Miko's mini campaign - Kevin vs Pat (Russians vs French)

I can see the concept of mini campaigns have been there for a while on this forum and attempted several times (not sure if any was completed).
What I propose is nothing revolutionary, I'd say is very minimal as there will be very little that players would have to do. It will be similar to "linked maps" in some ways.. but the maps could change and only thing that would matter is forcing the enemy off the field with minimal losses (as these will be carried over). There won't be fixed teams except CinCs that would be Kevin on Russian side and Pat on French side (of course they are free to seek advise from the players they got available for the battle or even pass the command if they wish so...
How do you win? By forcing enemy off the field twice... imagine the slider -2 -1 0 1 2 - so we start with zero if side A wins battle the slider moves to the right, if side B wins then the slider moves to the left.. so the campaign would have minimum of 2 battles if one side wins 2 times subsequently. A draw (if none of the side leaves the field) doesn't move the slider.
There would be some reinforcements but these will be handled by me with sometimes giving an options to the CinCs to choose from.

To be continued...

I will break him.

I think it's an excellent idea of course. Even if it doesn't work out to our hopes and dreams it will hopefully shed some more light on things that we can work to improve from there. To that end I think starting simple is a good idea and the scenario you suggest sounds like a good place to start. My only question is what constitutes a force 'leaving the field' as a signal for the end of the match?

“Leaving the field” would characterized by Kevin’s army doing what it often does. And turning up the audio one would hear screams and cries of “please make it stop”

I should have the pilot scenario ready for Friday - Pat are you available?

Please see the first battle map. Both sides will start within or near their Exit Zones - However they should end battle outside of them if they don't want to consider themselves forced off the field - additionally the thick lines show the last acceptable line of defence (in other words you can't line up just outside exit zone and claim you were not forced off the field... hiding somewhere far away from the exit zones will be penalized with attrition.
The towns of Krasny, Brod Novaya, and Lipki will provide small additional reinforcements if occupied, totally uncontested (no enemy within 500 yards radius). The bonus is not worth fighting for them - they just provide incentive to do something more than sitting on the last acceptable line of defence.

- Situation after battle will be assessed by me and where the sides end up on the map will have impact on the next battle (map selection, position on the map, attrition, reinforcements etc.)

- Commands should operate within reasonable distance from the visible roads on the map and make sure they end up connected to the exit zone by the road when the scenario finish.

- You are not allowed to enter enemy exit Zone and in case of pursuing - make sure you brake off couple hundred yards before the enemy Exit Zone (to not step into it "by accident") also no bombardment of the troops within exit zones is allowed - thus make sure your batteries are far enough to avoid this.

I am definitely a available tomorrow and looking forward to it. Can you change the Russian “exit zone” to the Russian “zone of shame?” Asking for a friend.

So, After Fierce battle on the Eastern Flank and "all quiet" on the Western Flank, the first battle of the campaign was over (or was it?).

The French suffered considerable casualties in killed and wounded. Also crews of 11 guns were forced to abandon their pieces.
Before twilight the French were able to push back Russian Eastern flank and when pulling back they managed to salvage 4 of their guns back north to safety. However 7 guns still remain abandoned between French and Russian lines.
The Russians had reclaimed all their guns that were temporarily abandoned after French Hussars raid into rear of Likhachev position.
The Vadkovsky Brigade from Olsufiev division suffered badly as two of its battalions surrendered to the enemy.
Also both sides lost a regiment of cavalry captured.

Volunteers from Krasny reinforced ranks of Vadkovsky Brigade, while those from Brod Novaya and Lipki joined weakened battalions on the French side.

Now it's time for commanders to decide what to do next. Couriers with options have been sent to CinCs...

We opted to play conservative along the Brad Novaya line. Let the Russians come down from the mountain. So each of us screened ahead with a cav squadron, found the Russians on the big ridge. In their right and center, I rode back and forth along their line, maybe 600 yards out in front. I was satisfied they were not moving so I advanced Phil closer to them on our left (East) and kept Miko in reserve in the west.

I decided to send Phil to hit them on their right, roughly taking a line of attack from Lipki to the big hill. As he started, I sent a courier to adjust his line of march farther south to strike that spot more from the easterly direction. I was going to send one of my own brigades (under Borenkool - a good first experience to be had) forward to demonstrate and keep the enemy attention. If we were going to hit the Russians it would not be dead center up the hill. And all I really wanted to do was entice them to follow us back to our lines, as we had 3 batteries nicely positioned (at least I thought that was the case - see below)

We were just starting the feint operation to lure them when the feedback from Phil suggested 2 divisions were on his flank. Okay, so maybe re-think the approach and just pull back entirely. Let them come on our left. Then I suddenly discovered -- given the 700-yard visibility --luring was truly not needed. The Russians (Kevin) were coming not from the left but from the center. Fast.

