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Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Franco Prussian War Battle Report

Miniatures Games

A couple of weekends ago, our group got together for a Franco-Prussian War mega-game, involving ten players many, many hundreds of 28mm figure. (You can see more photos here)

The game was run by Brad Northrop, who also painted the vast majority of the figures. The rules were a modified version of Fields of Honor, the (sadly) abandoned 19th Century rules set once published by Pinnacle.

The scenario was based on the battle of Froschwiller (also known as Worth), from 6 August 1870. In that battle, German forces under Crown Prince Frederick and General Blumenthal defeated the French under Marshal MacMahon near the village of Worth in Alsace.

From Reference.Com

The German 3rd army had drawn reinforcements which brought its strength up to 140,000 troops. The French had also been reinforced, but their recruitment was slow, and their force numbered only 35,000. Although badly outnumbered, the French defended their position along a ridge at the western outskirts of Wœrth. By afternoon, both sides had suffered about 10,000 casualties, and the French army was too battered to continue resisting. To make matters even more dire for the French, the Germans had taken the town of Froeschwiller which sat on a hilltop in the center of the French line. Having lost any outlook for victory and facing a massacre, the French army broke off the battle and retreated in a western direction, hoping to join other French forces on the other side of the Vosges mountains. The German 3rd army did not pursue the withdrawing French. It remained in Alsace and moved slowly south, attacking and destroying the French defensive garrisons in the vicinity.

In our scenario, the goal of the outnumbered French was to inflict heavy casualties on the Germans before they were able to bring the full weight of their reinforcements to bear. If the Germans were stalled at the beginning, the reinforcements would pile up, create a jam and night would fall before they could get it straightened out.

As the battle opened, Germans used screening forces and the ever present threat of massive reinforcements to pin down the French right. They then turned two thirds of their forces on the French left. With the overwhelming numbers, the French flank collapsed and had to fall back on Froeschwiller, in the center. Meanwhile, the French right held against German assaults, which were reinforced by ever-increasing troops and artillery. Finally, in the last two turns, the French right also fell, buried under a rain of steel from the German guns.

Unless the Germans were incredibly stupid, or the French incredibly lucky, there really was no way.

The rules played quickly with the modifications used. In the original version of Fields of Honor, two sets of dice rolls are used to resolve fire combat. The first handful of six siders rolled determines whether the shots were “on target.” Rolls that indicate “hits” are then re-rolled to determine casualties. After casualties are counted, a morale check is made. Finally, half of the casualties are returned to the ranks.

The design of this is based on the idea that troops will be at their shakiest after taking a volley (or multiple volleys) of fire. Thus, their morale rolls will be made with the full casualty effect. However, after the initial shock, some of those soldiers will discover that they are actually unharmed and will return to action.

In our modifications, the “on target” rolls were skipped, and rolls simply were made for casualties. In addition, there was no return of troops to the ranks. This
made for a much more bloody, quick and decisive game. It’s a modification that was probably needed to accommodate the large number of figures and players.

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