CZ#1 - SHAKO2 Battle of Quatre Bras

The main event at the Command Zone #1 day of games was a Shako 2 version re-fight of Quatre Bras.

deployment by Division was pre-set by historical boundaries, the plan and action of the plan were under the control of the players and chance of the dice

The Dutch chose to 'hold back' from the woods

British regulars and skirmish forces were to hold the vital cross-roads for which the battle is named

Wellington was at the crossroads, with masses of Brunswickers to his right

the first French assault force going into the woods chose to deploy a full force of Leger infantry into skirmishers

while the Dutch cavalry was arrayed to move to the center?

The Duke of Brunswick scouted ahead in the woods while his men stayed beyond view of French heavy artillery

A few moves in and at least part of the Allied plan became clear ... they were moving the entire division to the left wing?!?

Quatre Bras on the center right of the image ... Dutch forces are seen in columns marching down from the woods

Swarms of Voltigeurs were overwhelming the lone Dutch Battalion left to slow the French advance into the woods

meanwhile the Brunswickers stood out of view of the French heavy guns

Two more moves and still the French had not yet penetrated the woods in force, while the Dutch force had all but marched away.

the far Allied right flank only had some Dutch cavalry covering it

French columns now pressing though the woods with vigour

still loaded with skirmish forces

Dutch foot had been blasted away and now nothing stood in the way of the French!

Dutch Cavalry, were going to have to hold the flank alone ... until?

These troopers were going to have to question their skills

With turn 5, the first Allied re-enforcements were showing up:

French forces now breakout on the French left and right

Hard pressed, Allied artillery pound away on the Allied left

two Allied divisions, one holding (Brunswick) and the other racing into the center to complete a move to the far left flank!

Half way through the game, now the French were re-setting their plans to press harder on the left.

French wings attack on both flanks ...

beyond the woods, now French face British redcoats

some French are caught in columns as they move out from the woods

testing their patience, the Brunswick force awaits the French arrival ...

Two moves later and the pressure on both flanks is reaching a breaking point for both sides.
All forces are committed, neither side has any reserve left!

Flanks gone wild in turn 8

at last the French commander realized that storming the cross-roads was going to have to happen

storming columns form up in the center, while cavalry are driven back on the right

the French left degenerated into a mass pushing match between blue and red coats

a whole British Division suffers a morale collapse and flees the field

while the Dutch were still marching away ...

British and French exchange musket fire at the cross-roads

the French right was now filled with both Infantry and Cavalry supported by artillery, if the Dutch do not show up soon then the Allied center will be swept!

moving into position on the far flank to complete the sweep a force of Chasseurs a Cheval make ready to turn towards the Allied center

A crescendo moment in turn 9!  Will the Allies hold out?

both flanks of the Allies are tuned, though not yet breached

The storming of the cross-roads has begun

more musket fire exchanges

the Brunswick force now must fight for its life at point blank range on French artillery!

the second wave of storming columns are ready to move into the cross-roads

The battles were all hot and heavy in turn 10!

fighting in all sectors of the field on turn 10

taking hits and giving fire into a square the Chasseurs have halted ...

the musket exchanges are not going well for the British in Quatre Bras

Brunswick assault!  This breaks up any storming into Quatre Bras

the whole woods line is filled with black uniforms  ... death or glory!

Brunswick forces are also attacking into the Allied left flank to halt French

far on the French right ... the assault has halted due to losses

at last the Allied forces can see a way to success - hold out one more turn

Though the battle was set to go 12 turns, by the end of turn 11 it was clear that the French could not score enough points to gain even a draw ...

French could not score enough hits ... the Allies hold the critical cross-roads and escape route

Brunswick was reduced to the Grenadier Battalion

Heavy Cavalry for the French was deployed to the center ... unable to make any effect on the field

Brunswick was utterly destroyed and in the process held off the French long enough to secure an Allied Victory!

The unusual tactic of re-deploying a division from one flank to the other worked out, though it took some dice luck (or bad luck) from the French to keep them from breaking out faster on the French left, which would have seen the Chasseurs and Lancers IN the Allied center BEFORE the Dutch could have completed their re-deployment.  It was a risk that payed off.

What unusual tactics have you seen on the tabletop?

Republic of Rome - CZ#1

Republic of Rome

From the Command Zone game day in March, we dropped the role playing and the card game and in its place put in Republic of Rome.

