Project Leipzig (1813)

My comments about the Song of Drums and Shakos Scenario

2012-01-21T19:42:00.001+01:00

The play of the SDS Scenario went smoothly, despite some mistakes I made initially in relation with the Activation step. I forgot to take in account the modifiers of the Leader and Élan Special rules. In SDS a model is activated by rolling one, two or three dice against the model’s Quality (see below for Solo modifications) that for the normal rank-and-file men is Q4. However, Leader rule makes that any model within Long distance from a Leader has its Quality rolls increased by one. Élan Special rule adds a further +1, making that a model with both rules will activate on a roll equal or higher than 2 (66.7 % probability). These Special SDS rules, that make easier the Activation, were not applied until mid-game, resulting in some turns wasted with only one or two, or none models activated (see below for the reason behind). Since the error affected both sides, Austrian Jaegers and French Voltigeurs, no biases were introduced.
The SDS rules are very easy to learn and apply and can be summarized in a single one-side Quick Reference Sheet (QRS). It is worth to use it: I wasted some time searching the rulebook for the way a fallen figure stands up after a combat… well the procedure was described in the QRS!
At last, the found difficulties were caused by my lack of familiarity with Skirmish-type games. It is curious, but after one is used to visualize the retreat or rout of an entire battalion or brigade after a firefight or combat in a tactical o grand-tactical game, it becomes more difficult to visualize a single man in a similar situation in a skirmish game.

SDS is, in my opinion, well suited to solo play. As you could know, there are two general ways to play solo battles. The first is to take a side under soloist control and to fight against a randomized and/or programmed enemy. This implies to devise one or several alternative plans for the other side, a task that can be too laborious. The other possibility is to play both sides but randomize the available options. You are like a god, so if you don’t introduce any bias, pure chance will drive the play. The crude facts originated will be explained after the play by finding the adequate narrative, and I assure you that the search for the plot under a random sequence of events is also very fun. I used this secoind way in the Scenario..
The only randomized mechanism I used in the Wethau Bridge scenario was the Doghi’s mechanism for Activation that is the hearth of the SDS motor. To activate a model in SDS (or in any of the ’Song of Song of Blades and Heroes’ family of games) you roll one, two or three dice, at your choosing, against the model’s Quality. If at least one dice is equal or higher than the Q value of the model, this becomes activated. However, two dice failures imply that your turn immediately finishes with the initiative passing to the other side, so finding the equilibrium between activation and loss of the initiative is the crux of the game. The Doghi’s system uses a D3 die that indicates the number of dice to be rolled in each case. The system is elegant and easy to carry out and produced a very interesting game.
I used no figures in the Scenario: every day computer tools, i.e word processor, worksheet and presentation programs, were used instead. No pictures are available but the game was very enjoyable and fun and, maybe I’ll use the AAR as a script for an AAR with miniatures.

(French Voltigeur picture was taken from Iron-Mitten blog)

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The Wethau Bridge for Song of Drums & Shakos (II)

2012-01-20T00:05:00.000+01:00

The French Voltigeur 3 evades initially the combined attack but, two against one is too much for him and falls mortally wounded under a powerful attack of Jaeger 4. Seeing the rest of Jaegers crossing the bridge, Sergeant Bauduin and Voltigeur 5 prudently retreat behind the fence, but Lieutenant Meunierreacts at last and a group of three Voltigeurs (6, 7 and 8) goes out covered by the aimed fire of their comrades behind the fence, that kill Jaeger 4.

The fire exchange continues and Voltigeur 8 is killed by an accurate shot of Jaeger 3 (hidden behind a tree) so the French squad falls now under 50% strength making mandatory a moral test. Following the Scenario rules, all the men run behind the fence under the heavy fire of the Austrians, that have found now a better target in the Lieutenant Meunier.

A furious firefight starts now, with the French wounding Jaeger 7 and forcing Jaeger 6 to fall back, but the Austrian answer is immediate and Voltigeur 5 is killed.

At last, Jaeger 4, hidden behind a tree, shoots Meunier wounding him. This is too much for Sergeant Bauduin and the two remaining Votigeurs that runs towards Wethau leaving the wounded Meunier in Austrian hands.

Austrian losses: Wounded: UnterJager Gassinger and Jaeger 7. Dead: Jaegers 2 and 8
French losses: Wounded: Lieutenant Meunier. Dead: Voltigeurs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 8. Sergeant Meunier and Voltigeurs 6 and 7 left the field.

Final result: AUSTRIAN VICTORY!

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The Wethau Bridge for Song of Drums & Shakos (I)

2012-01-18T23:30:00.000+01:00

“He [Augereau] sent GB Subervie’e 9th(bis) Light Cavalry Division with some voltigeur companies towards Wethau, where there was a bridge over the Wethau stream…/…The [Liechtenstein’s] plans drawn up at midnight, set the attack on the bridge at 6:00 A.M…./… However, a later report from his scouts about the visibly alarmed nature and attentiveness of the French post, induced Liechtenstein to revise the time of his planned assault to 4:00 A-M. Oberst Frehierr Veyder von Malberg led his 7th Austrian jager Battalion in the assault and the attack succeeded completely…. The French detachment in Wethau was overthrown, GB Subervie escaped being taken prisoner ‘dressed only in his shirt’.” (Taken from George Nafziger, Napoleon at Leipzig. The Battle of Nations 1813, Emperor’s Press, Chicago, 1996. p. 82-83)

It is almost dawn of October 10. Hauptmann Babbel is leading a forlorn hope from the 7th Austrian Jager Battalion to spearhead the assault on the bridge over the Wethau stream, a strategic post guarded only by a squad of French voltigeurs. Some French can be seen there and here patrolling the area, two men in the southern bank and other in the northern one guarding the bridge, while other two are on sentry duty around a small house where the rest of the squad seems to sleep unaware of the danger.

The Austrian officer has divided his assault party in three groups. Unterjager Gassinger is leading three men in the edge of the left flank woods (one jaeger is a rifle-armed marksman while the other two caary, respectively, rifle and musket). A pair of jaegers has been sent to the right flank woods, while the Austrian main body is following the road under the Hauptmann’s direct command.

The Austrian rifle party opens fire on one of the French sentries forcing him to retreat towards the bridge without any appreciable damage, so Unterjager Gassinger runs to finish the work. At the sound of shooting, the center and right flank jaegers run also towards the bridge, while the Hauptmann Babbel chooses to remain prudently behind his men “to better observe the situation”

The Unterjaeger attacks the French Voltigeur 1 with his sword, but this parries the Austrian's thrust with the bayonet causing him to fall to ground grievously wounded. Jaeger 2 runs to avenge the death of the NCO but an accurate shot of Jaeger 3 kills the French. Meanwhile, the Jaegers 6 and 7 are converging towards the other French sentry (Voltigeur 2).

But the French, warned by the fighting noise, retreats at run crossing the stream, while his comrades in the north bank fire, resulting in Voltigeur 3 instantly killing Jaeger 2 with a well aimed shot. Meanwhile Jaeger 5 and Voltigeur 4 engage in a sort of musket duel over the stream that finally results in the death of the French. Sergeant Bauduin remains mesmerized, unable to sound the alarm, while the main body of the Austrian party is running towards the bridge.

At last, Sergeant Bauduin opens the fence’s door exiting out to evaluate the situation, while Voltigeurs 2 and 3 are falling back towards the house. However Voltigeur 2 is killed by an aimed shhot ofJaeger 6, whereas Voltigeur 3 has been caught up and must to face the combined attack of Jaegers 4 and 7.

The fight is going bad for the French! (To be continued...)