Not a problem - we had a good position to receive the attack. It was what I wanted.

Oh wait, my artillery commanders apparently did not get the memo. They took the "all-out attack" posture quite literally this time. First time I had ever seen that level of aggression. Recklessness actually.

In focusing on the scouting and Phil's sector I neglected to notice that my artillery commanders had meanwhile decided to move 1/2 mile south on their own. Completely outpacing their assigned infantry supports. Post-battle conversations confirmed that at about the same time, Kevin and I thought the same thing: "are those batteries REALLY alone?" ...

Kevin no doubt reacted with glee and I watched in horror.

Both my batteries literally advanced by themselves into Kevin's cavalry screen whilst my attention was elsewhere. Phil's battery was likewise in advance of his infantry supports and got overrun. Next time I will need to TC the batteries to keep them in position. The ground is quite good for artillery and had mine styed put they would have been fine. The Russian guns were well-placed and had the advantage and that's where we got hit hard

The Russians also hit us on our left. Luckily, the Russians over-extended that attack (in front of Phil) and with one small division, not two divisions as I supposed (Ehey was actually in front of Miko) So when we pushed them back it more or less compensated for the dent they made in our center and battery capture. My own cav was repeatedly out-performed by my Russian counterpart (who shall remain nameless) but was perfectly fine running down infantry.

I called for Miko to hit Kevin on Kevins left as he advanced, because due to visibility restrictions and my focus on my own front I had no idea Ehey stood between Miko and me. So on Mikos side the fight was relatively light.

The scenario ended as we were pushing their right back up the big hill, more or less where I originally intended to go, though obviously not in the way I intended it to happen. And even if we continued the pursuit we would not have been strong enough to hold the hill because it was only intended to be a feint. Most of my infantry was back on the original defensive line.

A fine welcome and hats off to Borenkool, a first time player who handled his brigade well in my division. His was the only infantry I used outside of a TC'ed battalion I kept with me on the advance. He held the line in defense and very quickly and adeptly shifted to the attack on the right.

Overall lesson is a salient one. It is always a trade-off in exercising overall command. The moment you get tunnel vision in the front of your division the less overall awareness you maintain.

It was a draw and we sustained more casualties -- most of them in my division -- than we inflicted.

I really liked the format. Kevin will hear from the French army again.

Our plan was to take the mountains and commit to the better defensible position. I was the last to arrive given the amount of distance I had to cover. With the fog finding the enemy was proving difficult. We suspected something was in front of our left due to the single cavalry regiment we found, but I never saw more than that until 17:00. Around then Kevin was moving east along the ridge to focus on finding and hopefully engaging the French in a battle we can win. I didn't like the gap that was forming and I didn't want to be too far away from the fight so I followed a little bit. Good thing I did too because Miko was poised waiting the whole time.

Despite there being little action on my front the whole game being about positions and information was still quite interesting. Doing things on the foundational and simple level makes it obvious all of the potential variables we could play with in this style. Certain objectives could become more useful in a unique way that might give something like stat changes, or ammo amounts, or more recruits, or something. We also could go for a somewhat asymmetrical approach sometime. One force might be larger than another, and the smaller force just needs to survive and keep enough of their force alive while reinforcements come. There are many options. I look forward to next time.

The OOB-s are already out of balance - so, we'll see how it develops naturally and leads to different scenarios - the updated map shows were the abandoned French cannons are and people of Yadrovo felt jealous about other villagers joining the fun of dying without purpose for bored aristocrats, so if they get into control of either side they'll join it.
That's if we play a battle on this field again... still waiting for Kevin's reply.

I've got now response from both sides - the battle will resume on the same field as per updated map.

I'm afraid it's gonna end up like this...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cD_AejDc1fA

Imagine my surprise when we did not find the French vying for possession of the central ridge. As it was observed at our war council, "Even Pat will see the strategic importance of the central high ground." I thought we would both attain a portion of that ridge, us in the east and the barbarians in the west. The fight would happen along the forested top. I was quite pleased when all three divisions made it to the top of the ridge unopposed.

