AAR "THE EAGLE TURN EAST: POLAND, 1807"

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I suppose that on more than one occasion, and living in other latitudes, it is difficult to find an opponent who wants to get involved in a game created or modified by oneself, so:

We are going to try to create a solo mode operational campaign of the Napoleonic campaign of 1807, based on part of the wargame "1807: The Eagles turn East [1807]" by Kevin Zucker, but replacing the hex board map with a more suitable point-to-point map for solo play. As playing alone is always a challenge because we have to wear both hats, the French and the Russian/Prussian, we are going to also take advantage of the technology and the operational movements of the French side - we will play in principle with the Austrian-Russian side- we will draw them with the Berthier software, which I have had for several years but due to its characteristics it did not quite fit my needs. Berthier has been improving in recent versions, so I guess it's time to give it a chance.

Summing up, we have, on the one hand, Zucker's regulations, which will serve us for the starting deployment of both armies, and of the four scenarios he proposes, we will choose that of the Friedland campaign, from June 4 to June 29, 1807. The point to point map is now ready, with a little big change that I will show you next post, and the translation of both OOB armies to Berthier software. Berthier is an option to consider, because it already contemplates point-to-point movement and the well-known option of sending messages between units.

For those interested in the campaign, you have several readings about the campaign, one of the best known is Napoleon's Campaign in Poland, by F. Loraine Petre, London, 1901, although it has been republished later, Pen & Sword Books, in 2016.

Once I remade the map from hexagons to point-to-point nodes, the first intention was to print the map in parts, and move the units represented by pins and flags, in the old fashion way, for which I was able to obtain a 120x0.80 m cork , which would have looked relatively good on a table, but the problem was that I didn't have a table big enough to put the map on. Another option would have been to hang it but I didn't have any free walls either.
Before creating a domestic conflict, I will transfer it to Tabletop Simulator, with which we resolve the important issue of space, and it gives us graphical facilities that we can take advantage of.
On the other hand, we also have to transfer the map to Berthier, which as you know has a square grid, and name the locations, leaving us with an appearance like the one I show.
The OOB of the two armies is also entered in Berthier so we only have to transfer the initial deployment in hexes from the origin game in hexes to our new point-to-point map.
To give it another added bonus of realism, we will talk about the topic of own supplies and attrition only for our troops and to do so we will take advantage of the tables from another game, Napoleon in Leipzig by Omega Games, which we will rectify to adapt them to our campaign.

Well, let's move on to the topic. We have already more or less finished the module for Tabletop Simulator, so we only have to do the deployment of the pieces and the first turns, which will be demonstrative of the aspects to be considered, both movement and supply of the pieces. The next post will be to frame the objectives of the campaign and some aspects of the game mechanics.

Excellent stuff Chorch.  As ever.  I'm looking forward to seeing how this turns out.  

Our Little Gaddesden group is starting to get to grips with TTS too at the moment.  It is occasionally quirky.  We find it takes a bit of practice to use.  But overall it is a very useful app.

We'll hopefully be stealing some of your ideas in due course too.  With due attribution of course  

Martin

Hi Martin,

It is an "adventure" perhaps too daring, because you have to search in four different sources, but I was very interested in being able to use Berthier, which can be used with the typical
Umpire and players, or solitaire mode, more or less, adapting it. It can also be used with the typical Krieggspiel maps, and above all, be able to use the option to send messages, which can be modulated, depending on the percentage of the number of lost messages or enemy presence...
Tabletop Simulator is the future made present, when it can acquire some Vassal type features.
Vassal is more complete for the typical board player, making a module is not difficult, but it can be quite tedious.
Making a module with TTS is much more intuitive and faster, apart from the advantage of 3D, which offers you a much better environment.
Don't worry about copyright, I'm happy to contribute.  
For the future I have in mind a campaign of the entry of Saint-Cyr into Catalonia, with the 7th Army Corps, to relieve Barcelona besieged by the Spanish, where there are several variables. I think it would be very suitable for a club campaign: Mountainous terrain in several areas, a coast threatened by the Royal Navy, several fortresses and a decimated Spanish army with the presence of several militia contingents that are difficult to attack due to their knowledge of the terrain...
For now, let's see how we set up this campaign...

