Editor's Note:

This is the fourth installment of Jon's very fine series describing wargame scenarios that are illustrative of tactical problems germane to the SYW. See Vol. 1 Nos, 3 and 4 for three previous battle problems.

Envelopment By Two Wings

Seven Years War armies usually fought as unitary bodies. In attacking strong defensive positions, there were potential advantages to splitting up the army into two or more forces and striking from opposite sides. But, the difficulty of coordination meant that as often as not, such a division would give the defender a chance to beat the separate forces one by one. This occurred at Liegnitz and very nearly at Torgau. The scenario to be described next, based on such a situation, allows the attacker to attempt envelopment with several forces, but guarantees that they will be imperfectly coordinated. Can the defender grasp the opportunity to beat the attack in detail?

ORDERS OF BATTLE

Attacker: 14 line battalions, 1 light battalion, 4 grenadier battalions, 15 cuirassier squadrons, 10 dragoon squadrons, 10 hussar squadrons, 30 battalion guns and 12 heavy guns.

Defender: 12 line battalions, 1 light battalion, 2 grenadier battalions, 6 cuirassier squadrons, 12 dragoon squadrons, 10 hussar squadrons, 24 battalion guns and 12 light guns.

TROOP QUALITIES

The infantry of each side should be of equal quality, perhaps with a few superior units for the attacker; the attacking cavalry should be somewhat better than the defending. Prussians of 1760 attacking Austrians works reasonably well, if Austrian mobility is improved to be about equal to the Prussian.

DEPLOYMENT

The defender deploys all forces anywhere north of the lower stream. Without seeing the defending setup, the attnckers split their forces into groups. There may beat most three separate groups, one of which must contain at least 40% of the attacking manpower, the others not more than 33% each. The attackers write down an intended turn of entry, board edge and sector for each force (see map). The turn of entry must fall within the limits given below according to force size and entry sector. Each group may be plotted to enter at any edge and sector no matter where the others enter. For purposes of computing manpower, use the strengths of the units with which you normally play or figure a battalion and squadron to have 650 or 160 men respectively; artillery counts nothing.

Permissible Turns of Plotted Entry

Force Size of:	Entry Sector
	South Edge	West/East A	West/East B
less than 5,000	1-2	4-7	9-13
5,000-12,000	1-2	6-9	10-14
more than 12,000	1-2	7-10	12-16

The actual turn of arrival is equal to the plotted turn plus a random delay. Forces arriving on the south map edge are never delayed; always arriving on the turn intended. Two turns before the planned entry of a force scheduled to arrive at East A or West A, and three turns before planned entry of a force scheduled for East B or West B, the commander of that force rolls one die and consults the "Turns of Delay" table below. The table indicates how many turns entry is delayed. The force must then enter on the adjusted entry turn (scheduled turn + delay); it can not voluntarily be delayed. The results of the die roll should be kept secret from the defenders and ideally from the other attacking players also.

Two turns before the actual arrival of an attacking force scheduled for East A or West A and three turns before arrival at East B or West B, the attackers must give notice of the impending arrival of each force; its actual turn of entry and the map edge to be used (but not the sector letter of A or B). This does not apply to forces entering from the South.

Turns of Delay
Force Size of:	Die Toss
	1	2	3	4	5	6
less than 5,000	0	0	0	1	1	2
5,000-12,000	0	0	1	1	2	2
more than 12,000	0	1	1	2	2	3

GAME LENGTH

Twenty-four ten minute turns (4 hours). If your rules time scale is substantially different, then the tables above for turn of entry and delay will need to be converted to your different scale.

GAME VARIATION

More uncertainty can be added for the defenders by letting the attackers vary their OB slightly. A grenadier battalion can be exchanged for a light battalion or vice versa; up to five cuirassier squadrons can be exchanged for dragoons or vice versa and similarly for dragoons and hussars. Additionally, two line battalions may be traded for one new cavalry unit or vice versa. (Suggestions for other variations are welcome; the idea is to mess up the defender's knowledge of the attacker without greatly changing the combat power of the attacker.)

THE MAP

The stream is totally fordable.

TACTICAL NOTES

The attacker has the advantage of being able to keep the defender guessing. This allows him to upset the defender's dispositions; if the attacker's entry is timed and placed well, the defending units will need to shift their formation, something they will have very little time to do before the attacker arrives. The effect of units held off the table is multiplied because each such unit effectively threatens all points at once, the defender not knowing where they will appear.

However, the longer a unit is held off, the fewer the number of turns it can exert combat power on the table and holding off lots of units until the later stages exposes those units already on the table to destruction if the defender is audacious.

The Towns

Town (a) goes a long way toward unlocking the defense, threatening each other's objective but it is well protected by terrain.

Town (b) is relatively unprotected by terrain but units attacking it are liable to find themselves very far from any support and the defender still retains a good position.

Town (c) is really the key to the defensive position and is correspondingly well protected by terrain.

The location of a reserve is an important decision for the defender. The triangle a-c-d is a good point from which to reinforce a static defense on the high ground but is less well suited to counterattacking. The defender's hardest decision will be whether to counterattack the first enemy units to appear or to wait. If he waits, he may miss his best chance to defeat the attack in detail. If, he is bold, he may become mired in an engagement on one side of the position while a decisive attack crashes through the opposite side.

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