Impromptu Games

I will definitely be there.

Something tells me everyone else in the room will know something that I don’t lol

I think the scenario would work well with an army commander

do you mean like, Pat sitting in separate room making plan and then only allowed to communicate within game via couriers?
a bit extreme... ))
I like the 2 corps scenarios - adds extra flavour...

Eylau II?

I'm happy to have another go, hopefully as just an infantry division commander...

Something tells me everyone else in the room will know something that I don’t lol

Ehey wasn't there either, so it's actually perfect opportunity to replay this scenario with you 2 as corps commanders...

Okay. That will work. Ehey and I as Corps commanders. I am good with not being the ONLY one in the dark on this.

Are Ehey and I allowed to talk/plan beforehand? And if per chance we can meet on battlefield in game can we talk in Discord?

It might help if those who were there Tuesday went ahead and chose different divisions to command this next time. That way we take a closer step to a new scenario dynamic.

It will also help if Digby finds a nice spot or cafe for a socially distant picnic. So he should get the division closest to that location to maximize the time his cooks have to prepare a good meal. Corps command builds up an appetite

My thoughts:

1) Pat & Ehey have a discussion in private beforehand to decide the grand army plan. If one of them wants to be Napoleon, plus take a corps that is okay! At this discussion they select which player will command which division. No ifs, no buts. They decide (just bear in mind our newer players have not much experience with cavalry).
2) They return to the main chat and hand out the commands ONLY. No planning. No hints.
3) In game in the first few minutes the 2 corps commanders issue orders to their divisions via courier. If that will take a while they can order a very quick "march here now" or "send out patrols here now" order to get troops moving and then send out more detailed instructions on the march.

Are Ehey and I allowed to talk/plan beforehand? And if per chance we can meet on battlefield in game can we talk in Discord?

not between you... you can make plan and discuss it with your corps... on Tuesday I distributed (or suggested without opposition) people between corps and it kind of worked... I just s--ed it with stupid plan and as mentioned already, that if you're corps commander then scout reports from the cavalry division you command will not get to you...
I don't think you'd need so much communication between you guys... but maybe quick chat in Discord when you meet in game could help...

I can play today at the usual time, 14:00 EST, 19:00 BST.

Pat & Ehey have a discussion in private beforehand to decide the grand army plan.

And to think, we can actually do worse than we did Tues.

that's interesting option and maybe Ehey and Pat don't mind.... I would as my game have issues with me typing messages - often message window closes during typing and if I'm lucky the text is still there when I reopen it... but also sometimes I lose whole message before sending... so having to fight this and leading a division would be beyond my patience...

I think having a corps commander who has to be given reports from his cavalry screen commander is just another level of coolness. I like it. Of course while Pat/Ehey are playing the corps commanders there's no reason they can't also take a brigade or division. It will depend how many players turn up.

Pat/Ehey - FYI last time Grog, me and Phil were I Corps (left flank), and Kevin, Vince and Miko were IV Corps (right flank) so I think it would make a more interesting game for all if those positions could be swapped as much as possible so that we all see a fresh angle on the battle.

Kevin - can you post up here the OOB and briefing/map? I checking in Discord but you have removed the files.

Kevin - can you post up here the OOB and briefing/map? I checking in Discord but you have removed the files.

Obviously, not letting Pat to think too much

After two days of bloody fighting, the Emperor was preparing to break off the battle and withdraw closer
to the Prussian border.  Before the order could be given, word was received that noises could be heard
along the Russian line indicating it was they who were withdrawing.  The Emperor has ordered the I and
IV Corps forward and engage the retreating enemy.

Intelligence:
Apart from the noises heard early in the morning, the disposition of the Russian forces is unknown.
The last known positions are those from the battle the previous day.  The two avenues of escape back to
Russia are through Althof and Schmoditten.  It is likely the enemy will be found along those clogged roads.

Objective:
Break through any enemy rear guard.  Attack any Russian formations found.  Take control of the towns of
Althof and Schmoditten.  For this purpose, 1,000 infantry must in the towns and unengaged.