As we said in previous posts, we are going to determine the conditions of the campaign, based on the exclusive rules of "The Eagles turn East" by Kevin Zucker.

CAMPAIGN SCENARIO 3: THE FRIEDLAND CAMPAIGN

Conditions: "With a marked inferiority in infantry (at least two to one) the Coalition Player [Us] can only hope to inflict as much harm as possible on Ney's command (which is dangerously exposed) on the very first turns. After that the wiser Coalition plan is a fighting withdrawal to delay the fall of Konigsberg as long as possible. If the French Player starts to mass against the Prussians on your right wing give ground to the Frisching River and push toward Braunsburg with the Russian Army, threatening to cutoff the French against the Frisches Haff. No matter what happens, bring your army off-map and put an end to the game before it's too late. Tolstoi's troops in Podlasia neutralize Massena's larger force; if the French move those troops northward, Tolstoi has a chance to create a real crisis by capturing Pultusk and threatening Warsaw itself."
Start Date: 4-5 June
End Date: 28-29 June
First Player: Coalition
Replacements Accumulated: Russian: 1c, 4i; Prussian: 3i; French: 2c, 6i,HGi
Supply Sources: Russian: Konigsberg; Prussian:  Konigsberg; As a solo Play, in this strict case, we are not interested in French Supply.

Initial Deployment:



This is the initial deployment of the troops, transferred from the original map in hexagons, logically making some adjustments. Due to the situation, the positions for the Allied player (us) are not good. He has some very dispersed troops (Prussian troops to the north and east) and the initial option of going to Ney seems more like a desperate measure, given the inevitable retreat when the rest of the French troops appear. But we can try... To the south, the Russian troops, I see no other objective than to keep Masséna's army corps and the other troops pinned near Warsaw...



The only troops visible on the French side are Ney's army corps and Masséna's. The rest are confused among the dummies, to add some Fog of War.
I think that in the end I will only use Berthier software for messages, if possible, since I find it very difficult to transfer the movements to the map with any sense, without it being a tedious task.

Hi Chorch

The map looks really good.  We have found point-to-point is much better than hexes for an umpired game, partly because everything is much quicker to administer.

Have you considered using a separate linked table for the Allied player(s)?  You can do this in TTS.  That way you could dispense with the French decoy counters.  They are certainly better than nothing, but the player does know where the enemy isn't, even if he does know where they are

That said, our group is at an early stage with TTS, so we are far from being experts.

Martin J

Hi Martin,

Thanks, I agree, for me point-to-point maps are better than hexagon maps, and even more in conflicts with units that almost always followed roads.
I have always seen hexagon maps more for modern conflicts, I have never liked them for sword and musket conflicts but, it is a very personal opinion.

I have thought about the question you raise about the linked board, but in this particular case how would you raise it? Have the decoys on one board and the pieces they replace in the same position on the other?

I generally start from a list in Excel, I assign every decoy and real unit a number, and roll the die or randomly with a list in Excel. I mean, I'm also not going to know if that piece is going to be a decoy or a real unit until I roll the die or dices. One of the advantages is that I try to assign the units that historically started the combat first in the center of the list, and the second line or rearguard units at the extremes, and if we are blessed by the Gaussian onion, it still works out well for us.

Well, I did some modules of TTS in the past, very simple, and I am not an expert either.

Chorch.

"I have thought about the question you raise about the linked board, but in this particular case how would you raise it? Have the decoys on one board and the pieces they replace in the same position on the other?"

Assuming you are umpiring one or more player (rather than playing solo), I would dispense with decoy pieces entirely, place all actual formations on the umpire table, and simply put those French formations the Allied player is aware of on his table, along with any false sightings.

But I may have misunderstood the structure of this particular game? If so, apologies.......

Martin J

I understand that one of the boards is the referee's, only visible to him and the other, the player's, is only visible to him and the referee.
Since I am a referee and solo player here, I did not think it was necessary to do so, except for aesthetic reasons.

I understand that it would make sense in a multiplayer game, but knowing that it is possible to do it also gives me information for the future.

There is no reason to apologize, here we all always learn.

The OOB of both armies already finished. There is an obvious superiority of the French imperial troops, therefore, the probable strategy of the coalition side will have to be consistent.



The OOB representation model is adapted from the campaigns of the French magazine Vae Victis. This example it's from a solo campaign I did a few years ago.