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Computer Song of Drums and Shakos

2012-01-13T21:30:00.000+01:00

These last two weeks have been a very busy period both in work and home, so the chances to find spare time for wargaming in the basement have been scarce. However, since my Song of Drums and Shakos ruleset is an e-book, this astute wargamer found a brilliant solution to overcome this problem: to play the Wethau bridge Scenario as a virtual tabletop wargame!
The computer tools were few and easily available in a computer: the three main programs of the Microsoft Office package: Powerpoint instead a game table, Word instead pen and paper and Excel instead the dice, although any 'Office-like' package would be adequate for the 'anti-Microsoft' or the 'open-software' people.
Well, let us take it in parts as Jack the Ripper said (an old Spanish pun, sorry!).
The table. I designed a basic slide showing the game table (see this post) combinig all the scenic features in a single object used as background.The models were colored circles (dark blue for French and gray for the Austrians) that were moved upon the background (i.e. the table) according the ebb and flow of the game. Game incidences - shots, moves, fights, deaths and so - were marked with standard drawing symbols. Every new turn a new slide was generated by the simple expedient of duplicating the last one.
The game report. The report was written on a normal word proccesor document regularly saved (a wise method!). Some windows, with the e-rulebook, the Scenario rules and the Roster, were always open side to side for an easy access during the virtual gaming.
The dice. I used the RANDBETWEEN and IF functions available in EXCEL to design a simple worksheet implementing D6 dice and the Doghi solo rules for activation. You can use the equivalent ones in your worksheet program,
So armed, the game was played in the spare time (lunch time, night…). Being my first game of SDS, I made several mistakes, the most serious being to forgot use the Leader and Elan special rules that add +1 on Quality rolls for activation purposes. However, the error was made on both sides so the net effect, i.e. a more difficult activation, affected both sides in the same way.
Yo can see below one of the slides (after Turn no. 14), showing an Austrian Jager instanly killing (a fortune shot!) one of the French Voltigeurs. The dead are shown as black spots, and the general picture is that the bridge is now in Austrian hands, and the Jagers are forcing the retreat of the French towards the house.

The game is now near the end, but the French seem willing to fight for their lives.

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200 years from the Fall of Valencia

2012-01-09T03:30:00.000+01:00

The operations of Suchet against Valencia, designed as a first order strategic objective by Napoleon himself, started immediately after the take of Sagunto.
Marshall Suchet commanded 20,595 men in five infantry divisions under Generals of Division Meunier, Harispe, Habert, Palombini and Compère, plus cavalry and artillerists. Some authors also count the divisions of Reille and Severoli until a total of 33,000 men.
Blake disposed of 28,044 soldiers organized in three groups, the Expeditionary Corps with the divisions of Lardizabal and Zayas (6,000 men), the 2nd Valencian Army , divisions Miranda, Obispo, Villacampa y Velasco (16,500 men), and the 3rd Murcian Army, brigades Creagh and Montijo (5,500 men).
Blake deployed his army facing generally north with his right wing on the coast, his right-center in Valencia, his left-center at Mislata, and his left at Manises. The divisions of Obispo and Villacampa, which had performed poorly at the Battle of Sagunto, held the left flank. To their right stood Creagh's brigade. Next in line were the good-quality divisions of Lardizabal and Zayas. Miranda's division occupied Valencia while some irregulars held the gap between the city and the coast. Blake posted his cavalry at Aldaia and Torrent, behind his left flank. Though the line as far as Manises was fortified and protected by canals and ditches, the left flank hung in the air.
Suchet discerned that Blake's left flank was the weak point and determined to envelop it. He planned to take the divisions of Harispe, Meunier, Reille, and Boussart in a wide sweep around the open Spanish flank. Suchet directed Habert to break through along the coast, while Palombini attacked Mislata and Compère observed the Spanish lines. If all went well, Suchet might bag Blake's entire army. On the night of 25 December, Suchet led his main column across the Rio Túria at Riba-roja de Túria.
At first, Habert's attack on his right flank fooled Blake into thinking it was Suchet's main effort. Then Palombini's attack at Mislata diverted his attention. Despite persistent assaults, the Italians failed to break through the Spanish and suffered heavy losses. Meanwhile, Suchet's main column reached Blake's left rear virtually unopposed. As the French approached the village of Aldaia, the Spanish cavalry reserve was sighted. After a first setback the French cavalry routed the Spanish troopers, driving them beyond the Rio Júcar and depriving Blake of much-needed cavalry support.

Immediately after, the Spanish left, in danger of being encircled retreated and the divisions of Obispo and Villacampa, as well as Creagh's brigade made their escape to the south. Blake ordered the veteran divisions of Lardizabal and Zayas to retire around Valencia.
Suchet rapidly ringed the city with his army. With a population of 100,000, a lack of food, and obsolete defenses, Valencia was in no condition to sustain a siege. On the night of 28 December, Blake tried to break out of the city. The attempt failed except for a spearhead of 500 troops which got away. Suchet wasted little time, digging the first siege parallels on 1 January and taking the outer defenses under fire three days later. As the bombardment intensified, Blake capitulated and handed over Valencia on 9 January.
For the loss of about 2,000 killed and wounded, Suchet succeeded in capturing 18,000 Spanish soldiers, 23 generals, 22 colors, and 374 guns. In addition, 4,011 Spanish troops died in battle or from disease. All of Blake's cavalry, plus the units of Obispo, Villacampa, and Creagh avoided capture, but his best troops, Zayas’s and Lardizabal’s divisions, became prisoners. The fall of Valencia was one of the worst Spanish defeats in the Peninsular War.

Tomado de/Taken from Wikipedia

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The presents of the Three Wise Men

2012-01-06T21:31:00.001+01:00

This year, their majesties (in Spain the Three Wise Men are Kings), have considered that I was a good person during the past year, so they have graciously brought to me some wargaming-related presents: two boxes of Italeri 6008 French Hussars.

Another welcome present was the book "Napoleon’s Triumph: La Grande Armée versus the Tsar’s Army. The Friedland Campaign 1807" by James R. Arnold and Ralph R. Reinertsen. Napoleon Books (2011).

And the Christmas holidays are definitely gone!

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A scenario for Song of Drums and Shakos (II)

2012-01-05T13:56:00.000+01:00

The Scenario is ready. The Deployment of models and the Scenario Special Rules are a mix from the SDS rule-book scenarios: 'Foraging Mission' and 'Assault at the Farm'.

Deployment
French On sentry duty (see map) 5 Voltigeurs. Inside the house or the wooded fence: Officer, NCO and the rest of the squad.
Austrian Deployed within 1M of the table edge or inside 1M of a wooded edge.

Scenario Special Rules
• The scenario takes place at dawn so the line of sight is reduced to 2L.
• The French on sentry duty have fixed (1M) automatic movement (do not roll for activation) in their respective influence zone (see map).
• Determine who goes first as per standard rules.
• The attacker activates and moves normally.
• The defender can move only models on sentry duty (see above) until the end of an opponent’s turn in which one of the following occurs:
     - A shot is fired
     - A model on sentry is attacked in hand-to-hand combat
     - An ambusher is spotted within 2L
• The Defenders that fail a Morale test always flee towards the house, not towards the nearest table edge.
• The stream is fordable in 1S from the bridge.
• Any model recoiling into the river must make a Quality roll or drowns. In any case, the water will spoil his shot and powder. The model cannot fire anymore until he picks up musket and ammo from a wounded model.
• After ambush is revealed, defender’s models behave normally (i.e. roll for activation and act) but no Leader (or NCO) bonus can be used by models on sentry, as long as the Officer and/or the NCO are inside the house (the fence is not taken in account).
• Models behind the fence benefit of light cover.
• Models inside the house benefit from the Leader activation bonus. As soon as the Leader is out of the house, his activation bonus applies to all models within 1L as normal.
• Both the fence and the house doors are closed. It takes an action to open or close them.
• Models can enter the house only through the door (possibly by bashing it).
• Inside the building and on the bridge models cannot pass through friends (tight quarters). Up to 2 models can be placed side by side on the bridge and up to 3 in the short side of the farm.
• Line of Sight and Arc of fire through windows. Models can fire through windows, but only with an arc of fire of 45°. Anything out of this arc and near to the wall cannot be seen.

