This is the first scenario in the revised set of rules "They Died for Glory". They cover the period of the Franco-Prussian War exclusively, 1870-1871. This battle was for the town of Weissenberg fought in August of 1870 on the Franco-German frontier. This was one of the opening engagements in the Franco-Prussian war and was between units of the 1st French corps of Marshal MacMahon and units of the 5th Prussian and 2nd Bavarian corps of the third Prussian Army under the Crown Prince of Prussia. I was the Prussian commander, while my brother Richard played the part of the French commander.

This scenario is given a game length of 18 turns. Each turn represents 15 minutes. The victory conditions are that the Prussian player must capture the railway station and Weissenberg by turn 12 and capture the castle by the end of the game. The French player must prevent this. Significantly the victory conditions make no mention of losses in any of the scenarios that come with these rules as far as determining victory. This sets the correct tone for this era when commanders were willing to take tremendous losses to secure their objectives (World War I is only 44 years away).

The game area was 5' by 8' which is standard for all the scenarios in the game. The game scale is 50 yards per inch. Figure scales are 1 infantly/cavalrymen represents 50 men. Each artillerist represents 2 guns. Each Mitrailleuse gunner represents 3 weapons.

The Sequence of play is slightly unusual. It begins with both sides firing their artillery. Then morale checks are made if any casualties were caused. Next comes announcements of Germans charges (attempted melees) with the French getting the option to counter-charge. Then the Germans move.

What is unusual is that you only fire small-arms when the other player moves. In this case the Germans are moving while the French get the opportunity to fire at them at any point in their move. The Germans then check morale for any losses suffered and then do their melees. It then becomes the French player's turn to announce charges, get counter-charged, move, get fired at, and check morale. Then both players get to make voluntary fallbacks (more on this later). They both get the chance to converge half-strength battalion at this point.

It's important to remember that units get only two actions per turn, eitheryou move twice, move once andfire, or fire twice. The reason why this is important is because if as the French you use both your actions firing at the enemy during the Prussian movement phase you will have no ability to move during your movement phase. You would only be able to perform a voluntary fall-back which has risks involved. Even worse if you as the Prussians use both your actions to get close to a French unit and don't come into contact with it, he will have FOUR shots at you before you can reply. Even a 20 figure battalion shreds pretty quick with that much lead flying at it.

Formations: Their are two basic infantry formations in the game, line and column. Lines can be either a normal firing line or a skirmish line. Either one can be two stands deep but only the firing line can have both ranks fire. Columns also come in two flavors, assault column or deep (maneuver) column. The main difference between the formations is that regular line and assault column move slower and take casualties easier than deep columns or skirmisher lines.

Movement rates are fairly generous if you are in skirmish line or deep column; 6" per action. This means that you can move up to 12" per tunn if you use both your actions to move. Line is only 3" while assault column is 5".

I have played several battles when line or assault columns were NEVER used to move. They just aren't worth the extra casualties that the you'll get. A convenient thing that the rules allow you to do is to move in deep column with the intention of melee, up to an enemy unit but form up in assault column once contact is made. Then you get the movement advantage and lower potential casualties of deep column with the better melee power of the assault column. Cavalry moves 10" per action for heavies and 12" per action for lights.

ORDER OF BATTLE

French

1st Corps, 2nd Division: 3 battalions of Turcos, 6 Battalions of line infantry, 1 mitrailleuse battery, 2-4pdr batteries. Entering on turn 8 were 1 regiment of Hussars, 1 regiment of Chasseur a Cheval.

German

2nd Bavarian Corp, 4th Division: 10 Battalions of line infantry, 3 Jager Battalions, 1 Chevauleger cavalry regiment, 2bpdr and 2-4pdr batteries.

Entering on turn 9 was the 5th Prussian Corp, 9th Division consisting of 12 Battalions of line infantry, 1 Jager Battalion, 2bpdr and 2-4pdr batteries.

