Bienvenue à Mogilev! Right now is a terrific time be in the French army for Chef de Bataillon Hector Bidet, despite the unbearably hot Russian July sun. Yesterday his fellow soldiers in the first Corps, under the magnificient Marshal Davout, whipped General Bagration's lapdog Rayevski and his brutish columns of serfs. The battle played out near one of those quaint collections of haphazardly piled logs that the locals call towns (was it Saltanovka?). Now, yet again, the Russians are fleeing before the Empereurs's superior soldiers. While his 33rd line infantry regiment were left out of the fight yesterday, he could not help but feel like the war against Russia was already halfways won. And any glory showered over Davout would also reflect on the men under his command, isn't it so? Hector's was surrounded in his tent by his lieutenants and captains, hiding from the unrelenting rays and blazing heat while taking bets on whether or not they would see a uniformed Russian again before reaching Smolensk. Their casual banter was cut off as a burly Aide-de-Camp in a Hussar uniform stiffly marched into the tent, and handed over a small rolled up piece of paper. "Bien! Mes Amis!" Hector turned around to see the faces of his closest subordinates. "Prepare your men. We're marching immediately. We will not wait for the supply train - it's imperative that we move quickly, and not let the Russians recover. So we will take what we need along the way, and stock up as much as possible so that we can keep marching. We beat them at Mogilev, and now we must harry them to Smolensk, and not waste a single day!" A clatter of sabres being drawn simultaneously was followed by a single, unison, shout: "Vive l'Empereur!" Setting up a Dawns & Departures Campaign Welcome to the start of this campaign, using the SP2 campaign system Dawns & Departures. As you might guess from the intro, I'll be playing the French. Dawns & Departures connects a series of SP2 games, with a focus on narrative gaming. A D&D (confusing, I know) can be played with either two or more players, or with both players and an umpire. In our test games, adding the umpire made the campaigns so much more rewarding, as the umpire can keep track of secret moves. Our minds were blown by how much better it played with an umpire, so if possible, recruit a friend to fill that role. You prepare the campaign by agreeing on a campaign type, which will tell you your campaign goals and sometimes add extra features. The rulebook comes with several examples, such as a peasant revolt, a daring heist, or escorting a lady through dangerous territory. In our case, we designed our our campaign set around the scorched earth tactics used by the Russians. The map consists of a grid, and is a simplified and somewhat abstract one. That means that there's no measuring distances and calculating marching speeds or anything like that. You can either make a map yourself, or roll on tables in the rulebook to see how your map will look. We decided to make one ourselves, and after some playtesting we realized that for our campaign it had a large effect on whether the scenario was winnable by both sides. So depending on your campaign goals it can be a good idea to take a second look at the map. Once you're set on a campaign idea, you decide how big forces you'll be playing with, and each player make their forces and roll up their leaders' character traits. In our case we're fighting a rather large campaign - you could easily fight a perfectly fine campaign with about a third of the size of our forces. We upped the numbers so that instead of having one main army, we can have 2-4 ones, and so the movements on the maps will be more important and less predictable. After all, brilliant maneuvers where several columns coordinate is often central when you read about Napoleonic campaigns. So how does one depart at dawn? Each day is divided into two halves. Each army or detachment can spend half a day on either moving one square on the map, or staying put while doing a task, such as looting or scouting for a place to ford a river. You can send out scouts, either special characters or light infantry from your force, to search ahead of you for enemy forces.Your force will need supplies to move at a normal pace, and there are some special actions such as forced marches (move twice but lose a lot of men). When forces meet, they fight a battle using SP2. What kind of scenario you fight can be influenced by how your forces met on the map: maybe you ambush the enemy as they are halfways across a ford, or you bumble into a well prepared defence where engineers have toiled for days digging fortifications. Your force rosters stay the same throughout the campaign. Casualties suffered carry over between games, so your force will gradually wittle down. Not all casualties in the battles are considered permanent casualties, so you'll get some of them back, especially if you have a physician or similar who can tend to the wounded. In the end, the player who meets his or her objectives win. Simple enough, but what else is there to it, that makes it more interesting than just playing one-off games? The obvious difference is that you become a far more careful commander when you're dealing with casualties that will carry over inbetween games. We experienced this in our