Scenario for the Battle of Golymin, December 26, 1806

We will be playing this out on Saturday April 27th, with Battle Command rules; it would work fine with minimal changes for Field of Battle as well. 

Adapted from the scenario for Age of Eagles by GRW (2010):

https://napoleonicscenarios.weebly.com/uploads/2/3/7/7/2377799/golymin_1806.pdf

Additional source: Crisis in the Snows: Russia confronts Napoleon, the Eylau Campaign 1806 -1807, by James R. Arnold and Ralph Reinersten

Background: After routing Prussia in the autumn of 1806, Napoleon drove his army into Poland, where two Russian armies had been advancing to aid their Prussian allies. But with Prussia knocked out of the war, the Russian forces in Poland hesitated. This pause allowed Napoleon to rush his exhausted army across the Vistula River and capture Warsaw. With the disparate Russians in full retreat, Napoleon hoped to catch his fleeing enemy before they could unite into a larger, cohesive force. An early winter thaw turned the poor Polish roads to quagmires, delaying the French advance, with many of their guns becoming stuck in the deep mud.  Marshal Murat, now commanding nearly 40,000 men of Napoleon's left wing, caught up with elements of several Russian divisions outside the town of Golymin.  In a desperate rear-guard action, the local Russian commander, Prince Gallitzin, occupied a defensive position around the town with 18,000 men and awaited the French attack.

Scale: 1 unit = 900 Infantry, 600 Cavalry, or 12 guns

Weather is over cast with rain/sleet:

All Firing is Down 1

AL LD rolls for movement are Down 1. 

Terrain:  

Woods are class II terrain. Cavalry and Artillery count woods as Class III terrain for movement. Cavalry may not engage in melee in woods, nor may Artillery unlimber within woods. Units must be within 2" of the edge of woods to fire or be selected as targets.

Buildings are Class II terrain, and may not be entered by Cavalry or Artillery. 

Marshes are Class III Terrain, but disorder any infantry moving into, within or out of them, and provide no cover. Cavalry and Artillery may not enter the marshes.

The roads are churned-up quagmires, and provide no movement bonus.

Objectives: 

French - cut off the Russian retreat, and annihilate them

Russians - Fight a rearguard action, enabling your troops to retreat to the Northeast after nightfall 

Game ends as usual if one side fails Army Morale, otherwise when the 6th Russian Event card has been turned (nightfall)

Table size is 6 x 9 feet for 25 mm troops

Margin of Victory

For every 6 AMP's more than the enemy at game's end (round up): 1 point

Enemy at zero AMP at game's end: 1 points

Enemy failed Army Morale: 3 points

Each Road exit controlled at game's end: 1 point

Uncontested control of Golymin at game's end:  3 points

Table set up - Golymin is in the far distance.

Terrain with Golymin in the foreground

French

 Count as Army C-in-C LD 8, due to elements of multiple Corps with Murat in nominal command. Most of the French artillery is mired in mud. The two batteries listed* attempt to arrive on an Event card, and must win an LD8 vs LD 8 roll, individually, to do so. 

AMP 40

Deployment:

Lasalle starts on the table as shown. 

AUGEREAU's corps may enter the table at point B on the first French MOVE action. 

MURAT's command arrives with the remainder of his corps at point A, on the 2nd French MOVE action. 

MORAND arrives at the same location the 3rd French MOVE action

I  Cavalry Corps - Marshal Murat  LD 10

1st Dragoon Division - Klein LD 12

5 Dragoons  DD 6  CD 12

Reserve Light Cavalry Division - Lasalle  LD 12+1

2 Hussars  DD 8  CD 10

2 Chasseurs a Cheval  DD 6  CD 10

Brigade Milhaud  LD 8

2 Chevau-Leger Lanciers  DD 6  CD 12

( I ran out of Dragoon units!)

