This is the starting page for our SP2 campaign set at the beginning of the French invasion of Russia, using a slightly modified version of the official SP2 campaign ruleset Dawns & Departures.
The campaign will be organized by an umpire, so that both players are left in a fog of war. Neither player has seen the other's army composition, and the players will send their orders to the umpire without knowing the opponent's moves.
To maintain the fog of war, each player has their own blog to record their experience, and there will be a third blog for the umpire in case he needs to get involved. Needless to say, the players are only allowed to read their own blogs until the final battle is fought! So enjoy this opportunity to follow along as we bumble around in the dark.
War and Peace (but kind of replace "Peace" with "Pillaging")
We find ourselves in the month of July, 1812. Napoleon's Grande Armée is pouring into western Russia, and the numerically inferior defenders are repeatedly fighting rearguard actions to slow the French and their allies down. Initially there are few major battles since Prince Bagration refuses to offer Napoleon the quick resolution to the war that the Emperor is looking for. However, on the 23rd of July parts of Davout's I Army Corps clash with parts of Bagration's Second Army, under the soon to be famous General Rayevsky. The battle is fought by the village Saltanovka, next to the river Dnieper.
The encounter ends with a minor French victory. The Russian forces begin a retreat towards Smolensk, where the next major showdown will play out. But for now, the French army is back to the gruelling task of marching in smaller columns, trying to balance the tasks of catching up with the Russian forces while also pillaging enough supplies along the road. Napoleon's logistics system is already straining in this vast, sparsely populated country.
The Russian forces are left with a chilling mission - to raid their own motherland ahead of the French so that their enemies will starve, while avoiding being wiped out by the larger French force advancing towards them.