Franco-Prussian War: Defend the Bridge

The Franco-Prussian War began when Bismarck goaded the French into declaring war.  The French thought Italy and Austria-Hungary would help them but both opted out.  The map shows Germany after the war.  The south German states merged with Prussia to form Germany.  The southwest corner of the map shows the disputed area of Alsace and Lorraine.

In this scenario, Prussian units are seeking routes for the invasion of France.  Small French forts are defending those routes.  We see in these pictures one such small fort and a bridge that the French are defending and the Prussians will seek to take and hold.

Order of Battle

Each side has one artillery unit, one cavalry unit, one skirmish unit and three infantry units.  One figure represents a unit.  One unit represents ten soldiers.

The French army is located at the fort with one infantry unit guarding the bridge. The French will move the cavalry, skirmishers and infantry to support the bridge when it is attacked. The Prussians enter from the east.  They will move up the road except for the cavalry which will head for an unguarded ford.

The French are defenders.  The Prussians are attackers.  I played the attacker.

Rules

Rules are from One Hour Wargames.  Units may not move and shoot in the same round. Hits are counted in the standard fashion.  Game play is move first, shoot second.  Cavalry can move 12 inches, skirmishers can move 9 inches, and infantry can move six inches.  Artillery can only fire at targets it can see (line of sight).  Cavalry is used most effectively in flank and rear attacks.

An events card deck was used to introduce random elements, surprise and suspense.

Battle Report

The Prussian skirmish unit reached the bridge first.  At the same time, the cavalry reached the unguarded ford.  The skirmisher began firing and the French units marched to support the bridge unit.  The artillery units begin firing at each other.

The Prussian infantry now are in range of the French bridge unit and can fire.  That unit is routed in the same round that the French cavalry unit arrives on the bridge.  It fires but when the French infantry units arrive, the cavalry unit withdraws.

Before the French infantry arrives, it is attacked on the flank by the Prussian cavalry.  The attack is repulsed.  The Prussian cavalry regrouped a second time before the French infantry could get on the bridge, but the second attack was repulsed also.

The Prussian cavalry now races to circle a stand of trees so that it can attack the artillery from the flank.

By this time the first French infantry unit has been taken out of action as has the Prussian artillery unit.

The French cavalry assaulted the Prussian cavalry from the rear and wiped them out.  The remainder of the French infantry units are routed and the Prussian skirmish unit is now out of action.  But the Prussian infantry unit takes possession of the bridge.

The French cavalry unit rushes across the battle field and crosses the ford, allowing it to attack the Prussian infantry on the bridge from the rear.  One infantry unit is  taken out of action but the attack is repulsed.  The remaining infantry units have rotated to face the cavalry unit, which now gallops away.

The Prussians have taken their objective at the loss of four out of six units.  The French have lost four out of six and control of the bridge.  However, the French artillery unit can pelt the bridge with impunity so if the game continued a few more rounds Prussian infantry units holding the bridge would be decimated.

Elapsed time: 24 minutes.

Conclusion

This game was enjoyable.  The action was fast and I did not feel short-changed when it  ended.  The events cards are an important aspect of the game mechanics.  The cavalry added  movement to the game and that extended the duration beyond what it would have been had this just been a standard shooting match between infantry units and artillery.

However, I made a mistake in applying the game rules.  The cavalry are not allowed to shoot during this era.  The outcome probably was not affected.  On the other hand, a more appropriate use of the French cavalry would have been to guard the infantry so that the Prussian cavalry unit could not charge them.

In a second play-through, the French cavalry protected the infantry.  However, the die rolled against them.  After a few head to head charges between the two cavalry units, The French cavalry were destroyed.  The Prussian cavalry swung around to the side of the artillery and charged them, destroying the artillery unit.  After ten rounds (23 minutes), the French were entirely wiped out, even though their tactics were better in this replay.  The luck of the event cards and in the roll of the die make the outcomes of these battles uncertain, which is what makes solo play entertaining.

How Can Solo Wargaming Be Fun?

That is a fair question.  Most wargamers, like other gamers, are seeking in a social activity,  If stuck without an opponent, they may try solo wargaming and quickly give up on it.  Let me suggest that their expectations are wrong and they are doing it wrong.

