NOLA Campaign: Third Battle of the Tenesaw Gap

 

Last monday we fought the third and likely final battle of the Tenesaw Gap from the NOLA Campaign.  There are two turns left in the campaign and the French and the outcome is still to be determined.  The NOLA campaign is my silly Napoleonic game that simulates a French invasion of America, which is defended by a combine US and British force.  The battle was fairly even with 5 US and British divisions (4 Inf, 1 Cav) up against 5 French divisions (all infantry) plus the artillery reserve.  We played the game using the ESR ruleset.  The scenario had the pursuing French army catching up to the retreating US/British force.  The French would enter on the left side of the map and all of the US/British forces are deployed.

Lannes enters with his single division on the far side of south western corner of the map 

Ed begins shaking out his  two British infantry divisions into line formation.  I took command of the US Corp in the center of the picture.  We placed the cavalry division in the center and planned to use it to support whichever flank had the most pressure.

My forces getting prepared to meet the french attack.  Lannes continues to move against my flank as Davout's 2 divisions and the French artillery reserve enter the board and eye my positions menacingly.

Ed elects to defend a forward position as he hopes to switch to the attack if the opportunity presents itself.

Josh (Napoleon) deploys his artillery forward he is attempting to form a grand battery and if he can do within range of our forces it will be devastating.  Artillery range is only nine inches in ESR (using 1" = 100M) but a grand battery can erase whole divisions at a time.

Seeing an opportunity the British cavalry charge forward trying to catch the artillery unprepared.  They can not form the grand battery but the six batteries do get off individual fire and its enough to force the cavalry to break off the charge  and retreat to lick their wounds- a golden opportunity lost

Lannes (Greg) forms into line for the attack as Davout (Dave) moves toward the hill

My 2nd division moved to occupy the woods (we removed the canopy) while the 1st division prepares to meet its French hosts on the reverse slope of the hill.

While the calvary recovers - Ed sees a gap in the line between Soults(Dave) corps and Davouts and elects to attack.

Lannes and Davouts attacks charge home - there will be seesaw fighting for 4 turns in the woods and on the hill

Josh can not bring his artillery reserve to bear and decides to move forward - the calvary see their chance and charge again - this time the french can only unlimber a few guns and the charge goes in devastating the limbered guns

Ed continues his attack.  By the way it's a general rule of thumb in the club whenever Ed consults the rules during a turn it usually means something really bad is about to happen to your army.

Just as the cavalry charges the guns for a second time the fight in the woods is over as both divisions break at the same time.

With artillery dispatched, the British cavalry wheel and charge Davout's attacking division in the rear - caught between the cavalry and an American infantry division they are overwhelmed.

We called the game at this point as time was running out.  It was declared a US/British victory and will have a major impact on the campaign.

The Second Battle of the Tensaw Gap

 After a COVID19 delay, the NOLA campaign has resumed with turn 9.  Right before the "COVID-PAUSE" the US/British side was retreating form the closely fought Battle of the Tensaw Gap, which resulted in a narrow French Victory.  The French, sensing they had Ed on the ropes, allocated a lot of Operating Points to seize the initiative and managed to catch Eds retreating army - setting up the Second Battle of the Tensaw Gap.

One of the joys of running a campaign is that players often have different strategies than the GM anticipates so battles play out in wildly different patterns.  I knew this was the case with this battle as Ed's initial deployment was not what I had anticipated.  His initial forces consisted of 4 Infantry divisions (3 in column and 1 deployed at the top).  His pre battle instruction said he could win the battle if could retreat off the lower sides of the map in good order.  Ed had other plans.  The french would enter form the top of the map and their force consisted of 5 Infantry divisions and the deadly French artillery reserve.  We used the ESR rules for this game.

Initial contact!

 Ed left one divisions deployed in line to delay the French while assembling the other 3 in a defensive position along a crest.

Ed continues to hunker down on the hill while Soult's corps maneuvers around his left flank.

The final French infantry division shakes out of column and their artillery reserve is deployed - It's unlikely Ed can survive the combined onslaught....

But Wait - Ed springs his drop - coming up upon the rear of the French is the British Heavy Cavalry division - now it's 5 divisions for each side!

In yet another surprise, Ed elects to march off the board rather than attack and the US/British force exits to the east. 

What is this cunning strategist up to the French wonder?

I wonder what turn 10 of the 12 turn campaign will bring?

Salamanca! Using ESR

 Last night I ran a refight of the Battle of Salamanca at the club.  We used the ESR ruleset which worked out very nicely, especially simulating the early morning maneuvering the came before the fight itself.

While the historical outcome was a decisive British victory, both armies were evenly matched, with the British having a slight advantage in infantry while the French had a tad more in calvary and artillery.  ESR also simulates the tactical doctrinal differences nicely with the French having a smaller number of large formations while the British having a lot more smaller more flexible units that done have as much staying power but are very flexible to use.

The French are entering the board from the lower right side.

 Another shot of the initial set up showing the build of the British Army marching up for Salamanca (upper left).  There are a number of hills on the right side of the picture that don't really show through in the picture.

The initial moves have the French marching quickly to sieze Great Apriles in the center like they did historically and sending Curto's light calvary division and two infantry divisions to their extreme right flank to try and catch the English baggage train which Marmont can just see (the train is located in the center Bottom of the picture)

As Curto's calvary approach they discover that Marmonts telescope needs some refinement as what was thought to be the baggage train is actually Packenham's 3rd division!  This event also happened historically and was a really fun surprise to spring.  The French also had a surprise - they could have one of their divisions move Off-map 18 inches per turn and then enter where they wanted.  The trick is once those orders were set they could not be changed.  The French picked well.  It came on about where Josh's hand is now anchoring the extreme French right flank and allowing the two divisions by Josh's hand to switch to the attack.  It was a very well timed move.

