Raguhn for Lasalle (II)

The 1st and 2nd battalions from the 8e Legere are advancing through the wood to eject the Russian Jaegers, while the Russian cavalry in the background is advancing towards the west.

Meanwhile, the French main body under Bertrand has arrived in the central sector, and also advances to face the Russians.

In the eastern sector, the Russian Cossacks have routed the French Chasseurs a Cheval, thus retarding and maintaining at bay the French right flank guard.

Watch this space!

Share |

Raguhn for Lasalle (I)

The battle, or rather the race, for Raguhn has begun.
The French vanguard, composed from the 4e. Chevaux-Legers Lanciers Regiment and three battalions of 8e Light Infantry, arrive cautiously following the main road (See the terrain here). The area seems free of enemy troops so, where are the Russians?.
Suddenly the cavalry vedettes detect green-clad troops left and right of the road.

French vanguard advancing

Russian Jaegers, Hussars and Cossacks at he right flank

Russian Jaegers and Cossacks at the left flank

Both sides start a race for the cemetery and the village of Burgkemnitz.

Watch this space!

Share |

Ready for battle

The terrain and troops for Raguhn are redy. Below you can see the three sections of the battle field, as well as the troops, waiting for the deployment.
Note that whereas all French units will be used in the battle (assuming they arrive as Reinforcements), the Russian ones are a pool from which the actual fighting units, appearing on the table, will be randomly chosen.

Next thing I need, is some spare time!

Share |

News of Saxony

According to the Leipziger Volkszeitung Gazetten from Dresde (a.k.a. MurdocK's MarauderS blog) the war activity at the front has continued during this week-end, with several skirmishes taking place between Cossack hordes and Polish Krakus and Lancier scouting parties.

The combats have resulted in another resounding victory for our arms, and the patriot Poles have sent back the eastern wild warriors to their steppes.

Vive l'Empereur!

Share |

Breaking news: Skirmish at Saxony

A bloody skirmish took place this morning on the outskirts of the village of Herrnhut in northern Saxony. A Cossack patrol, from the Denisov #7 Cossack Regiment, surprised and completely routed a similar Polish patrol formed by men of the Krakus Light Cavalry Regiment. Both squads were scouting in front of their respective armies searching for information.

The ambushed Cossack have fallen on the surprised Krakus

According to local sources, the Russian Lieutenant Uvarov stood hidden in a small wood with the bulk of his men, while the rest of his squad, led by his NCO, dismounted and remained hidden in a nearby log cabin, from where fired their muskests against the Poles that, led by Lieutenant Kaminski, advanced in two groups separated by a few hundred meters.
The Poles were taken aback by the unexpectedCossack fire and, before they recovered, were charged by the ambushed Cossacks. After a series of bloody individual melees, the Krakus were slaughtered, suffering one dead and seven wounded, for only one killed and three wounded in the Cossack ranks.

The Krakus leaving  the field in a very ignominiously way

Only Lieutenant Uminski and one of his privates were able to leave the field, closely pursued by the triumphant Cossacks. It is said that french HC is considering the poor performance of the Polish light cavalrymen, attributed (according the same sources) to the lack of carbines and musketoons in their weaponry but also to the to poor planning and cowardice of the young and inexpert Polish ADC.
For the Tsar and the Holy Mother Russia!

Taken from "The Courier of the Steppes" web site

So (for Murdock and friends) ALLIES 1 -  FRENCH 0


A more detailed report will follow!

Share |

Another Song of Drums and Shakos interlude

Murdock (from Murdock's Marauders fame) is playing a Napoleonic campaign game set around the Campaign of Leipzig, that you can follow at the Campaign of Nations blog.
In his last post, Murdock describes how the Game Master has found a way to simulate the acquisition of information by means of scouting parties. A 7 game skirmish series, will be played by Allied and French players, and "the winner of four of the games will get to have the enemy information and preserve their own secret".
This led to an interesting exchange of comments about rulebooks and mechanisms, and at last Murdock proposed me to play one of the 7 games as a solo game and using Song of Drums and Shakos. Details of units and strengths were quickly exchanged during a frenetic series of e-mails, and this is the final result:

The Probing Patrol (September, 1813)
Historical background
Somewhere in Saxony, the French and Allied light cavalry units are scouting the terrain between both armies, trying to gather information about the whereabouts and composition of the enemy.
The Polish General Uminski has sent a patrol of the 1st squadron of the Krakus Regiment, under their young ADC Lieutenant Kaminski, to scout towards the village of Herrnhut. Past the cemetery, the road leading the village crosses a stream and a drainage ditch through a plank bridge. There is a lone cabin log on the far bank at left and a small wood at the right flank and the Poles, fearing an ambush, approaches cautiously to the water stream.
Meanwhile and hidden in the wood, lieutenant Uvarov (a young aristocrat serving as ADC to Majorgeneral Tetteborn) watches the approaching Poles, while his men, veterans from the Denisov #7 Cossack Regiment, are awaiting his signal to fall over their ancestral enemies..

Terrain

The stream and drainage ditch are fordable for mounted men. Men on foot must use the fords or bridges. The stream is also fordable at a distance of 1M from the bridge. Beyond that distance, the

Engaged Forces
Cossacks (Denisov Cossack #7 Regiment). 1 Officer, 1 NCO, 9 Cossacks. 11 men 680 points
Poles (Krakus Regiment). 1 Officer, 1 NCO, 8 Privates. 10 men 716 points

Deployment
Cossacks: Must deploy at the East (right) side of the game-table behind line A-A. They can be hidden into the wood or behind the cabin. Until 1D4 men can dismount and use a musket and these men can also hide within the cabin. The horses are behind the cabin.
Poles: The Krakus enter through the western roads (pink arrows).

