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Grande A,omee is a set of rules by which players can use miniature figures of any size or basing system to recreate the
famous, large-scale battles of the Napoleonic wars. In wargame parlance, it is "grand-tactical" in scope, in that players
command entire annies, moving whole corps and divisions on the table. The basic unit on the table-top is the brigade,
representing a few thousand soldiers. At this scale, of course, many things are ab tracted. We do not concern ourselves
with the actions of small groups of soldiers. Rather, we place ourselves in the roles of general, ordering thousands of
men to move, attack, or defend. And, like tho e general of history, we don't know whether or not our officers and men
are going to behave exactly as we hope or expect.
For maximum clarity, these rules are written in the order of the game's sequence of play. Whenever a new game
tenn or concept is introduced, it will be written for the first time in bold type. In some cases, when the "why" of a rule
would aid in comprehension, I have included a separate discu sion in an offset box. Each chapter is identified by a let-
ter, and each rule within that chapter by a number, so that players can quickly reference specific rules, such as: "D2.1."
After you have read the book all the way through, I have included a very brief, condensed version of the game in a
section called Eclaireur. (This was the French word for "scout," and in this four-page section you can quickly find the
information you need, without having to re-read entire chapters.) And finally, I have included an even more condensed
set of information - only the most frequently-used charts and tables - on cardstock, which you can affix to the edges
of your gaming table for quick reference.
Grande Annee does not follow a perfectly linear sequence of play. One sub-system in the rules relates to another,
which affects another, and so on. So it might be useful to make a copy of the sequence of play (found in :Eclaireur or on
page 8), and have it beside you as you read through this book for the first time.
This is the second printing. including errata. Differencesfrom the first printing are marked with the _ symbol.
Grande Annee is a registered U.S. Trademark name for the game of the great battles of the Napoleonic wars in minia-
ture. All material found herein is Copyright 2002 by Sam A. Mustafa. Except where explicitly noted, no part of this book
may be reproduced or transmitted in any fonn by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or oth-
erwise. All Rights Reserved.
Artistic Credits
The photographs were taken by Mark Mosrie in Knoxville, TN. (Photomoz@aol.com)
The line drawings were done by my wife, Theresa, who has been known to pick up a paintbrush from time
to time. Graphic design, computer art, and page layout were done by me.
Most of the 2smm figures appearing in the pictures were painted by me, but a substantial number of the
2smm Austrian figures were painted by DJD Miniatures, an excellent painting service and online store.
For more information, contact John Covello at www.djdminis.com. John and his crew are fast, reason-
ably priced, and even send a digital photograph of the finished figures for your inspection, prior to com-
pleting the transaction.
The Ismm figures in the photographs were loaned to me by Craig Tyrell, who has recently taken over the
legendary "Mr. GAJO" painting service, now well into its second decade. GAJO has been providing fast,
reliable service to wargamers for so long it's hard to imagine the hobby without him: GAJO Enterprises,
8547 Senda Circle, Sandy, UT 84093. Email: gajominis@aol.com.
1.0 E quipment Needed for Play The general idea is to keep the playing surface as pret-
To play Grande Annee, you will need the following: ty as possible by not having extraneous things on it,
it Six-sided dice. Having them in two different col- such as cardboard counters, pens or pencils, or even
ors can be very useful. Also, each army com- the dice.
mander should have a clear jar, with two white If you intend to play multiple-day battles or cam-
dice and one colored die. These are used for many paigns, you will also need an area set aside for keeping
rolls the army commanders must make. the units which have routed during the game, since
it Tape measures. these mayor may not recover and "come back" after
it Cardboard chits labeled "CP." A sheet of these has
the day of battle.
been provided; players should photocopy them to
cardboard and cut them out. There should be a 2.0 Basing Infantry and Cavalry
supply of about 100 of them on hand. These rep- Grande Armee u es standard base izes for all units of
resent "Command Points," and the players will a certain type. All infantry and all cavalry units are
spend them during the course of the game. mounted on 3" square base . Artillery units and offi-
it Two plastic cups. Any small, opaque containers cers are based differently, as will be explained later.
will do. They will hold each player's stash of CP A base of infantry or cavalry represents a brigade,
chits, out of sight of his opponent. or a grouping of several battalions or quadrons. There
it Some kind of markers to show broken units. For are, however, no rules for how many miniatures need
aesthetic purposes, the best thing is to paint some to be mounted on tho e base. You can choose any size
casualty figures, and mount them on small bases. and number of figures you like. We do away with the
But any sort of marker will do; poker chips, for notion that one figure represents any particular num-
instance, can fit the bill. ber of soldiers; it is the size of the base that matters.
it Rosters on which to mark hits for all the units in
5.0 The Two Kinds of Armies Here is an example of a Napoleonic army. There are three
army corps, each with three divisions:
For over a century, large armies had been organized
into sub-groupings only on the eve of a campaign or
battle. The units were then divided up amongst the
most senior commanders, hence the term "divi ions."
Therefore, the traditional European army had an army
commander, and then a number of divisions, varying
greatly in composition. Sometimes, in very large
armies, these divisions would be apportioned among
senior commanders as "wings" or "columns." The
French introduced a new system of army corps (corps
d'armee), which were permanent sub-groupings of a Here is an example of a Traditional army, with five divisions.
few divisions each: miniature armies which could fight The divisions are likely larger (containing more units) than a
on their own if necessary. Officers and staff were more division in a Napoleonic army:
or less permanently attached to each other, and
learned to work together more harmoniously. This sys-
tem was such an obvious improvement that by 1810
virtually all the major belligerents had adopted it.
(Britain was a notable exception.)
There are two kinds of armies that you might
encounter in the game. A Napoleonic Arm y uses the
corps system, as perfected by Napoleon, and later
adopted by mo t others. A Traditiona l Arm y bas an
army commander, and then a number of large divi-
sions.
Setting upfor Play e
The three types of officers: O n the left is an Army Commander (BlOcher, with Gneisenau and MOffling). In the center is a
SubCommander (the incom parablydressed Joachim Murat). And on the right a General (in this case, Grouchy - note the
handwrinen label, because he was deployed during the game.)
For 2smmfigures:
I Lanoe (V) 1 / 16 "
The Napoleonic system was an improvement over the whole inch. (For example, if he has a radius multiplier
Traditional system in many ways. In game terms, we of 1.5, and his Force comprises 9 units, then his radius
represent the increased flexibility of the Napoleonic would be 14".)
system by allowing Napoleonic armies to create There are minimum and maximum allowable radii
Detachme nts and to deploy Ge n e ral . Only for sub-commanders, depending upon whether they
Napoleonic armies may deploy generals. are in Traditional or Napoleonic armies:
etc. Rough terrain can have different effects on the dif- 8.0 Front, Flanks, Rear
ferent types of units. Infantry, for instance, can move From the comers of each
through woods more easily than cavalry, where the unit's base, imaginary
horses stumble on roots and the riders must duck out lines extend, dividing
of the way of branches. the space around that
In addition to terrain types are terrain Ob tac1es. unit into its front, flanks,
These would be thing which units do not occupy or and rear. The region
move through, but rather move across. These would stretching away from the
include walls, fences, hedge lines, or earthwork forts, unit's front is also
etc. These should also be made clear before the game. known as its "frontal
Some obstacles are completely impassable, while some perspective. "
are passable to infantry. Most obstacles are impassable It is often important to determine the position of
to artillery. enemy units relative to one's own. Does an enemy unit,
for instance, lie within your front, or is it on your flank?
7.1 Soft: and Hard Cover In many ca es, this will b obvious, but if you are not
Units may occupy various terrain or man-made fea- sure, extend those imaginary 4s-degree lines from the
tures which give them cover, either "soft" or "bard," corners of your unit, and determine how much of an
depending upon the type. These can be kept secret enemy unit's base lies within each perspective. If most
from one or both sides, if a referee is present, until of the enemy unit's base is within your flank perspec-
revealed by an action taken by one of the players (for tive, then that enemy unit i "on your flank."
instance, the attackers assault the chateau, only to real-
ize that it provides the defenders with hard cover.)
Without a referee, players should be clear up-front as
to what areas provide what type of cover.
Soft Cover is provided to units in earthen redoubts
or hasty trenches, wooden buildings, or by being com-
pletely in a forest or wooded area. Cover mean exact-
ly that; men's bodies are protected from fire. A wooden
fence, for instance, would not provide adequate cover.
Hard Cover is provided to units behind a stone
wall, in ide stone buildings, or behind fully prepared
defensive works.
understand the effects of the terrain on visibility, and 6.0 Other Effe cts of Precipitation
u e common ense to judge when a line of sight is No unit may skirmish attack in the rain or snow. Also,
blocked. because of the impotence of muskets in a heavy rain,
Visibility is not blocked by the presence of units, infantry becomes les effective again t cavalry. In com-
friendly or enemy. It is assumed that the officer, bat, cavalry get a saving throw in the rain against
mounted on a horse, and/or on a patch of higher infantry. Artillery fire is not affected by rain, although
ground, and/or using a telescope, can see over, it is affected if the ground gets soft or muddy.
through, and around the formations of men on the
field. (It would be too hard to write a rule, at thi scale, 7.0 Fog
for the presence of smoke in front of units which have It is difficult to state a general rule for fog, because it
been firing, etc.) could exist in certain areas ofthe battlefield and not in
others. For game purposes, when we say there is fog on
4.0 Vantage Points the field, we mean that it is generally hard to see
An officer is said to occupy a "vantage point" ifhe is on because of early morning mist or low-lying clouds.
the highest elevation level possible on the table. If If the players are recreating a battle at which they
there are no elevations on the table at all (i.e., there are know fog was a factor, then they should note that the
no hill - everything is Level 0 or less), then there is no game opens with fog, and thus reduce all visibility by
modifier for vantage point. 6". Starting on the second turn, roll one die during the
Example: The "normal" level of a battlefield is weather variation phase. If the die roll i equal to or
considered Level o. Hills may be various levels above less than the current turn number, then the fog has
the norm. If there are any level-2 hills on the board, burned off.
the army commander would need to be on a level-2
hill in order to meet this criterion. If there are only
level-l hills on the table, the army commander would
get the "vantage point" designation for being on a Many miniatures games try to recreate the various advantages
level-l hill. or disadvantages of staff systems by renecting these differences
in a commanders radius. While staff systems did differ from
5.0 Ground Condition army to army, these differences were more likely to be seen
The game designates three different ground condi- while on campaign, not once battle was joined. When armies
tions: Hard, Soft, and M ud. deployed for battle, commanders tended to issue orders ver-
Hard ground will change to Soft after two consec- bally, or perhaps scribbled out a few lines to an aide.
utive turns of rain or snow. (Even though the ground In other words, most staffs functioned alike on the bat-
might be frozen, thousands of men and horses will tlefield. There were certainly differences in the energy, com-
soon turn the accumulated snow into a slippery petence, and perceptiveness of commanders and their assis-
sludge.) Soft ground will turn to Mud after two more tants, and these differences we depict by the different
consecutive turns of rain (but not snow). amounts of CPs available to each chief, tum by tum. But when
Ground can also dry out. Mud will turn to Soft we speak of a command "radius" (which of course is a com-
ground after two consecutive turns of Sunny or plete wargame abstraction), our comma nders are more limit-
Normal weather, and Soft ground will turn to Hard ed by geography and weather than by their staff officers. O n
after two more consecutive turns of Sunny or Normal a clear, sunny day, a commander with a good vantage point
weather. might be able to distinguish different formations up to two
Hard ground is considered "normal" for game pur- miles away (roughly 33"). In a blinding snowstorm like that at
poses. Soft ground incurs some penalties. Mud incurs the battle of Eylau, a commander would be lucky to see much
further penalties. Long-range artillery fire is not as more than half a mile (roughly 9").
effective in soft ground or mud, although point-blank Commanders used telescopes, but these were rarely bet-
artillery fire in defense of the battery is actually more ter than x4 magnification. So this immediate visual distance is
effective, since the soft ground slows the approach of important, because it represents the maximum point at which
enemy infantry and cavalry, exposing them longer to a commander can make decisions based upon what he himself
canister, which doesn't need hard ground to bounce can observe. Beyond that distance, he depends upon news
along. brought to him by couriers, and his decisions are hamstrung
In the Mud, artillery units become more difficult by the uncertainty of assigning objectives he can't see to units
to move (their wheels bog down). Also, no unit may he can't see.
ford a river if the ground condition is Mud.