Both the French and Prussians had similar unit organizations at this time. Three battalions made up a regiment, two regiments a brigade, and two brigades a division. The Bavarians however were not completely indoctrinated into the Prussian system yet and had a different organization. The 4th Bavarian division had two brigades each with 5 line battalions and 1 Jager battalion with a Jager battalion attached at division level.

Prussian/German infantry battalions are usually 20 figures in strength (the scenario rules sometimes say they start with less because of losses in previous battles), while French are 16. Both sides' cavalry are 12 figures. Artillery batteries are 3 figures (6 guns), while mitrailleuse are 2 figures (6 weapons).

The French deployment is dictated by the scenario rules but the French player does have some latitude in where things go. A regiment of Turcos had to be placed near the walled town of Weissenberg. Turcos (Algerian troops) are above average troops with a morale rating of 7 while most line troops have a morale of 6. This makes Turcos harder to kick out of a position than most troops as the German player was soon to see.

When rolling for morale if you roll above your rating on a D6 the unit retreats 12" and is out of action for a turn. Friendly units within 4" of the retreat must also check morale which can cause a mass rout effect. Morale decreases one for every 3 casualties a battalion has taken.

The French player placed two battalions of Turcos in the town proper, in skirmish line against the north town wall. It was decided before the game started that the wall could only be fired over from troops lining the inside (prepared firing platforms). It was felt that this was logical if this was a typical European town wall. It gave the French a little more of an advantage which they would need considering the number of German troops. Between the two Turco battalions, he placed a battery of 4-lbr cannon (presumed to be firing through holes broken through the town wall). The last battalion of Turcos was deployed in the railway station which was just outside the town wall to the east.

The rules differentiate buildings as being either small or large. Small buildings can hold 10 figures (half a battalion) while a large one can hold 20 (a full battalion).

Three of the buildings in Weissenberg were designated as being large and the rest small. Two of the large buildings (a church and a Rathaus) would be on the north side of the town near where the Turcos were deployed and the third (the Gasthaus) on the south side.

The French player's other 6 battalions were deployed near the castle with one of them in the castle. This was very open ground and the only available cover was a railroad embankment that stretched across his front. This could be a very tough position to take if enough troops were available, something like the sunken road at Antietem.

A word is in order concerning the weapons used during the Franco-Prussian War. Both sides used breech-loading rifles however the French Chasspot outranged the German needle gun by about 50% and the game rules reflect this. This sometimes makes it near impossible for Prussian infantry to close on a well defended French position.

On the other hand the Prussian breech-loading artillery out-ranged the muzzle-loading French artillery. More importantly, the fact that the German artillery was breech-loading meant a considerable increase in the rate of fire.

In the game the French infantry have a range of 18" for fire combat but become less effective after 12". The German infantry has a range of 12". There are special rules to take into account the effect of troops armed with muzzle-loading rifles or inferior breech-loaders but for all the scenarios included with the rules only the Chasspot and Needle-gun are used.

Because of this, a battlefield with open terrain generally favors the Prussians as long as he has sufficient artillery, and the French when he doesn't.

The German commander started out the battle with four batteries of artillery and would receive four more later in the battle. When Prussian artillery can concentrate it's fire on a target for a few turns it can be devastating. This was true in the real war also.

The Game

The German initial force of one Bavarian division entered the board on turn one on the northwest edge. In the rules Bavarians have a morale value of 5, compared with the Prussian morale of 6. The German commander decided to hit Weissenberg very heavily at the outset in order to drive the defenders out before other French troops could reinforce them. Since this represented the only defensive terrain that he could not outflank, he felt that once he gained the town his reinforcements (another division on turn 9) would easily sweep the field and the battle would be his.

He therefore detailed six of his line battalions and all three jager battalions to attack the town. In his center he set up his artillery batteries (24 guns) on a slight ridge. On his left flank he deployed the four remaining line battalions and his cavalry regiment.