I Corps: Maréchal d'Empire Jean Bernadotte (13448 Inf.  3569 Cav.  40 Guns))

 2e Division: Général de division Olivier Rivaud (6291 Inf.  13 Guns))
   Brigade Grenadiers: Général de brigade Jean-Marie Dorsenne (1556 Inf. 2 btns.  Avg. Exp. 9.0)
   Brigade Chasseurs: Général de brigade Jerome Soules (1654 Inf. 2 btns.  Avg. Exp. 9.0)
   Brigade Doumustier: Général de brig.  Doumustier (3081 Inf. 6 btns.  Avg. Exp. 5.
   6e/8e Artillerie à pied: Capit.6e Co/8e batterie à pied (6 Guns   Avg. Exp. 6.0)
   14e Co/5e Artillerie à pied: Capit. 14e Co/5e Artillerie à pied (7 Guns   Avg. Exp. 5.0)

 3e Division: Général de division Jean-Baptiste Drouet (7157 Inf.  15 Guns))
   Brigade Campana: Général de brig.  François Campana (3435 Inf. 6 btns.  Avg. Exp. 5.4)
   Brigade Vare: Général de brigade Louis Vare (3722 Inf. 4 btns.  Avg. Exp. 5.5)
   2e Co/7e Artillerie à pied: Capit. 2e Co/7e Artillerie à pied (8 Guns   Avg. Exp. 4.
   18e Co/5e Artillerie à pied: Capit. 18e Co/5e Artillerie à pied (7 Guns   Avg. Exp. 5.2)

 Cavalerie Légère III Corps: General of Brigade Jean Viallane (  3569 Cav.  12 Guns))
   Cuirassier Brigade Raynaud: Général de brigade Hilaire Raynaud (921 Cav. 2 heavy regts.  Avg.Exp. 6.0)
   Dragon Brigade Fauconnet: Général de brigade Fauconnet (1030 Cav. 3 medium regts.  Avg.Exp. 5.5)
   Dragon Brigade Marisey: Général de brigade  Frédéric Marisey (1068 Cav. 2 medium regts.  Avg.Exp. 5.0)
   Hollande Brigade de Cavalerie: Général de brigade Maschak ADC (550 Cav. 2 heavy regts.  Avg.Exp. 4.9)
   2e Garde batterie à cheval: Capit. 2e Garde batterie à cheval (9 Guns   Avg. Exp. 8.0)
   3e Co/2e/sec 2 Artillerie à cheval: Capit.3e Co/2e/sec 2 Artillerie à cheval (3 Guns   Avg. Exp. 6.0)

IV Corps: Maréchal Nicolas Soult (29541 Inf.  3654 Cav.  49 Guns))

 2e Division: Général de division Étienne Heudelet de Bierre (13231 Inf.  13 Guns))
   Brigade Werle: Général de brigade François Werle (4450 Inf. 6 btns.  Avg. Exp. 5.7)
   Brigade Amey: Général de brigade François Amey (3398 Inf. 5 btns.  Avg. Exp. 6.7)
   Brigade Rouyer: Général de brig. Marie François Rouyer (5383 Inf. 6 btns.  Avg. Exp. 6.3)
   17e Co/5e Artillerie à pied: Capit. 17e Co/5e Artillerie à pied (7 Guns   Avg. Exp. 5.2)
   4e Co/3e Artillerie à pied: Capit. 4e Co/3e Artillerie à pied (6 Guns   Avg. Exp. 5.0)

 Vieille Garde: Général de brigade François Roussel (10358 Inf.  10 Guns))
   Brigade Vivies: Général de brigade Raymond Vives (5746 Inf. 6 btns.  Avg. Exp. 7.0)
   3e Brigade: Général de brigade Barry (2052 Inf. 4 btns.  Avg. Exp. 7.0)
   Brigade Gauthier: Général de brigade Jean Gauthier (2560 Inf. 4 btns.  Avg. Exp. 6.5)
   12e Co/1er Artillerie à pied: Capit. 12e Co/1er Artillerie à pied (6 Guns   Avg. Exp. 4.1)
   2e/7e Artillerie à pied: Capit.2e Co/7e batterie à pied (4 Guns   Avg. Exp. 6.0)

 1er Division: Général de division Charles Louis Grandjean (5952 Inf.  12 Guns))
   Brigade Roguet: Général de brigade François Roguet (3454 Inf. 4 btns.  Avg. Exp. 5.0)
   Brigade Graindorge: Général de brig.  Jean Graindorge (2498 Inf. 5 btns.  Avg. Exp. 5.4)
   4e Co/1e Artillerie à pied: Capit. 4e Co/1e Artillerie à pied (8 Guns   Avg. Exp. 4.0)
   3e/7e Artillerie à pied: Capit.3e Co/7e batterie à pied (4 Guns   Avg. Exp. 6.0)