D. The Command Phase
Wellington was stumping about and munching in
a littlefarmyard among the brown cottages of Los
Arapiles, lunching apparently off alternate bites of
1.0 Lightly Wounded Officers May chicken and glances at the French through a tele-
scope. The Peer's lunch was interrupted by afinal
Return to Duty look towards the French. "By God," he suddenly
At the beginning of the command phase, both sides roll
exclaimed, "that will do!"
to see if any officers who had been lightly wounded in
a previous turn may return to their duties. For each - Guedalla, describing Wellington's decision to
such officer, roll one die. On a roll of 5 or higher, the attack at Salamanca
officer has recovered and returned to his duties.
be a multiplier. Multiply this by the number of Forces
2.0 Using the CP Chits
in the army. Round up any decimals. This is the num-
Keep a pile of CP chits somewhere handy, but prefer-
ber of CPs the player will have for that turn.
ably not on the game table itself. Each player should
Example: For Waterloo, we rate Napoleon as
have an opaque cup. In the command phase of each
~verage. n Let's say that he rolls a 3. That's a multi-
turn, a player receives a certain amount of CP chits. He
plier of 3.5 times his 6 Forces = 21. This turn,
expends them performing certain activities, and when
Napoleon will have 21 Command Points. The
they are expended, they should be tossed back into the
Napoleon player should draw 21 CP chits and put
pile. At certain points in a turn, if a player rolls doubles
them in his cup.
on the initiative roll, he may be able to get more CPs
added to hi cup. CPs can not be accumulated from
turn to turn. If the turn ends and he still ha CP chits 3.1 Limits on CPs
left in his cup, he must dump them all back into the No matter what is rolled on the Command Table, a
pile. Napoleonic army may never have more than 60 CPs in
its cup at any time, and a Traditional army may never
have more than 50. Any xce s must be discarded at
3.0 The Command Table - Getting once. If you roll doubles and get more CPs during the
CPs each Turn turn, then you may only take as many CPs as would get
The second action of the command phase is for each you up to that maximum level.
commander to determine how many CPs he will have
available for that turn. To do this, he must know how
No maner how great the commander, the limits of commu
many Forces he has on the field. Remember that this is nicatlon (not to mention human endurance) in the horse and
calculated at the beginning of the game, but the arrival musket era meant that when armies exceeded 100,000
of reinforcements might increase this number. men, command efficiency tended to bog down. The really
Players should consult the Command Table, big banles were long, grueling affairs that moved slowly.
rolling a die on the correct row for either a Napoleonic They were characterized by inaction or stalemate in one part
or a Traditional army, and cross-indexing with the of the "front" while activity raged in another are.]. In some
commander's Skill rating for that day. The result will ways, they were a harbinger of the First World Wa r.
GJ 0 [Il~
attack is resolved, the player may designate a different
enemy unit. Remember:
=
No unit may skirmish attack more than one
xxxx ~x ~ enemy unit per puis .
Any unit which may skirmi h attack must do so.
x~: No enemy unit can be the target of more than
one skirmish attack per pulse, although it might
Austrian infantry units 1,2,3, and a cavalry unit face French be attacked by more than one unit in a single
infantry units A,B, and C during skirmish combat. Assume attack.
that all infantry units are within range to make SK-attacks If you have multiple SK-attackers and multiple
against each other, and that the cavalry is within 2" of eligible targets, you must attack as many of those
Austrian 3. targets as you can.
The Austrians make their attadcs first: 4.2 Resolving Skirmish Attacks
Each Austrian infantry unit has at least one French unit to its To re olve a skirmish attack, the attacker rolls a die
front, and there are no opportunities to double up against and adds the SK value of all his units which are partic-
anyone French defender. Therefore, I will attack A, 2 will ipating in this attack. The target rolls a die and adds his
attack B, and 3 will attack C. SK (if any). There are no modifiers for terrain, since we
are depicting many small firefights and ambushes, and
Now the French make their attacks: terrain conditions hamper and aid both sides.
French C can't attack Austrian 3, because the Austrian cav-
alry is too close to 3. But it could attack Austrian 2.
Therefore, French Band C will double up against Austrian
4.21 Against an Infantry Target
If the attacker's total is higher than the target's, then
2. French A will attack Austrian I. In this way, all Austrian
the attack was successful. The target unit loses lSP.
units which are eligible to be attacked have been attacked.
Obviously, this will occasionally break weak units. This
would represent the unit completely losing cohesion as
Remember that all SK-attack results are applied simultane-
a result of the death of officers and collapse of morale.
ously, so even though the Austrians went "first," any hits
If the attacker s total is equal to or less than the
scored are applied only after all attacks are clone on both
target's total, the attack was unsuccessful; move on to
sides.
the next skirmish attack.
Skirmishing
4.22 Against an Artillery Target snow to melt as soon as it lands on it, and thus makes
The attacker's total must be at least double the target's it wet after one or two shots. Snow al 0 obscures visi-
to be successful. If successful, the artillery unit has bility, making it hard to get a good shot, or to stay in
been "suppressed." (The gunners are distracted and touch with other skirmishers.
harried by the skirmishers, perhaps trying to drive
them off with fire.) Place a marker on a suppre ed bat- 6.0 The Cossacks: SK2
tery (a puff of cotton works well). A suppressed battery Russian Kazakh ("Cossack") units are an exception to
may not fire in the upcoming artillery fire phase. the rule which states that cavalry may not skirmish
Suppression only lasts one pul e. In the Rally attack. Not only are Co acks cavalry which prevent
Segment of each pulse, remove all suppression mark- skirmi h attacks within 2", they are also considered
ers from all artillery. (J3.0) SK2 units which can skirmish attack just like infantry.
The Cossacks may have been nearly worthle s as battle
There was little that artillerists could do against enemy skir- cavalry, but there is a reason that mo t Russian armies
mishers, to their great frustration. A Federal gunner in the traveled with a horde of them. They were aggre sive
Civil War once said: "Firing at skirmishers with artillery is like and brilliant skirmishers who compensated the
chasing a swarm of bees with a club." Rus ian army for its ineptitude in infantry skirmishing.
(And, best of all, the Cossacks never asked for a pay-
check!)
4.23 Completing Skirmish Attacks
Take turns resolving the attacks, if you wish, or pro- 7.0 Mixed Brigades: +1 on defense
ceed through one side completely, and then the other. Because of their attached cavalry, mixed brigades
All skirmi h attacks on both sides are resolved in this receive a +1 to their die rolls when defending against a
phase, and are resolved before any of the effects are skirmish attack. Their SK value, however (when mak-
placed on any units; it is all considered to be happen- ing a skirmi h attack) is still dependent upon the pre-
ing simultaneously. (A unit broken by losing its last SP dominant type of infantry in the brigade.
from a skirmish attack would still get the chance to
make its own skirmish attack, if eligible, before it 8.0 Ottoman Artillery
broke.)
Skirmishers: +1 on defense
Examples of Skirmish A ttacks:
A typical Ottoman artillery battery comprised ten guns,
Two French infantry units (both SK2) are skirmish served by 80 gunners and about 40 other men, includ-
attacking a Prussian infantry unit (SKl). The Prussians ing officers and NCOs. Unique to the Ottoman army,
roll a "4," giving them a total of 5. The French roll a however, was the practice of including an additional
20-60 sharpshooters, attached to the battery specifi-
"2," which when added to their SK numbers, gives
them a total of 6. The French total is higher; the cally for the purpo e of defending it from enemy
infantry and cavalry skirmishers. Due to the presence
Prussians lose ISP.
Example Two: A French infantry unit (SK2) is 5" of these men, Ottoman artillery units receive a +1 to
from an Austrian infantry unit (SKl). The French, their die roll when defending against skirmish attacks.
because they are SK2, can initiate an attack up to 6"
away. But the Austrians, because they are SKl, could 9.0 Hard Cover and Towns
only skirmish attack an enemy unit up to 4" away. So If the target of a skirmish attack is completely protect-
the French will skirmish attack the Austrians, using ed by (I.e., in) hard cover or a town, then it gets a +2
one die plus two, while the Austrians defend using one modifier to its roll when defending against a skirmish
die plus one. But the Austrian unit won't be able to attack. The target unit's base must be entirely protect-
make an attack against this French unit, because it is ed by the cover. Being behind a stone wall isn't enough;
too far away. a unit would have to be entirely in a walled town or for-
tified area in order to get the hard cover bonus. (This is
5.0 Rain and Snow usually the case for garrisons.)
Skirmishing is nearly impossible in the rain or snow, However, a unit in hard cover or a town may not
due to wet muskets and poor visibility. Therefore, no make a skirmish attack.
units may skirmish attack on a turn when it is raining
or snowing. Although the weather may be relatively
"dry" in a snowstorm, the heat of a musket causes any
F. Artillery Fire
... the very damp soil thatformed the ridges of
these furrows wasjlying about in little black
lumpsjlung three or four feet into the air. He 2.0 Facing and Firing
heard a sharp cry close by him; it was two hus- An artillery unit may fire at any unit which is at least
sarsfalling struck by a shot. He looked in vain in partially within range (some part of its base is within
the direction from which the shots were coming. the artillery unit's range), and at least partially within
He saw the white smoke of the battery an enor- its frontal perspective. The artillery must be able to see
mous distance away, and in the midst of the its target, given the limits on visibility for weather and
steady and continuous rumble produced by theftr- terrain. Artillery fire may only penetrate one inch into
ing of the guns, he seemed to hear the volleys of woods or forest, and is blocked completely by building
shot much closer at hand. He could not make or other forms of cover. (Units in those buildings or
head or tail of what was happening. cover may be fired upon, but the fire can't go through
the buildings or cover to hit another unit behind them.)
- Stendhal, La Chartreuse de Parme Artillery may not pivot or change facing prior to
firing. This might result in some strange-looking situa-
Historical Note tions, such as when an enemy unit has passed by the
Artillery was the deadlie t branch of Napoleonic artillery, or is immediately to its rear. But a battery of
armies, accounting for anywhere from 60-80% of casu- artillery was not like a gun turret. Two hundred men
alties on the battlefield. In Grande Armee, our cale with two-ton guns, cai sons, and dozens of hor es
means that artillery units are very small, yet very couldn't simply "rotate" and fire. They had to limber
important entities. The guns we place on the table rep- up, move the battery, and unlimber again. If the enemy
resent those batteries which were not specifically dedi- had broken through on the flank or rear, they would
cated to the support of an infantry division. Since mo t mo t likely be busy getting the hell out of there!
guns in a corps were indeed deployed in light or medi-
um foot batteries which were assigned at the divisional 3.0 Targets
level (and sometimes broken up into sections across Artillery fire in Grande A,mee is resolved by target.
the front of infantry units), we thus limit ourselves to Starting at his left, the firing player points out an
the hor e batteries and the heavy corp reserve batter- enemy unit he wishes to fire on, and then all of his
ies. Though few in number, when these mobile reserve units that will fire on that target must do so together.
artillery units are combined on the field, they can be Once that fire is re olved, no other units may fire on
formidable. that enemy unit in thi pulse. Mark units which have
fired with cotton balls. (This prevents the silly
1.0 Basic Concepts warga me practice of shooting at a unit, seeing how it
Just as Grande Armee doe n't distinguish between for- goes, and then shooting with another unit, and so on,
mations for infantry and cavalry units, we likewise until you get the result you want.)
don't make artillery limber in order to move, and The firing player may always measure the distance
unlimber to fire. It is assumed that the local com- to any target before he announces which units will be
manders will take care of thi . Your job as army com- shooting. He then resolves fire against that target.
mander is simply to tell the artillery where you want
them to be. They must then find the best means of get- 4.0 Line of Fire
ting there and deploying to fight. The line of fire is not a razor-thin line; it is as wide as
Artillery fire is resolved simultaneously. Each the artillery unit's frontage. When tracing a line of fire
player starts on his left - at the left-most side of his to a target, your artillery unit must have an "alley" of
army - and works his way to the right, resolving unob tTucted fire on that target at least as wide as the
artillery fire. Players can take turns resolving, although artillery unit's frontage, in order to make a clear shot.
no results apply to any targets until all fire is resolved. If the line of fire is partially obstructed by terrain or
Each artillery unit may only fire once per pul e. cover, or the presence of another unit, then no shot
After it fires, place a puff of cotton in front of it, to show may be taken.
that it may not fire again. Artillery units which are sup- A player may not fire "over" or "through" one unit
pressed will already have that cotton there, to remind to hit another. The gunners shoot at the closest target
you that they may not fire in this pulse. they can see in the direction they have chosen.
Artillery Fire
5.0 Mandatory Fire 12-pdr artillery unit scores hits on rolls of 2-6. When
If there are no non-routed enemy units within 6" of its firing beyond 6" and up to 10", it scores hits on rolls of
frontal perspective, then an artillery unit may fire on 4-6. Between 10" and 16" it scores hits on rolls of 5-6.
any target it wishes. However, if there is at least one Beyond 16" it may not fire.
non-routed enemy unit within 6" of its front, then that
artillery unit mustfire on the closest enemy unit to its 6.1 Saving Throws
front to which it has a clear line offire. Once the fire is re olved, the target unit may be eligible
for saving throws, which might negate some of those
6.0 Resolving Artillery Fire hits just scored.
An artillery unit r oll one die p er SP. (Normally
that means it rolls two dice, but if it has suffered one 6.11 Resolving Saving Throws
hit, it only rolls one die.) An artillery unit may also add A target has a Save Number, calculated by adding
a bonus die if the target is Vulnerable (Using road together all the factors from the Saving Throw List. For
movement, on a bridge, fording, or an infantry or cav- example: An artillery unit (2) protected by soft cover
alry unit being fired at from the flank or rear.) An (2) has a Save Number of 4. No matter how many of
artillery unit may never add more than one bonus die. the above apply, a target unit's Save Number can never
The firing player rolls his dice, hoping to score be more than 5.
