Bohemian Blitzkrieg: The Battle of Aussig (Campaign turn 2).

At the end of turn two there is a contact. Lorraine with 37 Strength Points and Moritz with 24 Strength Points are facing each other at Aussig. I will now outline how, for those unfamiliar with the campaign system, the Pre -Battle Manoeuvre process.

At this point I must introduce you to a campaign rule change added to suit my own perversity as an umpire. Before the pre-battle manoeuvre process is begun two D6 are rolled. If the result is an odd double (1s, 3s and 5s) the armies stumble into each other or one army is 'ambushed' and an encounter battle must ensue with neither side having the option to  withdraw. I will call this the 'Blunder Phase'.

Blunder Phase: Dice result 4/4: There is no blunder and both sides are given the option to withdraw. Neither chooses to do so. The fight is on!

Both sides now commence pre-battle manoeuvres. Both commanders roll for initiative:

Lorraine rolls a 1 +2 (campaign initiative rating) +1 (familiar ground) = 4

Moritz rolls a 5 +3 (campaign initiative rating) = 8

Moritz has won the initiative. Six random battlefields are generated (D100 rolls) and Peter (Prussian) must choose three from the following: 27, 41, 50, 86, 89, 90. He chooses 27, 41, 86.

I (umpire) roll a D3 to determine battlefield will be fought on. The result is a 1 so it will be the first battlefield on the list: Battlefield 27.

Peter chooses to deploy on the south side and to fight if pressed. Graham (Lorraine) refuses battle and so the pre-battle manoeuvre sequence moves onto round two.

Both sides roll for initiative again: 

Lorraine rolls a 5 +2 +1 = 8

Prussia rolls a 3 +3 +1 (won last round) = 7

Graham wins the second round roll:

Graham has the choice of the following randomly generated battlefields: 13, 16, 38, 40, 57, 96. Graham chooses 16, 57, 96. I roll a D3 and roll a 2 for battlefield 57. 

Graham chooses to deploy on the eastern side of the field and to fight if pressed. Peter chooses to fight. Battle is joined!

This is an image of battlefield 57 as published in Campaigns And Battles From the Age Of Reason by Todd Kershner and Dale Wood and reproduced here with Todd's kind permission.

I'm a massive fan of the system used to generate battlefields in this rule set. Cross referencing the number rolled on D100 to the correct page of maps indicates which battlefield should be used - the number is on the centre line and the battlefield is the squares to either side of the number.

In the book, each square is 6cm by 6cm which makes laying out the terrain on my table (12 x 6) very easy indeed, up to a point.

Rule note: The players have been told that the maps only give an impression of the ground. The players will not know its exact nature until they see the ground in the flesh on game night.

Due to the constraints of the terrain I possess I can only go so far in my representation of any of the maps, though some will be easier than others. For this battle I was able to do the hills, stream and villages with reasonable accuracy but I was a little short of road. If we were playing Age of Reason rules to fight the battles this would be something of a problem as road exit points and junctions are important objectives in that set of rules. As we are using amended Piquet, they are not so important so a fudge here shouldn't effect the game.

ORDER OF BATTLE

Prussian: Moritz with 24 Strength Points.

2 regiments of cuirassier.

2 regiments of dragoons.

2 combined grenadier units (representing 4 battalions).

6 regiments of musketeers (representing 12 battalions).

1 regiment of fusiliers (representing 2 battalions).

1 regiment of garrison troops (representing 2 battalions).

1 battery of 2 heavy guns.

1 battery of 1 medium gun.

Austrian: Lorraine with 37 Strength Points.

4 regiments of cuirassier.

2 regiments of dragoons.

2 regiments of hussars.

1 combined grenadier unit (representing 2 battalions).

11 regiments of musketeers (representing 22 battalions).

1 regiment of hungarian musketeeers (representing 2 battalions).

3 battalions of Grenzers.

1 battery of 2 heavy guns.

2 batteries of 2 medium guns.