A rousing early republic game that we ended up over-whelmed by the Punic Wars (all three of them ended up out at one time making it impossible to take on) and then more wars got rolling and finally the mobs became violent in the streets and we all lost.

Mobilization

Napoleonic French Infantry Uniforms

The Emperor never expected to avoid war, but for sake of teh French peace party the gesture had to be made.  Once the intentions of the Allies were made manifest and they could be castigated as aggressors by French propaganda, the mask could be dropped with safety.  On April 8 mobilization was ordered, but the Emperor still hesitated to reintroduce the hated conscription for a further three weeks.  In the meantime a torrent of edicts poured from Paris to make the most of available resources, for speed was vital if the Allied retribution was to be forestalled.  Every military commodity was in short supply - horses, harness, ammunition, clothing, weapons - but by tremendous efforts the deficiencies were slowly made good.  Every week a million and a half cartridges were manufactured; every day Paris workshops produced 1,250 uniforms.  Arsenals and depots were ransacked for firearms, however ancient, and teams of ordnance experts worked night and day to adapt the old weapons and refurbish them.

~ D. Chandler, The Campaigns of Napoleon, p. 1014

"the Ogre"

Bonaparte the Ogre ...

Napoleon hesitated to order full mobilization, for he was well aware that the vast majority of the people were wholly opposed to a renewal of hostilities. 
As a gesture to public opinion - and to win time - the Emperor at once put out peace feelers toward the Allied governments, hoping that their growing disillusionment with the House of Bourbon and the festering political divisions within their ranks would play into his hands and persuade at least a few to accept a fait accompli and acknowlege Napoleon as the ruler of France.

Any such hopes were soon dashed ino oblivion.  Seven days before the Emperor reached Paris, the representatives of the Powers met at Vienna to outlaw the Emperor and to pledge over half a million men for the destruction of "the Ogre" once and for all.  On March 25 a formal treaty of alliance was signed between England, Austria, Prussia and Russia, and the Seventh Coalition came into being, backed by a promise of &pound five million in English gold.  Prussia and England at once put a joint force of 150,000 men into the field, and the other governments began their preparations.  All negotiations with Napoleon were broken off.

~ D. Chandler, The Campaings of Napoleon, p. 1014

Palace of the Tuileries

Napoleon enters the Tuileries

On March 20 Napoleon entered the Palace of the Tuileries, and was once more in control of the apparatus of government, though he never regained his old absolute power.  Revolutionary figures from the dim past -- Carnot and Constant -- were persuaded to serve in his government, but the Chamber remained aloof and cautious.  Napoleon and the State were never again synonymous, and the Emperor could no longer repeat the proud claim of Louis XIV: "L'etat, c'est moi."  Vast efforts were made to rally the Parisians behind the new regime, culminating in June 1 in a huge celebration entitled Le champ de mai.  The civic part of the ceremony proved a ludicrous fiasco, but the military parade that followed was as impressive as ever.

~D. Chandler, The Campaigns of Napoleon, Page 1012.

Bourbon's flee

The Royal Family. From left to right: Charles, Count of Artois, Louis XVIII, Marie Caroline, Duchesse of Berry, Marie Thérèse, Duchesse of Angoulême, Louis Antoine, Duke of Angoulême and Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry.

Small incidents sometimes sway great events.  Just as James II of England is reputed to have decided that his cause was hopeless when he overheard one of his sentries whistling "Lillibullero" -- the marching song of William of Orange's rebels --- so the Bourbon Government noted with growing concern the signs of popular alienation.  In addition to humorous lampoons, grimmer slogans of Jacobin origin appeared overnight on the walls of Paris: "Down with the Priests!  Down with the nobles!  Death to the Royalists!  Bourbons to the scaffold!"  Exacerbated by the hard conditions of economic inflation, the Paris mob and metayers were once agani becoming restive.  Serious rioting in the streets of the capital was not calculated to cheer the heirs of St. Louis, already hypnotized by Napoleon's seemingly inexorable advance, and on March 19 the Royal Court decamped from Paris and fled for the Belgian frontier and renewed exile.  Over one hundred days were to pass before they regained their capital.

~ D. Chandler, The Campaigns of Napoleon, page 1012

COMMAND ZONE #1

promotional image used for Command Zone invitation

Initiating what I hope to be a more regular thing, COMMAND ZONE, a home-based game time.

My eldest son has been itching to have an invite game time for some of his friends, likewise I have been wanting to put lead on table.  Hence this game plan.  Photos to follow the event.