Hits. Consult the Artille ry Chart. It shows the range The target player rolls a number of dice equal to
brackets of each gun-type, as well as the To Hit the number of hits scored. For each die which is equal
Numbe r s for each type, at each range. to or less than the save number, a hit is negated. Any
French Old Guard units may add 1 to each die, hits which are not saved are now applied to the target
although a natural " I " always misses. unit.
F6.o The Artillery Chart
A die scores a
hit if it rolls with-
in the printed To
Gun Size To Hit # / Range
Hit numbers for Heavy (9-12 1bs) 2-6 6" 4-6 10" 5-6 16"
that type of gun,
at that range. For Medium (6-8 lbs) 3-6 4" 5-6 12"
instance, when Light (3-41bs) 3-6 3" 6 9"
firing up to 6", a
A rtillery Fir e .
g Uhoul I j L4"
1) At the moment the general is placed on the At the moment it is created, a detachment is con-
table, and the units of his detachment sidered to have received a command for that pulse.
declared, his radius is calculated, as for a nor- (The CPs expended in its creation 'cover' its first com-
mal sub-commander. The units designated mand.) In sub equent pulses, however, it will have to
must already be within his radius. receive commands or take control tests.
2) The units designated for the detachment may
not leave the Force with fewer remaining
units than the newly-created detachment. Radonale for the CP & Command System:
As players, we generally micro-manage our forces. In games
Example of Forming a Detachment: where we supposedly represent army commanders, we still
The Austrian Reserve Corps has 16 units. This is a big, make all kinds of little decisions that an army commander
unwieldy Force, and the Archduke Charles wants to would never make: the placement of skirmishers, when to
form a detachment so he can use the reserve cavalry unlimber a specific battery, which target a particular infantry
and horse artillery as a separate body. He declares battalion fires on, when to form square, etc. There is really
where he wants to deploy a general, measures to see no way around this, given that there is only one player's
how many CPs it will cost him, and declares that he is brain to encompass all the decisions that would have been
forming a detachment. He rolls: the white die comes made historically by hundreds of different officers. Thus
up 3, meaning this general will have a control number we're never really in the head of the commanding general.
of 3 and a radius multiplier of 1 . The colored die is a Instead, we're a conglomeration of dozens of different corps,
4, meaning he will have no personality modifier. divisional, and brigade commanders, all psychically channel-
He could choose up to 8 unitsfor this detachment ing the commanding general.
(up to half the Reserve Corps, ifhe wanted.) He selects Grande Annfe starts with the admission that we are
five units - three cavally and two horse artillery - micro-managing our armies whenever possible. If you, the
all of which are grouped in the same vicinity. They army commander, devote CPs to issue commands to your
will all have to be within 5" of the general, since his sub-commanders, that means that you are micro-managing
radius multiplier is 1. (A 1 radius multiplier times 5 those particular Forces. You are paying close attention to
units equals a 5" radius.) them, probably at the expense of paying attention to some-
Charles now has a new Force in his army. He thing else. (Some sub-commanders are easier to manage than
must proceed with the pulse, giving out commands others, hence the different Control ratings.) If you choose to
and taking control tests, as he wishes. let your sub-commanders act on their own, there is always
the possibility that they will do exactly what you want them
5 .311 Detachments and th e to do. This is renected by the control number. A more reli-
able general - by this definition - is a man who under-
Command System stands and intuits your plans perfectly. Therefore, we allow
From the moment of its creation to the end of the day
you to micro-manage his Force, even though you didn't issue
of battle, a detachment acts like a Force, and its gener-
CPs to him. For this pulse, at least, he is doing exactly what
al is a new sub-commander. However, it does not
you hoped he would do: he sees the same problems and
count toward the number of Forces in the anny when
opportunities that you see from Army H.Q., and he is
rolling on the command table. (Nor would it raise the
responding to them the way you would.
number of Force, making the anny eligible for more
Finally, as the Archduke Charles learned, much to his
generals.)
agony, there are never enough CPs to get all your sub-com-
In other words, a detachment represents an added
manders on the same sheet of music, and the bigger the bat-
burden on the commander: it is another sub-com-
tle, the bigger a problem this becomes, as distance over-
mander who need commands or will have to take con-
whelms your ability to "think" for your sub-commanders.
trol tests. There is no limit to the number of detach-
Always remember that time is nexible in this game. If one
ments that can be created, but it would be unwise to
Force is inactive in a pulse, while another one is moving
create too many of them. Because they require CPs to
quickly, that does not imply that these actions are happening
manage, yet do not count as Forces when rolling on the
at the exact same times, or even requiring the same amount
CP table, detachments spread the commander's abili-
of time to happen.
ties thinly. And since they can't be "re-attached" on
this day of battle, they bog down the command ystem
if they proliferate.
The Control Segment CD
5-4 French Aides-de -Camp (ADCs) for the remainder of the day of battle. A player may
In most armies, an Aide-de-Camp (AD C) was a well- only create a grand battery once per game, and no
connected young man who hung around the com- more than one grand battery may exist on a side. In
manding general, occasionally making himself useful order to qualify as a "grand battery," this force must
by carrying messages or running errands. Usually, comprise at leastfour artillery units.
though, he was a toady whose parents had arranged for
him to have this cu hy assignment, rather than a dirty 5.51 Starting With a Grand Battery
and dangerous field command. Napoleon, however, An army commander may opt to create a grand battery
had a completely different system. French imperial when he is setting up, before the game begins. He may
ADCs were seasoned, field-grade combat officers who take the artillery units from any of his corps, anywhere
could take over formations as large as a whole corps in on the field. He may place these anywhere within the
the event of officer casualties. army commander's radius, and then must place the
When Napoleon is leading a French army, he will general or ADC who will be commanding the grand
have a supply of ADCs. If the scenario doesn't specify battery. Calculate his radius based on his radius multi-
how many, roll a die before the game. If the die comes plier and the number of artillery units in the grand bat-
up 5-6, roll again until a number between 1 and 4 is tery. He is now the sub-commander of this Force.
rolled. That will be the number of ADCs the French
army will have at" this battle. 5.52 Creating a Grand Battery
If the commander does not create a grand battery
5.41 Deploying ADCs before the game begins, he may still do so during the
An ADC i an "extra" general waiting to be assigned. game. At the beginning of any pulse, the commander
Like other Napoleonic armies, the French get generals may create a grand battery by placing his ADC or gen-
based on the number of Forces in the army, but also eral anywhere and spending the CPs, as per creating a
get ADCs. ADCs have special characteristics: normal detachment. The artillery units that will com-
1) They all have a control number of 2 and a prise the grand battery would have to be within the
radius multiplier of 1.5. There is no need to radius of the officer deployed as their commander.
roll the white die when deploying them. Roll During that fir t pulse in which it is created, all the
the colored die, as with other generals, to see component artillery units must attempt to move so
if they have a personality modifier. they are in base-to-base contact with another unit
2) ADCs may form detachments from any units already part of the grand battery. During the time the
in any Forces in the army, or any combination artillery units are moving, they don't have to be within
of Forces. (They still may not take more than anybody's radius - the CP cost covers the orders to
half the units from any Force, and the units them all to move to form a grand battery. However,
they form into their detachment must still be once declared as part of a grand battery, none of them
within their radii when the detachment is may fire until deployed base-to-base as a grand bat-
formed.) tery, except if taking final shots.
Like a general, an ADC requires 2CPS to deploy,
plus 1CP for every 10" beyond the army commander's 5.521 Grand Battery Restrictions
radius. When created, a grand battery may not start within 16"
Only Napoleon himself may deploy ADCs. If he is of any enemy units. All artillery units must b in base-
not present with the French army, or ifhe is wounded to-base contact, forming a contiguous line of artillery.
and/or removed from play, the French may not deploy Once created, if the grand battery ever falls below
any more ADCs. four artillery units, it is still a grand battery in all other
ways; it still acts as a Force.
5.5 Grand Batteries
A grand battery is a Force, created by the army com- 5.53 Moving a Grand Battery
mander, and consisting only of artillery units. Like a For a grand battery to move, none of its component
detachment it does not count toward the number of batteries may be marked as suppressed or having fired
Forces in the army, when rolling on the Command in that pulse. (Exception: if the grand battery is entire-
Table. A player may only create a grand battery if he ly comprised of horse batteries, it may ignore this
has an available general or ADC. Like any detachment, restriction.)
a grand battery must remain as a separate detachment
CD The Control Segment
The grand battery will move as a single unit, rolling a Doing these things is always voluntary. Each time the
single die for movement and terrain, and paying the sub-commander does #3, he must subject himself to
cost of any terrain entered by any of its component an officer casualty check.
battries. Its movement allowance is based on the slow-
est unit in the grand battery. 6.1 The Commander's Influence
If component units ofthe grand battery are driven Proximity to the commander may confer certain bene-
back or destroyed, then the remaining units "clo e up," fits. The commander is too busy to do the things listed
reforming the continuous frontage. above, but he may contribute CPs to influence the rally
factor rolls of units up to half his radius away. (This
5.54 Firing a Grand Battery does not require him to check for officer casualty.)
For every two units it comprises, the grand battery
may select o n e target. (A 9-unit grand battery could 7.0 Battles With More than One
thus have up to four different targets.) The grand bat- Army on a Side
tery is never required to split its fire - if all its units Some battles featured the presence of more than one
are eligible to fire on a single enemy target, it may do army on a side. At Waterloo, for instance, the Prussian
so. (God help them.) If it does split its fire, it may split army steadily arrived throughout the afternoon. The
it any way it choo es, so long as the 2 unit / 1 target classic example is Leipzig, where Napoleon fought off
allowance is observed. no less than four allied armies. In general, this only
works if there is a single army on one side, facing two
5.55 Grand Battery Force Status or more on the other side.
A grand battery behaves slightly differently than other We shall call the multi-army side the "allied" side.
Forces if its commander is "On His Own." Take a Force On the allied side, a player exists for each army com-
status check, like any other Force. But interpret the mander, but designate one player as the Commander-
results as follows : in-Chief. This designation exists only for game purpo -
Inactive: Same as any other Force: no movement es, to designate which player will roll for initiative.
except the sub-commander. During the Command Phase, each army com-
Adj ust: The grand battery may move normally mander on the allied side counts the Forces in his army
under an "AdjusC order. and rolls on the command table, as normal. However,
Attack: The grand battery may not move away if the CinC rolls doubles during initiative rolls, then
from visible enemy units, unless doing so brings it each allied army commander gets extra CPs.
closer to other enemy units. All the allied armies move during the same half of
the pulse. The CinC, if he wins initiative, will choose
6.0 "Attached" Officers when they move in the upcoming pulse.
It was relatively rare for corps and army commanders
to become "attached" to individual units, although it 8.0 Wing Commanders
did happen. In an emergency, a general might escape Sometimes a large army was sub-divided into two or
to cover in a friendly square, or ride in amongst his three "wings," each comprising several Forces. This
cavalry troopers. At the scale we represent, though, we was frequently the case in the Russian army, even after
have to assume that the officer in question is moving they reformed to a Napoleonic system of permanent
around, exerting appropriate influence on local situa- corps. A wing commander's job was to manage a large
tions as he sees fit. We don't literally attach and detach sector of the battlefield, theoretically simplifying the
the officer base to units, but rather allow him to affect management tasks of the overall army commander. In
things when he is close enough. reality, these were often political appointments - gen-
A sub-commander may exert the following influ- erals whose reputations and/or ranks were too high to
ences on any unit of his Force within 3". He may do give them a single Force - resulting in yet another
each of these things once per pul e, all for the same layer of command.
friendly unit, or spreading these activities out over sev- In Grande Armee there are two ways to simulate
eral different units. this, depending on whether or not an actual player is
1) He may re-roll a movement roll for a unit. present to play the role of the wing commander. Note
2) He may re-roll a terrain table roll. that in either case, the army commander still counts
3) If he has the (V)alor bonus, a friendly unit the total number of Forces in his army, when using the
within 3" may get a bonus die in combat. command table to see how many CPs he will have each
turn.
The Control Segment CD
8.1 A Player as Wing Commander instead to that wing commander. It is the wing com-
The wing commander hould have his own cup to con- mander's control number that is u ed, plus his dis-
tain CP chits. Each turn, after the army commander tance from the army commander, to determine the
has rolled to obtain his CPs, he must decide how many cost in CPs.
