Tag: Nuringia

Zarland 1817: Sharp action at Baumdorf – more game mechanics

Post author By lorenzoseventh
Post date 8th Oct 2021
No Comments on Zarland 1817: Sharp action at Baumdorf – more game mechanics

In the previous two posts I have set out the campaign and mechanics that brought the two forces to action at Baumdorf.

The forces were

Zarland Eastern Army commanded by General Kratzen

IR 8th Adelburg CF5 (2)
IR 6th Nurtberg CF5 (1)
2nd Tuttingen Skirmishers CF2 (1)
Pioneer Regiment 2nd Eyachdorf CF5 (2)
5th Gellenstein Cavalry CF6 (2)
Artillery Regiment 12th Pinkenfels CF6 (2)
8th Filstad Skirmishers CF4 (1)
IR 4th Beckendorf CF6 (2)

The Nuringian Army commanded by General Paskievich comprised

IR Von Rechten CF3 (1)
IR Von Ryssel CF5 (1)
1st Sharpshooters CF5 (1)
CR Prince Clement Dragoons CF6 (2)
CR Polenz Lancers CF14 (3)
1st Field Artillery Battery CF4 (1)
2nd Field Artillery Battery CF5 (1)
1st Pioneer Regiment CF14 (3)

Both armies had a similar mix of forces and both had pioneer units which often fight in these small actions in the realms of Fauxterre…….. and are feared in the same way as Grenadiers.

Each unit shows its campaign condition or “CF factor” – a value that is training, experience, morale and fighting ability all in one. This was converted to the relevant Table Top Battles unit class – again an “all in one” fighting factor.

The battle was fought over three objectives – possession of the village and the hill and also driving off the enemy from the area of Baumdorf.

In TTB you dice for initiative, important when using alternating movement rules – Zarland won the first two rounds as the forces closed on the village of Baumdorf and its hill.

Both entered the village and commenced a firefight involving infantry and artillery (these were only allowed in the village on the road).

Meanwhile the Zarlander 8th Adelburg IR and 8th Filstad skirmishers took the hill.

On Move 3 Paskievich (Nuringians) took the initiative and attacked all along the battle line. Around the village the Zarlander 2nd Eyachdorf Pioneers and 4th Beckendorf IR broke.

On the Nuringian right flank the Zarland 2nd Tuttlingen skirmishers retired before the measured advance of the Prinz Clement Dragoons.

On Move 4 the Nuringians again pushed on, with the artillery duel in Baumdorf reaching a crescendo. The hill is taken by the Von Rechten IR and the Prinz Clement Dragoons, despite the Zarland Gellenstein Cavalry trying to draw off the Dragoons.

Finally the Zarland Artillery (12th Pinkenfels) withdraw from the village. Elsewhere the 8th Adelburg IR are driven fully off the hill while the 6th Nurtberg are broken by the gallant charge of the Nuringian Polenz Lancers.

Paskievich had taken both objectives and very soon would achieve the third objective of driving the enemy from the field. This meant earning maximum “Control Points” for this action which would add weight to any campaign negotiations.

After this action the campaign then ended with a final skirmish to complete the 32 segments.

Zarland won that last skirmish but overall lost the campaign – winning just 2 skirmishes to Nuringia’s 6 who also won the Baumdorf action. Nuringia took all the control points available in the campaign while Zarland had 4 units break in action to none for Nuringia.

For each skirmish or action experience points acrue to each unit taking part, 4 experience points = 1 condition point. Those broken units lose 5 condition points reflecting the wider consequences of a units collapse on the field with soldiers missing, deserting and having been in close fighting – more wounded not to mention those killed. It also counts as a measure of morale of those still in the unit.

So each units takes time to build its condition yet can lose it a lot more easily.

This meant the following units dropped to the lowest condition factor (CF) of “green” as replacements diluted the remaining expertise of the unit.