Victory conditions
Both sides have the same objective: to deny the enemy any information, so the winner will be the side remaining on the battlefield.

I must play this game before Sunday. I'll try it!

Share |

A true 'Space oddity'

In April 2011 I posted about the 50th anniversary of the first human spaceflight by the Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. That post also included a video about the David Bowie's song 'Space oddity' (you can see here that post). Today I am posting a cover of that song, and the singer is now a true astronaut, the Canadian Chris Hadfield now onboard the International Space Station.

Enjoy both versions!

Share |

NBIV is marching in!

The web page of Capitan Games for Napoleon'Battles 4th Edition is now active!

Share |

Raguhn for Lasalle. French dispositions and home-rules

I have decided for Raguhn as the name of the new Lasalle Scenario. In the real world, that town was the final destination of Osten-Sacken's forces when escaping from French pursuit and the point where they crossed the Mulde River, thus reaching safety with the rest of the Blucher's Silesian Army.
In previous posts I have described the historical background and general situation, the OOB's and the map and Solo mechanisms ruling the Russian deployment. Is now the time for the French dispositions, the special scenario rules and the conditions for victory.

French dispositions
The French forces belong to Morand’s 12th Division (Bertrand’s IV Corps) and Roussel’s 2nd Lt Cavalry Division (Sebastiani’s II Corps) and make up for a total of 14 infantry battalions, 6 cavalry regiments and 2 foot and 1 horse batteries. All these units will be used, and must be divided into Advance Guard, Main Body, Right Flank Guard and Left Flank Guard and will enter following the blue arrows of the game map. My assignment of units and commanders was:
Advance Guard (Enter in Move 1, central green arrow)
Belair (-1/¶) (1st Brigade/12th Division)
1/8e Leger R/E/SK2
2/8e Leger R/E/SK2
3/8e Leger R/E/SK2
4e Chev-Leg Lanciers R/E/Pu/Ln
Left Flank Guard (Reinforcements, left green arrow)
Roussel (-1/¶) (2rd Light Cavalry Division)
4/8e Leger R/E/SK2
5e Hussar Regiment R/E/Pu
9e Hussar Regiment R/E/Pu
7/1 Horse Battery Horse/2 cannon/Medium/1 Howitzer
Right Flank Guard (Reinforcements, right green arrow)
Lagrange (-/¶) (8th Light Cavalry Brigade)
2e Chev-Leg Lanciers R/E/Pu/Ln
11e Chasseurs a Cheval R/A/Pu
3/137e Ligne R/E/SK2
Main Body (Reinforcements, central green arrow)
Bertrand (+1/*) (C-i-C )
Morand (+1/*) (12th Division )
2nd Brigade Toussaint (+1/*)
1/13e Ligne R/E/SK2
2/13e Ligne R/E/SK2
3/13e Ligne R/E/SK2
4/13e Ligne R/E/SK2
3rd Brigade Hulot (+1/*)
1/23e Ligne R/E/SK2
2/23e Ligne R/E/SK2
4/23e Ligne R/E/SK2
1/137e Ligne R/E/SK2
2/137e Ligne R/E/SK2
1/2 Foot Artillery Foot/3 cannon/Medium/1 Howitzer
3/2 Foot Artillery Foot/3 cannon/Medium/1 Howitzer
7th Light Cavalry Brigade Dommanget (-/-)
12e Chasseurs a Cheval R/A/Pu

Situation at the start and Reinforcements
There are not units in the table map at the start of the game (see map). The French Advance Guard enters in turn 1. The rest of the French units may enter as reinforcements. Use 2D6 for the Arrival Turn (p. 91 of e-Lasalle). The units arrive in march or attack column as desired.
The Russians units enter according to the Solo mechanisms described elsewhere. Try to maintain the integrity of the organic brigades and divisions.

Optional rule: Irregular cavalry (Cossacks)
Lasalle does not allow Irregular units to charge regular ones in open terrain, so this rule try to remediate this apparent anomaly.
1) Irregular cavalry units may charge enemy units standing in 'limbered' or 'march column' formation in open terrain.
2) Irregular cavalry units must to pass a 'Discipline' test to initiate the charge in open terrain.
3) If routed in 'decisive combat' the irregular cavalry unit is immediately broken.

Optional rule: Assaults of defiles (bridges and fords)
Tha Raguhn tablemap contain several bridges and fords (open terrain) corssing several stremas (rough terrain). To profit from the advantages of bridges and fords, the units must be in march column formation. Any other formation used to move across a stream is affected by the rough terrain penalizations. If a unit whishes to charge across a bridge or ford in march formation (a possibility not allowed by Lasalle rulebook), use the following optional rule:
1) A march column can assault a defile like a bridge, a fortified gate, a ford, etc. It represents not only true march columns, but also all those formations with a very reduced front.
2) It fights at 1/2 dice and with no previous shooting, adding a -2 for "bad terrain" as they will be fighting in cramped quarters.
3) The enemy can use the "cover" or "higher elevation" modifiers when applicable.
3) However the small front, the enemy never halves their dice

Victory conditions
The French goal is to block the Russian retreat, while the Russians must to accomplish the contrary. The victory assignment must be made on the basis of the total number of Russian units exiting by the west side of the table, but taking in account that the Russian units not appearing actually on the table are assumed to have escaped French detection. The following table list one possible Victory table as a function of the percentage of these escaping Russians units.

75% - 100%   Russian Victory
50% - 75%     Drawn battle
25% - 50%     French minor Victory
Under 25%     French major Victory

However, this table must be game tested.

Share |