CPs he will allocate to his wing commander. This is For example, Barclay de Tolly is a Russian wing
kept secret from the enemy side. The army command- commander. He has three corps under him. Kutusou
er chooses a number of CPs to give to his wing com- is the army commander. Visibility, and thus radius, is
mander, then measures the distance between his fig- 20". If Kutusou wants to send a command to any of
ure and the wing commander's. If the wing command- Barclay's corps, he uses Barclay's control number (2),
er is within the army commander's radius, then all the and measures the distance to Barclay (3'/). Barclay is
CPs allocated are given to the wing commander. For 1,/ beyond Kutusou's radius, so this command will
each ten inches the wing commander is beyond the cost 2 extra CPs, for a total of 4. This will saue
army commander's radius, one of the allocated CPs is Kutusou some CPs, as long as Barclay keeps all his
instead lost - going back to the pile. The army com- corps within his own radius. The wing commander
mander should perform this task at the beginning of allows the army commander to extend his radius.
each turn, for each wing commander he has that is Note that this is usually, but not always, advanta-
played by a player. geous. It is possible, for instance, that a Force might be
For example, Kutusou's radius is 20". Barclay de only 18" from the army commander, but part of a wing
Tolly is one of his wing commanders, and is 3'/ away. whose wing commander is 27" away from the army
Kutusou wants to giue Barclay 10 CPs, but because commander. Even 0, if the Force i within the wing
Barclay is 1,/ beyond Kutusou's radius, two of those commander's radius, then the command must go to
CPs are lost en route. Barclay only gets 8. the wing commander.
Now we proceed to the control segment, as nor- If, however, a Force is beyond the radius of its
mal. However, the commander does not perform these wing commander, the army commander - if he wants
tasks for any of the Forces in the wing commander's to send a command to that Force - must s nd it
wing. The wing commander choo es which of his directly to the sub-commander, as normal.
Forces will receive commands, or will take control A sub-commander who doe not receive a com-
tests, etc. The wing commander has a radius, equal to mand must take a control test, whether he is within his
the current visibility, and he follows the exact same wing commander's radius or not. In a control test,
procedure for issuing command to his Forces as a always use the sub-commander's control number, not
normal army commander would. (And when he runs that of his wing commander.
out of CPs, he can't issue any more commands.)
Note that the army commander is still the person 9.0 What if the Army Commander
who uses CPs to move his base- a wing commander
doesn't have to spend the 3CPs to move his figure. And
Hasn't Arrived Yet?
Generally, Grande Armee works best for set-piece bat-
the army commander is the only one who makes the
tles where the opposing forces are both deployed. But
initiative rolls each pulse, and may employ CPs to alter
what about those battles in which one Force got itself
tho e rolls. And if the roll (doubles) results in more
into action, and the army commander rushed to the
CPs, these are kept by the army commander; they can't
scene with the rest of the army?
be sent on to the wing commander. He must make do
Until the army commander is on the board, each
with his "allowance" from the beginning of the turn.
sub-commander is on his own. The army commander
player still rolls for initiative for each pulse, but he col-
8.2 If there is no Player for a Wing lects no CPs until he is on the table. (Thus, he can't
modify his initiative rolls). During the control segment
Commander of each pulse, each sub-commander takes a control
As noted above, the wing commander has his own
test. Passing the test enables him to act with his Force
radius, determined the same way as the army com- in any way he please. Failure of the control test will
mander's. And a wing commander will al 0 have a con-
require him to check his Force's status.
trol number, like a sub-commander. When there is no
Once the commander arrives, he begins using the
person playing the wing commander, the army com- command system normally, and all sub-commanders
mander must follow this procedure:
are subject to commands, and to the normal rules of
Any command sent to a Force which is part of a
the game.
wing and within the wing commander's radius, goes
H. The Movement Segment
Mortier gaue orders for them to retreat slowly, and
1.0 Random Movement Allowances General Laborde, repeating his orders, exclaimed,
All units have a basic minimum movement allowance "Do you hear, soldiers? The marshal orders ordi-
(called "Base Move"), which is combined with a die
nary time. Ordinary time, soldiers!" and amid that
incessant tempest of grapeshot and balls it was
roll, to give a movement allowance for that pulse. A
"ordinary time" with them.
player must roll for a unit and move it, before rolling
for another unit. He may opt not to move a unit, in
-The Young Guard at Krasnoi, 1812. (From:
which case he should not roll for it at all. He may opt
Napoleon and his Marshals, Volume I, Chapter IX)
not to move a unit the full distance it is allowed.
Players may always measure as they go.
straggling columns of the road, if it is going to use the 6.0 Directions of Movement
road movement rate. (Artillery units on roads do not Units may always move straight ahead. There are sev-
have to do this.) It is assumed that, once off the road, eral ways, however, that a unit may move in a different
or once enemy units approach, the regimental colonels direction.
will form the men up into a more practical battlefield
formation.
If the ground condition is "Mud," then a road con- 6.1 Wheeling
fers no bonus to any unit. It is instead Mud, like the Any unit may "wheel," thus turning as it moves, to face
other clear terrain. For those rare occasions when a a new direction. In this maneuver, the unit simply
road was fully paved, the players can agree before the moves around to a new facing, covering ground, as
game, and ignore the effect of mud while on that road. shown by the arc of its movement. One front corner
stays in place while the other front corner "wheels" in
A "road" in the early 19th century was usually little more an arc, and the rest of the base swings around.
than a muddy track, wide enough for a wagon axle. M ost Measure the distance along this outside arc; that is the
infantry and cavalry units marching along a road were actual amount of movement expended. Wheeling is simply a
Iy marching along the sides of that road, because the road function of movement - it is done during movement.
itself was reserved for artillery, supply wagons and ambu If the wheel carries the unit through different terrain,
lances, and of course officers and couriers who would gallop it may require a roll on the terrain table. Any unit may
by, splattering everybody with mud. (Even most "paved" wheel any number of times, movement allowances
roads in the Napoleonic era were cobblestone, which was permitting. A unit may wheel bac1,-wards. A unit may
extremely difficult for horses to handle; they would stumble wheel into contact with the enemy.
and break their legs.)
6.2 Change Face
5.0 Elevations Any unit may make one "change of face" per pulse.
No battlefield is flat. The "hills" we place on the field This maneuver involves pivoting the unit either 90 or
represent notable slopes which would disrupt or 180 degrees, while not moving at all. The base is sim-
impede movement in some way. Obviously, not all ply turned around to face a new direction. This was a
slopes are the same, and going downhill could be just relatively easy maneuver for artillery or cavalry, but
as difficult as going up, especially for horses pulling a trid.-y for infantry. An artillery or cavalry unit may do
two-ton artillery limber (the men have to set a brake to this free, once, in any pulse, prior to expending any
keep it under control.) movement points at all. Infantry may also perform this
The penalty for ascending or descending an eleva- once in a pulse: an infantry unit must change face first,
tion is one extra movement point. Whenever a unit before expending any other movement points.
changes elevation in its move, it must subtract one Changing face requires fo ur movement points if the
from its available movement allowance. If it moves infantry unit is entirely in clear terrain or a town. The
along clear terrain and then comes to a hill, it must unit can move normally with any remaining points. If
first subtract one. Then, with whatever amount of the ground is mud, or the unit is at least partially in
movement is remaining, it may move up (or down) the rough terrain, then changing face requires all of its
hill normally. movement points. A unit may not change facing on a
bridge.
5.1 Cavalry and Elevations
Horses have great difficulty descending hills in a 6.3 Retrograde & Flank Movement
straight line. Therefore, no cavalry unit may "charge Retrograding means moving backward while facing
downhill." A cavalry unit may not move to contact with forward. Flank movement means moving to one side
the enemy if that means that the attacking cavalry while facing forward. This is not to be understood lit-
would have its base on a downhill slope at the time of erally; the men aren't side-stepping or walking back-
contact, or on a higher elevation than the enemy it is wards. Individual companies turn around, march, then
contacting. (It could still be attacked by an enemy unit turn around again.
coming up the hill, of course.) Artillery units may flank move or retrograde with-
out any penalty at all. Infantry and cavalry units retro-
grade and flank move at double the normal terrain
cost. In other words, whatever terrain they are moving
through costs twice as many movement points as
Movement 0
Measure
the distance
covered by the
unit's outside arc Moving by Front
a it wheels. the flank
Front 4:
Wheeling
Rear
Retrograde
Move
Rear
usual. (An inch of clear terrain costs 2 movement 6.S Summary: Changing Direction
points, rough terrain costs double whatever the
Terrain Table says, etc.) Wheeling:
No unit may ever retrograde or flank move into Any unit may do so as a function of movement
contact with the enemy. 0 unit may flank move with-
in 6" of any non-routing enemy unit No unit may ret- Change Face:
rograde within 6" of any non-routing enemy unit Artillery or Cavalry: once, free, at the beginning of a pul e.
unless moving directly away from enemy units without Infantry: once, at beginning of pulse, for four movement
getting closer to any other enemy units (i.e., retreat- points in clear terrain, or all movement points in rough
ing.) Any infantry or cavalry unit which retrogrades or terrain or in mud.
flank moves through rough terrain or across an obsta-
cle loses -lSP, to represent disorder and straggling. Re tro/Flank Move :
No unit may use the road movement bonus rate while Artillery: flank move or retrograde is free
retrograding or flank moving. Infantry and Cavalry: double cost to move.
A unit may not wheel or oblique move in, from, or Interpenetration may be done as a part of any per-
through a town base. A unit may, however, change face missible movement, including retrograde, oblique, and
in a town base, and it may retrograde and/or flank moving by the flank. It may be done in rough terrain
move in or through a town base. and across ob tacles. In all ca es, normal movement
rules and penalties apply.
8.0 Mud
When the ground condition is "Mud," most movement 12.0 Contacting the Enemy
co ts are doubled . Two movement points must be There is no "charge," per se. Units move into contact
spent to move 1" of clear terrain, for instance. The with enemy units as part of their movement in a pulse.
penalties for terrain are doubled. Ascending or Moving to contact an enemy unit is also called "attack-
descending a slope co ts an extra two movement ing" it. For simplicity, the side moving to contact is
points, rather than the normal one. No unit may use called the "attacker" and the other side the "defender."
the road bonus in mud. A change of face requires all of
an infantry unit's movement allowance, not just four 12.1 "Who May Contact Whom
points. Artillery units may never attack an enemy unit.
Infantry may attack any enemy unit, but it suffers a
9.0 Doubled Movement Penalties penalty if attacking cavalry. (It is assumed that the
Movement penalties may only be doubled once. A unit infantry has advanced toward the cavalry to attempt to
trying to retrograde move in the mud, for instance, drive it off, which is very ri ky.) Ca aIry may attack
does not have its movement co ts doubled for retro- any enemy unit unless that unit is in a town or hard
grade, then doubled again for mud. The double-cost cover.
penalty is only applied once.
12.2 How Units React "When
10.0 Foot Artillery Penalty Attacked
A foot artillery unit which fires has its movement Infantry does not react when contacted by the enemy.
allowance halved in that ame pulse. Roll for move- If hit in the flank or rear by enemy infantry, it is
ment, add to its base move, and then halve the total. assumed that the brigadiers will try to tum some bat-
Note that this is done before applying any movement talions to face the threat. When infantry is attacked by
penalties: a foot artillery unit might still have to pay enemy cavalry, it is assumed that the brigadier in
double movement costs for moving in mud, etc. (Make charge is trying to form squares.
sure to keep those cotton puffs on all your guns that
fired, so that when movement comes, you will remem-
ber whose movement is halved.) 12.21 Cavalry Attacked by Infantry
Cavalry may opt to fight a combat when attacked by
enemy infantry. Tum the cavalry to face an infantry
11.0 Interpenetration attacker (if not already facing), and the combat will be
Units can never end a move overlapping each other's fought there. Alternatively, cavalry may Evade, when-
bases. However, in certain cases a friendly unit may ever attacked by infantry.
move "through" another friendly unit, as follows :
First, Artillery units are the only units which may
interpenetrate and be interpenetrated by friendly 12.21 Cavalry Attacked by Cavalry
units. Infantry or cavalry units may move through a Cavalry may opt to fight a combat when attacked by
friendly artillery unit as long as they have enough enemy cavalry. Tum the cavalry to face the attacker (if
movement to move completely through, and thus not not already facing), and the combat will be fought
overlap the artillery unit's base at the end of their there. (A counter-charge is assumed to have hap-
moves. Artillery units may interpenetrate any friendly pened.)
unit under the same condition. Se cond, any unit, Alternatively, cavalry may attempt to Evade, when
friend or foe, may move through any routedfbroken attacked by cavalry. Unlike cavalry evading infantry,
unit as if it weren't there. Thir d , any unit may move this is not automatic. An attempt to evade enemy cav-
"through" an officer, since officers are not units. No alry could result in combat anyway, but under disad-
other interpenetration of units is allowed. vantageous circumstances, a one side pursues the
other. To make an evasion attempt against enemy cav-
alry, follow this procedure:
Movement 0
To resolve an evasion attempt, the attacker and 12.3 Attacking Artillery
defender each roll one die. The defender's die is modi- When attacked, artillery batteries tried to fire cani ter
fied as follows: at the approaching enemy, then to limber up and
escape. If friendly infantry was nearby, the gunners
-1 if defender is heavy cavalry and attacker is light. would often take shelter in the infantry formations.
+1 if defender is light cavalry and attacker is heavy. The reaction of the artillery unit depends on whether
+2 if defender is Cossack, against any attacker or not it is attached to a friendly infantry unit, as well
as what sort of enemy is attacking.