WW2 campaign, where some games would end up in mexican standoffs in a way we would never see in one-off games. Rushing into effective musket range is already a gut-wrenching affair in SP2, and with a more permanent result of any mistake, I expect our games to be even more tense. I will probably also not keep on gambling away my cavalry on do-or-die charges every single game. Maybe. We'll see about that. Mechanics for Narrative Play Compared to a lot of other games, SP2 allows for a lot of character, almost bordering to a roleplaying game. For this campaign, some of our officers will have their own individual goals they'll try to achieve. We'll also be using the rules for rolling up personalities and traits for our officers, which in turn will probably affect how I play. Of course I will lament when my vile dishonorable officers survive and earn glory, while the heroic gentlemen bites the dust! Dawns & Departures is designed for the characters that survive to continue their adventures in the next campaign, whether they made it out like heroes or whipped dogs. That means there's a reason to be invested in them´, no matter if you win the overall campaign or not. I can definitely see myself paint up specific officer models to represent some of the leaders who stands out in the campaign. Dawns & Departures also comes with a lot of extra things to do, like random events, which will be informed by what kind of officers are involved in the whole mess. We will be playing with an umpire, so there's no limit to the shenanigans that might happen behind the scenes. To make it even better, both players will be in the fog of war, only knowing the positions of their own armies and oblivious to where our opponent's armies are until our scouts hopefully catch a glimpse of them. So my hope is that this campaign will simply make for good stories, and stories that continue from game to game. To me, that is usually what you want from a good campaign compared to one-off games. French Campaign Objectives The French side have three main objectives in this campaign; 1) Pillage as many squares as possible on the campaign map. Only square that hold something valuable count, like a village or a farm. Some are more valuable than others. To pillage a square I need to occupy it with a force, stand still for half a day, and roll a die. The higher result, the more loot. A larger force has a better chance of pillaging than a smaller one. Taking supplies from the Russians by beating their forces in battle is, of course, also acceptable! The Russian's will use scorched earth warfare to pillage the land before me, so if I slouch around they can win the campaign by removing enough supplies and retreat off the campaign map. 2) Cause a significant amount of casualties for the Russians. The Grande Armée is still numerically stronger, and the Russians can't afford to weaken their army as long as Napoleon keeps pressing into Russia, looking for a decisive battle. 3) Don't lose too many men. Well, if all our men are dead, it doesn't really matter if we reach Smolensk, does it? Doing suicidal stuff to reach the two goals above won't pay off. The campaign will be fought along a path that covers two rivers, so it is a good idea to bring engineers in case those dastardly Russians sabotage them. Bonus points are given to the French for keeping the bridges open, and to the Russians for blowing them up. We are using a lot of special rules for this campaign. Some are from our own Moscow 1812 campaign book, and some are variations to the Dawns & Departures rules that we plan to add to the book if the work out well. As the French I get 360 points to play around with, and I've been told that the Russians have a slightly smaller army. I'm also told that I will start the campaign with very few supplies. That means I'll need to focus on pillaging from the get-go, even just to fill the bellies of my soldiers so that they'll be able to march properly. The French Forces As the French, I need to balance pillaging as many map squares as quickly as possible, with the risk of diluting my army so much that it can be defeated piece by piece by the Russians. Basically the Russians have two options: either make a big stack of troops and go on the offensive, or spread out and try to burn the entire map before I have a chance to pillage it. With this in mind, I decided to divide my forces into three pretty evenly sized columns,. I will try to keep two of them close to each other, always ready to gang up on a smaller Russian force. Meanwhile, the third column can keep busy stealing food behind the frontline, while still being large enough to have a chance against any small scouting party (damn Cossacks!) that might be probing me. I went somewhat semi-historical with my force, so all officers are fake, while the regiments were either part of the 2nd Infantry Division in Davout's I Corps, or cavalry regiments operating more or less nearby, some of them even present at the Battle of Saltanovska. I mostly built my armies to utilize the troops I've already painted up. I also wanted them to be at least somewhat realistic, rather than to make the "best" armies using the points available. But I still think they'll give the Russians a challenge, as long as I can manage to get somewhat even battles on the campaign map. The Russian player agreed that we'd consider a formation of 2-3 units to be more or less a company, so that we don't end up with widely differing officer ranks - SP2 doesn't really care about ranks, as it uses the more abstract "level", which can be whatever fits the force size you're representing. I've rolled up stats for pretty much all leaders except for the lvl 1 ones, but I'll go more into their backgrounds if they end up important in their battles. Who knows when they'll need to step up to replace their wounded superiors? 