8th Adelburg was seasoned and is now green
6th Nurtberg were green on CF5 and are now on CF0 still green
2nd Eyachdorf were green on CF5 and are now on CF0 still green
4th Beckendorf were seasoned on CF6 and are now on CF1 green

This will dent Zarland forces capability in the 1818 campaigns.

My Abstraction of conflicts with the use of segments of the years campaign, being both in parallel and in sequence, means a unit could be propelled into another campaign activity in the same year. So those Zarland losses could yet affect other 1817 campaign outcomes.

I am tempted to apply a similar condition factor in my approach for Generals experience/rating. I typically use -1,0,1 or 2 range as in poor, average, good and great. Currently I am thinking of converting these to ranges and applying positive and negative moves to a Generals condition – all experience is growth so it is the reaction to the experience that matters and of course I am moving away from simply an inherent – your either a good or bad general for all time.

For each General the following could apply

General Kratzen (rated +1 = good) now means veteran so has a CF of 16 prior to the campaign and after it is up 3 experience – not enough for +1 CF. He is -5 CF for the defeat. A bit brutal – he ends up seasoned on a CF of 11.

General Paskievich (rated 0 = average) now means seasoned so has a CF of 10 prior to the campaign and earns 2 CF’s for all his victories giving a CF of 12 and still seasoned.

A long serving general declining back to green means while the ranges work the name tags need adjusting.

This approach could prove a bit onerous though – we shall see.

Roll on the next campaign………..

Tags Fauxterre, grid wargaming, Nuringia, solo wargaming, Table Top Battles, wargame campaigns, Zarland

Mythical Realms wargaming

Zarland 1817: Sharp action at Baumdorf

Post author By lorenzoseventh
Post date 7th Oct 2021
No Comments on Zarland 1817: Sharp action at Baumdorf

The Narrative

Although war with VinAlba was inevitable, the Duke Constantius Regent of Zarland knew that Maximilian of Nuringia was likely to act in 1817. The Elector had marched to war in 1816 yet then suddenly withdrew his troops.

The Duke’s concerns about Nuringia were well founded. In spring 1817 the Elector of Nuringia, Grand Duke Maximilian resumed his attack on Greater Zarland.

In a series of skirmishes he engaged with Eastern Zarland forces now commanded by General Kratzen – who had been praised for his success at Kloster Arens the previous year while fighting the combined VinAlban/Davarian army.

Almost at every turn the Zarland forces found themselves outfought in these skirmishes. Eventually Maximilian’s General Paskievich manoeuvred the Zarlanders to battle.

In a small action General Kratzen attempted to hold the village of Baumdorf. The Nuringians needed something to show for their efforts beyond successful skirmishing. General Paskievich ordered his forces to take Baumdorf once he realised the Zarlanders were not retiring.

The resulting encounter saw the two forces fight for Baumdorf with its nearby hill also the focus of attention.

Tags Faux Napoleonic, Fauxterre, grid wargaming, Nuringia, Table Top Battles, wargaming with grids, Zarland

Mythical Realms wargaming

Kloster Arens: Part 7 Postscript

Post author By lorenzoseventh
Post date 6th Oct 2021
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King Karol of VinAlba had other things to occupy his mind which meant Prince Otto and the Zarland succession would have to wait another day.

Both Nuringia and Genachia would no doubt be pressing their claims.

As 1816 closed VinAlba remained officially at war with Zarland although relations had cooled with Davaria. King Karol did not expect any help from that direction after the Kloster Arens fiasco. His view was that, had the Davarians committed all their forces to his attack things would have fared better. Instead they had pursued their own small war to little avail.

Nuringia also remained at war with Zarland.

And Davaria seemingly had lost interest in taking some of Zarland as trouble brewed with its south eastern neighbour – Verbonia.

In Nuringia the Elector, Grand Duke Maximilian had been building his forces waiting for an opportune moment to strike. His objective was a land grab – well recovery of historic Nuringian lands. The broader objective was to acquire control of Zarland.