If the defender's modified roll is equal or higher, If the artillery is attacked by an enemy unit within
then his cavalry has succe fully evaded. If the attack- its frontal4s-degree perspective, then the gunners will
er's roll is higher, then there is no evasion: a combat get one "final shot" at the incoming enemy. (See F7.0)
will take place. Turn the defender to face the attacker Then, after this is resolved, and the attacker is still in
(if not already), and the defender immediately 10 es contact, roll to ee if the artillery e caped.
ISP, prior to resolving the combat. (If this breaks the If the artillery is attacked by an enemy unit com-
defender, the attacker may continue his move, and ing from the flank or rear, it will not get a final shot.
even contact another defender if he is eligible.) Roll to see if it escaped.
Example: A horse artillery unit is attacked by 12.33 Against two Artillery Units
enemy infantry. It must roll S4 to escape. It does so, Due to the smaller frontages of artillery units, it is pos-
and now must see how far back it moves. Horse sible that one attacker might contact two artillery units
artillery has a base move of 8 plus one die. It rolls a 3; simultaneously. Each rolls to fire, if eligible (if the
adding to 8, gives it an 11 movement allowance. Halve attack came from the front). Each rolls separately to
that: the horse artillery unit willfall back 5-5". escape.
Any infantry or cavalry unit that must fall back - 17.1 Penalties for Being Beyond the
whether as a result of evading or falling back from
combat - which interpenetrates friendly infantry or Sub-Comrnander's Radius
cavalry units, causes a -lSP loss to itself and any Sometimes, as a result of combat, units might advance
infantry or cavalry units it falls back through (Jl.l). or fall back out of their sub-commander's radius. The
Note that this is not the same procedure nor player, at his first opportunity in the next pulse, must
penalty as when a unit breaks. move his sub-commander and the units of that Force
in such a way as to bring all units back within the sub-
commander's radius. Until this is accomplished, a unit
16.0 Moving Officers outside its sub-commander's radius i penalized as fol-
Officers can move at any time during the Pulse, and lows:
this should be done with care, so as to keep units with- It uses lower To-Hit numb rs in combat
in their radii. Since you often don't know how fast It may not make a skirmish attack
your units will be moving, it is probably best to move An artillery unit may not fire, other than to
officers last. make a Final Shot when attacked.
All officers may move up to 18". Unlike units, they It may not recover any 10 t SPs.
have no flank or rear and can move in any direction ;
their movement is always voluntary and reliable One
does not roll to move them; they can always mo~e up
to 18". But What About Divisional Integrity... ?
Most games place a lot of emphasis on unit integrity: all bat-
talions of a regiment must be within X" of each other, all
16.1 Moving the Commander
regiments of a brigade formed together, all brigades of a divi-
All officers may move freely except the army com-
sion together, and they can't overlap other divisions, and so
mander. In order to move the commander, a player
on_ Wasn't this, after all, the way Napoleonic armies oper-
must pay 3 CPs. This represents the effort of moving
ated?
the headquarters and staff and disrupting the circuits
In cheory, yes. But once a battle was underway, these
of command during such a move.
tidy formations often became hopelessly jumbled and inter-
mixed. By the mid-point of most battles we find senior com-
17.0 Units and Radii
manders grabbing units from each other's commands throw-
As we've seen, each sub-commander has a radius. All
ing in a regiment from one division, a section of a' battery
units of his Force must remain within that radius by
from somewhere else, and some cavalry support, perhaps
the end of every pulse. A player may never deliberate-
from an entirely different corps.
ly end a pulse with units out of the radius, if that can
There is also the problem of scale_ Because the units we
be prevented by moving tho e units or the sub-com-
deploy represent historical bodies of men, and those bodies
mander in a different way.
vary greatly in size, there can be no standardized system for
Aside from remaining within the radius of their
placement, relative position, and integrity. In some cases a
sub-commander, units of a Force do not have to obey
unit represents an entire understrength division. In some
other restrictions of command control. Brigades of the
cases a big division might be four or five units. Unit integri-
sa~e division do not nece sarily have to stay together,
ty is left to your brigadiers: you have to assume that they
for mstance.
know what they're doing and are putting their battalions
where they need to be. You will get the best results from
Most wargames allow the army commanders to roam the your brigades if you deploy them with secure nanks and
battlefield without consequence. This was not common prac- reserves behind them (there are potential combat penalties
tice_ The best course of action for an army commander was for allowing the enemy too near an exposed nank_l
to find a good observation point, to set up his headquarters What matters in Grande Armee is that a sub-com-
there, and to stay put_ The army headquarters could be quite mander can still "reach" his local brigadiers_ The radii of sub-
an elaborate affair. At the very least, it had to function as a commanders sometimes overlaps, and thus units find them-
nexus of information; couriers needed to know where they selves intermingled with the units of other Forces. This is not
terribly important, as long as the players pay attention to
could find the commander and chief of staff, and of course
any time spent moving was time that the commander could which units belong in which Forces, and as long as each unit
not spend looking at maps, looking through his telescope, stays within its Force's radius. Most armies started out neat-
reading and writing messages, etc. So moving the army head- ly divided by corps command, but became increasingly worn
quarters was rarely done_ and mingled as the day went on.
I. Combat
"...OUr skirmishers were pushed in by superior
numbers. In readiness for receiving cavalry we
changedjrom line into massformation, but the
grapeshot merely ploughed deeper gaps in our 1.0Grande Armee's Approach to
ranks. Combat
The Prussian infantry battalions were approach- At the large scale we use in this game, we must assume
ing so close, thanks to their artillery support and that tactical decisions are made by the captains,
our immobility, that their mnks met ours, so much majors, and colonels on the scene. Formations within
so that a sergeant-major named Mourgue took even a single brigade might change two or three times
them to be French on account of their blue great- during the course of what this game represents as one
coats which were like our own. He went unofficial- "combat." There might be charges and countercharges,
ly to one of these battalions to warn them that they volleys of musketry at point-blank range, and perhaps
were firing into their comrades and was very lucky one side drives home a charge with cold steel. But back
to escape being captured. at army headquarters we strain and squint through our
Our position was becoming untenable. Besides telescopes, seeing only that our boys are mixing it up
the enemy artillery which was killing us at point- with the enemy. Far away, obscured by smoke, terrain,
blank range, an imposing force of cavalry waited a and other troops, these combats are occurring well
mere twenty meters awayfor us to break, where beyond our control.
they would spring at us like tigers waiting for their There is no distinction made between melee, mus-
prey. Our companies were becoming more and ket fire, and the supporting fire of attached brigade
more disorganized, and very soon the battalions, and divi ional artillery. All of this is assumed when
being crowded together, presented nothing more units make contact, and it is all called "combat."
than unformed heaps.... This could not last very
much longer. The instinctfor self-preservation
became too strong. The men broke andjled." 2.0 Moving to Contact
The player who is moving his units is called the
A French infantry captain at the Battle of Leipzig. Attacker. The player who is not active in that part of
(from Digby Smith's 1813: Leipzig. (London: the pulse is the Defender. There is no "charge." The
Greenhill Books, 2001) attacker simply moves, announcing his intention to
move units into contact, and then doing so, assuming
the die rolls cooperate. At this time, as they are con-
Historical Commentary tacted, defending units must react, if they are eligible:
The above passage is a fascinating account of... what cavalry might evade (unless already contacted by
exactly? Is it a melee combat? The units in question are another attacker), and artillery must fire a Final Shot
very close, after all. The enemy cavalry, he says, are (if eligible) and try to escape.
only twenty meters from him - that's one fifth of one
inch in our game- cale. Yet, the cavalry never
"charged." They just stood there, waiting for the 2.1 Direction of Contact
infantry to collapse, so they could pursue. As we can An attacking unit may only move into contact using its
see, the cavalry's main job was to keep the French in a front. It may never move backwards or sideways into
mass formation, so that the Prussian artillery could contact with the enemy.
blast them. But there is no melee. No contact. Even An attacking unit need not be able to see a defend-
though he hints that Prussian infantry are drawing ing unit at the beginning of its move, in order to attack
close enough to run over and talk to them, the confu- it. For example, attacking cavalry might move around
sion is still such that he can't tell the Prussians are in a hill and be able to see a defending infantry unit which
fact Prussians until one officer goes to greet them. had previously been invisible due to the hill. Assuming
This passage is a good example of what this game the cavalry unit obeys the 6" Rule, it may move to con-
tries to represent when units come into contact. There tact this infantry.
is no sense of time; we have no idea how long the An attacking unit may contact a defender's flank
Frenchmen were under fire, or how quickly the or rear, but only if it obeys the restrictions to attack the
Prussians were approaching. Our captain never looked closest enemy to its front (See AS.o, H14.0 , and 12.2,
at a clock, or at least didn't remember looking at one. below.)
There is no "charge," per se. There is only the sense Tum a defending unit to face its attacker. (If a sec-
that units of men have drawn close together, that fric- ond attacking unit contacts him, the defender is
tion and violence are occurring, and that sooner or 'pinned' and doesn't tum again, and is thus hit by the
later somebody will have to break, or at least fall back. second unit in the flank or rear.) In other words, there
is never a one-on-one flank or rear attack.
o Combat
..
Ist: French I attacks Front 25 Contact and Obstacles/Cover
Prusslan A on Its Flank. If a defending unit is directly behind an obstacle, the
~0~
on
attacker need not have enough movement to clear the
0~
obstacle; he need only be able to move into base-to-
base contact with the defender. The obstacle (a wall,
for instance) will be between them, giving the defend-
er a bonus in this combat. It will count as either hard
or soft cover, depending on what it is.
<>~
2nd: Note that French I on units against one defender, but this rarely happened in bat-
Is mosdy on Prusslan A's
flank.
~ tles. The most important thing for an attacker was to main-
tain good order, and this would be lost if units crammed
together, making tactical maneuvers impossible. Second,
remember that at our scale, when two of our brigades come
into base-ta-base contaCt, what we are really representing is
a kind of showdown between multiple units, with infantry
probably deploying from colums into lines, delivering vol-
leys, and cavalry trying to ride around infantry squares,
and/or around and through enemy cavalry squadrons. The
3rd: Prusslan A turns to fxe Its Flank attacker simply can't bring any more forces to bear than 2-
all.lCker, while French I squar~ up
I odds; the battlefield is too crowded. And even then he can
rn ~
to perfectly contact A's base.
only bring 2-1 odds if the defenders flank or rear is com-
(If there were another French unit, pletely exposed. In other words, if the defender is doing
now elieible to attxk A, It could do what he is supposed to be dOing, and deploying his units with
so, on A's flank or rear.) Flank supported flanks, then all combats will be grueling I: I
slugfests. That may not be as much fun as the way other
games let you do it, but that's the way it was in the
Napoleonic Wars.
Combat 0
3.0 Artillery Units in Combat possible so that each attacker contacts as few as po i-
Becau e of the smaller frontages of artillery units, it is ble defenders. But in the end, simply add together the
possible for an attacker to have contacted two artillery SPs of all defenders against that attacker.
units. If neither has escaped, then combine their dice
as if they were one defending unit. 4.0 Procedure for Combat
Remember that if the enemy attacked from the 1. An attacking unit moves to contact a defending
artillery's front, the artillery will get a final shot prior unit. Cavalry might try to evade.
to checking for escape. If the artillery did not escape, 2. If the defender is artillery, he may get a shot at
then there will be a combat. the attacker, and/or might e cape (meaning
there is no contact.) Determine this.
3.1 Attached Artillery in Combat 3. Turn to face the attacker, if necessary. Another
An artillery unit may be deployed in base-to-base con- attacking unit may contact this defender, if eli-
tact with a friendly infantry unit, so that their fronts gible.
combine to form a contiguous line. This is done a part 4. The attacking side keeps moving, repeating this
of movement, by moving the artillery and infantry so procedure as more of his units continue to con-
that they end their moves together in this fashion. Only tact more defending units.
one such artillery unit may ever be thus Attach ed to Then, once there are no more attacking units to move,
anyone infantry unit. Artillery, even horse artillery, combats are re olved one at a time, starting at one
does not attach to cavalry. Artillery may only attach to side of the board (attacker's choice) and moving down
infantry, as follows: to the other side. This order must be obeyed! The
1. If the artillery unit is part of a grand battery, it attacker can not "plan" the order of combat resolutions
may not attach to any infantry unit at all. to try to get a more advantageous situation (see 14.32).
2. An artillery unit may only attach to an infantry Each combat is re olved in this fashion:
unit in its same Force. 1. The attacker adds together the SP of his
3. Remember that artillery may never move to con- attacking units. If there are two attacking units,
tact with the enemy, so attached artillery may the attacker must designate which one is the
only ever be attached to a defender. "Dominant Unit."