1st Column Long Description My first column is also the biggest. I made it to be a well balanced force, with all aspects of the French army - a solid core of line infantry, skirmish screens, a healthy amount of cavalry, and some artillery. It's lead by Chef de Bataillon Hector Bidet himself. His fellow officers talk behind his back that his rise in the army comes more from his nouveau riche family back in Paris rather than his brilliant strategies. Their evidence for this is that poor Hector is, indeed, quite slow-witted. But he's an honest man, and he welcomes the better ideas put forward by his adjutants. His simplicity shows in his force: it's made to be a well balanced one, with no obvious strengths or weaknesses - it's all down to utilizing the basic tactics of the French formations as well as possible. The first Fusilier Company of Bidet's Battalion is led by Capitain Dijk van den Bockenklockentocken, a vile giant of a man with obvious Dutch heritage. An illegimate offspring who left for the army as a young teenager, he is feared by his men who prefer it when Hector is around to keep his dull, yet steady, eyes on him. Despite his faults, Díjk has made sure that his company is well trained and prepared, and they are considered regulars rather than conscripts like most of the line infantry in this campaign. The second Fusilier Company is a stark opposite. Led by Capitain Maurice Suave, these recent conscripts are yet not hardened in battle. Maurice does not worry too much about such worldly problems. His striking features, curled moustache and pleasant, almost fatalistical demanour on campaign makes his men wonder if he somehow was mistakenly lent to them from some Hussar regiment. A company of men from the 2nd Chevau-Légers Lanciers will follow along to give close support, led by their Capitain Jean-Paul Martre, a man as pleasant to his comrades as his young face is hideous to look at, marred by sabre-cuts rather than years, and more than one riding accident. The first company of the 8th Chasseurs à Cheval is operating in the area, primarily scouting for Russians and valuable targets to plunder. They are always ready to follow their dashing Capitain André lePetit, a man so tall that his shako is plainly visible even among the bulky colpacks of his men. His horse is as unfortunate as his enemies, as it barely holds his weight as he charges into their ranks. The cavalry units are accompanied by a crew of horse artillerymen, led by their beloved Lieutenant Gustave Bourguignon, a jovial man known to crack jokes to raise the morale of his crews, even when under heavy musket fire. The force is screened by a large number of voltigeurs, under the commands of Lieutentants Jaque Dupont and Jack Dupond. Both of them outrageously ungallant men who have given the entire voltigeur company a questionable reputation in the battalion. But while both of them are unusually unrefined, they could not be less similar: where Dupond is an ugly, sleazy miser with a constant sneer on his face and the common shortness of French voltigeurs, Dupont is a handsome and pleasant man with a hopeless lack of manners but an astounding stature, which has become the talk of the entire division. He's literally dwarfing his men at 6'5', and he is often seen resting his elbow on the shako of his sergeant. What impossible strings were pulled by whom, and for what reasons, so that he would end up here? Finally, this column has a team of engineers as well as a scout, ready to offer their specialist skills when needed. It is also followed by a proficient doctor, ready to perform surgery on any wounded men, just like the two other columns. Too Long; Didn't Read First column has the following: 4 units of fusiliers, regulars 4 units of fusiliers, conscripts & volunteers 2 units of voltigeur skirmishers 2 units of voltigeur skirmishers 2 units of lancers 2 units of chasseurs à cheval 1 medium cannon 1 unit of engineers 2nd Column Long Description The second column is slightly smaller, but still a match against most foes. I built it to be a good defensive force, so that they don't need to retreat if outnumbered. The threat of canister fire and a massive cavalry charge will hopefully make it a tricky force to assault. When Hector is absent, this force is torn between two detestable men. The first one is Chef D'Escadron Prince Sasha Siemenschneider of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. A minor German royalty who might look like a reincarnated Roland, his brash treatment of anyone he deems his inferior (which happens to be everyone) has made him few friends on the campaign this far. However, nobody doubts his abilities when leading his large body of Dragoons from the 7th Dragoon regiment. If Prince Sasha is Scylla, then Capitain Guillaume de Pamplemousse is this