"in an iron cage"

Marshal Ney

Meanwhile the Bourbon Government vainly issued orders for the Emperor's arrest and dispatched increasing numbers of troops to intercept his journey.  Marshal Ney promised Louis XVIII the he would return to Paris with Napoleon "in an iron cage," but when his forces met the Emperor near Auxerre on March 14 the old attraction again proved too strong and the men once more destered en masse, followed by their commander.  In Paris some wit posted a large notice in the Palace Vendome: "From Napoleon to Louis XVIII.  My good brother -- there is no need to send any more troops -- I have enough."

~ D. Chandler, The Campaigns of Napoleon, page 1012

A look back at 100 Days Campiagning Nr. 7

The fifth installment of the 100 days campaign was run in 2005, before I was introduced to blogging here.

The game again included allowance for destroying bridges, something that I would not now include.  Many of these 'metaled' roads have significant bridges which even destroyed would still be able to be formed into crossings.  None of the rivers in the region are as significant as the Danube, which in 1809 formed a real barrier to armies of the age.

First in the campaign came a major action at Braie le Compte.

this time more promotional images were made to tell the story on the Arcadian Guild site

while the normal panorama shots were still made for the players

Rather than post all about the plans, I shall highlight the different map symbols used to identify troops after they have been encountered on the battlefield.

France map

British Map

The campaign actions again led to a battle at Brussels, this time with both Allied and Prussian armies facing off against the French.

promotional view, showing off the new smoke and burning effects

greater detail of the burning effect, I like how the pond looks in this shot also

late in the battle, the French could not win the day ...

The combined forces held their ground in Brussels.

Prussian map

Unable to push out the forces in Brussels, Bonaparte was forced to abdicate ... again.

Brilliant Opportunist

Napoleon at balcony addressing the crowds

The advance toward Paris continued in an atmosphere of general jubilation.  At every stop Napoleon harangued assemblies of local people, adapting the tone of his address to suit the tastes of his varied audiences.  To countrymen he promised security of land and tenure; to townsfolk he guaranteed fiscal reform; to everybody he spoke of peace and prosperity.  Napoleon was at all times a brilliant opportunist.

~ D. Chandler, The Campaings of Napoleon page 1012

Laffrey

Napoleon & the 5th Regiment of the Line

The First real crisis took place at Laffrey, fifteen miles south of Grenoble, where the small band of adventurers found themselves faces by the 5th Regiment of the Line.  Bloodshed was narrowly averted by the coolness of the Emperor, who once again displayed his personal power over soldiers.  Advancing alone be bared his breast to the leveled muskets.  "Soldiers of the 5th, you can shoot your Emperor if you dare!  Do you not recognize me as your Emperor?  Am I not your old General?"  Noticing the growing hesitation, Napoleon won over the waverers by repeatedly adding a piece of blatantly untrue propaganda.  "It is not ambition which brings me among you.  The forty-five best heads of the Government of Paris have called me from Elba and my return is supported by the three first powers of Europe."  With one accord the soldiers broke ranks and flocked forward, shouting "Vive l'Emereur."  The crisis was past an the moment was decisive -- for the first units of the army had rallied to Napoleon and he was consequently once more a force on the international scene.  Grenoble opened its gates and the citizens gave Napoleon a rapturous welcome, while the local dignitaries feverishly sought their old tricolor sashes and locked away the Bourbon insignia.  At St. Helena the Emperor reminisced: "Before Grenoble I was an adventurer; at Grenoble I was a ruling Prince."

~ D. Chandler, The Campaigns of Napoleon, p. 1011

The Devil is Unchained

re-en-actors in 2014

On February 26 [1815], Napoleon set sail from Elba, accompanied by Generals Bertrand, Druout and Cambronne, the thousand men of his personal guard and four cannon.  On the first day of March, the Emperor once more set foot on French soil near Cannes.  His arrival took the authorities by surprise; the news took four days to reach Paris, and nine to be relayed to London, but gradually an apprehensive and astounded Europe learned "the devil is unchained."  The French people -- on whose reaction everything depended -- remained calm and observant, awaiting a sign before commiting themselves one way or the other.
If the popular reaction was at first restrained, the local authorities significantly made little effort to apprehend the newcomer. Massena was immediately informed by semaphore telegraph at Marseilles but took no decisive action.  Profiting from the universal hesitation Napoleon pushed inland, selecting for his advance the difficult mountain route to Grenoble -- purposely avoiding Marseilles and teh department of Provence with its traditional Royalist sympathies.