2. Each side grabs a handful of dice equal to the
An attacker who charges an attached artillery unit is
amount of SPs they have in the combat.
also charging the attached infantry unit. If the attack
3. Each ide may get bonu dice.
comes against the artillery's front, then a final shot
4. Each side throws all the dice it has, hoping to
may be taken. Regardless of which dir ction the attack
score Hits. Each Hit scored will cause a 1SP
comes from, an attached artillery unit will not try to
loss to the enemy side. Under certain circum-
escape; the gunners will take shelter in the friendly
stances, one or both sides may be eligible to
infantry unit. The defending infantry unit does not get
make Saving Throws to negate hits.
any extra SPs (since the gunners are getting out of the
5. The side which has scored the most hits has
way, not fighting). The artillery crew will share the fate
won the combat, with ties won by the defender.
of the attached infantry unit: if it is broken, the
artillery unit is destroyed. If the friendly infantry sur-
vives the combat, no matter how battered, the attached 4.1 Designate the Dominant Unit,
artillery unit survives unscathed. If the infantry falls if Appropriate
back, the artillery falls back with it, still attached. If the attacker has more than one unit in the combat,
he must designate one as the Dominant U nit. It
3.2 Combat Versus a Grand Battery must be the unit which has the higher SP strength. If
A grand battery is simply a collection of several there is a tie, and one unit is cavalry and one is
artillery units. If attacking a grand battery, move infantry, the cavalry unit will be dominant. If both
attacking units against the enemy artillery units, with attacking units have the same SPs and are of the same
each defending artillery unit eligible to shoot and/or to type, the attacker may choose. The dominant unit is
escape, as normal. It is likely, if attacking the front of a the one which will bear the brunt of most of the losses.
grand battery, that an attacking unit will contact more
than one defender, because of the different frontages
involved. Try to square up these melees as neatly as
o Combat
Remember that it is possible for an attacker to An advancing unit which is partially blocked by
have up to two units on his side in the combat. For the other friendly or enemy units must advance as far as
attacking side to have broken, all attacking units must possible to occupy the vacated ground, without con-
break. tacting any other units.
An advance that carries the attacker into rough
4.62 Neither Side is Broken But terrain, a town, or across an obstacle does not involve
any movement penalties: the momentum of victory
One Side Scored More Hits has carried the position.
The side which scored the mo t hits wins the melee. If
the attackers lost, they must fall back, and the defend-
ers hold their position. If the defenders lost, the 5.0 Combat Involving a Town
defending unit must fall back, and the attacker's dom- If a defending unit is in a town, and must fall back,
inant unit must occupy the defender's ground, if possi- then it must fall back completely out of the town base
ble. If the dominant unit is broken, but the attacking it had occupied. The victorious attacker will occupy
side till won and still has an unbroken unit, that other that town base. Remember that cavalry may not attack
attacking unit may advance to occupy the ground. a town.
If, however, the defending unit is prevented from
4.621 Defender in Squares falling back completely out of the town base (by, for
Remember that a defender in quares must break in instance, impassable terrain), then the defending unit
order to be considered "defeated" in melee (14.33). If loses another ISP instead. (It remain holed up in the
the attacker wins the combat but doesn't break a town, unless that one more SP 10 s caused it to break.)
defender in squares, then he hasn't really won. In thi The attacker's units fall back 3". (They are regrouping
instance, all attacking units fall back 3". for another attempt to storm the town.)
4.63 Nobody Scores Any Hits, Or
There Is A Tie And Nobody Breaks 6.0 A Complex Combat Example
In this case, the defender has won. All attackers must It is the Au trian phase in the pulse. Austrian units 1,
fall back. 2 , 3, 4 have French units A, B ,C, D within 6" of their
fronts at the beginning of their moves.
4.64 Everybody Breaks
It is possible, albeit statistically unlikely, that both
sides will break in the combat. This represents a melee
which has completely chewed up both sides to the
point where there are no effective formations left in the
vicinity. Both sides break, leaving a stream of chaos,
stragglers, scattered firefights and pockets of resist-
ance in their wake.
Remember that if an attacker has more than one Austrian 1 will attack French A; this is a clear-cut com-
unit in the combat, both his units would have to break, bat with no modifiers. Austrian 2 , however, is flanked
for the attacking side to have broken. by the presence of French C. Austrian 2 can't turn to
strike C, because a unit must always contact the closest
A n example of combat r esolution: A defending enemy to its front. Thus - if it attacks - it must charge
infantry unit scores only three hits, while the attack- French B, and will be flanked in the process. Austrian
ers score five. However, those three hits are enough to 3 will attack French C. Here, the French are flanked
break the attackers, while the defending unit is still because of Austrian 2 on their flanks.
there. Consequently, with no attackers left, the And what about Austrian 4? He would very much
defender wins the combat, even though he had scored like to wheel and take French C in the flank, but most
fewer hits. of French C's base is actually to his flank, not his front.
Remember that units within 6" of one s front take pri-
4.7 Advance After Victory ority (H14.o). Thus, if Austrian 4 attacks, it must
A victorious defending unit never advances after com- attack French D, who is clo est to his front. In fact,
bat; it holds its po ition. A victorious attacking unit Austrian 4's best move is no move at all. He will stay in
mu t advance to occupy the space left by the defender reserve, rather than placing himself in jeopardy of
who fell back or routed . being flanked in the next French pulse.
combat.
3.0 Suppres sion If a unit has its back to impassable terrain, or is com-
Artillery units may be S uppressed by skirmish pletely surrounded by enemy units such that no path at
attacks. A suppressed artillery unit may not fire in the least 3" wide exists in any direction free of enemy
upcoming artillery fire phase. (It may still take a "Final units, then when that unit breaks, it is eliminated
Shot.") It is not otherwise penalized. Suppression is instead: it may not be rallied.
removed at the end of each pulse.
Players must get it out of their heads that routing units are
4.0 Broken Units and "Routing" actually somewhere, moving on the table like normal units.
The terms Broken and Ro uted are used fairly inter- They aren't. We place them at the back of the Force purely
changeably in this book. Technically, routing is what as a game convenience, but in reality the unit has come
the men of a unit do after that unit breaks. It describes apart, and is strung out along the whole line of its rout. A
an uncontrolled scattering and flight as a unit comes routed unit doesn't really exist at the moment. We keep it
apart. Within relatively short order, the officers on the on the table only as a reminder and a point of reference for
scene will have to put this unit back together again the rally attempt. The question is: can the ofHcers put this
("rally" it), or these men will never again constitute an unit back together before it disintegrates completely? If so,
effective body on today's battlefield. then the unit will "rally," and thus retum within the radius
of the Force. If not, then it is hors de combat - removed
4.1 Marking Broken Units from play altogether. Perhaps after dark, or in the morning,
When a unit breaks, the owning player should place a the men will be able to reform in some fashion, or the rem-
casualty marker on its base and immediately move it to nants might be re-assembled.
the rear of the Force. It doesn't matter exactly where
the routed unit is, because it is nowhere. It can be
moved around as needed; we keep it only on the table 5.0 Officer Casualties
to remind our elves that it needs to be rallied later. An officer (of any rank) must roll to determine his fate
The routed unit has no effect on play at all. Any unit, whenever he exposes himself to certain dangers. The
friend or foe, may move through any routed/broken owning player must make this roll for each of his offi-
unit as if it weren't there. (Because it isn t.) cers, each time they meet any of the criteria, below.
The player should write the letter "R" on its roster, (This could entail several rolls in a single pulse, if the
to show it has routed, and currently has zero SPs. officer is really in the thick of it.)
I
--------------- -------, How Did the Battle End?
I
lOne Army Breaks I Nightfall: Neither
Army Breaks Both Armies Break
(A defeats B) This Battle is a Draw
Both players secretly choose, then
I The Battle is Over
~
reveal to either " tay" or "Leave"
~
Retreat is
Covered
Marginal Victory
for Side A 1. Stragglers & Lightly
Deci ive Victory wounded return
for Side A (L7 1 )
Army B i Pur ued
Resolve Pursuit Losses 2. Weak units may be
There will be another converged (L7.2)
day of battle
3. If the battle is not over, there
will be another day ofbattle:
The Battle
is Over * Make new rosters
* Add overnight reinforcements
* Recalculate Army break points
Resolve "End of Day"
fur Army A --------------4.~
The Battle is Over
L _____________________ _ I
VictOry .
3.0 Army Morale Check of that turn. (DS.o) Once et aside, tho e CPs may not
Keep track of all units in an army which have been be used for anything else in the turn . They represent
routed and not rallied (eliminated), or units that are the time and attention the commander and hi staff are
overrun - i.e., all units that are eliminated and paying to the growing problem of keeping the army
removed from play. At the end of a turn in which the together in the face of attrition and entropy, not to
number of these units equals or exceeds the army's mention exhaustion.
break point, you mu t roll to check Army Morale. The greater the loss of army morale, the greater
Indeed, from that point forward, at the end of every the proportion of CPs which must be committed. To
turn in this day of battle, you must check. influence the morale check by a certain number, you
If an army fails its morale check, it has broken, must commit the square of that number in CPs.
and the game proceeds to its final stages, as illustrated Therefore, a -1 modifier costs 1CP, but a -2 modifier
by the Victory flowchart. costs 4CPs. To influence the army morale check by -3,
To check army morale, the commander should roll you would have to set aside 9CPs, and for -4, 16CPs,
two dice. Prior to rolling, he may subtract a number for and so on. There is only so much that the army com-
CPs he had earlier committed (see LJ.1) to army mander can do, once the collapse begins.
morale. To the roll, however, he must add the number
of the current turn just completed, and he must add 3.2 Les Gardes Reculent!
one for each eliminated unit beyond the army's break When any infantry or cavalry of "guard" morale
point. (For example, if the break point was 9, and he breaks, immediately count it as a unit lost against army
has 10 t 11 units, then he must add two.) morale. If, in the rally segment, it fails to rally, count it
Thus the army morale check roll is: again. Thus, completely losing a guard unit costs dou-
ble for army morale. (Merely seeing the guards break
2 Dice could have a negative impact on army morale, even if
+ Tur n Number they rally later, not just because of rumors of defeat
+ U nits 10 t beyond Br eak Point preading through the ranks, but also because of the
- CP committed effect on the morale of the army command and staff,
who no doubt are becoming depressed and certain of
If the result of this roll total 14 or Ie s, the army defeat at this point.)
h a p as e d its morale check. Proceed to the next
turn, if there is one. If the result was 15 or more, the
a rmy' morale ha colla p ed . Proceed to the
3.3 Reinforcements and Army
Pursuit steps, explained later in this chapter. Morale
As reinforcements enter the field, they increase the
A n example of army morale: army's break point. Apply the multiplier for confidence
Wellington's aI-my has a Break Point of 9. At the end level to the total number of reinforcements that have
of Tum Six, he has lost a total often units. Therefore arrived this turn, and increase the break point accord-
he must check morale. He has not committed any CPs ingly. (If a corps of 14 units has arrived, and the army's
to army morale. confidence is "fair," then 3096 of 14 is 4.2 - add 4 to
He rolls a 6, adds it to the tum number (6), and the army's break point.) Note that this can get an army
adds an additional one, because he has lost one more out of trouble, if it has just passed its break point, but
unit than his break point. 6+6+1 = 13. Therefore, his is "saved" by the arrival of fresh troops. Everybody
army has passed this tum. He'l[ have to check again loves to be reinforced: go get 'em, lads!
at the end of each subsequent tum, though.
4.0 If Both Armies Break.
Once your army's break-point has been reached, It is possible that both armies might break at the end
you can only hope that the enemy is in even worse of the same turn. In this case, the battle has ended in a
shape, or that the day of battle will end (night will fall) draw. (Both sides have fought each other to the point
before your army morale collap es. where neither army is battle-effective any more.) Both
armies go to the "End of Day Procedure."
3.1 CPs and Army Morale
If you are worried that your army is nearing its break
point, you may set aside CPs during the command
phase, to be used for an army morale check at the end
e Victory
town to attack an enemy, it still must obey artillery have already fired on that enemy unit.
restrictions about movement, and the cIo est Likewise, normal artillery can fire on an enemy unit,
enemy to its front, etc. even if a howitzer battery has already fired on it.
2.6 If a defending unit is in a town, and must fall Howitzers have special abilities. They may fire
back, then it must fall back completely out of over any friendly or enemy units, hitting any enemy
the town base it had occupied. The victorious unit in range which they can see.
attacker will occupy that town ba e. Remember A howitzer unit always has a range of 12". Like
that cavalry units may not (and are never forced other artillery units, they roll two dice, or one if they
to) attack a unit in a town base. have one hit on them. They get no bonus dice.
2.61 If, however, the defending unit is prevented Howitzers hit on roll of 4-6, regardless of
from falling back completely out of the town range and target type. Furthermore, when saving
base by impassable terrain, then the defending against howitzer hits, target units must use special
unit does not fall back at all. It loses another Save Numbers, which apply only against howitzers:
1SP instead. (It remains holed up in the town,
unless that one more SP loss caused it to Saving Throws against Howitzer Fire
break.) The attacker's units fall back 3". (They 1 Soft cover
are regrouping for another attempt to storm the 2 Hard cover or town
town.) 1 The target unit is artillery
1 The ground condition is Mud
ply rolls one die, comparing it to the rocket unit, which Iy behind the army commander's base at the beginning
rolls one die +1 or +2, as the case may be. of the game.