Victory conditions
• Normal rules and morale tests apply to Austrian attackers.
• Defenders test normally (3 dice) but single models surrender with only 2 failures (instead of 3). The following Morale rules apply to defenders:
    - For 50% losses: Morale failure movements must be done toward the fence. When inside the fence models stop fleeing (remember that door is closed, and that models can jump over the fence moving 1S)
    - For Leader loss: test the NCO (if present) first. On 2 or 3 failures the entire squad surrenders. On 1 or no failures, go on testing all other models. If the NCO is killed during a subsequent turn, the defending squad surrenders

The full Scenario is also available at Googledocs

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A scenario for Song of Drums and Shakos

2012-01-03T21:21:00.000+01:00

I have been working on my last and 'brilliant' idea about using SDS for a small skirmish previous to the combat of Wethau (and fighting an inopportune flu simultaneously). The s rosters and statisticfor the Austrian and French parties are finished. The French party will be composed from Voltigeurs of a Light Infantry Regiment whereas the Austrians will be rifle and musket armed Jagers. Both parties will be commanded by a leader and a NCO.

French Party 10 men 492 points
- Lieutenant Meunier
Points 82 Quality 3+ Combat 2
Special Rules Elan, Leader, Light, Pistol, Sword
- Sergeant Bauduin
Points 66 Quality 3+ Combat 2
Special Rules Light, Musket, NCO, Sword
- One Light Voligeur (marksman)
Points 50 Quality 4+ Combat 2
Special Rules Elan, Light, Marksman, Musket
- Seven Light Voltigeurs
Points 42 Quality 4+ Combat 2
Special Rules Elan, Light, Musket

Austrian party 11 men 531 points
- Hauptmann Babbel
Points 70 Quality 3+ Combat 2
Special Rules Leader, Light, Pistol, Sword
- Unterjäger Gassinger
Points 66 Quality 3+ Combat 2
Special Rules Light, Musket, NCO, Sword
- One Rifle-armed Jager (marksman)
Points 54 Quality 4+ Combat 2
Special Rules Elan, Light, Marksman, Rifle
- One Rifle-armed Jager
Points 47 Quality 4+ Combat 2
Special Rules Elan, Light, Rifle
- Seven Musket-armed Jagers
Points 42 Quality 4+ Combat 2
Special Rules Elan, Light, Musket

The gametable is shown in the Figure. The grey central square is the legal SDS playing area for 20mm figures: a 90x90 cm. The general description is a wooded zone traversed by the Wethau stream with a bridge carrying the highway. A house protects the bridge.

Next: the Scenario rules and the Solo solutions

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A small divertimento: the bridge at Wethau for Song of Drums and Shakos

2012-01-01T20:25:00.000+01:00

I have found found another wargaming ruleset!
Yes I am a compulsive rule-set buyer, so when I read a small and fun AAR with the usual nice pictures in the Fitz-Badger's Soweiter League blog, I immediately fell in love with Songs of Drums and Shakos (or Song of Lace and Tricornes as Fitz-Badger named it) designed by Sergio Laliscia. A rapid visit to the Ganesha Games website and the e-books for Songs of Drums and Shakos and More Songs of Drums and Shakos (SDS and MSDS from onwards) were in my computer.
A visit to the Song of Blades Yahoo Group (SDS having the same rules engine than Song of Blades) provided me with more useful stuff - including an EXCEL calculator - whereas an internet surfing found some links of SDS blogs, like Drums & Shakos, Batrepps with provided me with some Solo Rules for SDS. So now I am ready for another experiment: skirmish games for small size patrols or squads.
The rule testing will be carried out by using a combination of two of the Scenarios included in SDS: Foraging Mission (the same used by Fitz-Badger) and Assault of the Farm. The night attack of the Austrian Jagers to take the bridge at Wetthau will be the history plot of the Scenario.
The New Year has started with wargaming novelties, so watch this space!

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Happy New Year 2012!

2011-12-31T09:00:00.000+01:00

Happy New Wargaming Year to Everybody!

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Wethau. The terrain and the rules

2011-12-29T14:15:00.000+01:00

This Lasalle Scenario is based on a real combat fought between the Augereau's IX Corps and the Liechtenstein's Austrian 1st Light Division and the Streifcorps of Thielmann and Mendorff along a stream and in the plain beyond it.
For the narrative I have used the following bibliography:

Tableau de la Campagne d'automne de 1813 en Allemagne. Dimitrij Petrovič Buturlin.pp 102-103 (1817)
Campagne de 1813. La cavalerie des armées allies. M.H. Weil, pp 205-210 (1886)
Napoleon at Leipzig. The Battle of Nations 1813. George Nafziger, pp 81-85, Emperor's Press (1996)

According to these references, the focal points of the combat were (1) the bridge at Wethau in the highway Naumburg-Weissenfels, defended by the 2nd and 7st Jagers (with a company of Grenzers) some cavalry and all the Austrian artillery and (2) a ford located 2 km upstream that allowed Augereau to outflank the Austrian defenders avoiding the Wethau defile, a difficult terrain interspected with woods. Beyond the stream, the terrain opens towards the south-east, allowing the deployment and maneuvers of cavalry. For the tablegame I have used current GoogleEarth and Google Maps images and some small maps found in... a German equestrian page! After the corresponding editing in Power Point, the result is:

The Scenario specific rules were already used and tested in other Scenarios:
Assault of defiles
Lasalle does not allow march columns to fight, so the assaults on defiles, such as bridges, fortified gates, field fortifications, etc. can not be played on the table in a convincing way. There were some friendly discussions in the Lasalle Forum regarding this topic. At last, I have used the Scruf’s proposal:
(1) A march column can assault a defile like a bridge, a fortified gate, a fort, etc. It represents not only true march columns, but also all those formations with a much reduced front.
(2) It fights halved dice and with no previous shooting, adding a -2 for "bad terrain" as they will be fighting in cramped quarters.
(3) The defending enemy may use the "cover" or "higher elevation" modifiers when applicable.
(4) However the small front, the enemy never halves their dice

Optional rule for baggage units (As for my suggestion in Lasalle e-book p. 143)
(1) The wagon moves as if it were a foot artillery unit, always limbered.
(2) The wagon neither fires nor can charge the enemy. It has only one formation: limber. It does not block line of sight or fire. It may not be fired upon.
(3) Friendly units may move through it, as they move through a limbered artillery unit.
(4) Any enemy unit - regular or irregular - may charge the wagon, as long as that unit is eligible to charge (it is in a formation that permits it to charge, it is facing the right way, etc.)
(5) In its reaction phase, the wagon may attempt a Fall Back, as if it were a foot artillery limber. It succeeds on a roll of 4+, but if attacked by enemy cavalry, it must re-roll a success, even if within 1BW of friendly infantry.
(6) If it fails to fall back, then the wagon is automatically captured in the ensuing combat. Combat must be “resolved” against it, as if against any other unit, but the resolution consists simply of removing the wagon, advancing the enemy unit(s) that captured it 2BW, and awarding the captured Objective to the enemy.
(7) Any enemy unit that contacted the wagon suffers 1DISR, unless that would break it. (The men are dispersed, plundering the loot). The unit must then take a discipline test. If it fails, it is marked in some way, showing that it is disordered and still plundering.
(8) A unit that is still plundering is considered “Out of Command” for the entirety of its side’s next turn.

Optional rule for Cossacks (and other irregular cavalry)
(1) Irregular cavalry units may charge enemy units standing in 'march column' formation.
(2) Irregular cavalry units must to pass a 'Discipline' test to initiate the charge.
(3) If routed in 'decisive combat' the irregular cavalry unit is immediately broken.
(4) If the target is a baggage unit, use the above Optional rule for baggage units.

Next, the Reinforcements schedule and the Objectives for both commanders.

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Wethau. An OOB for Lasalle

2011-12-28T17:30:00.000+01:00

Voilà the first version of the OOB for Wethau. It is a modification of the real OOB (including additional French and Allied units) and it is heavily based on the Nafziger's OOB's.