VII Corps, Marshal Augereau  LD 10

1st Division, Desjardins  LD 10

2 Legere  DD 8  CD 12

3 Ligne  DD 6  CD 10

1 8# Foot Battery*  DD 6  CD 12

2nd Division. Heudelet  LD 10

2 Legere  DD 8  CD 12

4 Ligne  DD 6  CD 10

1 8# Foot Battery*  DD 6  CD 12

(Part) III Corps, Marshal Davout  LD 12

Division Morand (from II Corps)  LD 12

2 Legere  DD 8  CD 12

4 Ligne  DD 6  CD 10

Light Cavalry Brigade Jean Rapp LD 12

2 Chasseurs a Cheval  DD 6  CD 10

Russians

Command structures are jumbled, with Gallitzin effectively in command - count as Army C-in-C LD 8

AMP 30

Deployment  All troops except Shepelev's Dragoons start on the table; Shepelev arrives at point C on the 2nd Russian MOVE action. 

4th Division, Gallitzin  LD 12

3 Grenadiers  DD 8  CD 12

2 Jagers  DD 8  CD 10

4 Line  DD 6  CD 8

2 6# Foot Batteries  DD 6 CD 12

Grenadier Brigade - Zaplosky  LD 8

3 Grenadiers  DD 8  CD 12

1 6# Foot Battery  DD6  CD 12

7th Division, Doctorov LD 10

1 Jager  DD 8  CD 10

3 Line  DD 8  CD 10

6# Foot Battery  DD6  CD 12

Russian Cavalry

Hussar Brigade  Tschapalitz  LD 8

3 Hussars  DD 8  CD 10

Cuirassier Brigade Pahlen III  LD 10

2 Cuirassiers  DD8  CD 12+1

6# Horse Battery  DD 6  CD 12

Dragoon Brigade  Shepelev  LD 8

2 Dragoons  DD6  CD 12

Cossack Brigade  LD 12

2 Cossacks  DD 4  CD 8

Forces at the start of the game; only Lasalle's Light Cavalry start on the table. The Russians and French can adjust their deployments as they see fit. 

View from behind the Russian lines.

Cloe up of Russian forces.

Another view

And yet another - Lasalle's Light cavalry is in the distance. 

1st Quarter 2024 Statistics

 

OK, so the men won the NCAA Division 1 Championship for the second time in a row (and in very convincing fashion) in early April; by July it will be old news. While not repeating as champions, the gals did pretty well in the Championships, too!  I much prefer the old Logo to the edgier, newer one. Also in March, one of my long time patients, who is also the grandson/son/nephew of long time patients and a fellow UConn Undergraduate and (momentarily) UConn Medical School, graduate, matched at an excellent Family Medicine Residency program. He has 3 years of hard work but phenomenal professional growth ahead of him.  

Expenses:

January 2024

Helion (Paper building files) $10.58; John's figures  $1,154

February 2024

Nil

March 2024

Nil

1st Quarter Total:   $1,164.58

Painting:

January 2024

Wurttemberg IR #6 (90 points)  Wurttemberg Garde zu Fuss (90 points)

February 2024

Bavarian Light Infantry #1 (90 points), Bavarian Dragoons #1 (80 points), Bavarian Foot Artillery (70 points)., Bavarian HA and Train (95 pts), Bavarian Commanders (30 points)

March 2024 

 Wurttemberg High Command and casualties (105 points) Austrian IR #'s 44, 46, 47 (270 points)

1st Quarter Total:  920 points

Games:

January 2024

February 2024

Battle of Stromschnellen Crossing (Battle Command)

March 2024

Battle of Tewkesbery playtest - Test of Resolve WotR

1st Quarter Totals:  2

HAVOC Games Trio 2024

As scheduled, I ran three games at HAVOC this year, one each Saturday afternoon, Saturday evening, and Sunday morning. I couldn't have done that without the invaluable assistance of my freind, Thomas, who accompanied me this year. Each game was set several centuries apart  from the others!

Saturday afternoon it was "From the Rhine (Confederation) to the Danube", with Battle Command rules by Brent Oman. I had 6 slots and 5 players, so I took the last command, the Hessians and Badeners, opposite Thomas with about 1/3 of the Austrians.  

Mark T had the Wurttembergers. This was very fitting, as it was Mark who tipped me off to the Great Piano Wargames figures in the first place. 

Both sides got stuck in pretty quickly. 

The Kaiserlicks are attacking the Wurttembergers boldly on their right. 

Austrian Cuirassiers charging in the Center. 

Austrian and Wurttemberg cavalry charge and countercharge. 

Heavy fighting in the Center.

Puffs of smoke indicate units that need to "reload" before they can shoot again. 

