Enfilade After Action

Enfilade is the NWHMGS' annual big gaming bash. It's held every year around Memorial Day. Miniatures (and some board) gamers come from all over the Pacific Northwest for this one. There's a painting competition, a whole mess of DBA games, some innovative designs, some traditional games, and so on. This year was certainly no different, an I went down on Saturday to put on Little Big Battles (more about that later).

This year The Game Matrix sponsored a table that featured King's War in most gaming sessions. I got there in time to play in the Saturday afternoon game. That was the most one-sided game I can recall. The cards and dice were against my opponent from the beginning, and I pretty much drove him back. It couldn't have been much fun for him, but that happens (I've been on the receiving end a few times). The Games Matrix sold a number of copies of the rules, which is good.

Jeff and I put on Little Big Battles, 6mm Napoleonics. This was the Battle of Gorodeschna, 1812 in Russia, Austrians & Saxons vs. Russians (an actual battle). Historically it was a two-day affair with the Russians getting the worst of it. Our recreation was a bit of the same thing, even if it just recreated the first day. Here's my "after action" analysis.

Terrain - Rather than replicate the terrain exactly, a stylized terrain was used that captured the essence. This consisted of three parts:
1) the stream that bisected the battlefield was fordable everywhere, but was no hindrance to movement on the Russian Right (Russian cavalry charged across it repeatedly);
2) the marsh that the Russians relied upon to protect their left and L of C was dry - ironically the Russians had relied upon Cossack reports for this;
3) the road that led behind the Russian left to their depot; cutting this would cut their supplies.

Deployment - The moment of deployment was when the Austrian/Saxon attack appeared to the Russian’s startled eyes. They have just appeared from the high ground and cover and started to file across the dry marsh. So:

The Austro-Saxons - deployed with "divisions" parallel rather than one behind the other. This was because these were experienced generals (Schwarzenberg and Reynier) and would know that to do otherwise would lead to intermixed units. The troops facing the bridge were arrayed with two "divisions", one behind the other, and the left flank cavalry handy.

The Russians historically deployed in three lines, so I deployed that way;

Tomassovich wasn’t that experienced a commander. The first line consisted of light troops, including people occupying the village; the second line was a line division; the third line was a line division. Cavalry covered both flanks, with the heavier cavalry on the right where there was good going. Artillery was sprinkled along the front in the best Russian 1812 tradition (they didn’t concentrate large amounts of artillery until 1916).

Scenario Modifications - In the interest of simplicity, all Division Commanders were a 5. Schwarzenberg was a 4. Reynier was a 3. Tomassovich was a 4.

Victory Conditions - The Austro-Saxons were told that they won if they cut the road with line infantry. If they lost the crossing over the stream they had a minor victory.
The Russians were told the same thing.

Course of Action - The Austro-Saxon forces pushed across the dry marsh. Their hinge was attacked by spoiling forces, and some sacrificial troops supported by light cavalry. The Austro-Saxons swept across the road. In the center, Austrians were pushed up to dispute the stream crossing, but this mostly consisted of an artillery duel, but with some infantry fighting from time to time.

Winners & Losers - The Austro-Saxons won. Losses on both sides were minor:
Austro-Saxons - 900; Russians - 600.

Options - I thought the best Russian effort would be to do the following (based on a solo play test).

1. On Turn 1, immediately move the rear Russian division toward the left. This turns the fight on the Russian left into an encounter battle. Draw on the other division for the hinge to the main Russian position.
2. Try to create a concave position that will impose a longer command reach on the part of the Austro-Saxons, thus taking a lot of the punch out of their sails. This will be aided and abetted by:
   Launch a spoiling attack by attacking the Austrian cavalry on their left. Sweep them away and bring infantry across to turn the village, seizing the crossing, and drawing the Austrians into a series of counterattacks into Russian Artillery.

This won't guarantee a Russian victory, but I think it gives them their best chance.

Future Scenario Changes - I thought about changes to the scenario. First, I think it’s a good scenario with a lot of possibility, and provides a good visual of a Napoleonic battle. My list of things to do wasn’t extensive, and these are just my first cuts.

1) add at least one brigade of infantry to the Russians, preferably grenadiers; they need the bodies.

2) set a scenario time limit to give the Russians a chance by just holding on (yes, I think the Austro-Saxons will win); a time limit (sunset) will force the Austro-Saxons to be aggressive. Historically this was a two-day battle, and we’re only after Day 1.

3) move the road at least 3" farther back to make it at least one more move for the Allies to go to "win".

4) change the victory conditions for the Austro-Saxons so they have to hold the road with line infantry at sunset and/or hold it for three turns.

5) change the terrain on both sides to have larger hill masses; this will be obvious along the road as the Russians will benefit by being "uphill" of the Allies.

6) remind the Russians of the Special Russian Infantry Rule so they become more stubborn on the defensive, and can hold on longer.

7) written Victory Conditions and orders of battle for both sides.

8) organize the troops at home before taking them - seems I make this one every time. Someday I may even learn it. This will make deployment quicker, and can also make the take-down nearly as fast.

9) have a sketch map of the deployment. I did this with Warburg, and we were set up in 15 minutes!

Lessons Learned - Create a page with examples of how to play. This will cut down on the "learning" at the start of the game, and get the game going sooner. Otherwise you need an experienced player on each side to help "drive" the game, at least initially. This will go out to each person who participated, first to the people experienced with the system, and then to the other participants.