Saturday 23 April 2011

Terrain and rules for Wiederitzsch

The twin villages of Klein and Gross Wiederitzsch appear in all the maps of the battle of Mockern. They changed several times of hands during the combats of October 16, and were the main geographical reference that day. Other features were the Birken Holz (Birch Wood) and the Rietschke stream, whith some minor tributaries not shown in all the maps. The city of Leipzig has expanded considerably and all the area has been heavily built, so the modern maps are not of great help.

I have used as a basis the above map found in the Napoleon-Series site. The rectangle is the area chosen for the the table game. I have moved slightly some features to make a manageable playing area. The final table map could be slightly different due to the fog of war!

The twin villages formed the right flank of the French line during the battle of Mockern. Whereas Yorck and Marmont fought around Mockern, a small Polish/French mixed detachment covered that flank to protect the line of advance of the French III Corps moving towards Leipzig. Therefore, Langeron (and Bluecher that spent the day in the area) faced a force very inferior in number, although the Allies were under the impression that Napoleon could arrive in any moment in force, to roll their left flank. At last, and while the Russians were trying to evict the Poles from the villages, the arrival of the Delmas's division escorting the baggage train of the III Corps, forced them to extend their line towards the left.
The Lasalle Scenario starts at 15h, immediately before of the Delmas's arrival, and has a basic duration of 30 turns. Therefore, not all the forces are initially on the map. For the Russian side, the 8th and 9th Infantry divisions and all the cavalry are present, whereas for the Polish/French side only the 27th Polish division, the Polish cavalry and part of the French cavalry are deployed. The rest of the forces would arrive according the following schedule:
Russians
15th Division/IX Corps: Arrival Turn: 2D6; Arrival point A2-A3-A4 (30%/40%/70%)
French
23th LC Division: Arrival Turn: 2D4 (instead 2D6); Arrival point B5-C5 end road
1st Brigade/III Corps: Arrival Turn: 2D6; Arrival point B5-C5 end road
2nd Brigade/III Corps: Arrival Turn: 2D6; Arrival point B5-C5 end road
Artillery/III Corps: Arrival Turn: 2D6; Arrival point B5-C5 end road
Baggage train/III Corps: Arrival Turn: 2D10; Arrival point B5-C5 end road (Edited 30/04/11)

In addition, the Optional rule for baggage units (See Lasalle e-book p. 143) and my optional rule for cossacks will be used. The objectives of the game are Klein Wiederitzsch, Gross Wiederitzsch, the Birken Holz wood and the French train baggage.



1 comment:

  1. Hi Rafa

    Always enjoy visiting your blog and watching the progress of your battles. So I've nominated you for an award. Its a pay-it-forward chain-mail type thing but as I've pointed out to the other recipients, it is peer recognition of your very blog-worthy efforts. Indulge if you wish in the communal blog back-slapping:

    http://docsartofwar.blogspot.com/2011/04/art-of-war-gets-nominated-for-award-and.html

    I'm not being entirely frivolous - you've seriously got a nice little blog!

    Cheers,
    Doc

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