The Balzak Campaign
A campaign for Franco-Prussian Warmaster
Using the Shenandoahä campaign system
At the outbreak of hostilities in 1870 the Prussian Seventh Corps is detailed to invade the (mythical) French province of Balzak. The French quickly rush their Fifth Corps to oppose them.
Prussian 7th Corps (Talisman) consists of the 13th and 14th Infantry Divisions, Corps reserve artillery and the 3rd Cavalry Division. French 5th Corps (Skinkmaster) consists of three infantry divisions, corps reserve artillery and a cavalry division.
The Prussians advance from the north and quickly capture all of the towns to the center of the province. The French response is just as rapid and night fall finds Prussian screening forces in Bresque facing a substantial French force to their south. The Prussian cavalry in Conteau withdraw from a superior French infantry force advancing from Tien. The first day of the campaign ends with victory points equally divided between the combatants.
The morning of the second day has Prussian reinforcements rapidly arriving on both fronts while the French dig in and erect works in Centeau and to the south of Bresque. In the early afternoon the Prussian CIC assembles the 13th Infantry Division and the Corps Artillery and begins the assault on the dug-in French infantry and cavalry divisions south of Bresque.
The French, seemingly safe in their trenches, win the initiative and begin the conflict with a counter battery barrage on the exposed Prussian 8 pounders. With minor damage to one battery (1 stand lost) the Prussians reply with everything thy have on the French artillery redoubt on a hill in the center of the line. Even with the benefit of fortifications the French battery doesn't stand a chance against the superior Prussian artillery. The first half of the battle consists of the hunkered down French suffering the complete destruction of their artillery at the hands of the long-range Prussian guns. When the barrage shifts and begins to pick apart the French infantry in their trenches the French commander commits his cavalry to their legendary "Death Ride". (Note: In FPWM the strength of mounted units is severely limited against firepower troops). In one turn the entire French Cavalry Division advances all of the way across the battlefield and turns the Prussian left flank! Only a failed command roll (needing a 2 to pass) saves the Prussians from certain destruction.
The Prussians are caught flat-footed and totally by surprise. Their infantry commander panics and fails to turn around to fire on the French horsemen. Disaster looms for the hapless Prussians. Only the presence of the Prussian CIC moves their artillery to face the threat and empty a good number of the French saddles. The lone Prussian Hussar regiment makes a vain attempt to screen the remnants of the gun line. The French charge drives home into the gun line, eliminating several batteries. At the same time, emboldened by the withdrawal of the Prussian guns in front of them, a lone French infantry regiment advances against the Prussian right. This places them behind the Krupp guns but out of range for rifle fire.
Casualties are mounting and both sides are close to calling it quits. Finally the Prussian infantry commander regains his nerve and turns his troops for close range fire on the valiant French troopers. The Prussian CIC flips a coin and chooses to move his guns to fire on the cavalry and hope that the French infantry fail to move in too close. Massive close range firepower reduces the French cavalry to 2 effective stands (out of 12 sent into the fight… see "Death Ride" above). Two other stands are regrouping to the rear and fail to move further in the battle.
It's down to the last gasp. The first side to loose two more units (at this point that means 2 stands) must withdraw. The French infantry succeed in getting the Krupps in range but the Cavalry commander has his blood up and drives home the charge, blocking fire. On the far Prussian left the single surviving stand of a lancer regiment finds the flank of a Prussian infantry regiment. Now it is time for the gods of the dice to smile the other way. The Prussian guns stand and shoot, scoring enough hits to stop three times the cavalry they are facing - one dead cavalry regiment. The flanking lancers fail to score ANY hits, loose their combat to the infantry and die.
As night falls the French fall back and reorganize, the Prussians reorganize on the field they have so narrowly won. (Note: House rules allow for recovery of some, none or all hits suffered by destroyed units.)
The third day of the campaign has the defeated French falling back from Bresque with the Prussians close on their heels. A failed command roll at this point will have them fighting again, in the open with reduced capabilities against the force that just defeated them (however narrowly). Meanwhile the French forces at Conteau try to slip out into the Prussian rear, leading to a meeting engagement at Vu.