The German player felt that this plan would work well because he could isolate the town by using his artillery to scour the open field of any French troops that wanted to fall on the flank of his Weissenberg attackers or shoot up any that tried to get into the town to reinforce it. The range of his guns (54" for 4 pdrs and 48" for 6 pdrs) reached to about a foot short of the castle so his guns could hit any troops moving around in the shallow valley.

German Maneuvers

The first 2 turns consisted of maneuvering on the German player's part while the French player watched to see what he was up to. The German player got his artillery set up on the ridge fairly quickly.

By turn four the attack on Weissenberg developed. The German player sent one battalion of jagers in skirmish line to occupy the Turcos and the artillery in Weissenberg frontally while sending the bulk of the attack force deployed in deep columns around the unguarded French left flank and over the town wall. The French player simply did not have enough troops to adequately cover the entire north wall and the German player had counted on this.

The attack by the jagers initially looked pretty grim. They were peppered by the Chasspots and canister fire from the French artillery before they had a chance to reply. After they dropped prone (which decreases your potential for casualties) they gave a good account of themselves and even shot down the gunners of the French artillery. However, had they stayed where they were for long they would certainly have been annihilated.

By turn 5 the French player realized that holding the town wall was hopeless. The Gemman player had two battalions of jagers over the walls on his left flank with six more line battalions ready to follow. After firing a parting shot at the German artillery, he withdrew the two Turco battalions further back into the town. The Gemman player had hoped that once he had entered the town in force the French would withdraw from it but this he did not do. The value of the town as a defensive position would have made that foolish.

Instead the French player withdrew one battalion toward the south side of the town and deployed it in skirmish line near the Gasthaus. The other battalion split up with part going into the church and the other part going into the Rathaus next door.

Meanwhile the rest of the French forces had advanced from their starting positions around the castle across the open field to take up positions behind the railroad embankment. While this was happening, the German player had a few anxious moments thinking he was looking at a French counter-attack. However the French stopped at the railroad embankment and ventured no farther. He now had a strong defensive line running from the railroad station, along the tracks to a position about a foot past the town of Altenstadt.

Although this was a strong position it did not worry the Gemman player too much as he knew he would receive reinforcements on turn 9 that could outflank the position. The German artillery had caused the French a few casualties during this movement.

By turn seven the Germans were ready to close-assault the Turco half battalion in the church. He had formed up a battalion into deep-column in preparation. The deep-column (4 stands of infantry spaced apart by 1/8th of an inch) w ould close up into an assault column ( no spaces between stands ) once it came into contact with the church and after it took fire.

The assault column gives the attacker a bonus unless the defender is in a building or behind obstacles. It made it easier to move through the town in deep column. The German player had managed to move units to isolate the northern Turco battalion and pursued the other battalion near the Gasthaus with two jager battalions and a line battalion. Several of the German units were shot up while doing this, but it was necessary to take as much of the town as possible before the French player realized it's importance and reinforced.

One Bavarian battalion that was sent to the eastern-most building in the town lost a quarter of its strength (5 figures) before it reached the building that was its destination. Once there, it made reinforcement nearly impossible for the French. I should mention that units take casualties very easily in this system.

The fresh battalion that was selected to attack the church passed its morale check to attack, and the French passed their check to stand. The German battalion took a casualty to fire from the French during the movement phase and was moved up to contact with the Church.

The attack immediately ground to a halt. Both sides inflicted equal casualties (despite the fact that the French were outnumbered 19 figures to 8) and a continuing melee developed. In melee combat both attacker and defender roll a certain number of dice to see how many casualties are inflicted on their opponent. Gemman infantry roll 2 dice per 3 figures while French regulars only throw 1 per 2 figures. A result of 4-6 inflicts a casualty. Elite French troops (like Turcos) throw as many dice as Germans. The side that takes the greater losses must retreat straight back 12" while the victor gets to occupy the ground the looser was on. If casualties are equal then the attacker stays in contact and they fight another melee next turn.

