I would like to discuss a scenario that Paul Petri and I ran twice, first at the SYWA convention in Kalamazoo, and then at Little Wars in April. We were surprised that the two battles had completely different outcomes and found them interesting enough to share with the rest of the membership. Paul and I have been collecting Russians for about a year and decided to put on a game at the SYW convention in Kalamazoo last March. The table we used measured 6 feet by 16 feet. Listed below is the order of battle for the first game:

PRUSSIANS

RUSSIANS

AUSTRIANS

All of the units had 20 figures, using a 30:1 casting to man ratio. Paul and I deployed all of the Russians and Austrians as shown in Map 1. The Prussians had to move onto the table from their baseline and did not have any deployment restrictions. The victory conditions were as follows, Austrians: a draw if they captured the town shown in the lower righthand corner of the map, and a decisive victory if they held both the town and the hill beyond it at the end of the game. The Russians needed to hold the woods for a draw, the woods and the hill on their right flank for a decisive victory.

The Prussians needed to capture any two of the following: the woods, the town or the hill on the Russian right flank.

The Prussians organized themselves quickly and started to figure out their plan of attack. Most of the Prussians knew each other from previous wargames and planned a coordinated attack on the Russian right flank, with a holding action opposite the Austrians at the other end of the table. On the other side, only the two Austrian players had a prior acquaintance while the Russians had no discernable battle plan and did not appear to coordinate their actions amongst themselves or their Austrian allies.

We informed all of the players that the first two turns would be deployment turns and only movement would be conducted. On turn three they could do anything they wanted. Also, the Prussians did not have to move all of their troops onto the board. The Austrians were deployed to the left of the woods and they had their cavalry out in front near the town. The Russians had six infantry battalions and one 121b battery in the woods; the rest of their infantry and artillery were deployed between the woods and the hill on their right. The Russian cavalry was deployed on top of the hill on the Russian right flank.

The first two turns saw the Prussians move in mass towards the Russian right. There were not any Prussians in the middle of the board and there appeared to be just cavalry on the Prussian right flank. The Austrians pressed ahead and occuppied the town. The Russians in the woods just sat tight, while the Russian commander to the right of the woods decided he needed to hold the hill and started to move some of his infantry to its summit. The Russian cavalry commander initiated a general advance against the mass of Prussians facing him. The Austrians pushed ahead on their flank with their cavalry leading the way.

Turn Three saw more Prussian cavalry advancing to hold off the Austrian cavalry, and a general melee took began. The Austrians designated one battalion of infantry to hold the village with the rest of the infantry advancing onto the plain behind their cavalry. In the center it would be several more turns before the Russians advanced out of the woods, while on the right, the Russian infantry commander was severely outnumbered and was receiving no help from any of the other players.

The Russian cavalry commander was in the process of counting Prussian artillery pieces with the lives of his horsemen, destroying his cavalry brigade in the process. He spent one whole turn just sitting in front of the Prussian guns getting holes blown through his regiments. I even asked him if he was going to charge the batteries and he said, "no, I just want to hold my ground."

By the end of Turn Five, the Russian cavalry no longer existed owing to the combined effects of artillery fire and the subsequent charge by four Prussian cavalry regiments. The Russian infantry on the hill were franticly trying to beat back the Prussians, but the weight of the Prussian cavalry was beginning to make its presence felt. In the center, the Russian commander finally advanced out of the woods, but instead of launching an attack to assist his fellow Russian, he moved to his left and decided to beat on two of the four Prussian infantry battalions that were supporting the Prussian cavalry facing the Austrians. The Austrian cavalry, with support from their infantry, pushed the Prussian cavalry back and the infantry started to engage the two infantry battalions not already assailed by the Russians.

The Russians on the hill were able to hold out for about three more turns, but the sheer weight of ten Prussian battalions and four untouched cavalry regiments were more than his brigade alone could handle. The Russians broke. By this time, all the Russian guns on the right had been captured or destroyed. In the center, the Russians were advancing and pushing the Prussians ( who had developed a healthy respect for the power of the Russian Secret Howitzer battery) back, but this was trivial since the true fate of the Russian Army was already being decided on their right flank. The Austrians had a few morale problems, but had started to reorganize for a general advance.

The game went on for two more turns and the end of the game found the two Russian battalions trying to hold what was left of the right flank. The Prussians were descending from the hill and had three cavalry regiments, approximately eight infantry battalions and a coupie of batteries poised to breach the Russian flank. The Russian in the center had basically destroyed and pushed the Prussians back to the edge of the board and the Austrians were still pushing on the two they had been facing. Map 2 depicts the relative positions the opposing forces at the end of the game. We declared the game a decisive Prussian victory, but gave the Austrians credit for acheiving their victory conditions.

