Lutzen 1813 playtest

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9 years 4 months ago - 9 years 3 months ago #2082 by Tarheel
Lutzen 1813 playtest was created by Tarheel
Lützen, 2 May 1813

Following the disasater of 1812 in Russia, Napoleon returned to Paris to raise a
new army to defend against a new coalition.

Raising a new army for the 1813 campaign, Napoleon had envisaged a rapid
sweep through Prussia to relieve Danzig and to link up with remnants of his 1812
Grande Armée to defeat the new alliance before it strengthened. Unfortunately for
him, his new army was sorely deficient in cavalry, and due to poor reconnaisance
he was unaware of a large army under Wittgenstein and Blücher concentrating on his
flank.

Napoleon was visiting the 1632 battlefield, playing tour guide with his staff by
pointing to the sites and describing the events of 1632, in detail from memory,
when he heard the sound of cannons. He immediately cut the tour short and rode
off towards the direction of the artillery fire. Arriving on the scene, he quickly sized
up the situation and decided to set a trap using Ney's corps as bait. He ordered
the Marshal to make a fighting withdrawal towards Lützen. Meanwhile he sent
Ney reinforcements which would take up strong, defensive positions in and
around two villages south of the city. Once these divisions were ready, the rest
of the corps would withdraw towards them, luring the allies to attack, while
Napoleon, leading the main 110,000 strong French force, would come around
the allied flank and counterattack.

Wittgenstein and Blücher took the bait, continuing to press Ney until they ran
into the "hook" Napoleon had prepared. Once their advance had halted, with the
perfect timing of old, he struck. While he had been reinforcing Ney, he had also
concentrated a great mass of artillery (Grande Batterie) that unleashed a
devastating barrage towards Wittgenstein's center. Then Napoleon himself,
along with his Imperial Guard, led the massive counter assault into the allied
flank. Wittgenstein and Blücher were in danger of suffering another defeat on the
scale of Austerlitz, but the green and exhausted French troops, who had been
marching and fighting all day long, could not follow through. Also, a Prussian
counterattack managed to halt the French offensive, and allow enough time
for the main army to retreat. In addition, darkness was closing in. This allowed the
allied force to retreat in good order. The lack of French cavalry meant there would
be no pursuit. Napoleon lost 19,655 men killed and wounded, while the Prussians
lost 8,500 and the Russians 3,500 killed, wounded and missing. But casualties
aside, by nightfall Wittgenstein and Blücher were in retreat while Napoleon
controlled Lützen and the field.

This scenario focuses on the climax of the battle at approximately 5PM with the arrival
of the Guard and the push in the center.

The stage is set. The battle lines are drawn and you are in command. Can you
change history?

Victory: 8 Banners

French: Napoleon 1er - 5 cards (move first)
Allies: Wittgenstein - 5 cards (3 iron will)





Roll 3 dice for Mother Russia roll, ignoring crossed swords.

Special Rules:

The Flossgraben stops movement, but otherwise does not affect battle.

Rahna is a temporary victory objective (turn start) for the French and worth 2 banners.

Kaja is a temporary victory objective (turn start) for the Allies and worth 2 banners.

The central hill marked is an allied temporary victory objective (turn start) worth 2
banners.

French LN infantry are inexperienced and receive one additional die in melee against
infantry only when at strength 3 or 4.

Map:
See orchard chart below.

The Farm is treated as walled gardens.

ORCHARD CHART

MOVE BATTLE INF:CAV:ART LOS SQUARE MORALE

cav/art stop battle into 0/-1* : -2 : -1 blocks YES no effect
cav/art stop battle out 0 : -2 : 0 blocks YES no effect

*only ranged fire effected for infantry
**cavalry treats orchards as if it is a forest (important for cossacks


Reminders:
Russian units may not use Iron Will.
Prussians may not use mother russia results.
Cossacks treat orchard as forest.

Mark McG wrote:

TileMoveBattle EffectINFCAVARTBlocks LOSMay form SquareDefender Morale
OrchardCAV & ART Must StopBattle Effect Into0/-110-2-1YesYes-
OrchardCAV & ART Must StopBattle Effect Out0-20YesYes-
10 = Only ranged fire effected

Attachments:
Last edit: 9 years 3 months ago by Tarheel.

