Auerstedt: 2006 Game Day :: looking back

 

on 14th October 2006 we ran the 200th
Anniversary Napoleonic battle of Auerstedt

Bluebear Jeff was the French Commander, representing Davout and Mike Pearce and David Dinney took on the combined Prussian commands of the Duke of Brunswick.  Jeff and Mike game with us in spirit only now.

a white curtain was hung across the table
literally 'fog of war' to allow
the players to deploy with zero information
about the other side
This was the French

this curtain would eventually be cut up into the
base coverings for the snow filled Eylau game in 2007
This was the Prussian

the whole tabletop at deployment

Then orders were written and game commenced.

startup of the game, in this case the clock was
being used to track actual time (on the left) since
the clock in the room was non-functional
the room behind is the Halbe Hall, which has
gone through changes since this game was staged
twenty years ago!

the cards were a big hit as I recall

there are few notes I could find about the battle actions
though essentially the French picked their
hilltop and defended it rigourously

the early games featured this grass paper mat
and the other terrain 'put on top'
while classic in appearance I was decided to change this

my sky cloth designs were still in the early stages

we even had a young lady doing some of her
own painting (one of David's daughters)
while the rest of us staged this battle

speaking of staging, we had many photos to 
assist players in understanding their army organizations

the busy battlefield

and busy painter

some flash photos worked

others needed a steady hand 
I got a little tripod for future games

certainly the visual spectacle was good

an occasional flash photo was okay - I really stopped
doing too many flash photos as the lighting is just off

framing the spectacle was part of the challenge

truly a massive effort

this was one of the better flash photos

near the battle's end
you can clearly see the old style
wooden sabot's that would be replaced in the coming year
also the last battle staged with my homemade 'geo hex'
hills on the top of the terrain surface
that grass paper would be cut up to make
the first version of my metal sheet steel
covers, for the magnetic base stands

the final clock time position, some seven hours after start

probably the best photo from the game that day

My tabletop narratives have become more polished and include much more detail than these early ones, though it was nice to look back and see that some of my 20+ year veteran minis are still in action to this day.

Hmm ... maybe time to put on a Napoleonic game soon?

Auerstaedt 2006 :: Planning tools

 I realized that I have not shared much of the planning tools or other support materials of my early tabletop efforts.

In this 20th anniversary celebration I am going to share as much as I can of these items.

Auerstaedt was the first of the 200th Anniversary Napoleonic Battles that I decided to host.

I was going to use the SHAKO game system, with some extras added into the mix, things like the cards, to allow some Free Rolls and other goodies.

 These are the French cards, facings.

The backs of the French cards would look like this.


 

The Prussian card facings had this presentation.

and the Prussian backs.

All these cards were put into thicker 'card sleeves', that I still have and have used for other games.  Indeed these free roll cards have been used for other games (including the recent Leipzig game).

Each of the commands had some details to help players understand what they were going to command.

You will note the "Fate" cards, they led to a number of sealed envelopes and players would have to use these Fate cards as soon as they drew them, for the Prussians, or optionally for the French to force a Prussian Fate drawing (all the events applied to Prussian issues - ultimately the Prussians out numbered the French, so the Fate cards would cause issues to mitigate this - all based on actual events around this battle!)

 

 sadly the attached letter was garbled in my word program, though I did have the signature of Napoleon, so it must be a captured bit of intel.

signature of Napoleon Bonaparte

 

Finally there was the game effect:

YOU MUST NOW PREPARE FOR A FLANK ATTACK COMING FROM EITHER FLANK.

These flank-covering forces must contain at least two (2) Infantry, one (1) Cavalry, and one (1) Artillery unit.  There may be more, but no less than the amounts shown.

 

The Division of the Prince of Orange may now also be divided to form the flank supporting reserve.  Colonel-lieutenant Prince Henry shall command one of the flank formation columns as a ‘provisional commander’.  Prince Henry must remain within 18” of ‘Royal’ headquarters.

 

The forces assigned under Prince Henry cannot exceed 3 combat formations (Infantry and/or Cavalry) and may include no more than 1 artillery battery.  These troops may not deploy more than 8” away from Prince Henry.

 

The other fate envelopes contained only a single page:

 

as I recall, this one was used during the game

not all the fate effects were bad for
the Prussians

Even if all of the available Fate cards were used, that would mean only four of the possible six fates could affect play.

there was a set of game turn records:

morning

evening

On the day of the game I had all the troops laid out on tables with their identifying information with each of the troops. 

with the terrain laid out, a 'fog of war' curtain 
(representing the overnight fog on the day of battle)
was set out and we then had the French deploy
and the Prussians set up in their overnight
bivouacs ... it was dawn that would reveal how close
they really were
then the battle would start!