st Germans. Both sides took a hit. Both sides rolled on the morale dice (three times) before Amstel backed away. Atrasos Cavalry fell back, along with fugitives.

3:00 AM Turn

1/1st Germans broke contact (nobody could reach them), pulling back uphill deeper into the trees. Westmalle, Amstel and Koninck faced them and made a flank guard. Everyone else "kept moving".

4:00 AM Turn to 6:00 AM Turn

The Allies flowed down the valley like a torrent. The battle was over, but the Allied player was enjoying this too much and insisted we continue.

6:00 AM Turn

Atrasos Cavalry clashed with the 1st British Cavalry at Oso. No casualties on either side, the British fell back on the melee result throw. Dutch regiment te Paard comes up and deploys to the flank of the Atrasos Cavalry.

6:30 AM Turn

Atrasos Cavalry falls back before being flanked. The Allied pursuit rolls on.

8:00 AM Turn

The Allies reach Arlington. The 3rd Germans have already fallen back to west of Arlington. Referee rules that the battle is over.

Order of Battle and Losses
French
1/1st Germans..........M5,EFD,PT,NE....[ ][x]
2/1st Germans..........M5,EFD,PT,NE....[x][x][x]
Atrasos Cavalry........M5,HVY..........[ ]

Dutch
Grosch.................M5,EFD,PT,NE....[x][ ]
Amstel.................M5,EFD,PT,NE....[x][ ][ ]
Grootdefeatfontein.....M5,EFD,PT,NE....[ ][ ][ ]
Koninck................M5,EFD,PT,NE....[x][ ][ ]
Westmalle..............M5,EFD,PT,NE....[ ][ ][ ]
Kofferdam..............M4,EFD,PT,NE....[x][x]
Huegenot...............M5,EFD,PT,NE....[ ][ ]
Dalrymple..............M4,EFD,PT,NE....[ ]
Murray.................M5,EFD,PT,NE....[ ][ ]
Frambozen Cavalry......M5,HVY..........[ ]
1st British Cavalry....M5,HVY..........[ ]
te Paard...............M5,HVY..........[ ]

Losses:
French - 3,000 men present, 2,000 casualties from all causes
Allies - 12,000 men present, 2,500 casualties

Commentary

Nothing really surprising here. The Allies had the force to make this work, and they were just going to keep going until they broke through. However it might not have happened. It all depended on the surprise roll. Clearly the commander of the 1/1st Germans did what he was supposed to. But the commander of the 2/1st Germans really didn't have much of a chance. When the Huegenot Regiment came at them from behind, they were surrounded, and it was only a matter of time.

As an exercise, it was interesting. I'm not sure I would care to try it again. The victory conditions would have to be carefully crafted (look at the casualties the Germans inflicted). What was refreshing was that the Allied commander kept his overall goal in mind: get through, don't stop to wipe out the Germans. Get the army out. Thus this could be marked down as an "educational" opportunity. We'll see if he makes anything of it.

Part 2 - The Fall Campaign

The Fall Campaign (continued)

The situation

The Allies are in a pretty mess. Their main army is retreating from the vicinity of Arlington, falling back in some disorder up Route 530. Only the Danes are still in the area, and they are marching north as fast as they can, accompanied by a host of stragglers, knocked loose from the ranks by the Battle of Arlington. There is a German regiment at MacMurray, one at Conway, and one holding the approaches to Fidalgo Island (one battalion) and blockading the very small garrison of Anacortes (with the other battalion). There is no field artillery (captured at Arlington), and the only cavalry is the Danish Cavalry regiment Bryggeri. Things couldn't get much bleaker.

Actually, they aren't. The Allied authorities in Bellingham and Vancouver found three more infantry regiments to send south, Leff, Palm, and VanZandunz. When coupled with the two of the three German regiments in the area, and the four Danish ones, a semi-respectable field force of 10 regiments, 12,000 men can be assembled (one German regiment will stay to watch Anacortes).

The Danish Commander Decides

The Danish Commander (the player who had commanded the Allies at Clear Lake) was the ranking officer in the area. He had a number of choices to make. When I asked, he listed them for me as these:

1. Retreat everyone to Fidalgo Island;


2. Mass in Burlington with the cavalry watching Sedro Wooley;


3. Spread the troops around, two regiments at Conway, two regiments at the east end of the Mount Vernon Bridge to Fidalgo Island, two regiments north of Mount Vernon, and a detachment of some kind at Sedro Wooley.

I asked him for his decision. He asked my input. I told him that, speaking as the politicians, he should defend everything, or, failing that, he should mass everyone in Burlington to defend the approaches to Bellingham.
After some thought, he ordered Option #2:

1. The Danes to retreat to Sedro Wooley, break the bridge, and move to Burlington, the cavalry would watch Sedro Wooley and fall back on Burlington if pressed;


2. The Germans at MacMurray to join with the Danes;


3. The Germans at Conway to stay where they were for one day, then to fall back to Fredonia if pressed or threatened;


4. The Germans watching Anacortes and the approaches to Fidalgo Island to stay there;


5. The Dutch regiments from Bellingham to march to Burlington.

His plan (when pressed) was to defend the direct route to Bellingham, and yet leave something to watch Anacortes. He figured that when things settled out, that place could still be taken. He also figured that any force that marched up the Skagit River to fight the Main Army would have its flank threatened by whatever he put at Sedro Wooley.