French Army
10 Battalions/10 Regiments/4 Batteries (11,220 men); Army Moral 47; Break point 16

C-i-C IX Corps Augereau (-/-)

51e Division Turreau (-/*)
1e Brigade Lagarde (+1/*)
2/25e Légère R/A/SK2 +
2/63e Ligne R/A/SK1
2e Brigade Aymard (-/*)
3/10e Légère R/A/SK1 +
3/32e Ligne R/A/SK1
2/58e Ligne R/A/SK1
Artillery
22/1e Artillerie Foot 3Guns/M/1Hw
5/2e Artillerie Foot 3Guns/M/1Hw

9e Light Cavalry Division Subervie (-1/*)
32 Light Cavalry Brigade Klicky (+1/-)
3e Hussar Regiment R/E/Pu
26e Chasseurs à Cheval R/A/Pu
33 Light Cavalry Brigade Vial (+1/-)
14e Chasseurs à Cheval R/A/Pu
27e Chasseurs à Cheval R/A/Pu

Reinforcements
52e Division Semele (-/*)
1e Brigade Bagneris (-1/¶)
2/17e Légère R/A/SK2 +
2/39e Ligne R/A/SK1
2e Brigade Godard (-/¶)
6/121e Ligne R/A/SK1
6/122 Ligne R/A/SK1
2/86e Ligne R/A/SK1
Artillery
22/2e Artillerie Foot 3Guns/M/1Hw
2 Train Companies

1e Brigade 5e Heavy Cavalry Division Quenet (-/-)
2e Dragoon Regiment R/E/Sh/Pu
6e Dragoon Regiment R/E/Sh/Pu

6e Heavy Cavalry Division Montéléger (-1/¶)
1e Brigade Lamotte(+1/*)
18e Dragoon Regiment R/E/Sh/Pu
19e Dragoon Regiment R/E/Sh/Pu
2e Brigade Mermet (-/¶)
22e Dragoon Regiment R/E/Sh/Pu
25e Dragoon Regiment R/E/Sh/Pu
Artillery
2/3e Horse Artillery Horse 2Guns/M/1Hw

Allied Army

9 Battalions/8 Regiments/4 Cossacks / 4 batteries (12,320 men); Moral 51 Break point 17 (See Note 1)

C-i-C 1st Light Division Liechtenstein (-/¶)

1st Brigade Hessen-Homburg (+1/-)
1st Jager Battalion R/E/SK2
2nd Jager Battalion R/E/SK2
Kaiser#1 Chevauxlegers R/E/Pu +
Brigade Battery Foot/3cannons/Light
2nd Brigade Scheither (-1/-)
1/Brooder Grenz IR R/A/SK1 or R/I/SK2
7st Jager Battalion R/E/SK2
Vincent#4 Chevauxlegers R/E/Pu +
Artillery
Cavalry Battery Foot/2cannons/Medium/1How

StreifCorps Thielmann (-/*)
Austrians Gasser(-1/-)
Hohenzoller#2 Chevauxlegers R/E/Pu
Klenau#5 Chevauxlegers R/E/Pu
Prussians Von Kurland (-1/-)
Silesians Hussars V/E/Pu
Silesian National Cavalry S/A
Russians Orlow (-/-)
Cossacks 4 S/I/Pu
Cossacks 5 S/I/Pu

StreifCorps Mensdorff (+1/*)
Er. Ferdinand Hussars #3 V/E/Pu
Illowaisky X Cossacks S/I/Pu
Gorin I Cossacks S/I/Pu

Reinforcements
1st Division Austrian II Corps Lederer (-/-)
1st Brigade Sorenberg (-/*)
1/Gradiskaner Grenz IR R/A/SK1 or R/I/SK2
Kienmayer#8 Hussars + V/E/Pu +
Erz Johann#1 Dragoons R/E/Pu
Foot Battery Foot/2cannons/Medium/1How
2nd Brigade Longueville (-1/-)
1/von Strauch#24 IR R/E/SK1 +
2/von Strauch#24 IR R/E/SK1 +
1/Bellegarde#44 IR R/E/SK1 +
2/Bellegarde#44 IR R/E/SK1 +
Foot Battery Foot/2cannons/Medium/1How

Notes
(1) Each Cossack unit is worth one Moral Point.
(2) Units marked (+) are large (6 base) units.

Watch for the terrain and special rules!

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Wethau: the next Lasalle project

2011-12-26T19:17:00.002+01:00

October 10, 1813. The Allied Armies are converging towards Leipzig while Napoleon is calling for all the available forces to fight the climatic battle of the Saxon Campaign.
The Augereau's IX Corps is advancing along the Saale from Naumburg to Weissenfels, closely watched by the Liechtenstein's Austrian 1st Light Division and the Streifcorps of Thielmann and Mendorff. The main road crossed the Wethau stream, a small tributaire of the Saale, by a bridge located in the Wethau village that is now in Austrian hands after the French light cavalry of the advance-guard was expelled by a surprise attack carried out by the Austrian Jager Battalion #7. Liechtenstein, closely supported by the Thielmann's and Mensdorf's Sreifcorps, hoped to delay Augereau for at least a day's march in the Wethau defile, if not totally block his march on Leipzig.
However, Augereau used his 51th Division to attack frontally Wethau while simultaneously used an unguarded ford located 2 km upstream, taking in reverse and routing the Austrian defenders that retired on their supports, the Allied Streifcorps and the Austrian Light Division. A cavalry battle ensued between the Allies and the Milhaud's V(bis) Cavalry Corps, containing some 'Heavy' Divisions formed by veteran Dragoons arrived from Spain, and after a bitter fight the Allies were forced to retire. Augereau continued his march towards Leipzig.
This Lasalle Scenario is based upon that combat, although I have taken some historical licenses to make a more interesting tabletop battle. Thus, the involved forces will be the full IX Corps and the 5(bis)Cavalry Corps for the French side, and some units of the Lederer's Light Division of the Austrian II Corps.
It will be another 'international' battle with Russian Cossacks and Austrian Jagers and Grenzers!

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Merry Christmas!

2011-12-23T00:50:00.000+01:00

Merry Christmas to you and yours!

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Altenburg (VI). A French tactical victory

2011-12-18T01:02:00.001+01:00

The sunset arrived (i.e. no more additional turns!) and the combat is finished.
The Allied are maintaining a thin line with their right flank resting on Schelditz. The untouched Austrian Grenzer form the extreme of the line, with the intermingled Prussian cavalry and Cossacks at their left. Facing them, two of the Pirè's French Hussars are protecting the retreat of the only Young Guard cavalry unit, the Chasseurs a Cheval.

In the center of the Allied line, the lone Austrian ChevauxLegers Hohenzoller #2 is facing the whole Jacquinot's line Chasseurs a Cheval brigade.

The Russian Cossacks form the Allied left flank while, in the background, the Baden infantry and one French Pire's Hussar regiment can be seen scorting the French baggage, protected by the deployed Old Guard Volante (horse) artillery.

Another view, this time from behind of the French table side, showing the French superiority in the centre

The combat is technically a DRAWN BATTLE, but all the numbers are against the Allied: they were in the verge of the breakpoint after losing 6 cavalry regiments whereas the French losses only amounted to 3 cavalry regiments (although two were Young Guard units).
Additionally, if the number of lost bases is considered, the Allied (37) are again overcome by the French (23).
All in all, the Allied Streifcorps have been no capable to rout a French inferior force, and the combat will pass into history as a French tactical victory.

Edited (12/18/2011). The coloured pins next to the units, show the casualties: green: one ; orange: two and red: three.

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Altenburg (V). An unexpected fall back

2011-12-15T21:00:00.000+01:00

The tribulations of the Young Guard Cavalry continue: the Silesian Hussars break at last the Young Guard Chevauxlegers Lanciers de la Garde:

But in the other flank, the Austrian Hohenzoller #2 Chevauxlegers Regiment is routed by the French 5e Chasseurs a Cheval:

Provoking a major disaster because during their falling back from the combat, they disorder and break the Austrian Kienmayer Hussars #8 Regiment!:

Only to be charged and routed again by the French light cavalry Regiment:

Meanwhile, the Baden infantry and the transport is arriving to the safety of Rositz, protected by the deployed Guard Volante Artillery:

And the battle ends. Watch for the final result!