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9 years 4 months ago #2083 by Mark-McG
Replied by Mark-McG on topic Lutzen 1813 playtest
generally the Allies are at the top, the French the bottom.

you'll confuse me if the French are fighting downhill

Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever.
[img][/img]

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9 years 4 months ago #2085 by Tarheel
Replied by Tarheel on topic Lutzen 1813 playtest
Argh!

You are right, i knew something didnt feel right!

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9 years 4 months ago #2087 by Tarheel
Replied by Tarheel on topic Lutzen 1813 playtest
okay, its fixed now. There were a couple of adjustments made with terrain as well (small liberty taken with reality)

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9 years 4 months ago - 9 years 4 months ago #2091 by Mark-McG
Replied by Mark-McG on topic Lutzen 1813 playtest
TileMoveBattle EffectINFCAVARTBlocks LOSMay form SquareDefender Morale
OrchardCAV & ART Must StopBattle Effect Into0/-110-2-1YesYes-
OrchardCAV & ART Must StopBattle Effect Out0-20YesYes-
Farm/Home SteadMust StopBattle Effect Into-1-25-1YesNo-
Farm/Home SteadMust StopBattle Effect Out0-25-1YesNo-
10 = Only ranged fire effected

Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever.
[img][/img]
Last edit: 9 years 4 months ago by Mark-McG.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Tarheel

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9 years 4 months ago #2092 by Tarheel
Replied by Tarheel on topic Lutzen 1813 playtest
Looks pretty good except that the superscript 7 says only melee affected. It should be that only ranged fire is affected.

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9 years 4 months ago #2093 by Mark-McG
Replied by Mark-McG on topic Lutzen 1813 playtest
I'd edit the Special Rules thusly;
Special Rules
1. The river is fordable.
2. Roll 3 dice for Mother Russia roll, ignoring crossed swords.
3. Rahna's 3 hexes are a Group Majority Temporary Banner Objective. It is worth 1 victory banner.
4. Kaja's 2 hexes are a Group Majority Temporary Banner Objective. It is worth 1 victory banner.
5. First French Guard unit is worth 1 additional Victory Banner.

Note:Russian units may not use Iron Will. Prussian units cannot use Mother Russia rolls

In the OB
-potentially exchange 1 Russian LN for a LT in OB
- French infantry were newly recruited and tired, so maybe use the Fresh Recruit special rule from Craonne
"French line infantry are conscripts and do not receive one additional die in melee when attacking an enemy infantry unit." - maybe a balance condition.

Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever.
[img][/img]
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9 years 4 months ago - 9 years 4 months ago #2094 by Tarheel
Replied by Tarheel on topic Lutzen 1813 playtest
Thanks Mark!

I have revised the scenario above, and think this is a good jump off point for several playtest games. I have a feeling that the balance is about right. I am leaving two items to be decided:

1. If each village should be worth 2 VP instead of 1 VP. Its quite hard for either side to take them.

2. If the French are too unbalanced to the negative if they do not get their LN melee bonus (so I am leaving this as an expert rule for now)

3. If its okay to leave the Prussian with 2 x RI instead of 2 x LN units in the back.

4. If the PR Lancer should be militia or regulars.

Otherwise, I really feel this scenario will play nicely. PS I removed the hill line from the Prussian area because it was not there in reality.
Last edit: 9 years 4 months ago by Tarheel.

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9 years 3 months ago #2206 by Tarheel
Replied by Tarheel on topic Lutzen 1813 playtest
I am trying to finish up and submit this second part of the Lützen scenarios.

I have simplified the rules, sticking to regular terrain. Also, a little terrain terraforming done, to release the french left flank to more action.

The only issue that remains is play balance, is it reasonable close or at least hotly contested.

I would love to have a few people playtest this for me and let me know how they fare.

Give consideration to playing using the "expert french" rule of full strength french LN getting the melee LN bonus but not at less than full strength.

Thanks!

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9 years 3 months ago - 9 years 3 months ago #2214 by Tarheel
Replied by Tarheel on topic Lutzen 1813 playtest
Very simplified special rules now noted above.

In two play tests today the French won a game and in the other lost.
Last edit: 9 years 3 months ago by Tarheel.

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