Meanwhile a short firefight between the three German battalions near the Gasthaus and the second Turco battalion resulted in a couple of casualties to both sides and the Turcos withdrawing into the Gasthaus during their movement phase. The German player put two jager battalions in buildings to surround the Turcos and readied a line battalion for a close assault by putting it in deep-column.

Outside of Weissenberg, the battle had been dominated by German artillery. It had shot at the French troops behind the railroad embankment a few times but with only moderate success. When artillery fires it must first roll to see if it's on target (canister fire requires no pre-roll). On a roll of 3 or better on a D6 the fire is on target. Then you have to roll to see if it caused a casualty. You roll 1 dice per gun (which works out to 6 dice per battery). Fire on buildings and obstructions halves the number of on-target dice that are thrown. Both German and French batteries are limited to 10 shots of shell and 2 of canister. The Germans however have 4 shots of exploding case which is more effective than shot but not usable against buildings.

On two consecutive turns, the Gemman player concentrated the combined artillery (24 guns) of the Bavarian division on the railroad station and inflicted enough casualties (three) to convince the French player to withdraw behind it.. But the single most important success the Gemman player had was in destroying the second and last French artillery battery when it exposed itself in an attempt to get behind the railroad station.

The French artillery, while not as effective as the Prussian, can be very important if it can get into action. In a counter-battery action they are capable of inflicting important losses on the Prussian artillery before getting destroyed themselves. And artillery is about the only trump-card the Prussians have. Another German success was in putting one of the two mittrailleuse stationed to the right of the railroad station out of action.

On turn 8, the assault on the Turcos in the Church continued. Again it devolved into a continuing melee (equal casualties). In addition the close-assault on the Gasthaus went in and was an immediate disaster for the Germans. The assault battalion lost five figures out of 20 while inflicting only one. In the ensuing retreat one of the jager battalions and a nearby line battalion were infected and joined the retreat (they were within 4" of the line of retreat and rolled above their modified morale value). The three retreating battalions ended up outside the north-west wall of the town. When a unit fails morale it's best to arrange the stands in a disordered condition after their retreat to remind the players to spend 1 turn to reorder them. They can instead retreat another turn (and must if enemy units are able to fire on them) but this causes friendly units within 4" to check their morale.

Combat Opportunities

On turn 9 things started to go more in the German's favor. Reinforcements entered the board by the town of Altstadt and also to the east of it in the form of the 9th Prussian division. This gave the German player plenty of troops to pry the French away from the railroad embankment.

In Weissenberg the attack on the church was renewed and the Turcos in it were eliminated (8 figures) after a second German battalion was thrown in (troops that join a continuing melee need not check morale to attack).

The fight for the Gasthaus had become a fire-fight between the one Turco battalion and two surrounding Prussian battalions also firing from buildings. The Turco battalion was finally knocked down to half strength by this fire which forces a unit to make a morale check which it failed. It fled over the southem wall of the town and one of the jager battalions pursued it during the next German movement phase.

On turn 10, the German player close-assaulted the Rathaus that contained the remainder of the first Turco battalion. This time the Germans were successful on the first try and the Turcos were routed out of their building over the east town wall to join their compatriots near the railroad station. With luck, the German player would have the station the next turn if the French didn't reoccupy it.

To the northeast the 9th division was making its attack. Nine battalions and 2 artillery batteries were given the task of occupying the French troops' attention along the railroad embankmen,t while 3 line battalions, a jager battalion, a cavalry regiment, and two artillery batteries were to swing south-east to cross over the embankment and roll up the French right flank. To further get his attention the German player moved forward the four Bavarian battalions that had been to the left of his artillery position. The German artillery had been concentrating it's attention on the French battalions to the right of the station.