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Altenburg (IV). The end is near

2011-12-13T21:00:00.001+01:00

Although the cavalry battle is, in general, degenerating into a series a individual combats, some regiments are making combined attacks. In that way, the Austrian Palatinal Hussars #12 Regiment is taken between the Young Guard Chasseurs and Grenadiers a Cheval, becoming broken in the proccess:

Meanwhile, the Prussian National Cavalry regiment is rejecting the Young Guard ChevauxLegers-Lanciers:

But are broken by the Grenadiers a Cheval!:

The Lorge's Chasseurs a Cheval regiments are arriving in haste to fall upon the Allied left flank:

But surprinsingly, the Gorin II cossacks achieve a victory on the flanking Chasseurs a Cheval!:

The Grenadiers a Cheval are broken by the veteran Silesian Hussars:

The Allied sense the victory upon the almost broken Young Guard remaining regiments:

The end seems near!

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Altenburg (III). The first cavalry clashes

2011-12-11T07:00:00.000+01:00

The first serious hand-to-hand cavalry combats are in progress
The Young Guard Chevaux-Legers Lanciers reject the veteran Silesian Hussars in an indecisive encounter forcing them to fall-back.

However, the Prussian Neumarkt Dragoons break the Quinette's Combined Dragoons Regiment.

And after the first combat, the victorious Prussians fall over the Young Guard Chasseur a Cheval Regiment, also routing them!

But the other French 'heavy cavalry' at Altenburg, the Combined Dragoon-Cuirassier Regiment, has rejected the Austrian Kienmayer Hussars #8 Regiment.

The stakes are high!

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Altenburg (II). The reinforcements arrive

2011-12-09T14:15:00.000+01:00

After their local triumph, the Young Guard Chasseurs à Cheval fall back along their comrades of the Grenadiers à Cheval, protecting the flanks of the retreating Baden infantry.

The Pire´s Hussars are facing the outflanking Allied cavalry which, after deploying the Austrian Levenehr Dragoons #4 Regiment in line, are ready to the combat with the help of the Cossack battery.

The first Allied reinforcements, the Prussians of the Thielmann's StreifCorps have arrived upon the right flank of the French Quinette's heavy brigade.

However, the French reinforcements also arrive throught the village of Rositz, far away of the actual battle.

A storm is gathering!

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Altenburg (I)

2011-12-06T13:30:00.000+01:00

The opposing armies have deployed at Altenburg.
Lefevbre-Desnouettes is defending the bridge with the Baden infantry closely supported by the Young Guard cavalry and the Guard Volante Artillery. Piré is covering the left flank while watching the Allied cavalry. Quinette's heavy cavalry (dragoons and cuirassiers) is in the rear right flank in reserve:

Platov is menacing the French center with his regular Austrians while trying to outflank the French with the mixed Austrian-Cossacks detachments:

The Allied cavalry crosses the stream in two points

While Piré falls back facing the Allied in the left:

And the Young Guard Chasseurs a Cheval routs the veteran ErzHerzog Ferdinand Hussars Regiment #3!:

To be continued....

Note. All the information about the Scenario is now on the main web-site

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Altenburg 1813. The terrain

2011-12-05T06:36:00.000+01:00

The table game for Altenburg is ready. There some subtile differences with the proposed map (see here)

The fog of war in action!

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Spain wins Davis Cup

2011-12-04T18:02:00.001+01:00

Rafael Nadal defeated Juan Martin del Potro 16 64 61 76(0) at Seville's Olympic Stadium on Sunday to hand Spain their fifth Davis Cup by BNP Paribas title. The classic contest lasted 4 hours 8 minutes.
Nadal was completely dominated at the start of the match as del Potro raced out of the blocks and won seven straight games to take a set and a break lead, but the world No. 2 snatched a crucial game at the start of the second set that swung the momentum.
When Nadal broke again to win the second set it looked like he was on his way to a comfortable victory. He walked through the third set and went a break up at the start of the fourth, but then del Potro, lifted by the Argentine fans, staged a remarkable comeback.
In an enthralling fourth set, which swung one way and then the other on more than a few occasions, del Potro served to take the match into a decider, only for Nadal to break back. A few moments later the Spaniard found himself serving for it, but this time del Potro broke back.
The rubber headed into a tiebreak and Nadal immediately took control, never looking back. He was utterly ruthless and completed the perfect 'golden' breaker with a winning forehand, a shot which sealed Spain's crown of Davis Cup champion for the fifth time.

Taken from Davis Cup official site

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Altenburg update: the optional rules

2011-12-01T20:34:00.000+01:00

The combat of Altenburg was a small affaire involving some pulks of Russian Cossacks, irregular cavalry as per Lasalle, as well as the defense and assault of a defile, the bridge at Schelditz. The scenario needs some optional rules to cover both aspects, since Lasalle is best suited to open-field combats involving regular units. The following rules will be used:

Assault of defiles
Lasalle does not allow march columns to fight, so the assaults on defiles, such as bridges, fortified gates, field fortifications, etc. can not be played on the table in a convincing way. There were some friendly discussions in the Lasalle Forum regarding this topic. At last, I have used the Scruf's proposal:
1) A march column can assault a defile like a bridge, a fortified gate, a fort, etc. It represents not only true march columns, but also all those formations with a much reduced front.
2) It fights halved dice and with no previous shooting, adding a -2 for "bad terrain" as they will be fighting in cramped quarters.
3) The defending enemy may use the "cover" or "higher elevation" modifiers when applicable.
3) However the small front, the enemy never halves their dice

Optional rule for charging Cossacks
(1) Irregular cavalry units may charge enemy units standing in 'march column' formation.
(2) Irregular cavalry units must to pass a 'Discipline' test to initiate the charge.
(3) If routed in 'decisive combat' the irregular cavalry unit is immediately broken.

These rules have been used in previous scenarios so they are well tested. Watch and see!

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20 years without Freddy Mercury

2011-11-26T10:52:00.001+01:00

November 24th marked twenty years since the death at the age of 45 of Freddie Mercury, the lead vocalist of Queen, would have turned 65 on 2011 had his life not been prematurely ended by AIDS.
Mercury formed Queen, one of the most successful bands in the history of rock and roll, in 1970 with guitarist Bryan May and drummer Roger Taylor. During their 20 year career they released twelve albums, selling more than 170 million copies.

A revolutionary artist, charismatic, provocative and theatrical in his stage performances, Freddie Mercury continues to be one of the most memorable musicians of the twentieth century.

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Maurice, the new ruleset of Sam Mustafa

2011-11-23T00:41:00.001+01:00

The “Fast Facts”
Maurice is a delightful combination of tabletop miniatures rules for historical and fictional battles, a limitless campaign system that requires virtually no math or paperwork, and a role-playing game in which the “characters” are officers, units, and armies, whose personalities you create, and whose fates you manage from battle to battle across wars and decades.
When?
Maurice will be available in the Summer of 2012.
What Figure Sizes and Bases are Supported?
As with all Honour games, Maurice uses measurements in Base-Widths (BWs), so that you may use any figure sizes, and any bases that you already have, or wish to have. The game adjusts to accommodate your table space and collection.
What is the Game’s Scale? Is it for Big Battles or Little Skirmishes?
Maurice has a flexible scale. The game’s mechanics “stretch” so that you can use it for any scale you desire. You can play the little battles in the colonies or the American Revolution, or the great pitched battles of the European wars.
What Wars?
Maurice is intended to represent the age of linear armies, from the wars of Louis XIV and Marlborough, through the great dynastic struggles of the mid-century, to the French Revolution.
What is the Level of Complexity?
If you are familiar with previous games by Sam Mustafa, such as Grande Armée, Might and Reason, and Lasalle, then you will find Maurice to be at the same level of complexity.
Can I Use it For Imagi-Nations?
Absolutely! In fact, Maurice is the first set of rules specifically created with imagi-nations in mind. The same creation process that you can use to replicate a historical army for a scenario, is used to create a fictitious army with its own unique personality.
What Will It Cost?
Pricing will be announced in early 2012. Maurice will be available in multiple formats, both print and electronic.