The hardest part of the battle was finding the cowardly enemy. Scouts found a few enemy SE of Yadrovo, but when Ehey advanced towards that location he reported unsurprisingly, the French had hiked up their skirts and ran away. Grog next reported the enemy NE of the large hill he occupied. For awhile I thought the French were moving NE of Yakshino, hoping that by maneuvering well away from us, they could cower in a corner of the map until the Russian hoards were safely out of range. I descended from the ridge and moved towards the T intersection with the Brod Novaya Rd. At that moment, Phil's division began advancing.

I was about to hit his flank, when out of the fog rode two French light cavalry regiments. They made their fateful mistake when they advanced on my own light cavalry. Decimation followed. The French commander foolishly remained on the field and my hussars made a dash for him and separated his head from his body with a single stroke. It was his least valuable possession. I doubt he misses it. With the enemy cavalry seen off I sent my own back to the rear to reorganize while I got my infantry into position to attack the French now ascending the hill towards Grog. At that moment I was astonished to see unsupported, French artillery approaching my position. Perhaps the gift was a peace offering? Nevertheless, I hurried a regiment of cavalry towards the guns where they had their way with the hapless gunners.

Again I was about to move forward with the infantry when more French cavalry appeared. This time it was 2 regiments of dragoons and one of chasseur a cheval. And again I brought my own cavalry forward, dispatched one of the dragoon regiments and a couple of skirmish units that got mixed up in the melee.

By this time, Grog had pushed forward, too far forward, to the base of his hill and was hit by both a French cavalry and infantry counterattack. Such a thing I did not think possible from so poorly led rabble. Back up the hill Grog went. My infantry finally began its attack against the French flank and started to make progress. However, darkness descended and the battle ended.

Sunday's reprisal of this game was very different and also quite fun. Me, Vince and Miko took the French side against Ehey, Kevin and Phil.

Our conservative approach left us at the foot of a tall ridge and my choosing to say meant it was more or less obvious that the Russians were not welcome to stay. The vodka yes. Troops no.

Assumptions: (1) we were outnumbered in artillery tubes; (2) our cavalry would likely under-perform; (3) Phil likes trees; (4) The biggest Russian division was on our right (West) flank

So our plan reflected the intent to inflict Russian casualties by focusing our attack on a single spot. We chose the Russian (left) flank at Krasny use the limited visibility to our advantage, and stick to treelines as much as possible (e.g. ask ourselves the question: "what would Phil do?") because it could negate some of their cavalry advantage. My division was on our right flank. So I shifted West laterally to Yadrovo then south til I went up the ridge and turned east along the treeline. Hit the pass from the West and SW. Vice was in the center. He was to likewise shift with the bulk of his force (keeping a small portion in front of the Russians as a screen) and then attack same spot from the NW. Miko was on the left. He was to flank widely to the left but make sure the Russians saw him, and eventually circle around entirely and position himself such as to hit any reinforcements that might come to the aid of the our flank attack

My orders were to not engage the Russians at all until at least 1600 (1 hour into the batle), and the first one to engage would be Vince, followed by me, then Miko. So we intended to fight the battle for the last 90 minutes or so to maximize the chance that most of us would be focused on one spot.

Like all plans, in almost worked perfectly had it not been for the enemy. I hit Ehey from flank and rear successfully. I had plenty of time to setup my attack from an excellent angle asI was unobserved. And Miko drove Phil on the right from behind. I could not see Miko clearly at all -- one flag in the fog --and actually thought he was nowhere near the big ridge. In reality he was just fine about 1 mile off to my right.

But Kevin and Ehey focused their attention on Vince. First Ehey then Kevin en echelon. From my position I could see the attack but in the fog could not make out the whole picture. I thought Vince had hit Ehey as planned but that Kevin had already progressed further south, away from the fight, by the time Vince launched his attack. In fact the 2Russian divisions had come driving down the hill and hit Vince from 2 directions. He held valiantly as long as he could,

My own attack blew away Ehey's rear and I barreled down the big hill, capturing most of 2 batteries in the process. As I began to reform to continue the attack, one of my brigades decided 100 or so casualties and running out of toilet paper was too much and decided to disengage. That effectively neutered my initial success, and they would not reengage until 20 minutes or so were left in the battle. The Russians recovered and came back at me with a vengeance. While I eventually did not lose any of the ground I gained, my division got chewed up in the process.

It was a tough fight overall.

Sorry all for dragging this but working now on reinforcement system so it doesn't require too much work from the players but same time gives enough flexibility.
I think I'll abandon the idea of prisoner exchange as this will be never proposed by either side
However I'll provide both sides with prisoner numbers taken from the beginning of the campaign which would give the idea about the damage inflicted on the opposing side.