With the Light Cav checked on the French left flank, the battle moved on to three separate actions, with each becoming more important and successful for the French as we moved left to right along their line.

The British center division gives way which allows the French to gang up on the Brits left flank by sending 3 divisions agains the lone British one.

 The French assault on their left flank stalls out as Tony attempts and massively fails an order change which effectively allows 2 French divisions to idle and trade pot shots with the British.

Here's a hint for ESR, which bases died roll on 2 D6's - DONT ROLL TWO ONES.  Something always really bad happens.

While successful on their right flank the British center and left flank collapse under the weight of the French attacks.  It was a very close run as most of the French divisions were one or two fatigue points away from collapse.

I do apologize for the ugly green rectangles,  They are movement trays for attack columns that I have pressed in to service to be Reformation areas for each division.

Given how much we like the ESR tules set, I'll be making proper ones to use in the next game.

This is the third time I put on an ESR game at the club and I must say the rules are a lot of fun and provide a very good game.  This one could have gone either way, but a rare French victory in the Peninsula isn't that bad of a thing...

ESR Napoleonics at the Club: Talavera!

Last night, at the club, I ran another game of ESR Napoleonics (published by The Wargaming Company) and we all had a blast.  I restaged the full battle of Talavera.  The table size was a little tight at 6x4 ft but it worked.  The first picture shows the French advancing on the combined British / Spanish position.

The allied side had 2 players with Tony taking the role of Wellington and Ed "becoming" Cuesta.  Ed really gets into character for these games.

The French had three generals with Tom taking the overall command as Jerome / Jourdan, Simon commanding Victor's corps and Dave commanding Sebastiani's troops.

The fighting was contained to the French right flank (as it had been historically).  There was a lot of see-saw fighting as division after division was wrecked.  Simons I Corps saw two of its three divisions wrecked in exchange for two Spanish and one British division.  We really got to experience how fluid this game system is .

The final British assault.  Tom's Dragoons on the left pushed back the British Calvary but Simons infantry were pushed back from the guns.  In the end, the game was called as a French victory as Simon managed to get his one remaining division of the table edge but the battle was very closely fought.

As for the rules, I really like them.  To be honest, I still got some things wrong but it was a much better run through than our previous game.  I'm going to tweak the OOB's and run this one again - perhaps on a slightly larger table that will afford a little more room for maneuver.  I'll also put a little more effort in on the terrain as this may become a convention game down the road.

Et Sans Resultant! (ESR): First Test Game at the Club

Russian initial deployment

Last night I ran my first game of Et Sans Resultant! (ESR) at the club.  We refought the Battle of Vitebsk from the Master of the World campaign book (Invasion of Russia).  The battle was fought in July of 1812 and involved a Russia rear guard action outside of Smolensk.  The Russian forces consisted of two infantry and one calvary corps were attempting to delay Murat who had the IV Corps and Nansouty's reserve calvary division.  The French had a slightly advantage in numbers and commander quality.

I choose this scenario because of the wide range of unit types and command structures and lots of calvary.  The French Objective is simple - get off the far end of the board.

The Attack  of the French Cav Corps

The French elected to delay their entry by two turns but march on the board fully deployed.  They also wasted no time in launching a furious calvary charge lead by the 1st Heavy Calvary Division again the Russian calvary corps (upper center of the picture.  IV Corps two large infantry divisions split their efforts.

I wonder if the water's cold?

 Simon's French division prepares to cross a stream.

The calvary action was very bloody - the Russians managed to repulse the 1st Heavy Cav and effectively take it out of the game but were two weakened to hold off the following French light Calvary division.  Calvary is both very powerful but also brittle in this game system.

at the bottom, Simon's French Division is now ready to launch it's attack on the Russian right flank

Simon's attack goes in but the Russians counter the attack and throw in one of their reserve division.  There were several turns of fighting but eventually Simon was outflanked and his division broken.

The situation at the end of the game.  Both sides left flanks have been broken but the French can exit the map and the 1st heavy Cav has been rallied and is moving up so the game was called a marginal French Victory.

So what do I think of ESR?  I liked it, I liked it a lot.  This is a large scale game where command is the central component - trying to sequence your order issuance is both difficult and fun.  Calvary is very flexible and enemy calvary can be most troublesome when you're trying to orchestrate the movement of thousands of men.  I really liked how the game played and we will definitely play this again.  I think we got 60-70% of the rules right.  There are a lot of nuances that need to be discovered with how order types and formations combine so this is a game that take 2-3 plays to really get a feel for.  Players take the role of army / corp commanders so a lot of the tactical detail common in most Napoleonic games (forming squares, attack columns etc is ignored.  Formations are either deployed (ready for combat) or ployed (in march column).  The tactical details are left up to your tabletop subordinates.

These rules are published by The Wargaming Company and both the rule book and campaign guides are stunningly presented.  Everything is printed on high quality glossy paper and then spiral bound (a big plus for laying flat on a table.  The rules are extremely well laid out and provide all the information you need to field armies from just about every Napoleonic combatant.  The campaign guides present 8-10 historical scenarios from a specific campaign and detail the map layouts, briefing's for both sides and forces involved.  They also have superb uniform painting guides for all the units involved in the depicted campaign.  I highly recommend the campaign guides for anyone interested in Napoleonic gaming with or with out using ESR.