The French Pursuit


The French were trying to do a number of things:

1. Pursue the beaten Allies toward Darrington;


2. Round up the fragments of the Allied army (the Danes) headed north;


3. Seize the road from Sedro Wooley to Concrete to trap the main Allied Army in the mountains;


4. Seize Mount Vernon

The map here to the left will help sort out some of what everyone was considering. But keep in mind that the Allies had few supplies (and little ammunition), they had 83 miles of mountain marching from Arlington to Sedro Wooley, and they could expect to fight a battle at the end of it.

A few minutes of pondering these objectives will show that few of them are mutually exclusive. You have to have enough force to chase the Allies, and get enough force to Mount Vernon, and yet move fast enough to get to where you want to go, and.... The French Commander had already sent a force up the river after the Allies (1/1st and 2/1st Germans and the Spanish Atrasos Cavalry). He then ordered the following movements and dispositions:

1. The bulk of the cavalry and the Aquaviva Dragoons to go to Mount Vernon to seize the bridge;


2. After reaching Mount Vernon, one cavalry brigade to press up US 20 to find the Allies;


3. Advance on two fronts:
   
   1. the Right Wing French to pursue the Danes. They will probably head directly for MacMurray and then Sedro Wooley. This force will attempt to bring them to battle and destroy them.
   
   
   2. The Left Wing to advance up the main road through Conway to Mount Vernon. They will try to seize the crossing over the Skagit at Mount Vernon, head-off the Danes, and, perhaps, snap up any of the German units in the area.


4. The Spanish infantry to follow the right wing;


5. The 3rd Germans to occupy Arlington, the 2nd Germans to occupy MacMurray.

The French commander concluded that these measures should be sufficient to bottle up the Allies and bag the whole lot.

The Allied Commander Ponders

The Allied Commander was in a bad situation, and he knew it (after a brief conversation with the referee). He had lost a lot of men and all of his field artillery, and he was trying to sort out what to do next. He had a force pursuing him, and he had very little in the way of supplies. Most of his wounded (except the walking wounded) had been captured, so the army he had left was mostly fit to fight (sort of). He had an 83 mile march ahead of him, on mountain roads with little food or supplies. And he knew the French would be waiting for him behind fixed defenses when he did show up. He didn't fancy making a series of frontal assaults on redoubts. It hadn't worked at Mount Vernon, why would anyone think it would work now? He studied the roads, trying to find a way out. The only one he could see was to continue to Concrete, then take US 20 over the mountains, and then turn north. The trouble was, assuming he did that, and assuming he could find the food, and assuming he could then either get far enough north as to get on a road that led him back to his bases (and that would avoid the bad weather, how much of an army would he have left? (Referee answer: none, but I didn't tell him that. I did tell him that it was 408 miles, and it was autumn, and let him draw his own conclusions). That meant he had to try something else. He weighed the possibilities and came up with an answer.

The New Allied Plan

First, the Allied Commander took stock of his forces to see what he had to work with. It was not encouraging. Then he shifted a few things around, and ordered his troops to turn and march back to Arlington. He knew he had the 1st and 2nd Germans behind him, he figured a night bayonet assault should chase them off. And then it would be a forced march to Arlington to gather whatever food he could find, followed by an escape. As turned in to me, the plan was:

1. Night bayonet assault to cut through the pursuing German regiments;


2. Force march to Arlington to find food and anything else lying around (such as ammunition);


3. March north on the main road to Conway;


4. Cross the river at Conway (by bridge or ford) and march to La Conner and north to Fidalgo Island;


5. if possible, continue past the Fidalgo Island crossing and get to Burlington;


6. if he couldn't get to Burlington, either turn on to Fidalgo Island, or proceed to Chuckanut drive.

Referee's Reaction

Well, on the ballsy scale, this had to rank right up there. I had to do the terrain for the night bayonet attack. What with one thing and another, I would play the part of the commander of the Germans. Then I would see what happened. This, I concluded, would be interesting (a much over-used word).

The Plans put into action

The first two days after the Battle of Arlington, the Allies slowed to 4 miles/day. The French moved to MacMurray, and then on to Sedro Wooley. The Danish commander, by ordering forced marches, managed to get to Sedro Wooley with the Allies hot on his heels. There was a spirited little action at the Sedro Wooley bridge, but the French commander decided not to push it. The Danes had gotten away.

