I use the same campaign rules as the "Bohemian Blitzkrieg" campaign from "Warefare in the Age of Reason" rules, and will be just in the Silesia area, for 1758. I've created a map and special rules just for this campaign. It's not absolutely historically correct, but as close as I can get.
Once a battle is judged to occur, I send the players the order of battle for their forces based on the number of SPs (strength points) they had at the location, and the army list form the rules.
I've run these kinds of games before and it's a great way to be able to use your miniatures when you can't get to a hobby store often, or don't have many players in the area for the rules you play.
Here are the special rules I've created for this. It's a work in progress (meaning I can change things at my whim and justify it any way I want):
1758 Silesian Campaign Notes
Prussian
Player Briefing
·
67 SPs at Breslau – Frederick, Keith
·
21 SPs at Sweidnitz (besieging) – Zeithen
·
7 SPs at Glatz
·
6 SPs at Neisse
·
5 SPs at Brieg
Possible
reinforcements:
·
18 SPs from northwest edge – Henry, Maurice
Special
rules:
Any force commanded by Frederick has a movement factor of 3
the first time he moves. After that, he
reverts to the normal 2 movement factors.
Intelligence:
·
You know that the main Austrian army has been at
Konniggratz, but your intelligence is slightly stale, so you cannot count on
them still being there. They may be
closer than that.
·
You have a force besieged at Sweidnitz, but you
don’t know it’s composition.
======================================================================
Austrian Player
Briefing
·
96 SPs at Koniggratz – Daun, Loudon, Arenberg
·
6 SPs at Sweidnitz (besieged)
Possible
reinforcements:
·
15 SPs enter at Koniggratz – Serbolini, Harsh
Special
rules:
The force at Konniggratz may begin the game subdivided into
multiple commands (you don’t have to roll for initiative). Any forces at Konnigratz gets to make one
free 3-MP move before turn 1 without having to check initiative (this
will be their starting location for turn 1).
Special Leader restrictions: Daun and Loudon cannot be in
the same dot together except for the initial set up. They did not get along with each other. They must go in different directions as soon
as possible.
Intelligence:
·
You know Frederick is with the main Prussian
army at Breslau
·
A smaller force (21 SPs) under Zeithen is
currently besieging Schweidnitz
·
The Prussians have garrisons at Glatz, Neisse,
and Brieg
======================================================================
Variations
to the standard rules:
·
See Victory Conditions later
·
Movement is simultaneous – I will adjudicate any
irregularities that happen
·
On the first turn the Prussian forces DO need to
make an initiative check just like the Austrians (I make the initiative checks and
let you know the result)
·
Ignore the “Special Austrian C-in-C rule”
·
For now, we will stick to 12 game turns, unless
things look interesting toward the end.
Remember this campaign did not happen in a vacuum. There were other forces in the region
(Russian, Hanoverian, Holy-Roman-Empire, Swedish, French) that might affect
whether the forces on our map could stay there for long, so a turn limit is
reasonable. That’s one reason the
reinforcements are only “possible.”
·
If there is an enemy force at the next dot, you
get to know that, but not the composition
·
On the Pre-Battle Maneuver Flow Chart, the
Austrians do NOT get the +1 bonus for Round 0 or 2 (this was not an area where
they had extensive knowledge of the terrain).
Variable
Reinforcements:
·
Starting on turn 4 the Austrian player rolls a
1D6 for his possible reinforcements
o
Turn 4 – on a roll of a 1 the reinforcements
arrive
o
Turn 5, 6 – on a 1 or 2 the reinforcements
arrive
o
Turn 7, 8 – on a 1 – 3 the reinforcements arrive
o
Turn 9, – on a 1 or 2 the reinforcements arrive
·
If the Austrian reinforcements don’t arrive by
turn 9, they never will.
·
If the Austrian reinforcements do arrive, the
Prussian reinforcements arrive ½ D6 +1 turns later. Round down, but the Prussian reinforcements
will never enter sooner than 2 turns after the Austrians.
Siege
rules:
·
In order to besiege a fortress you need to have
at least 30 SPs at that fortress
·
The defending player must have “withdrawn” into
the fortress, otherwise a regular land battle occurs. The player occupying the fortress gets the choice
of withdrawing into the fortress before anything else happens.
·
The player being besieged does not have to
reveal the size or leaders present in his force
·
The besieging player DOES have to reveal the
size and composition of his force
·
After a player has besieged a fortress for 5
turns, while maintaining a supply route, he may attempt to create a “breach.” Roll a 1D6:
o
0 - Rebuff – the attacker has failed to create a
breach, and has taken casualties while attempting it (between 2-5 SPs). Must wait another 5 turns before attempting
another breach
o
1-3 Unsuccessful – must wait another 5 turns
before attempting another breach
o
4-6 Breach successful – the attacking player may
now either offer the “Honors of War” (the garrison gets to go back to friendly
territory and fight another day), or refuse the Honors of War, in which case
the attacker will have to storm the fortress (see below).
·
The player with a leader commanding with a
superior initiative than his opponent will have a slight advantage. If the besieged play has the leader with
superior initiative, subtract 1 from the die.
If the besieging player has the superior initiative, add one to the die.
·
If a force has to break off from a siege and leave the dot it is on, even for
1 turn, then the 5 turn process of preparing for the siege must be repeated
(the besieged forces are assumed to have sallied our in their absence and
destroyed the siege-works).
·
Storming a fortress: The player with the smaller
force (which can be the besieger) is totally destroyed. Any leaders are considered captured. The other player losses an equal amount.
Supply:
·
Austrian – trace to Konniggratz or off the map
from Zuckmental, or to any friendly fortress
·
Prussian - off the map from Jelena, Smeidberg,
or Liegnitz, or to any friendly fortress
Victory
Conditions:
I’ve resisted creating formal
victory conditions as per the original rules, and have instead elected to
present the political situation as it existed at the time. At the end of the game, you can judge whether
you have achieved some sort of victory based on these, or any other basis you
decide.
The region represented by the map
is the whole reason Prussia and Austria are at war. Austria had it all (including the
fortresses), and Prussia grabbed it. Now
Austria wants it back.
The fortresses in this area are
the focal points of the maneuvering and battles. Although it would be decisive to take all the
fortresses, it is an expensive and time-consuming process. If you decisively defeat your opponent in
open battle, any fortresses he holds will eventually fall to you.
In the end, I will leave it to
you as to how well you’re done in the campaign.