At one point, the Austrians were out of Army Morale points, and the Confederation was up by almost 9, but the game ended with the Austrians up 3; I declared it a draw, as it was still anyone's game.. at least until the dreaded Army Morale Card is turned!

Saturday evening saw my 15 mm Renaissance Galleys in action. 

We had three players on one side, and two on the other. The early game saw a couple of ramming actions. One ship has already sunken. 

After a bit, the ships mostly battled it out with their bow cannons and small arms fire. 

A galley on the other side struck its colors, but nobody on the other side had breathing space to borad her!

A couple more ships slip under the waves! Curiously, this game there were no boarding actions attempted. 

Saturday AM saw the Battle of Tewkesbury on the table; overview is seen above. 

Somerset's Lancastrian command.

Cautious Lord Wenlock, and his accompanying figurehead, Price Edward. 

Lord Devon on the Lancastrian left. 

Lord Hasting's command on the Yorkist right. 

King Edward IV's command, with his archers and cannons deployed well forward. 

Gloucester's command will come on later behind King Edward IV. 

Midgame; Hasting's Yorkists have defeated Devon's Lancastrians, and Hasting's Battle is moving to assist King Edward in the upcoming clash with Wernlock's Battle. Meanwhile, the Yorkists are surprised to see Somerset's Battle crest the low ridgeline. 

Late game; King Edward IV is hit, and Somerset's men engage Gloucester's. In relatively even combat, Somerset's dice far outperform those of Gloucester, and the Yorkist opposition is destroyed before you can say "Kingmaker!" With 4 players, the game was over in 2 hours, as expected. 

HAVOC game survey

I had a great time at the HAVOC convention this past weekend. It was once again held at the Best Western in Marlboro, MA, by Battlegroup Boston. This year, my friend Thomas accompanied me, and helped me set up my three games. A brief photo account of those will follow in my next post

Saturday AM games: 

Battle of the Five Armies (LOTR); GM Christopher Parker, Battle Masters Advanced rules. My freind Mark T contemplates the battlefield, while Greg Belevick smiles form the camera. 

Trilaterum; 15 mm Sci Fi; GM Timothy Colonna

Valley Ambush - The Sword and the Flame, 28 mm, GM Thomas Anderson

Cheatham's Hill, July 1 1864. 15 mm Regimental Fire and Fury; GM Jim Makuc

Clash of Flesh and Steel; VSF, Damned Human Race rules. Gabriel Landowski, GM. 

Learn Wars of Ozz! GM: Mark Morin

Stalingrad Deluxe, September 21, 1942, Fireball Forward rules. GMs: Mike Sammarco, Joe Celia; Chris Bonni

Moby-Dick; or, the Whale game. John Rigley’s Moby-Dick rules. GM: Thomas Ballou. 

"Whaleboats!" (for my freind, Adolfo). 

ADLG 15 mm tournament tables.

Saturday Evening games

Autodualing in Aakron, Car Wars rules. GM: Bob Yates

Wars of Ozz, Heavy Meeting Engagement. GM: Mark Morin

Mark ran an Ozz game each of the 6 available timeslots, proving there IS a GM crazier than I am!

My freind Mark T's Lt. Irwin Rommel WW1 game. A Surprise At Mussey-La-Ville. 28 mm, To the Last Man rules.

Sunday AM - Return to Wars of Ozz

Some of Mark Morin's exquisite Ozz troops.

The Battle of Proctor's Creek/Drewry's Bluff/Fort Darling;  6mm ACW. Altar of Freedom rules. 

GM: David Susco

The Greatest Tank Battle of All Time: 12 July 1943 , the Battle of Kursk. 15mm, Axis and Allies miniatures. GM: Daniel Eustace

Austrian I.R #43 Simbschen

Last of the 4 new regiments of Austrian Line, these fellows are from I.R. #43, whose inhaber was FML - FZM Baron Joseph Simbschen. 

It was recruited in Krain (Carniola), now part of Slovenia, and was considered the unofficial "National Regiment" of that area. It was disbanded after the 1809 campaign. 

Its facings are yellow (variously described as "Schwefelgelb", i.e.,  "sulfur yellow", yellow, or lemon yellow) with brass buttons. 

The regiment fought at the Battle on the Piave, the crossing of the Tagliamento, and at Graz in 1809. These figures are from Piano wargames once again, this time using the more standard marching poses.