Maximilian decided to attack once the Zarlanders were fully occupied by the VinAlban/Davarian actions in the west. In the event his troops were marching only as the VinAlbans were failing at the battle of Kloster Arens.

This meant the Zarland Regent, Duke Constantius, was able to move quickly against Maximilian.

When both sides began to make contact their respective scouts reported the following numbers.

Nuringian Scouts estimated 11,000 Zarlanders in the field – this was not what Maximilian had expected.

Zarlanden Scouts estimated 9000 Nuringians in the field.

These estimates* were not far wrong and Maximilian realised his opportunity was gone. He ordered his forces to retire.

In just a few months the apparently tottering Zarland regime had repulsed three attacks on Greater Zarland.

Duke Constantius was well pleased with this outcome at the close of the first year of Princess Maria’s reign. He did not expect matters to improve though.

*for my campiagns I use various systems to create “establishments”. These are then subject to availability based on the turn of events. To add to the uncertainty for solo games I then use variable assessments by the enemy of the opposing forces. In this case Zarland actually did not field 11,000 men.

They had a lot less than Nuringia. It was just poor information and and misreporting that gave the high figure. The fog of war so to speak.

For solo gaming narrative campaigns its all grist to the mill. And it throws up more variety in terms of battles and forces.

Tags Davaria, Faux Napoleonic, Fauxterre, Nuringia, Zarland

Mythical Realms wargaming

Zarland 1817: Sharp Action at Baumdorf – game mechanics

Post author By lorenzoseventh
Post date 6th Oct 2021
No Comments on Zarland 1817: Sharp Action at Baumdorf – game mechanics

The Game

For this campaign I used the following

My Greater Zarland story fed the belligerents and circumstances
Each state has a relationship varying between allied, peace, neutral, disputes and war. With disputes these are irritating affairs of state that erode the capability of the state to mobilise for war. I randomly (1d6 123 = 5% or 456 = 10%) chose the part of the establishment diverted to deal with each dispute. Equally the reverse applies for allied states routinely supplying supporting forces.
Each dispute or war is diced for in terms of its occurrence and sequencing (one after the other or in parallel).
Disputes are a series of major or minor skirmishes with the possibility of a small action
Wars extend to larger actions and even greater engagements – possibly big set piece battles.

I used my campaign rules to generate the campaign forces available.

The campaign duration was made up of 32 segments. After each campaign turn a 1d6 determined how many segments were consumed. Once all 32 segments were consumed this campaign sequence ended.

In this case 7 turns had been played and 28 of the 32 segments consumed. Autumn was approaching and both sides had only a series of skirmishes to show for their efforts.

Each turn either a skirmish, action or engagement could occur – skirmishes most likely and engagements (large battles) least likely.

Now on this eighth turn an “action” was drawn. As it was a “small action” each force would have 8 units available to fight.
In this case I randomly selected the 8 units from each establishment.
Zarland defended the village because they had lost the skirmishes up till then.

I fought the battle using Table Top Battles on a grid. The rules generated the terrain. I used 50mm multi figure element bases representing a battalion of infantry or regiment of cavalry. One gun represented a battery of artillery.

The playing area measured 28″ x 40″ – 70cm x 101cm marked with a 5cm or 2″ grid.

The forces were

Zarland Eastern Army commanded by General Kratzen

IR 8th Adelburg CF5 (2)*
IR 6th Nurtberg CF5 (1)
2nd Tuttingen Skirmishers CF2 (1)
Pioneer Regiment 2nd Eyachdorf CF5 (2)*
5th Gellenstein Cavalry CF6 (2)
Artillery Regiment 12th Pinkenfels CF6 (2)
8th Filstad Skirmishers CF4 (1)
IR 4th Beckendorf CF6 (2)

Despite constant harrassment and losing many of the skirmishes the Zarlanders were in surprisingly good spirits. The last two units had just joined the army when the action commenced. Two units with * against them upped their morale rating on the day.

The Nuringian Army commanded by General Paskievich comprised