The above information was extracted from the Maurice flyer available in the Sam Mustafa's web site

While the game/ruleset is released, you can try a free reduced version, Maurice Lite, also available in the Sam Mustafa's web site

Wait and see!

See a first review and introductory game at Wargaming.info blog

Edited November 24: This is the post No. 500! This is a long way from April 2007... See the first post

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Terrain for Altenburg 1813 (Lasalle)

2011-11-17T21:00:00.000+01:00

The terrain for Altenburg is based on the report of General Lefebvre-Desnouettes to Nansouty the day after the combat of Altenburg (see here). The French general talks about 'four defiles' on the road from Altenburg to Zeist. One of these defiles was located in Schelditz, where a bridge crosses a small stream. Between that point and Meusselwitz, there were some cavalry combats where the French cuirassiers were overcome by the Allied.
The terrain depicted in the tablegame is centered in the road between Schelditz and Rositz, and it is based on the Topographische Karte Der Aemter Altenburg Und Ronneburg found by Steven Smith and also posted in the Napoleon-Series forum (see here). Ths approximate terrain scale has been calculated by using contemporary GoogleEarth images and is almost identical to the Lasalle one, that in my case (i.e. using my own units) is 1:1,000.

Next the scenario specific rules!

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Altenburg 1813: The real thing

2011-11-06T15:19:00.000+01:00

The combat of Altenburg (the next Lasalle project) was a fighting retreat, fought bewteen a French force commanded by Lefebvre-Desnouettes and composed mainly from cavalry (6,000 men) and the Streifcorps of Thielmann and Platov (5,500 men), also composed almost exclusively by cavalry. I have collated a summary of the real combat, with the help of the kindly members of the Napoleon-Series Forum that provided me with very useful information, including scaned copies of some books not available in internet. My acnowledgement to all the members of that Forum, and mainly to Hans - Karl Weiss and Steven H. Smith.

The combat of Altenburg (September 28, 1813)
The Allied devised an attack plan on Altenburg, with three columns: Right (Illesky) advancing by the route of Penig; Center (Kudachev) advancing from Waldenburg; Left (Thielmann and Mensdorff) advancing from Zwickeau. The attack would start from the right with Illesky trying to cut the French retreat upon Borma. He and Kudachev (both under Platov) would menace the French retreat upon Borma or Pegau, while Thielmann (with Mensdorff) would menace the French line towards Zeitz.
The three columns would start from a distance of 4 km from Altenburg and the attack will start at 10.00 a.m.
However, this sound plan was not applied. Platov attacked Altenburg at 7.00 a.m. with Illesky and Kudachev, only to find that Lefevbre-Desnouettes, warned by two Austrian prisoners, had already evacuated the village only fifteen minutes before.

Lefevbre-Desnouettes took a first defensive position at Oberlodla with the artillery and cavalry in the centre and the infantry in the flanks (Molbitz and Schlauditz) but the cossacks soon turned his left and he retreated again to Schelditz. In that village there is a defile formed by the Gerstenbach (stream) and a bridge. The rearguard (Piré’s brigade) made some charges to protect the retreat of the French column and at last, it retired protected by a company of the Baden battalion, which held the bridge until forced to surrender after being encircled by the Allied cavalry.
Meanwhile, Mensdorff and Thielmann warned by the sound of guns, arrived to Altenburg at 7.00 a.m. They advance against the right flank of Lefevbre-Desnouettes, where some squadrons were protecting the retreat of the main column. After some combats involving the Prussian and Austrian cavalry (from the corps of Thielman, Mensdorff and Platov) versus the French cuirassiers (Quinette) and Young Guard Grenadiers and Lancers supported by the Baden infantry, the French cavalry retired towards Bockwitz (near the Messelwitz-Zeitz highway) joining the main column, while the remnants of the Baden infantry were taken at Meusselwitz.
The French retreat continued towards Zeitz. Lorge placed 3 guns and the his 3/35 Légère at a height in front of the town to cover the pass of the Lefebvre-Desnouettes’s division over the Elster bridge, which took about 1 and 1/2 hours. The last squadron of the Grenadiers à Cheval of the Guard broke thorough the infantry and caused disorder which was exploited by Austrian cavalry which rushed into town taking the 3 guns.
Some French infantry resisted in a factory near the bridge until forced to surrender by the Allied. After crossing to the left bank of the Elster, the French were allowed to retire almost unmolested.

The French losses (acknowledged by Lefebvre-Desnouettes) were
Brigade Pire 12 killed, 144 wounded or prisoner
1st Guard (YG) Lancers 38 killed, 52 wounded or prisoner
Gd Chas a Chev. 38 killed, 49 wounded or prisoner
Gd Gren a Chev 15 killed, 40 wounded or prisoner
2nd Baden Infantry regiment 417 wounded or prisoner
3/35 Legere IR - 12 killed, 400 wounded or prisoner

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Baccus 6 mm: Small is beautiful!

2011-11-03T21:08:00.000+01:00

I am very busy in these moments with too many work commitments so the hobby is somewhat freezed. However, you can enjoy the last adventure of my friend Lannes in the 6 mm world. He is painting a French and a Spanish army for the Peninsular War.

You can see more pictures at the ALKAID Forum: here and here. Enjoy!

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A break!

2011-10-31T14:41:00.000+01:00

This week-end, Ms. Pardo and me are at Murcia, int he southeast corner of Spain, paying a visit to our daughter. See us under the vigilant glance of the statues of the monument devoted to 'Mours and Christians' at Caravaca de la Cruz.

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The battle of Sagunto (October 25, 1811)

2011-10-25T00:05:00.000+02:00

The Battle of Saguntum (Sagunto) was fought on 25 October 1811 between the French Army of Aragon under Marshal Louis Gabriel Suchet and a Spanish army led by Lieutenant General Joaquín Blake y Joyes composed by his own 2nd Army as well as reinforcements from the 3rd and 4th Spanish armies.
Suchet, under orders from Napoleon, had invaded Valencia in September 1811 following his victorious siege of Tarragona in June. The castle of Saguntum lied in his road towards Valencia at a distance of 30 km (19 mi) and he tried to quickly seize it by a coup of main. However, the Spanish garrison repulsed two attacks and the French-Allied army was forced to lay siege to the ancient fortress. On the other side, Blake had planned to defend a line of fortifications closer to Valencia than Saguntum, but as the French siege dragged on, Blake came under increasing pressure to make an attempt to lift the siege. In mid-October he yielded to that pressure, called up all of his reserves and prepared to leave his lines around Valencia to attack the French.
Blake split his army into two unequal wings. The left wing (17,700 strong) was sent on a long march around the French right to outflank the French on the battlefield. The Spanish right under Blake (10,500 men) was to engage Suchet’s army directly, pinning it in place to give the left time to complete its outflanking move. This wing contained the most experienced of Blake’s troops – the 5,500 men in the divisions of Zayas and Lardizabal.
Suchet was only able to bring 14,000 men into his line, for he had to detach a force in the trenches outside Saguntum and another force to protect his lines of communication to the north. Despite this he was still in the belief that the Spanish troops would perform badly so he took up position on the plain south of Saguntum, on a terrain well suited to cavalry. Suchet posted his men on either side of the high road from Valencia, and left a reserve to the right rear to protect again the very out-flanking manoeuvre that Blake was planning.