The Prussian 14th Division advancing on Vu from the north runs headlong into a lone French division trying to skirt the stalemate at Conteau. The advantage, such as it is, falls to the Prussians on points and the presence of their Corps commander to help with the maneuvering (the Prussians have 2 generals with a command value of 8, the French 1 with a command value of 7). Advantages notwithstanding both sides take several turns to get sufficient successes to fully deploy. One lackluster French regiment spends at least 4 turns before it shows up to join the "fight".
Both generals suffer a sever bout of poor command rolls, with several turns going by until the Prussians can unmask their guns and begin a long range duel with the French artillery. Meanwhile, the French advance their left to threaten the Prussian right. Unfortunately the pesky command rolls limit them to pushing one regiment at a time through a row of woods, just short of the center of the field. The Prussian response is more energetic and concentrates the fire of two regiments, at close range, on the French as they reach their positions.
In a spate of unusual energy the French are able to deploy infantry in the woods and their Mitrailleuse battery to their left, between the woods and a mill. At close range the Mitrailleuse has better firepower than an infantry regiment, so this may spell the end for the Prussians. The Prussian general is up to the challenge, scoring enough successes to bring overwhelming close range fire on the battery and the infantry regiment. The destruction of the French machine guns and the repulse of another infantry regiment added to the long range destruction of all of their artillery leave the French with little choice but to leave to town of Vu to the invading Prussians.
While the French infantry got out intact, they were unable to reorganize any of their artillery… a severe blow to this division. The Prussians got out of the battle without loosing any units and suffer no losses to reorganization. All in all this campaign has been a poor showing for the French command (So far we feel that things are progressing historically, even with the unbelievably poor dice rolling in this fight).
While this action occupies the center of the province the victorious Prussians have been pursuing the French south of Bresque. The French Divisions fall back until, finally, they turn to face their foe at the woods north of Martiel.
The French have taken their best chance to give battle in closed terrain to reduce the effectiveness of the Prussian artillery. Things did not work out exactly as planned because the French cavalry commander wanted open space to deploy his regiments. The Prussians were able to deploy their reserve artillery behind a convenient fence (terrain generation was random… honest) with a commanding field of fire.
In a fine bit of foreshadowing the French commander started the battle with a blunder and a failed command roll. The Prussians responded by hunkering down and shelling everything in sight. The French got their artillery emplaced in the barnyard of the walled farm only to see it draw the fire of every Prussian gun on the board… at medium range. Even with the protection of hard cover (6 to hit) the damaged French guns were permanently silenced.
The French infantry was able to get into the cover of the woods to their front and found some protection from the Prussian rain of iron. The western wing of the French army found the infantry regiment seeking cover in the orchard to their front. It proved scant cover when the Prussian guns drove them out, confused, and then destroyed them the next turn.
On the east the French infantry was able to come into action at the edge of the woods with the Mitrailleuse in support. Their long-range fire on the Prussian infantry was able to drive two of their regiments from the fence line. Unfortunately it was the first and last time the Mitrailleuse would fire in the campaign. The return fire of the Prussian batteries destroyed the French guns and drove their infantry back in confusion.
The French high command realized that it was time for an all or nothing effort. The cavalry division was ordered forward to try to take the Prussian reserve artillery in the flank. Disaster ensued when they didn't quite make it into the cover of the hill. The massed artillery barrage decimated the French horsemen and forced the withdrawal of the French army.
With most of their artillery destroyed and having no effective protection from the Prussian guns The French Field Marshal gave the order to abandon the province and retire on Paris. The campaign for Balzak Province ends with a Prussian victory
In reviewing the flow of the battles of this campaign it is obvious that the Prussian artillery played a dominant role in all of the fighting. While we feel that this is an historical representation of the firepower of the Krupp guns it does not make for a very interesting game. We propose to correct this by either reducing the firing factors of the artillery or making artillery one-stand units. Further play testing is in order. On the whole we found the campaign system to work very well and can recommend Shenandoah to everyone as a Warmaster campaign system.
We devised a random terrain generation system that worked very well. We made up a card for every piece of terrain in the box then dealt d4, d6 or d8 cards to each quadrant of the table, depending on open, rough or forest terrain in the box. One card at a time is turned over by alternating players and the designated terrain placed.