Rocket batteries do not combine their fire with any Exception: The Ottoman empire had a huge and
other artillery unit, and they may fire at any enemy cherished engineer corps, and placed special emphasis
unit in range, even if other friendly artillery have on siegecraft and battlefield engineers. Unlike most
already fired on that enemy unit. European armie , who often thought of engineers as a
necessary evil, the Turks considered engineering the
5.0 Reinforcements and Off-Map most honorable of all military profes ions. An
Ottoman army may deploy one engineer stand for
Movement every two Forces in the army, plus one for the army
commander.
In a perfect world, we would have a wargames table so Engineer units have ISP. They may not skirmish,
immense that there would be no need for anything like "off nor be skirmish attacked. They move entirely on their
board" movement, or that sense of the tableedge being the own, anywhere on the board, with the expenditure of
end of the world. There is no good reason, of course, why a lCP per unit, no matter how far they are from the army
unit two inches off the table should be out of the game. But commander. They are "fast infantry" for purposes of
since this is a game, with all the limitations that implies, we movement. When on their own (not attached to a
must state a clear rule to avoid player arguments that would friendly unit), they may not move into combat with
arise when units "magically" appear and disappear. enemy units, and if contacted, they automatically
evade, falling back before the enemy, as many times as
neces ary. They may, however, be shot at by artillery,
A unit which is forced off the board or driven into in which case their save number is the same as
impas able terrain is eliminated. This could happen as artiilery.
a result of a rout or fall-back in combat, if the enemy In all armies except the Turks, engineers are not
has pushed you right up against the edge of the board. counted for purpo es of army morale, and their loss
In many cenarios, one or both sides have rein- has no effect on army morale. In the Ottoman army,
forcements that are scheduled to arrive at a specific they are counted, and their loss counts toward the
point of the table, on some later turn. During the army's break-point.
Command Phase of a turn in which a player might
receive reinforcements, he must check to see if they
have arrived. If so, he can immediately raise his army's Every nation had a corps of engineers. (Known as "sappers,"
break point, and re-calculate the number of Forces he "pioneers," etc.) These brave souls were tasked with the
now has, for rolling on the Command Table. demolition or construction of various things, often under
The units may enter using the road movement enemy fire, and they were frequently used to assault heavi-
bonus, if there is a road there. They must enter and ly-defended works. In some armies they were also responsi-
remain within the radius of their sub-commander, and ble for the army's siege train and/or bridging equipment. In
in that pulse spent "entering," they must all enter, if at Grande Aimee, we will simply call them all "Engineers."
all possible. In the next pulse after these units have Most army-corps had at least a company of engineers
entered, the newly-arrived sub-commander(s) will attached to the headquarters. We're interested, however, in
behave according to the command rules, as normal. the situations where the army commander would deploy his
(Up to now, they've just been marching to the sound of reserve force of engineers, or pemaps mass them for a spe-
the guns. Now that they've arrived, they have to be cific task.
integrated into the battleplan.)
6.1 Attached Engineers
6.0 Sappers and Other Specialists By spending ICP to move an engineer unit, a player
You will need to make special one-inch square bases can attach that engineer to a friendly infantry unit of
for massed engineer companies. Each army gets one of any Force. Place it in base-to-base contact, although it
these stands deployed with the army commander. For doesn't have to add any frontage - it can be placed
a Napoleonic army, deploy an additional stand for behind the infantry. On the turn they are attached, nei-
each two Forces in the army. Thus, a Traditional army ther unit may exceed its movement allowance; the
will only have one stand of engineers, while a engineer couldn't move its maximum, attach, and then
Napoleonic army of four Forces would have a total of move again with the infantry, for instance.
three. All these engineer stands will be placed I" direct-
Special cases .
An infantry unit with attached engineers gets one laid a 3" bridge section across the river. If not, it must
bonus die in combat. When it attacks a defending unit spend the next pulse in the same fashion, requiring
which is holding light or heavy cover, it negates the another CP, unable to do anything but work on the
defender's bonus for that cover. (The defender would- bridge. At the end of the second pulse, change the
n't get any saving throw for hard cover, for instance, if marker to "2" and try to roll two or less on the die, and
he's being attacked by an infantry unit with attached so on, until you roll equal to or less than the number of
engineers.) Engineers are thus especially useful for the marker at the end of a pulse.
blasting their way into towns or forts. Exception: When the bridge is built, remove the bridging
Engineers do not negate a defender's save number for train for the rest of this day of battle.
being in woods. Your men can lay more than 3" of bridge, but they
If the attached infantry unit is broken, the engi- have to work in 3" sections. First, they lay a 3" section.
neers are removed from the board. (They do not rally Then, if there is another bridging train available, they
with the unit, if it rallies.) Otherwise, the engineer must be adjacent to that section, to begin working on
remain with the attached unit, no matter how much of the next section, starting in the same manner, trying to
a beating it takes. (Unrealistic, perhaps, since they'd be roll a 1 or less after one pulse, and so on, until they've
in the front ranks, but then again most of these guys built another 3" section.
were wearing helmets and metal body-armor.) If the bridging train unit is destroyed by enemy
While attached, an engineer unit requires no CPs fire or combat, its work is lost; remove the marker.
to move. It simply moves with its parent infantry unit. Friendly engineer units can assist the bridging
It may be detached, at the beginning of any pulse, prior unit. For each engineer unit in contact with the bridge
to that infantry unit's move, by spending 1CP. If, how- train unit, and also receiving its own 1CP, subtract one
ever, the infantry unit is falling back, the engineers from the die roll to determine if the bridge is complet-
may not detach - they are along for the ride, and suf- ed.
fer the fate of the infantry unit. If is raining, or if the weather is below freezing,
you must add one to your die rolls for bridging
6.2 Bridging attempts.
To recreate bridging operations, you will need to Pontoon bridges were nowhere near as strong as a
model a pontoon bridging train on a stand the same normal bridge, and were at the mercy of rough cur-
size as those used for artillery. The bridging train rep- rents or enemy artillery fire. Rules for river current are
rents a team of pontonnieT"s (specialized bridging best left to individual scenario "special rules." A sec-
engineers) and enough pontoons to make a bridge 3" tion of pontoon bridge may be destroyed by enemy
long. Each army may deploy one such unit, although in artillery fire. The bridge gets a :5:4 saving throw. One
certain cases there might be more. A French army with bit will destroy it.
the Imperial Guard present would have at least anoth-
er bridging train present, since the Guard had a very
sizable corps of pontonniers.
Each bridging train moves at the speed of foot
artillery, and requires 1CP to move, no matter how far
it is from the army commander. A bridging train unit
has 1SP. If fired on by enemy artillery, its target class is
the same as artillery. It may not be the target of a skir-
mish attack. (It was probably the target of skirmishers
all the time, but that didn't stop our intrepid ponton-
niers.) It may never move to contact with the enemy,
can not evade if contacted, and will fight as a 1SP
infantry unit.
To build a bridge, a bridging unit must begin its
move at water's edge, receive 1CP to "move," and then
spend that entire pulse working on the bridge. Place a
die or numerical marker showing "1" at the end of the
first pulse it has spent working on the bridge. At the
end of the pulse, roll one die. If the roll is 1, then it has
N. Optional Rules
Thefortunes of war arejickle, my dear general. We
shall retrieve tomorrow or the day after what you
have lost today .... Nothing is lost so long as courage
1.0 Human "Personality" Ratings remains.
Players representing sub-commanders are still part of
the command system. They must be given a command, - Buonaparte to Massena, 29 July 1796
or they will have to take a control test. But if you would
prefer a more free-wheeling system for sub-command-
ers played by actual player , then apply this rule: 3.0 "Hidden" Sub-Co mmanders
If a player sub-commander fails a control test, and If a sub-commander is within the army commander's
no enemy units are visible, then his Force is inactive radius, but the army commander can't actually see
for that pulse. However, if a player fails his control test him, due to some terrain obstruction like a forest,
when he has a visible enemy, then he uses his own town, or hill between them, then a command to that
judgment to interpret the army commander's wi hes sub-commander requires an extra CPo
as he sees fit. When a player represents a sub-com-
mander, ignore that historical commander's personal- It is unlikely that the army commander could pick out a spe-
ity rating. (You've replaced it with your friend's "per- cific officer (no matter how Hamboyantly dressed) beyond a
sonality rating.") Clearly, sub-commanders could be few hundred feet. This is purely a game convention to sym-
quite independent fellows, and they did, in fact, some- bolize the problems that might stem from a commander's
times change the battle plan without their chiefs inability to see part or all of that sub-commander's Force. If
approval. Sometimes that change of plan even saved the army commander can't see the units to which he is giv-
the day. ing orders, then his situation becomes more complicated. He
If you want to get technical, players should not be requires more information and time, perhaps the sending of
allowed to talk to each other about the game unless aides to report on exactly what this Force is doing.
their officer ba es are touching. They may send notes
to each other, which will get delivered on the next
pulse after ending. Ideally, this is the way you hould
play it, if you strive for "historicity." As a veteran
4.0 Blown Cavalry
wargame referee, though, I would be frankly aston-
ished if players could abide by this rule. Cavalry could not charge over and over again because the
horses (not to mention the men) would become "blown," or
worn out. Even the healthiest horse had only one really good
2 .0 Vive I'Empereur! charge in it, and then with rest might be able to come back
again with somewhat reduced vigor, perhaps repeating this
Many commanders had an emotional impact on their sol pattern four or five times in a day. M ost battle horses had
diers, to the point that the men could be moved to greater already spent weeks on the campaign trail, though, and had
exertions if they knew that the boss was watching. Officers lost a lot of weight and strength. They might not even have
wanted to be remembered for the heroic exploits of their one good charge in them.
units, and men of all ranks hoped for decorations or promo I have decided to relegate this rule to the optional rules.
tions, which were much more likely if the army commander There are many problems with writing a rule that covers the
was paying special attention to this sector of the field. issue of blown cavalry. First, obviously, not all horses in the
army are in the same condition. Some have more "gallop"
in them than others. Second, not all charges are carried out
Before the game, players must agree on whether the
in the same way. Sometimes cavalry went pell-mell in an all-
commander's charisma was such to justify the inclu-
out charge - this was frequently the case with the Turks and
sion of this rule. (Obvious examples are Napoleon,
the British. More often, the troopers fought at the trot, or
Blucher, Tsar Alexander, Ney, Suvarov, etc. Players
even at the walk, because of the better control it gave them
will have to decide for others.)
over the animals and over their formations. Well-disciplined
A unit which is "under the chiefs eye" must be half
heavy cavalry would reserve a real charge for only the final
or Ie s the current visibility distance to the comman-
J 00 yards or so, specifically to conserve the strength of their
der's base-stand. Such a unit gets a bonus die in com-
mounts, and be able to fight their way out if counter-charged
bat, a saving throw of 1 (added to any other applicable
by enemy cavalry. A nd finally, since our turns don't repre-
save numbers), and a +1 to its Rally Factor if trying to
sent any fIXed period of time, but rather periods of activity
rally or recover lost SPs. (In addition to any CPs the
or inaction, each varying in length, it seems difficult to estab-
commander might contribute to a rally attempt.)
lish how many turns or pulses would have to pass for horses
to regain their strength.
Optional Rules .
After a normal combat in which cavalry attacked an For every three Forces in an army, the army will travel
enemy unit, roll one die. On an odd roll, the cavalry has with one baggage wagon. Mount this figure on an
become blown. Some sort of marker will be needed. (A artillery-sized base. A baggage wagon must be placed
foaming horse, perhap ? A broken-down nag?) within 12" of the army commander at the beginning of
Blown cavalry counts as a "Vulnerable" unit in the game. During the game, the wagons move as foot
combat, though not if being shot at by artillery. Blown artillery units. They are not part of any Force, but each
cavalry may not be counted in the post-battle period a wagon requires lCP to move, each time it is moved,
cavalry that could be used in pursuit of a beaten foe, regardless of its distance from the commander. The
nor as cavalry covering the retreating (beaten) army. wagons may never move off the table, nor may they be
Cavalry that is blown may not prevent skirmish attacks more than 36" from the commander at any time.
within 2", although as usual for cavalry they may not The wagons are supremely vulnerable. If contact-
be skirmish attacked, them elves. ed by an enemy infantry or cavalry unit, they are cap-
If, at the end of a pulse, a blown cavalry unit has tured. (Artillery can't move into contact with any
not moved, nor engaged in any combats with enemy enemy unit, even a lowly baggage wagon.) When a unit
units, it may remove the Blown status marker. captures an enemy baggage wagon, it will almost cer-
tainly stop to loot it.