Good news - the French Army under Count de Pathetic (shortened Pat) has now recovered after 2-day encounter that is called Battle of Brod Novaya - Yadrovo.
Russian army might need more time as Prince Kevinsky is known for his meticulous preparation of his baggage train before every trip that takes longer than one afternoon.
But once it's ready we can expect nothing short of Russian Juggernaut...

We Pathetics are proud of our heritage. Sometimes we have even reached levels beyond our station. Like my late Uncle Baron von Mediocrity. Nobody set a minimally acceptable standard like he did. And - assuming I actually get players to join my side so I can talk using the plural form - WE collectively laugh at this so-called Russian juggernaut.

The Cossacks will not be kind to you.

Excellent news - Prince Kevinsky has laid down his reinforcement plan to his logistic staff... however some of the officers complained that the baggage train is oversized for the campaign and suggested trimming it down. We're expecting the Prince's decision shortly (means usually a week or two)

So Prince Kevinsky eventually agreed to reduce his baggage train... with this behind us we can't wait to put the new armies to the test...

The map is everyone's favourite:



Exit zones - as per coloured areas...

the red circled towns would provide 1 reinforcement point - that will be applied to infantry
the town must be totally indisputably under control - no enemy within half mile...

Additional note - if the unit ends the day cut off from the exit zone or far away from the visible road on the map it will suffer from 5% to 20% attrition casualties.

What's the name of the map? Is it already downloaded?

It's Nap_Ger_Ant3 - or similar - can't check at the moment... yes, I think it's available with the recent version of the mod so you should have it.
Bare in mind "everyone's favourite" was a sarcasm

Scenario is ready - so we can play it on Friday if we get the numbers and both CinCs present.

A brief update on what's my conclusions after the last (not) battle.

1) I wasn't aware of the map specifics - I thought, there would be no problem for Kevin to challenge the northern objectives while defending in the centre. This was based on experience from my older scenario - the one that Austrians are racing towards exit... when the fight usually happened near the eastern edge of the map.
So first conclusion in general is to avoid this kind of maps for the campaign.

2) I liked that this time there was no crazy wide flanking movements - so I'll keep the rule about the attrition casualties when cut off from exit zone or away from the main roads linking to the exit zone

3) Both sides preserved the forces well with just some skirmishing happening - however these were costly - both sides losing regiment of light cav - they are expensive to replace.


Now the things I'm thinking of introducing:
1) Economy:

1.1) both sides will have the Money (simply called Gold) - each unit of Gold will correspond to reinforcement credits - however these will be also paid for maintenance of the army in the same ratio. I calculated that initial armies (before 1st battle) were worth about 325 Gold, so to give a small margin the income will be set to 340 per side... this will be paid into treasury after every battle and the maintenance will be paid just before the next battle (after the reinforcements)... so if you reinforce too much you may end up not having enough gold for maintenance which will cause desertion...
Newly created units will have -1 experience (so 5 experience for Dragoons and 4 exp for all other units) - this will be bumped to normal level of 5 (6 for Dragoons) after the battle even if the unit did not take part in any combat.

1.2) there will be recruits and horses available - the recruits number will increase by some small number (yet to determine) after each battle... while horses will have to be purchased...
so in order to reinforce cavalry unit you will need money to "train" as per reinforcements credits, recruits and horses...
The horses from the enemy cavalry units captured will reinforce the horses supply.
At this point you can still only reinforce batteries up to original size - which won't cost recruits only gold and horses if it's a horse battery.


2) Prestige points
This will replace the victory conditions - both sides will start with 10 prestige points... the battle outcome will impact the prestige - so for example if the forced withdraw happened like in original rules, the player will lose 5 prestige points
The side is victorious if the opposite side's prestige is reduced to zero (or below)


Now the idea is that now I can attach prestige and economy values to the towns on the map which will give incentive to capture/defend them, but again failing to defend one town will not mean total disaster, it might just tilt the economy balance into opponent's favour and losing some prestige (probably just one point).

Also - another update

Previously I didn't allow combining battalions from different brigades into one - I thought that the brigade name displayed in-game is taken from the original master OOB...
Now I've tested it and it turns out I was wrong and units moved to another brigade indeed show the new brigade's name.
So from now on it will be possible to add new battalions or move battalions between brigades (not freely but when merging 2 depleted brigades or adding new regiment to the small brigade too).