By turn 11 the French player realized his position behind the railroad embankment was hopeless. The Bavarian troops were ready to debouch from behind the walls of Weissenberg to roll up the French open left flank while units of the 9th Prussian division were crossing the railroad embankment to roll up his open right flank. The French player elected to make voluntary withdrawals for most of his units.

This option has the virtue of getting you out of a tight spot quickly by allowing you to retreat straight back 12" but has the penalty that you must check your morale and lose one of your actions next turn. If you move within 4" of other troops they may have to make a morale check also (not if the falling back troops are in skirmish order). With fresh troops this is no problem, they would usually pass automatically. But all his battalions had suffered some casualties due to the German artillery fire or from the firefight with the 9th division.

About half the French battalions failed their morale checks after making voluntary withdrawals toward the castle. Once a unit routs in this way it takes a full turn for it to recover, or it can continue to retreat. This left him with a very shaky line. To buy himself time, the French player brought forward his only reserve, 2 cavalry regiments (a Hussar and a Dragoon). He was obviously ready to let them make a suicidal charges in order to give his infantry time to reorder their lines (a historical tactic).

However they would never be allowed to make the sacrifice for as soon as they came into range the Bavarian batteries and two from the 9th division tore them apart. Cavalry in this system is VERY vulnerable. In some instances there is literally no chance involved in inflicting casualties on cavalry, it's automatic.

Half the cavalry was lost in a single turn. This demonstrated quite realistically the fact that if cavalry could not surprise it's target by getting close through the use of concealing terrain it was doomed.

With his troops in disarray, retreating and outnumbered, the French player threw in the towel. He did not feel that he could hold the castle for 6 more turns with the single fresh battalion still in the castle and the German player agreed.

SUMMARY

It is difficult to say what else the French player could have done to win. My only suggestion would be to send in at least two more battalions into Weissenberg to prolong the battle for the town. However, if the French player does this he takes away from the forces he will need to slow down the 9th division. Something else the French player should always do is whittle down the Prussian artillery by whatever means possible. In this case he might have wanted to engage them with counter-battery fire. He would have lost his batteries in the end but it would have occupied the Bavarian artillery for a few turns and might have destroyed a battery or two.

All in all, I feel the French player has too few troops to defend such an open battlefield in this scenario. Most of the other scenarios give him more cover. He had only 9 battalions (of 16 figures each) to defend against 13 battalions (20 figures each) initially, later rising to 26 battalions. In addition his artillery was totally out-matched with 2 French batteries and a mittraileuse against 8 German batteries. However, the limited number of game turns helps to balance things out. It forces the Germans to make head-on attacks. This seems to be a standard technique used in several of the scenarios. Although the French can't always get a "real-world" victory, they can usually get a game victory. Even if you lose all your forces, if you keep the enemy from achieving his victory conditions you can still win.

Considering the disparity in numbers, the casualty ratio shows that the French player did well. Of the 9 Bavarian battalions (180 figures) that attacked the town of Weissenberg 44 became casualties for about 25%. The other four Bavarian battalions lost only a single figure. The Prussian 9th division suffered 7 casualties out of 13 battalions (260 figures). The two Turco battalions in the town lost 22 figures out of 32, but about a third of those occurred after they were kicked out of the town. The other Turco battalion in the railroad station lost 5 of it's original 16 figures. The other 6 line battalions lost 22 figures, plus 8 artillery figures, and 12 cavalry. In total the Germans lost 52 figures to 69 for the French.

I like the idea of putting scenarios inside the rules for a miniature game and the scenarios that come widh TDFG are great! They range in size from small division vs. division size battles to multi-corp battles. There are helpful suggestions on how to scale things down if you don't have enough figures. A battle-map description is included and an OB for 11 historical scenarios all based on an identical 5'x 9' table (not so coincidentally this is exactly the size of a ping-pong table). My only quibble is that the forces are fixed, so both sides know exactly what the other side starts with, what each other's reinforcements are, and where they come in. This is where an umpire would come in handy.

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