The German regiment at Conway saw the French Army descending on them, and pulled back to the little redoubts on the west side of the river left over from the Spring Campaign and rebuilt during the initial actions of the Autumn Campaign. The French commander dropped off two infantry regiments (both Blesois regiments) to watch them, and continued north. He had a brigade of cavalry and the Aquaviva Dragoons with him. These troops stormed across the bridge at Mount Vernon, and ran into the new Dutch regiments. These troops were on the hills just north of Burlington, and were basically unassailable by the forces on hand. Their regimental guns bombarded the French troops, so the French fell back to just south of Burlington. The French Craupad Cavalry Brigade was sent to Fidalgo Island to watch anything in the area.

The Allies struck on the night of the third day after the Battle of Arlington. Surprise was complete, but the fighting was fierce. The referee decided to style this as the Action at Swede Heaven. The Atrasos Cavalry covered the retreat, at least until daylight, when they rallied at Oso. They made a front that slowed the Allies briefly, until the Dutch Cavalry regiment te Paard and the English 1st Cavalry came up. After a cavalry skirmish Atrasos withdrew. The 1/1st Germans had been cut off when they made a stand north of the Stillaguamish River. After some fighting, they were contained, and bypassed. Now they withdrew deeper into the hills and sat for a day, finally emerging after the bulk of the Allied army was past. They did grab up a few stragglers, but that was all. The fate of the 2/1st Germans was a bit harsher. They had been overwhelmed in the fighting, but fragments managed to fall back with the cavalry. Most of the fugitives made their way to Oso, where they surrendered after the retreat of the Atrasos Cavalry.

The stream of fugitives alerted the 3rd Germans that something was amiss. They tried to set fire to the accumulated stores, and then fall back across the battlefield of Arlington, taking refuge on the heights to the west of the battlefield. There, in the late afternoon, they were joined by the Atrasos Cavalry and the remnants of the 2/1st Germans amounting to about two companies worth of very disorganized men. The Allied cavalry raced into town with pre-emptory orders to fight any fires and secure the area. The first infantry on the scene were moved north over the Stillaguamish River as a flank guard, while the rest helped put out the fires. Most of the stores were saved, and the Allied Army dined well that night.

The French...React(?)

Contact with the troops at Arlington was interrupted by the Allied attack. But the French commander didn't get word that something was amiss until the next day. His first reaction was to send cavalry south to find out what had happened. He had spread his cavalry far and wide, it would take at least a day to get anyone south far enough to find out anything. So he sent infantry patrols as well. They ran into Allied patrols at Pilchuck Creek, and a brief skirmish erupted with almost no casualties on either side. A few travel-stained soldiers from 1/1st Germans came into the lines after the clash. The local commander sent out additional patrols that night. There were an awful lot of Allied soldiers where there shouldn't be. He sent that information, and the men from the 1st Germans north. At the same time couriers from the Atrasos Cavalry picked their way north along the old highway. They got across the river at Milltown, and within a couple of hours their reports were in the hand of the French commander. The entire Allied army was present at Arlington. This wasn't a feint (the reports from the Germans had made him think so). The officer on the heights west of Arlington had spent some time patrolling and gathering information on the Allied units present. Except for some critical ommissions, this was the entire Allied army. A few might still be on the road to Darrington and Concrete, but probably not that many.

The situation was now "clarified". The French commander decided that if he couldn't trap the Allies in the mountains, he could trap them elsewhere. He resolved to march south to at least Conway, and block the Allies there. He reasoned quite simply: they would have to attack to get through him, he would not have to attack at all. He had a chance to trap the Allied army and destroy it. This was too good an opportunity to pass up. He issued orders that all troops were to gather at Conway for battle. He did detail that a force of two regiments was to dig in at MacMurray, along with the well-traveled Aquaviva Dragoons. He didn't want anyone escaping that way, and the units involved, Chef de Fer and Royal Boullibaise should be able to fight perfectly well from defenses despite their weakened condition.

The Forces Gather

The one thing the Allied commander lacked was time (the French commander lacked this, too, though he didn't realize it). After a rest and a meal (and an important re-supply of ammunition), he had his men on the road north of Arlington (Route 9) before first light. A rearguard was detailed to keep the bivouac fires still burning. The Allied commander's plan was simple. March to Bryant, then west to the main road, then north to Conway. Then he'd cross there to Fir Island. If he moved fast enough the next place anyone could block him would be west of Mount Vernon.

Referee's Note - now we had another foot race, again to Conway. For being a town consisting of a tavern, a grain silo (very small), a motel and a couple of stores, plus that all-important bridge, it was amazing how it kept figuring in the decisions made in the campaign. The French regiments of Blesois were there already. There orders were to hold until relieved (I'd asked for orders for them). On the face of it, the French are closer, but they're scattered, and orders have to go to them (at 5 mph - average courier speed). The Allies are more concentrated, and the commander has told me he wants "forced marches". Interesting may be an over-used term, but it is accurate.

Narrative Resumes The commander of 1st and 2nd Blesois had a good idea of what was coming - the entire Allied army. He considered his situation - not good. He did not see many options, not given his orders. He had a couple of redoubts, and he knew help was coming (the courier got to him quickly). He put his men in the redouts, dug the rest into the hamlet, and prepared for a last stand.

The Stand at Conway continues in the next part.