French - General Kleber with about 12,000-15,000 men, mostly infantry.

Ottomans - Grand Vezir Yusuf Pasha with about 20,000-30,000 men, mostly irregular cavalry.

While historically the battle was incredibly one-sided, this engagement will probably be more interesting on the tabletop. I suspect the Ottoman player will do much better as it may be impossible to find a tabletop commander as incompetent as Yusuf Pasha, who's total lack of understanding of combined arms tactics allowed his army to be destroyed in pieces.

The Map

It seems clear from the descriptions of the battle that the conflict took place in the great plains near Cairo which were used traditionally as the assembly point of the huge annual pilgrimage caravans to Mecca.

This was a large flat area near the little lake of Birket-al-Hadje with adequate water and good pasturage for animals. While I have not been able to exactly locate the battlefield on modern maps I think I can make a fair guess. El Matariya and Heliopolis are modern suburbs of Cairo, all more or less astride the main road into Cairo from the northeast. While I can find no such town as El Koubee, there is the suburb of El Qubba located on the main road to Cairo about a mile or two south of Matariya. From these clues I venture the following educated guess about the battle map as it probably appeared in 1800.

Imagine a rectangle about five miles wide by about four miles deep, with north at the top. Along the left edge is a large, water-filled canal bringing water from the Nile. Along the bottom right is the beginning of a low line of ridges, extending off the map. This represents the relatively flat, featureless plain of Koubbe, which extends for many miles north and east of Cairo. Running roughly north-northeast across the entire map is the great caravan road connecting Cairo with Syria. This close to Cairo the road would be dotted with many small villages, most surrounded by mud-brick walls. There would also be a number of villages to the west of the road toward the canal, possibly connected to it by a limited number of feeder canals, some of which would be dry, making an ideal entrenchment.

Scattered here and there would be the occasional date orchard/grove. Near the southern edge on the road is the village of El Koubee (El Qubba). About a mile and half north of El Koubee and near the northern edge of the map is the village of Matariya located beside the ruins of ancient Heliopolis. Located maybe half a mile behind Matariya, near modern Ain Shams, would be the large, sprawling Ottoman camp.

The Ottoman forces would begin the game encamped more or less at random along the northern edge of the map centered on Ain Shams with two units of Janissaries deployed behind the walls of Matariya. The Djellis, who always kept their mounts saddled and ready, would also be available at the beginning of the battle. All other Ottoman forces would require at least one turn to form up. The French could deploy anywhere on the southern half of the map and would move first.

The Opposing Forces

While there are several sources of information for this battle, none provide anything like a real order of battle. Furthermore, they all disagree completely on the number of combatants involved. The listing on page seven should, therefore, be considered as merely an educated guess. For convenience sake, I have listed all units at their full-strength totals. It is far more likely that the units, both Ottoman and French, would be significantly under strength at this time. If you like, feel free to have a larger number of smaller units in play, but keep the total number of figures the same.

The French

General Jean-Baptiste Kleber commanded about 12,000-15,000 men. This force was mostly French infantry. There was a small French cavalry force, probably dragoons, about 500 French dromedary men and about 500 Mamluks who had sided with the French since shortly after the invasion. The French might have also had a small force of Coptic militia infantry, though that is pure conjecture. They had a minimum of 60 cannon, including several units of horse artillery. At this time the French were still grouped in demi-brigades with a ratio of roughly four to one, line infantry to light.

The Ottomans

Grand Vezir Yusuf Pasha commanded a force of about 20,000-30,000 men, most irregular cavalry. My best guess is that the Grand Vezir had about 10,000 infantry composed of about 3,000 Janissaries, most likely under the command of Seraskier Mahomed Pacha, 2,000 Albanians and the rest Sekhans and militia of dubious quality. The Janissaries included both the reasonably competent Imperial Janissaries plus less competent provincial Janissaries (Yamaks) from Aleppo, Damascus and Cairo. The Imperial Janissaries and the Arnauts should be considered as trained light infantry.

His best units would have been the approximately 3,000 Mamluks under the leadership of Ibrahim Bey. Added to this would have been another 10,000 to 15,000 light cavalry, mostly of Syrian origin. While some of this light cavalry would have been supplied by the provincial governors, and therefore of fair quality, most would have been irregulars who flocked to the Grand Vezir's banner seeking plunder. While there is no mention of it in the various texts, it is logical to assume that the Grand Vezir would have had at least one unit of Imperial cavalry at his command.

There is no real way to estimate his artillery. The French claim to have captured most of the Grand Vezir's artillery when his army fled the field, but since they captured only 19 pieces, this seems most unlikely, especially since the Grand Vezir chose to spend the opening rounds of the battle in a protracted artillery duel with the French Ñ an unlikely event if he was not only out-classed, but out-numbered three to one in artillery. Traditionally the Ottomans used a great deal of artillery.

On the other hand, J.P. Morier, who traveled with the Ottoman army on its approach to the battle, described the Grand Vezir's artillery train as "very small" and said the Ottoman artillery was made up predominately of 6-pound cannons and 5-inch howitzers. I have therefore listed the Ottoman artillery as only two batteries, but if one wanted to increase this total by one or two more batteries, it actually might be a more realistic total.

At the main Ottoman encampment there was possibly another 10,000-15,000 non-combatants, including all the chief ministers of the Ottoman government and their staffs who always traveled with the Grand Vezir, plus thousands of assorted camp followers, mostly women, slaves and merchants.

Special Rules

With the exception of the Djellis and the forces in Matariya, all Ottoman units cannot move on the first turn. I would recommend instead that each unit roll a 6-sided die and if it rolls under its moral number, it can move normally the next turn. This process would be repeated each turn, subtracting one from the die total each turn, until all units are activated.

While the real battle did not last long enough for it to matter, one of the great strengths of the Ottomans and a great weaknesses of the French in Egypt was keeping their troops supplied with water on the battlefield. In many battles the French suffered greatly from thirst as the battle progressed. Most Ottoman units, on the other hand, included a force of Saqqa's (waterbearers). These men were known for their bravery and kept the troops supplied with water, even in the thick of the battle. To reflect this, for each turn after noon, reduce all French moral rolls by one percent per turn (assuming 4 turns per hour).

Extra victory points should be awarded if any unbroken French unit enters the Ottoman Camp. This should also force the Ottoman player to take morale checks for all units as soon as they become aware of it.

Extra victory points should also be awarded if any senior Ottoman command figure exits off the southern edge of the board accompanied by an unbroken Ottoman Unit. If this happens, and you want to make the battle more balanced, you can also give the Ottoman player a chance of instantly stirring the people of Cairo into rebellion. If the required die roll is made, say a six on the first turn, a five or six on the second turn, etc., start having a unit of Fellahin enter the board from the direction of Cairo at the beginning of the third turn after the needed total has been rolled. Thereafter, the Fellahin would continue to appear at a rate of one unit each turn until the battle is resolved. For this purpose senior Ottoman command figures would include: Janissary commanders Mahomed Pacha and Nafif Pasha and Mamluk commander Ibrahim Bey.

Related

Battle of Heliopolis Order of Battle
Battle of Heliopolis: Historical Summary