The Spanish left outflanking force outnumbered the French by two to one, but they were completed routed by the French-Italians units composing the French right that forced them to flight. After only just over ten minutes of fighting the Spanish had lost 2,000 prisoners and 400 dead and wounded. The Spanish right performed much better led by the Laridizabal's division, that became entangled with French infantry and cavalry. Blake attempted to break this deadlock with his cavalry, and for once the Spanish cavalry performed well and the Spanish riders were in the edge to break the French infantry when the arrival of the 13th Cuirassiers saved the day for the French, routing the Spanish cavalry and exposing the Lardizabal’s flanks. Suchet attacked with his Italian reserve and Lardizabal was forced to retreat. The Zayas's division, the only intact part of the Spanish army, was now also forced to retreat.
The Spanish lost 1,000 killed and wounded during the battle itself, and 4,641 prisoners during the rout that followed. The divisions on the left suffered very few casualties, but lost half of the prisoners. Suchet reported his own losses as 130 dead and 590 wounded, although other estimates give a total of nearer 1,000 casualties. Saguntum itself surrendered on the following day, the garrison having watched the defeat of the relief army from the walls of the citadel.
Despite this victory, Suchet was now not strong enough to risk an immediate attack on Valencia: He had to place a garrison in Saguntum itself, and another force was detached to escort the prisoners back to Tortosa, so his disposable force was down to only 15,000 men, and he was forced to ask for reinforcements before to move.

Más información en Wikipedia / History of war

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Leonard Cohen. Prince of Asturias Prize for the Letters

2011-10-22T13:20:00.000+02:00

Leonard Cohen, poet, songwriter and novelist, is the recipient of Spain’s prestigious Prince of Asturias Prize for 2011, in the Arts section (eight parallel prizes are awarded every year under the Prince of Asturias rubric, corresponding to different fields). The same prize was awarded to Bob Dylan in 2007.
The veteran Canadian artist, aged 77, has received the prize in person this week in Oviedo, capital of the Principality of Asturias (Spain).
Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality and interpersonal relationships.Famously reclusive, having once spent several years in a Zen Buddhist monastery, and possessing a persona frequently associated with mystique, he is extremely well regarded by critics for his literary accomplishments, for the richness of his lyrics, and for producing an output of work of high artistic quality over a five-decade career.
The videos shows two of his most known songs, 'Suzanne' and 'Hallelujah'

More information at ALKAID EDIICIONES ART (Spanish/English) and Leonard Cohen (English)

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Altenburg. An OOB for Lasalle

2011-10-08T18:09:00.001+02:00

This is the first version of the OOB for Altenburg. As was exposed in previous posts, Altenburg was a small combat, a running retreat fought between a small French force searching for Allied Streifcorps near Leipziig in the last days of September 1813. The number of combatants was small and the forces of both sides were almost composed by cavalry, so this game will be a sort of wargaming experiment, because I never did played a such engagement on the tablegame.

French Army
2 Battalions/11 Regiments/1 Battery
Army Moral 27 ; Break point 9
C-i-C Lefevre-Desnouettes (-/-)

2nd Guard Cavalry Division Lefevre-Desnouettes (-/-)
1st (Young) Guard Lanciers V/A
(Young) Guard Chasseurs a Cheval V/A
(Young) Guard Grenadiers a Cheval V/A
5th Old Guard Horse Battery Horse 3 guns/M/1 Hw

1e Light Cavalry Brigade Piré (-1/*)
1/2/6e Hussars R/E/Pu
1/2/3/7e Hussars R/E/Pu
1/2/3/8e Hussars R/E/Pu

Baden Brigade Hochberg (-1/*)
1/2nd Baden IR S/A/SK1

2e Brigade. 4th Heavy Cavalry Division Quinette (-/¶)
Combined Dragoons R/E/Sh/Pu
Combined Dragoons Cuirassiers R/E/Sh/Pu

Reinforcementes

5e Light Cavalry Division Lorge (+1/-)
12e Light Cavalry Brigade Jacquinot (-/-)
3/4/5/5e Chasseurs a Cheval R/A/Pu
3/4/10e Chasseurs a Cheval R/A/Pu
5/6/13e Chasseurs a Cheval R/A/Pu
3/35e Legere R/A/SK1

Allied Army
1 Battalion/9 Regiments/7 Cossack Pulks/1,5 batteries
Moral 38 Break point 13
No designed C-i-C

StreifCorps Mensdorff (+1/-)
(Austrian) Er. Ferdinand Hussars #3 V/E/Pu + (Includes Hessen-Hornburg Hussars #4)
Illowaisky X Cossacks S/I/Pu
Gorin I Cossacks S/I/Pu

StreifCorps Platov (-/¶)
Austrians. Illessy (-/-)
Walchen Grenzer Regiment R/A/SK1 or R/I/SK2
Palatinal Hussars #12 V/E/Pu
Er. Ferdinand Hussars #3 V/E/Pu
Guns Horse/1 gun/Medium
Russians. Kudachev (-1/-)
Attaman Don Cossacks S/I/Pu
Don Cossacks S/I/Pu
Black Sea Cossacks S/I/Pu
(Austrian) Levenehr Dragoons Regiment #4 R/E/Pu (includes Vincent Chevaulegers #4)
1st Don Cossacks Battery Horse/2 guns/Light/1 Hw

Reinforcementes

StreifCorps Thielmann (+1/¶)
Austrians. Gasser(-/-)Hohenzoller Chevauxlegers #2 R/E/Pu + (includes Klenau Chevaulegers #5)
Kienmayer Hussars #8 V/E/Pu
Prussians. Von Kurland (-/-)
Silesians Hussars V/E/Pu
Silesian National Cavalry S/A
Neumarkt Dragoons R/E/Pu
Russians. Orlow (-)
Gorin II Cossacks S/I/Pu
Yagodin II Cossacks S/I/Pu
Cossack Guns Horse/1 gun/Light

Next, the tablemap and special rules!

NB. The portraits depict Levfebre-Desnouettes and Platov respectively.

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All the Nafziger collection

2011-10-07T23:47:00.001+02:00

In February 2010, George Nafziger donated his large collection of OOB to the U.S. Army (See this post).
However the OOB's at the CARL site must be individually downloaded in a boring and time-consuming procedure.... until now.
Thanks to Allan F Mountford of the Napoleon-Series Forum, I have discovered that all the Nafziger collection ( 596 MB) can be downloaded as zip files organized by era, from the Alternate Wars site.
A wonderful finding!

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Assault on Plancenoit, a vignette

2011-10-03T20:39:00.000+02:00

Below you can see the first pictures of a small diorama built by Jesus, a member of the ALKAID forum.

The vignette depicts the fighting at close quarters in Plancenoit, between the Prussian assaulting infantry and the French Young and Old Guards, sent by Napoleon to counter the Prussian flanking movement.
All the figures are 1/72 plastics: Revell 02580 Prussian Infantry, Esci 214 French Imperial Guard and Italeri 6002 French Infantry for the Young Garde.
The diorama is not finished so watch this space!

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Off topics: 2011 Ig Nobel Prizes

2011-10-01T15:07:00.002+02:00

Research that makes people LAUGH and then THINK.

The Ig Nobel Prizes 2011, acknowledging every year research that seems a pun but is real, were announced and awarded on September 29

PHYSIOLOGY PRIZE: Anna Wilkinson (of the UK), Natalie Sebanz (of THE NETHERLANDS, HUNGARY, and AUSTRIA), Isabella Mandl (of AUSTRIA) and Ludwig Huber (of AUSTRIA) for their study "No Evidence of Contagious Yawning in the Red-Footed Tortoise."
REFERENCE: 'No Evidence Of Contagious Yawning in the Red-Footed Tortoise Geochelone carbonaria," Anna Wilkinson, Natalie Sebanz, Isabella Mandl, Ludwig Huber, Current Zoology, vol. 57, no. 4, 2011. pp. 477-84.

CHEMISTRY PRIZE: Makoto Imai, Naoki Urushihata, Hideki Tanemura, Yukinobu Tajima, Hideaki Goto, Koichiro Mizoguchi and Junichi Murakami of JAPAN, for determining the ideal density of airborne wasabi (pungent horseradish) to awaken sleeping people in case of a fire or other emergency, and for applying this knowledge to invent the wasabi alarm.
REFERENCE: US patent application 2010/0308995 A1. Filing date: Feb 5, 2009.