force's Charybdis. A truly detestable fellow from an former noble French family that evaded the guillotine but at the cost of their estates. Guillaume has regained some respect through making his way up the ranks, and now leads the grenadier company of Hector's batallion. But his hatred of Prince Sasha is a worthy competitor for Sasha's condescension of the fallen French nobleman. Caught in the middle of these vile officers is Captiain Jean von Bovi, the second son of an obscure German noble family from Alsace. The combination of his gentle manners and dull mind means that he has either managed to avoid the ire of the other officers, or he is happily oblivious to it. He leads a fusilier company that consists mainly of new recruits. The force is screened by a handful of trusty voltigeurs, led by yet another vile example of a true cad: Sous-Lieutenant Marc deQanaille, a nobleman of no good intentions. No good intentions at all, I tell you. Finally, the column is supported by a line infantry 6-pounder under the sturdy guidance of Lieutenant Giovanni Cappotto, a charming Milanese who grew up as an illigimate child and quickly found his new home in the French army. Too Long; Didn't Read The second column consists of: 4 units of fusiliers, conscripts & volunteers 3 units of grenadiers 2 units of voltigeur skirmishers 3 units of dragoons 1 medium cannon 3rd Column Long Description The third column is the smallest, and probably the weakest in composition overall. It was meant to represent the light infantry of the 15th Légère regiment, but I didn't have time to paint up any chasseurs! So imagine that some of these guys wear blue pants instead, ok? The force is led by the stout Capitain Bernard Obeliceque, a tall man at the front of his trusty light infantry carabiniers. They are currently in depot, having their bases magnetized, but my grenadiers were up to the task of repacing them for the photoshoot. He is screened by his fellow light infantrymen from the voltigeur company, led by yet another despicable skirmish officer: Lieutenant Jean-Paul Gall Tier, a dimunitive, poor, dumb bounder. What is wrong with the French skirmisher officer corps?! Obviously, the voltigeur regiments are breeding grounds for the worst the Empire has to offer. The bulk of the force is made up of two large continents of fresh recruits. The first is led by Capitain Henry Peste, a half-crippled man who turned bitter and uncouth after suffering a near-fatal wound from a cannonball. The other is led by Capitain Armand LeDouche, a strapping handsome man of humble background, who has risen through the ranks through hard boot-licking work and serious efforts when it comes to backstabbing. Finally, we have even more lancers from the 2nd Chevau-Légers Lanciers, this time under the steady command of Capitain Francois Galop. Francois comes from a long line of cavalry officers, and is well liked by his men despite being a horrible freak: a horse with colic kicked his jaw almost cleanly off when he was a teenager, and it still dangles at a 45 degree angle, unhinged on his right side. But more importantly, Francois is the only man with a skill in my entire army! There's a 1 in 6 chance that an officer gets a skill, yet after rolling 18 times, I had yet to roll a single 6. But then, on my last roll, our buddy Francois got the skill "sporting life", which means that he'll be slightly better at doing special tasks that require strength or dexterity. Not much, but I'll take it! Too Long; Didn't Read The third column consists of: 4 units of fusiliers, conscripts & volunteers 4 units of fusiliers, conscripts & volunteers 3 units of light infantry carabiniers 2 units of light infantry voltigeurs 2 units of lancers Summary So what have I got to work with? A lot of pretty bad to average infantry, which I think I'll need to not be too outnumbered by Russian serfs. I have a decent amount of cavalry, and with the help of my cannons, I think that all of these forces are able to either attack a smaller Russian army, or put up a decent defense against a larger foe.
They are led by a bunch of unskilled hacks, but they are at least an honourable bunch of hacks. Of course with exception for the uncivilized cesspool of faux pas that some people deign to call voltigeurs. What's wrong with them? Hopefully they'll fight better than they wield cutlery. I have yet to settle on which two officers will get individual goals in the campaign. Of course my overall commander Hector will get one, but none of the goals in the rulebook fits him, so I'll try to design a new one and see if the umpire accepts it. Then it's down to the second one: could it be that the despicable Teutonic prince Sasha has some skeletons in his wardrobe, that he might need to attend? The mystery might unfold later on in the campaign... Until then, it's time to crank out an engineer wagon and some deployment point markers before we start making the moves on the campaign map, and hopefully we'll have our first battle real soon!
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French Campaign Blog
This blog follows the French side of our campaign in Russia 1812. Jonas plays the Gallic invaders, with the goal of pillaging as much supplies as possible on the road to Smolensk. Archives
June 2020
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