Solo wargaming is like playing Solitaire with cards.  It’s habit forming but it’s not social.  It can be relaxing, but it has its moments of suspense.  If your benchmark is Solitaire, then you might have different expectations for solo wargaming.

Even so, some uncertainty must be built into your method of play.  In Solitaire, the player does not  know which cards are buried or where they are buried.  The outcome of the game depends on something hidden.

Uncertainty, suspense and random luck can be designed into solo wargaming also.  Use a deck of chance cards, or distribute units randomly, or leave the arrival of reinforcements to chance.  You will never know in advance how the game will turn out.

If after finishing a solo game you realize you might like to try that again, then you have found enjoyment in solo wargaming.  You can play the same scenario repeatedly.  Then you can move the terrain around and it will play out differently.  Then you can try a new scenario,  or you can tinker with the rules; change the hit scoring or the movement of forces or whatever.  If you find yourself thinking about another game sometime during the day, then you are a natural at this.

Imagi-Nations

A substantial number of tabletop wargamers have been drawn into the Imagi-Nations niche.  For example, see http://philswarcabinet.blogspot.com/2019/02/new-school-imagi-nations.html.

Creation of an imaginary world, drawing its map, describing its kingdoms, and fighting its battles can be more fun than studying dry history.  In practice, most people  playing in the Imagi-Nations worlds seem to have created variations on medieval history.  Perhaps this takes wargaming into the realm of fantasy.  If there is a boundary between fantasy/sci-fi wargaming and Imagi-Nations wargaming, it might lie in the clear similarity to genuine medieval history and the absence of fantastic creatures.  Also, the Imagi-Nations gamers seem to have a tongue-in-cheek attitude whereas the sci-fi’s take themselves more seriously.  Perhaps I am over generalizing.

In any case, developing an Imaginary-Nations campaign is on my to-do list.

Recommended Blog

I like the way this gamer sets his table.

https://54mmorfight.blogspot.com/

Terrain and Buildings

Even a small battle needs some terrain.  Terrain creates obstacles, provides cover when shooting, and looks nice.  Serious wargamers might spend a lot of money on structures and terrain or invest hours in creation of artistic stuff.  But that is not necessary.  Remember, a terrain feature is supposed to be suggestive of a real thing but cannot be an exact replica in miniature.  Even a small building should not be exactly to scale or it will use up too much surface area on your table. Each structure needs a small footprint.

The dollar store has cheap foam board that can be cut with a hobby knife.  A building is just a box with a roof on it.  Anybody can make a box with some white glue.  If you watch for deals on ebay you can snag a bridge or whatever at low cost.  Trees should be purchased.  You can find them in a hobby store or online.  Get the kind with roots so you can glue them to a base.  One bag of trees should be more than sufficient.

Solo Wargamers Association

For a rich source of info about solo wargaming, you should check into this link:
https://lonewarriorswa.com/   The Lone Warrior is the Journal, available for a nominal subscription.  The blog is open access.

Rule Sets

The amateur tabletop wargamer may be drawn to skirmish rules.  In a skirmish rule set, each figure represents one soldier.  This is easy to get your head around.  The Men Who Would Be Kings rules are a popular set, though I think they might contain some unnecessary complications.  One Hour Skirmish Wargames is another set of rules that might be of interest.  This one uses a standard deck of playing cards for randomization instead of dice.

Since I prefer small battles to skirmish games, I use the One Hour Wargames rules written by Neil Thomas.  In these rules, a unit can represent as many or as few soldiers as you want.  I assume each unit represents ten soldiers.  Thomas suggested using six or less units per side.  For solo gaming, he suggested a set of random events cards.  His system for scoring hits is to just take the number your roll with your dice, modified appropriately for the type of unit or being under cover.

For solo wargaming, the original rules might result in games that are too short.  You can lengthen the game by increasing the number of units on each side.  However, I have found that the battle lasts 20-30 minutes, from setup to completion, if you move your units appropriately.  Cavalry, for  example, maneuver around so that they can charge the flanks infantry or artillery units.

Another advantage of OHW rules is the small number of units required.  This substantially reduces the money you have to spend to get started.