MEDICINE PRIZE: Mirjam Tuk (of THE NETHERLANDS and the UK), Debra Trampe (of THE NETHERLANDS) and Luk Warlop (of BELGIUM). and jointly to Matthew Lewis, Peter Snyder and Robert Feldman (of the USA), Robert Pietrzak, David Darby, and Paul Maruff (of AUSTRALIA) for demonstrating that people make better decisions about some kinds of things — but worse decisions about other kinds of things‚ when they have a strong urge to urinate.
REFERENCE: "Inhibitory Spillover: Increased Urination Urgency Facilitates Impulse Control in Unrelated Domains," Mirjam A. Tuk, Debra Trampe and Luk Warlop, Psychological Science, vol. 22, no. 5, May 2011, pp. 627-633.
REFERENCE: "The Effect of Acute Increase in Urge to Void on Cognitive Function in Healthy Adults," Matthew S. Lewis, Peter J. Snyder, Robert H. Pietrzak, David Darby, Robert A. Feldman, Paul T. Maruff, Neurology and Urodynamics, vol. 30, no. 1, January 2011, pp. 183-7.

PSYCHOLOGY PRIZE: Karl Halvor Teigen of the University of Oslo, NORWAY, for trying to understand why, in everyday life, people sigh.
REFERENCE: "Is a Sigh 'Just a Sigh'? Sighs as Emotional Signals and Responses to a Difficult Task," Karl Halvor Teigen, Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, vol. 49, no. 1, 2008, pp. 49–57.

LITERATURE PRIZE: John Perry of Stanford University, USA, for his Theory of Structured Procrastination, which says: To be a high achiever, always work on something important, using it as a way to avoid doing something that's even more important.
REFERENCE: "How to Procrastinate and Still Get Things Done," John Perry, Chronicle of Higher Education, February 23, 1996. Later republished elsewhere under the title "Structured Procrastination."

BIOLOGY PRIZE: Darryl Gwynne (of CANADA and AUSTRALIA and the UK and the USA) and David Rentz (of AUSTRALIA and the USA) for discovering that a certain kind of beetle mates with a certain kind of Australian beer bottle
REFERENCE: "Beetles on the Bottle: Male Buprestids Mistake Stubbies for Females (Coleoptera)," D.T. Gwynne, and D.C.F. Rentz, Journal of the Australian Entomological Society, vol. 22, , no. 1, 1983, pp. 79-80
REFERENCE: "Beetles on the Bottle," D.T. Gwynne and D.C.F. Rentz, Antenna: Proceedings (A) of the Royal Entomological Society London, vol. 8, no. 3, 1984, pp. 116-7.

PHYSICS PRIZE: Philippe Perrin, Cyril Perrot, Dominique Deviterne and Bruno Ragaru (of FRANCE), and Herman Kingma (of THE NETHERLANDS), for determining why discus throwers become dizzy, and why hammer throwers don't.
REFERENCE: "Dizziness in Discus Throwers is Related to Motion Sickness Generated While Spinning," Philippe Perrin, Cyril Perrot, Dominique Deviterne, Bruno Ragaru and Herman Kingma, Acta Oto-laryngologica, vol. 120, no. 3, March 2000, pp. 390–5.

MATHEMATICS PRIZE: Dorothy Martin of the USA (who predicted the world would end in 1954), Pat Robertson of the USA (who predicted the world would end in 1982), Elizabeth Clare Prophet of the USA (who predicted the world would end in 1990), Lee Jang Rim of KOREA (who predicted the world would end in 1992), Credonia Mwerinde of UGANDA (who predicted the world would end in 1999), and Harold Camping of the USA (who predicted the world would end on September 6, 1994 and later predicted that the world will end on October 21, 2011), for teaching the world to be careful when making mathematical assumptions and calculations.

PEACE PRIZE: Arturas Zuokas, the mayor of Vilnius, LITHUANIA, for demonstrating that the problem of illegally parked luxury cars can be solved by running them over with an armored tank.
REFERENCE: VIDEO and OFFICIAL CITY INFO

PUBLIC SAFETY PRIZE: John Senders of the University of Toronto, CANADA, for conducting a series of safety experiments in which a person drives an automobile on a major highway while a visor repeatedly flaps down over his face, blinding him.
REFERENCE: "The Attentional Demand of Automobile Driving," John W. Senders, et al., Highway Research Record, vol. 195, 1967, pp. 15-33. VIDEO

Tomado de /Taken from Improbable Research

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Dresden. Saint-Cyr tries to break the siege: The AAR

2011-09-26T00:12:00.002+02:00

I have uploaded to the main site, the Scenario and the AAR and pictures of this combat.

The result of this solo-refight with Lasalle, was similar to the real one: Saint-Cyr achieved an easy victory that the arrival of night transformed in a draw. against an enemy of very inferior quality. The Opolchenie infantry behave indifferently, and they do not achieved any significant victory: The 1/1st Ryazan Opolchenie achieved a minor success by drawing a combat with the French, but as they were the defenders to they won the combat.

The Cossacks behave like the irregular troops that were. The home-rule allowing them to charge enemy units in march column after passing a moral check was not of real application here, because the riders of the steppes were confronted with regular light cavalry, so they fell back continuously before the enemy advance. They only scored a victory by breaking the 7th Chevau-Legers Lanciers, the old Polish 1e Regiment de Lanciers de la Vistule.

And now for an (almost) all-cavalry battle!

Project Leipzig (1813)

My comments about the Song of Drums and Shakos Scenario

The Wethau Bridge for Song of Drums & Shakos (II)

The Wethau Bridge for Song of Drums & Shakos (I)

Computer Song of Drums and Shakos

200 years from the Fall of Valencia

The presents of the Three Wise Men

A scenario for Song of Drums and Shakos (II)

A scenario for Song of Drums and Shakos

A small divertimento: the bridge at Wethau for Song of Drums and Shakos

Happy New Year 2012!

Wethau. The terrain and the rules

Wethau. An OOB for Lasalle

Wethau: the next Lasalle project

Merry Christmas!

Altenburg (VI). A French tactical victory

Altenburg (V). An unexpected fall back

Altenburg (IV). The end is near

Altenburg (III). The first cavalry clashes

Altenburg (II). The reinforcements arrive

Altenburg (I)

Altenburg 1813. The terrain

Spain wins Davis Cup

Altenburg update: the optional rules

20 years without Freddy Mercury

Maurice, the new ruleset of Sam Mustafa

Terrain for Altenburg 1813 (Lasalle)

Altenburg 1813: The real thing

Baccus 6 mm: Small is beautiful!

A break!

The battle of Sagunto (October 25, 1811)

Leonard Cohen. Prince of Asturias Prize for the Letters

Altenburg. An OOB for Lasalle

All the Nafziger collection

Assault on Plancenoit, a vignette

Off topics: 2011 Ig Nobel Prizes

Dresden. Saint-Cyr tries to break the siege: The AAR

Altenburg: the next Lasalle project

Dresden (and IV): The combat is finished

Dresden(III). The French attack

Dresden (II)

Surrender! An optional rule for Lasalle

9/11 Ten years later

Dresden (I)

The armies deploy at Dresden

Dresden. The terrain and the rules

Dresden, October 17.

Opolchenie flags modified!

Opolchenie flags

A Russian discovery: Viskovatov pictures

To the mountains ... and Blondie

Lone Warrior web site

Russian Opolcheniye 1813

Kosen re-visited. The next battle?

The issue No. 12 of ALKAID

Le Bois de Paris (and V)

Le Bois de Paris (IV)

Always. Bon Jovi live in Barcelona

Le bois de Paris (III)

Le bois de Paris (II)

Le bois de Paris (I)

'Le Bois de Paris'. Terrain and Prussian columns

Some rules for 'le Bois de Paris'

The final? OOB for 'le Boi de Paris'

Le Bois de Paris: The OOB's

Wiederitzsch: the AAR

Le bois de Paris ... or the Wood of Paris (I)

A small divertimento: Le Bois de Paris

Plancenoit: the next battle

More old pictures of Badajoz

Blondie

This blog, ALKAID and the Bicentennial of Fuentes de Oñoro

Wiederitzsch: a draw battle

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