 2e Dragon Cavalerie Division: Général de division Emmanuel de Grouchy (  3654 Cav.  14 Guns))
   Cuirassier Brigade la Houssaye: Général de brigade Armand de la Houssaye (1200 Cav. 2 heavy regts.  Avg.Exp. 7.0)
   Brigade Wathier: Général de brigade Pierre Wathier (864 Cav. 2 light regts.  Avg.Exp. 5.0)
   2e et 4e régiments de hussards: Général de division Tilly (840 Cav. 2 light regts.  Avg.Exp. 5.0)
   Dragon Brigade Fenerolz: Général de brigade Jean Fenerolz (750 Cav. 2 medium regts.  Avg.Exp. 5.0)
   1er Co/6e Artillerie à cheval: Capit. 1er Co/6e Artillerie à cheval (6 Guns   Avg. Exp. 5.0)
   1er Néerlandais artillerie à cheval: Capit. 1er Néerlandais artillerie à cheval (8 Guns   Avg. Exp. 4.0)

If you insert a space between the number 8 and a ")" then the dude in shades goes away

interesting

That was fun. Had my own entourage as Napoleon.

Had to depart the post-game dialogue early. But from my view, I just kept a couple principles in mind. First it was important all 7 divisions be more or less on same side of field.  Second once I identified what I thought was the main fight (more or less NNW of Eylau) in the first hour or so then be definition any other fight would merely detract from the main one.

And that fight was I Corps area. Earl. Phil. With Kevins cav moving from screen to support. Took me a little bit to get my bearings on that fight. Kevin’s cav had done some initial successful charges. And the Russians were farther south than I realized. My brain took a bit to process it.

Soon there was a big force descending upon Elyau from N and NE and I did not want to get distracted by it. Thus Digby became the first main sacrificial lamb to basically allow IV corps to shift from east of Elyau to west of Elyau. That allowed the rest of IV corps infantry to get on the west side and head to The NW objective.

And to a degree I just assumed that would be Digbys lot. He would fight on the line at Eylau reat of the scenario.

Once Miko and Vince got to the west aide of Elyau I sent Kevin and Phil NNE to the eastern objective. Then I sent Miko and Vince NW to that NW objective. I sent Earl between the two force so he could support either thrust. Well, I sent the order anyway.

I kept Ehey in reserve with his cav for a short time. Which put him in our right rear. When I went over to where Ehey was, I saw he was helping Earl with a Russian force that was essentially in our right rear. So then I realized Earl had not gone north. At the same time I got a note from Miko saying Russian cav was at the NW objective. I also saw Digby to the south, marching west after defending Elyau.

So the fight in my brain was centered around both objectives.

At that point I decided to make Earl the new sacrificial lamb. Digby said his division - the biggest in the army - had few casualties so that meant i had good striking power. I sent him north. I needed Ehey to help Miko and Vince so I sent Ehey to NW objective. Which basically left Earl alone and outnumbered. But as long as he was there we could advance to the objectives more or less cleanly.

Phil took the eastern objective quickly. Must faster than I anticipated. So I had to change mental images. As a minimum the Russians were between the objectives. But that meant the fight was going to be around the other objective so that is where I went to inspire the troops. No need to be on the eastern side.

And There were a TON of Russians there. More than I thought. The replay was pretty stark. Probably at least double the number i had imagined. I found a gap in the Russian lines near that objective and ordered Vince to double quick through it. He wasted no time. Vince took that one in gallant style and Miko/Thunder followed up. Even Digby got there. Which was fas marching.

Thank you to the commanders - even Kevin - for adjusting to my orders as the battle changed. 7 divisions is not an easy span of control. Especially in terrible fog.

I heard the phrase “Chinese fire drill” in Eheys recording during the after action chat. Maybe. But a battle is fluid. And the picture in front of a division commander is vastly different than the picture at a corps or army. To the division commander his front is the crisis and priority. For the army commander I had to prioritize amongst 7 perceptions of priority a d 2 objectives.

So yeah it can come across as a wacky drill. But definitely a challenge working 7 divisions. Ehey and I had a choice to each take a corps and hope to coordinate or essentially a 7-division army. Once we got 9 players we chose the latter.

No doubt I made some dumb calls. Always do. But it was sure a lot of fun to work the challenge.

