Sunday 17 May k/spiel - The War of 1810/11

This game picks-up the story several months after our November game.  It is NOT necessary for you to have played in that one however, in order to participate.  These are new player roles, and we may reallocate existing ones.

In future we are running a general poll covering all 2020 games, so if you are planning to come - to any of our games - please register here in the appropriate column https://xoyondo.com/dp/n0YQJM2I6ew2AwD

Martin J


Background to the war

Last year’s campaigning season saw Napoleon triumphant yet again. The attempt by the allies (Russia and Prussia) to push Napoleon out of Germany failed, badly. It left Berlin in French hands and left the Prussians trying to rebuild some form of army over the winter months. What it didn’t do, however, was force them out of the war. Nor did it persuade Sweden to stay out of the war, siding as they did with the allies.

The French achieved victory through a Napoleonic concentration of force, but also a Napoleonic disregard of those logistical constraints which limit mere mortals.  As a result, the supply chain broke down, and the advance ground to a halt after the capture of Berlin.  By September, the French had 45,000 sick in the hospitals, and completing the victory in 1810 was out of the question.  This allowed the scattered Allied forces to evacuate to the east.

Napoleon, despite his success, now finds himself facing three enemies, Prussia, Russia and Sweden. The Russians still hold Poland and the Prussians eastern Prussia with help from the Swedes.

The war moving east has alarmed the Austrians who are still getting over their own 1809 defeat at Napoleon's hands. There are rumours of them mobilising again.

Spring has come, and a new campaigning season is here.


Victory

Victory in the campaign will come from some combination of winning battles and achieving geographical and political objectives.  

We are dealing with large armies of potentially over 300,000 men per side.  You simply cannot operate with a force of that size in one sector because of logistical constraints, the road system which does not allow you to bring all of it to battle, and because geographical objectives are widely separated.


Winning the battles

Nevertheless the most effective way to win battles is by concentrating more men than your opponent in the right place and at the right time. The units are corps of infantry and cavalry.

You concentrate troops by so arranging marches that you make good use of the road system and knowing when to force-march additional corps from further afield.

Players will have some input into battle itself, but this will be limited, as a battle is unlikely to involve more than 2 of the players, so must be resolved very speedily.  So, the focus is on operational skill, rather than tactical decisions involving terrain etc.