Second Game

At Little Wars everything was the same, except we added one unit of Pandours and one battalion of Observation Corps musketeers to the Russian army and one more battalion of grenadiers to the Prussian army. We also decided to let the Russians deploy their own troops. When we unloaded the figures we just placed them wherever there was space available on the table. We informed the Prussians of their objectives and told them that they had to predetermine where they would enter the board. We advised them that the Russians would not necessarily be deployed where we had placed their troops (oh, how silly of me to have thought that). We then told the Russians what their objectives were and informed them that they could place their troops 18" in from the edge of their baseline. The Austrians had to be on the left flank. Both sides ended up, basically, leaving all of their troops where Paul and I had placed them, unless they were more than 18" from the baseline. Map 3 illustrates the deployment of both forces at the Little Wars convention.

This time, only the two Austrian players knew each other and they were the only players to develop any sort of coordinated attack. What evolved was a general slugfest across the entire length of the table as both sides advanced from where Paul and I had deposited their troops. The only interesting things of note were that one Prussian battalion broke through into the woods, the Prussian cavalry did a gallant job of holding off the Austrians, and the Russian cavalry completely routed the opposing Prussian cavalry off the table and ended up perpendicular to the Prussian left flank. Map 4 depicts the position of both forces at the conclusion of the game. The Russians and Austrians won decisively this time.

Learning Process

What can we learn from these two experiences (other then never allowing the SYW convention Russian cavalry commander to ever command cavalry again)?

The biggest difference that I noticed was the organization and plan of attack used by the Prussian players at the SYW convention in Kalamazoo. The absence of the same at Little Wars was the principal reason for the Prussian defeat. This situation was not intentionally created. It just so happened at the SYW convention that all the Prussians knew each other. They listened to their overall commander, set a clear cut objective, loaded almost all of their troops on one flank in classic Frederician style and stuck to their plan of attack. The Prussians took advantage of being able to mass anywhere on the board and were successful in turning the Russian right flank.

The Russian-Austrian army, which outnumbered the Prussians in total, failed miserably in reacting to the Prussian threat on their right flank. Only the commanders who were facing this onslaught tried to stem the tide. The other commander pursued a phantom opponent, wasting six battalions and a 12 lb. battery on two Prussian battalions who already had their hands full dealing with the Austrian attack. These troops were sorely needed on the Russian right flank. The Austrians fared quite well and could have easily taken care of all the Prussians in their segment of the table.

At Little Wars, each side divided up their commands and just started pushing lead forward. Neither side seemed to have had any strategy other than a full frontal assault! Even though both sides could have massed troops in one sector for an oblique attack, they decided to deploy from end to end. The Prussians basically lost from the beginning when they decided to fight across the whole length of the board. They were outnumbered by the allied army, just like at the SYW convention, but they did not take advantage of being able to concentrate their attack.

I wonder if most people feel uncomfortable in taking charge at a convention where they probably do not know the other players on their side. It appeared to be quite apparent at Little Wars that this was the case. I know that I don't always like being in charge of one side at a game, but I do know that we have to formulate our strategy and make sure that every player understands his role if we are to acheive our objective. If I am just a brigade commander, that's fine with me, just tell me what you want me to do.

To be successful, you need to have some sort of basic plan or else the wargame dissolves into a frontal slugfest. What is the point of deploying units from one end of the table to the other? If you can concentrate your force and pick where you want the battle to be won, then why not take advantage of this opportunity? Even though Paul and I were a little disappointed with the strategy, or lack thereof, at Little Wars, everybody said that they had a great time. My number one goal as a game judge is for people to have fun; otherwise, regardless of how good the scenario, rules, figures or terrain is I don't feel that I have done my job.

Editor's Note: I played in Brian's game at the SYW convention as one of the Prussians and observed much of the Little Wars game as a spectator. It occurred to me that the reason behind the Prussian success at the SYW meet was the overall experience and familiarity of the period amongst the Prussian players, and as Brian points out, the willingness of one of the Prussians to seize the challenge of command. At Little Wars, it seemed as if the players on both sides were relative newcomers to wargaming in general and to the SYW period in particular They were probably attracted to the game by the beautiful figures and terrain that Brian and Paul had assembled. Inexperienced players are not likely to step forward and assume command of their team, much less know how to deploy troops and develop a complicated flank attack. Although the players at Little Wars lacked experience, they certainly made up for it with their enthusiasm for a well-run game. I have no doubt that they had as much fun playing the game as the Prussian players did at the SYW convention-and that, as Brian says, is the purpose of wargaming.

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