Anyway lots of fun from an army perspective

The only thing that stuck out to me was there was some confusion caused when you gave direct orders to the 4th Corps. I didn't particularly mind but for the first bit of the battle I was giving them orders to try and bring the corps together and then that overlapped with your orders at some point. It was unclear to the rest of 4th Corps who weren't partial to our agreement to put you in overall command. It is certainly more organized and straight forward for there to be two commands when there are two corps. Even if one command is higher ranking than the other there is some value of organization to pass orders through the chain of command normally. I had little to no picture of what was going on at all once the Emperor took direct control. As I said, it's not that I mind, just that without telling people what was going on there was a small bit of confusion caused. I can easily see it is difficult to control 7 divisions even with no troops of your own, and being able to just issue one order to a corp commander would certainly alleviate some of that pressure. But overall nothing I would complain about. Bit of a march starting on the right and ending up attacking the left objective I guess.

When you told me to detach a brigade for Martin and move west if I had known I was going to be in the reserve I probably would have disobeyed the order for a few moments as Martin was really benefiting from my support at that moment, and going from actively helping to inactively doing nothing felt like an inefficiency even if it isn't always. Fortunately he managed to get out mostly unscathed without my help.

Great point Ehey.

Your post made me realize I neglected to explain and ask your advice on the matter.

Once the Russians attacked Eylau and threatened to split our force and your army in particular I reasoned that since I had overall command I would focus on dealing with that critical slot directly for a moment — Clausewitz would call that coup d’ouel (American pronunciation “coop day oil”) — I went ahead and pulled Vince’s small division out of the fray, pushed Digbys division headlong into that mess, and asked you and Miko to avoid it. Again the goal was to make sure the 2 corps were close enough to communicate and mutually support and I knew I was the only one at the moment who had the overall battle picture.

My intent was then to hand your corps back to you.

And in fact I was going to have your corps be on the right and my corps on the left and we would drive to the objectives more or less as discussed.

So my first move to do that was to have you replace Kevin. Because I wanted to put Kevins cav on the left. It was a nice elevated position and you would have the chance to recalibrate. Your division came to the west side first and you asked me “where do you need me” so I sent you to Kevins position. And informed Kevin.

Since your infantry at that point was not yet in the area I had time to go check on Earl and Phil. I had Earl focus in the fight in front of him. Phil last told me he was driving North and I wanted to get going on that objective. But when I got to where I last left Phil and then turned North I saw nobody! I was literally “where is Phil?” I had to go East to find him and realize that he was driving more towards the other objective.

Damn fog. Could not see crap.

If I had your corps drive as originally intended then we would have a delay and a jam. I didn’t think Phil and Earl could make the shift now. I realized it was easier to just keep your infantry moving.

So that’s where I saw a critical juncture and played traffic cop. And also realized your corps would — because of how I made adjustments— be spread too far for your effective command while you were commanding a division. It was easier for me to ride back and forth with my small entourage

So I should have made it clear what I was doing from a command view. And, when events transpired that basically had most of your corps going to that NW objective likewise made it clear that it was back to your command.

So, the the conditions I unintentionally created by playing back to back traffic cop in the fog was to create a 7-division corps. I realized what I did at the time and okay with it in principle since we agreed I was overall in command and had no direct brigade or division to distract me. But I made it harder on myself by NOT rethinking the span of command on the fly and defining which part you needed to take. And I literally could not wrap my brain around how to solve it in the moment, so I just kept working each division until they were on the way to their assigned objectives. At that point I looked for the next critical point which turned out to be a 300-yard wide “alley” west of that NW objective for Vince to run through.

So yeah, Ehey, would have been easier if I rode up to you and talked about it mid battle on Discord. Would have cleared confusion and I could have heard what you were thinking. And could have reduced the big span of control I had created on the fly purely by reacting, and now needed to reduce

I really enjoy the leadership and communication challenges of this game. And since I run leadership programs of different types I always enjoy thinking about what decisions and actions we take in the moment.

The problem we had was that Pat took command and this was not the intention of the scenario. Pat was I Corps commander and Ehey was IV Corps commander and both had equal authority and ONLY authority over their own divisions. Neither should have been talking to any player in the other corps. I think it was a great shame that Pat circumvented this by assuming overall command. It was fine for Pat to take the Napoleon sprite as long as he didn't take the Napoleon authority. I got very confused as a IV corps division commander by getting messages from the I Corps commander so of course I just ignored all of them!

The game was not supposed to have an overall C-in-C which it was why it turned out to be a relatively easy win; in effect Pat had 1x 7 division corps and that was not how the scenario was designed.

A pity.

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