5.0 Baggage Trains and Loot At the moment of capture, the capturing unit must
stop immediately. It may occupy the ground covered
by the baggage wagon, as b st po ible, but may move
This game makes no provision for supply. Running out of no further that pulse. In the next pulse, the a player
ammunition was a rather rare occurrence for a large army must roll one die. An infantry unit will continue to loot
during a Napoleonic battle. Even after three full days of on a roll of 3+, a cavalry unit on a roll of 4+. A unit with
intense fighting at Leipzig, for instance, the French artillery "Guard" morale will only loot on a roll of 6. If a unit
still had about a day's supply of ammunition remaining. So continues to loot, it may not do anything else that
we do not place supply wagons on the table, nor worry with pulse at all, no matter how close the enemy is. It may
re-supply rules. Capturing the enemy's ammunition was usu- not move, nor recover lost SPs. Its SK value is reduced
ally of little use anyway, since most armies used different cal- to zero. If fired upon or attacked by the enemy, it may
ibres of musket and different systems of artillery. not evade, and is a Vulnerable unit in combat. If the
Capturing the enemy's food and alcohol, however, was unit has finished looting, it is a normal unit again, and
another matter entirely. We must remember that above all, capable of any of its normal game actions.
soldiers were hungry. It is likely that they got nothing at all On the next pulse, roll again, but this time subtract
to eat during a day of battle, and probably had had very lit- one to the roll. (Guards may thus never loot more than
tle during the march to the battlefield the day before. If, one pulse before their officers recover their composure
when breaking through enemy lines, soldiers found a wagon and get them in formation again.) Continue this every
full of food, it was almost certain that they would stop to pulse for a unit that is looting until it ceases, each pulse
plunder it, if not sit down right there and eat a meal. Alcohol subtracting another one from the die roll (subtract two
was such a treat that it was even more irresistible than food. on the second pulse, etc.) If a turn ends, simply treat
Russian and British troops in particular would usually stop the next pulse played as the next pulse, when calculat-
dead in their tracks, even in the midst of pursuing a beaten ing how long a unit has been looting.
enemy, to guule down every drop they could find. Combine A baggage wagon does not count toward an army's
that with empty stomachs and a day of stress, and the men total number of units, when figuring the army's break
usually ran wild or collapsed. And we mustn't assume that it point. However, the capture of a baggage counts as
was just the private soldiers who looted. Several French two units against that break point. The capture of bag-
Marshals like Soult and Massena were infamous looters. gage wagons is a mixed blessing: it can seriously hurt
Soldiers were as likely to plunder a fat-looking town as the enemy's morale, yet it can also incapacitate your
they were to loot the enemy's baggage, but the enemy bag- units.
gage train held a special significance for both sides. It often
contained the army's pay, as well as supplies and other 6.0 Random Starting Weather
assorted loot. Its capture implied to the losing soldiers that If you are playing a campaign, or designing your own
their officers had been careless, or that the enemy had scenario and wish to randomize the weather condi-
humiliated them. Its effect on morale was similar to taking tions, then prior to set-up roll two dice for the starting
standards or cannon. weather:
Optional Rules
/VVV'>. Fortifications
- Road
~ Town
......"..... River
~ ~~ Marsh
Forest
@HillS .
The Scenario:
The weather is Sunny, with no variation. The ground is Hard. The game's Basic Length is 6.
The town of Fuentes (1 base) is Hard Cover. The two streams are both fordable, and constitute ob tacles.
The morale of the allied anny is Confident. Its Break Point is 9.
The morale of the French anny is Fair. Its Break Point is 8.
Fuentes de Oiioro "
Cavalry: Likewi e, choo e one of the Forces to add Cotton's cavalry unit:
Mixed Light Cavalry Trained 6SP_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
" Fuentes de Ofioro
I"
The Battlefield of
Fuentes de Oiioro
3. Spanish Reinforcements
Wellington had the assistance on this campaign of Julian Sanchez's irregular cavalry, who screened his right flank quite
well. He had chosen, however, not to wait for Spanish reinforcements for this campaign, given his unpleasant experi-
ences with Spanish armies at Talavera. This variant assumes that Wellington had the service of the remnants of La
Romana's army, which had served with him at the lines of Torres Vedras.
A. Add one Force (the first three units are all Spanish line infantry) to Wellington's army, as follows :
La Romana 3 / 6"
S/ l La Carrera Conscript 6SP
S/ 2 O'Donnell Trained SSP
S/ 3 Zamora Trained SSP
SI C Sanchez Oight cavalry) Raw 4SP
" Fuentes de Ofioro
The Scenario:
This game examines the f erocious fighting on the second day of the battle, with both armies deployed,jac-
ing each other at close quarters.
The weather is Nonnal, and variable. The ground is Hard. The game's Basic Length is 7 turns.
All towns - Aspern (2 bases), Essling and Gross Enzersdorf (1 base each) - are hard cover. The Danube
river is impassable terrain.
The Battlefield of
Aspern-Essling
Aspern-Essling "
Guard Artillery: (Napoleon must assign these to either Guard detachment at the beginning of the game)
G: 12-pdr Gd Foot __
G: 6-pdr Gd. Horse __
Aspern-Essling "
1. French Reserves
Marshal Davout's III Corps was standing by on the south bank of the river, waiting to cross over to the
Aspern-Essling battlefield. Napoleon desperately needed these veteran regiments, but the French pontoon
bridge was so constantly in a state of repair that he never had a chance to deploy III Corps. Indeed, even if
Davout had been able to cross, it is likely there wouldn't have been room on the battlefield for him. Under
this variant, however, given a little luck, Napoleon can bring III Corps aero s the bridge.
A. At the end of each turn, the Napoleon player should roll a die. On a roll ofl-3 the bridge is once again
down, due to Austrian sabotage. In thi case, on the following turn, no French reinforcements can
arrive. However, on a roll of 4-6, the bridge has been secured enough to bring across Marshal Davout
and a single infantry division from III Corps (French player's choice) in the next turn.
B. When Davout arrives with his leading divi ion, raise French army morale, and the number of Forces
accordingly, and calculate his radius.
C. At the end of each turn, the French player makes this roll, until all of Davout's divisions are across.
Raise Davout's radius as new units arrive.
2. Austrian Re erves
Charles was in the midst of re-organizing his command structure, and the Austrian army was in a weird
limbo between "Corps" and "Columns." The corp of Feldmarschall Reuss-Plauen consisted of only a sin-
gle division of mixed units - everything from local Vienna militia to Jagers, Grenzers, and Uhlans. Reuss-
Plauen was unengaged during the battle, but could easily have joined the second day's fighting.
A. Under thi variant, include Reuss-Plauen's "corps" as a single division detachment, deployed within
12" of Ch arles.
3. Vive l'empereur!
At several points during the battle, the Archduke Charles exposed himself to extreme danger, riding into
the midst of broken Austrian units and rallying them. Napoleon maintained a glacial calm throughout most
of the battle, as wa his custom, but his presence was famous ly crucial to French morale.
A. Use the Vive l'empereur! optional rule for both commanders, as described in N2.0.
Labels for the Aspern-Essling Scenario (cut and paste to unit base)
The Scenario:
The weather is Normal, with no variation. The ground is Hard. The game's Basic Length is 6 turns.
The towns of Friedland (2 bases) and Sortlach (1 base) are Hard Cover. Posthenen (1 base) is Soft Cover. The Alle river
is unfordable. The MuhlenfluB stream is an obstacle. All hiJIs are Level One.
The Russians deploy first, then the French VI, VIII, and Reserve Corps. The French Guard and I Corps will arrive later
during the battle.
The Russian army is "Fair." Its Break Point is 15.
The French army is "Confident." Its Break Point starts at 11, but it will receive reinforcements during the game.
o Friedland
Reserve Division: Constantine (V) 4 / 8" (a separate Force, not under either Wing)
R/1 Deperadovich (Guard inf.) Elite lOSP_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
R/2 Bachoutzki (Guard inf.) Elite 8SP_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
R/ 3 Alexseyev Veteran 7SP_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
R/4 Gersdorf Veteran 6SP_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
R/ S Kollogirov (Gd Cavalry) Guards 8SP_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
R: 12-pdr Foot A __
R: 12-pdr Foot B __
R: 12-pdr Foot C __
Platov's Cossacks: Platov (V) 1 / 8" Aggressive (a separate Force, not under either Wing)
C/1 Cossacks Raw 4SP_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
C/2 Cossacks Raw 4SP_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
C/3 Co sacks Raw 4SP_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
C/4 Cossacks Raw 4SP_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
C: 6-pdr Horse __
" Friedland
Starting at the end of Turn Two, roll one die. On a roll of 4+ the I Corps will enter on the next turn. Continue each
turn until the I Corps enters.
The Battlefield of
Friedland
o Friedland
2. Early Start
For much of the morning, Jean Lannes' corps bluffed the Russians into a stalemate while Napoleon rushed the rest of
the French army to the scene. Had the Russians attacked, Lannes could probably have made a fighting withdrawal, but
it would have changed the whole nature of the battle, making it much more fluid. In this variant, we also make things
interesting by scrambling the arrival of the French Forces.
A. Add two to the game's Basic Length.
B. Deploy the Russian army first, and then Lannes' corps. Use rule G9.0. Each of the other French forces has a pos-
sible "arrival number," as follows :
1-2 Mortier 3-4 Ney 5 The Guard 6 Victor
C. At the end of tum two, the French player rolls a die. Using the arrival numbers shown above, the die will deter-
mine which French Force begins entering on the first French pulse of turn three. Whichever Force it is,
Napoleon enters with it, and thus the French command system becomes normal, as per the game rules.
D. At the end of tum three, roll another die. If the die shows a Force that has already entered, then the French play-
er may roll once again. But if the die again shows an already-entered Force, then no French Force will enter on
the next tum. This procedure is repeated at the end of each turn, until all the French Forces have entered.
3. Murat Is Present
Murat had been detached by Napoleon to assist in the nearby siege of Konigsberg. The French cavalry reserve was nom-
inally led by Grouchy, but was actually broken up into divisional units, and used by the infantry commanders.
A. Create a new French Force - the cavalry reserve under Murat: 4/ 11" (V) Aggressive. It consists of the divi-
sions of Latour, Nansouty, and Grouchy. Remove the Dutch horse battery from Mortier, and give it to this Force.
B. Murat's Force deploys behind Mortier's corps.
C. Reduce the radii of the other French corps commanders accordingly.
4. Ru ian Reinforcements
Prior to falling back on Friedland, Bennigsen had detached two divisions to guard against the French forces at
Konigsberg. These included the Prussian corps of General Lestocq, the last Prussian forces still in the field after the dis-
astrous 1806 campaign. It is doubtful whether or not the constricted battlefield would have made these forces useful
to Bennigsen, but if players would like to add to the Russian army, then include these:
A. At the end of Tum 2, and each tum thereafter until this occurs, the allied commander should roll one die. If the
die is equal to or less than the number of the current tum, Lestocq's Force arrives to reinforce Bennigsen. It will
enter from the eastern board-edge (behind the river). Raise the allied army's number of Forces by one and
break-point by two.
Labels for the Friedland Scenario (Cut and paste to unit bases)
Napoleon (Great) Gd: 6-pdr Gd Horse B LC/2 Cuirassiers
VI: Ney (V) 3 /11" Agg Gd: 6-pdr Gd Horse C LC/3 Lambert (Hussars)
VI/l/l Maucune SK2 Gd: 6-pdr Gd Horse D LC/4 Dorochov (Hussars)
VI/l/2 Marcognet SK2 I: Victor 3 / 14" Cautiou LC: 6-pdr Horse A
VI/2/l Roguet (Legere) SK2 1/1/1 Labruyere SK2 LC: 6-pdr Horse B
VI/2/2 Labasse SK2 1/1/2 Barrois SK2 Right: Gortchakov (V) 3
VI/3/l Bardet (Legere) SK2 1/2/1 Pacthod (Legere) SK2 8: Dochturov 4 / 5"
VI/C: Colbert (Chas eurs) 1/2/2 Darricau SK2 8/1 Engelhardt
VI/D/l Perreymond 1/3/1 Frere (Legere) SK2 8/2 Sakomelski (Dragoons)
VI/D/2 Fre ia 1/3/2 Girard SK2 8: 12-pdr Foot A
VI: l2-pdr Foot A I: Beaumont (Hussars) 8: 12-pdr foot B
VI: l2-pdr Foot B I/D/1 Margaron 8: 6-pdr Horse
VI: 4-pdr Horse I/D/2 Laplanche 7: en 4/4"
R: Lannes (V) 1/ 15 I/D/3 Thielemann 7/ 1 Zaposki (Grenadiers)
R/l/l Ruffin SKI I: 4-pdr Horse A 7/2 Line
R/l/2 Conroux SKI I: 4-pdr Horse B 7: l2-pdr foot A
R/l/3 Coehorn SKI I: 4-pdr Horse C 7: 12-pdr foot B
R/2/l Vedel (Legere) SK2 3: Sacken 3/8"
R/2/2 Harispe SK2 Bennigsen (Poor) 3/1 Uschakov
R/3/l SuBmilch Left: Bagratian (V) 2 3/2 Titov
R/3/2 Saxon line AG: Rayevsky (V) 2 / 8 3/3 Netting
R/C/l (Carab & Cuir) AG/1 Jager Brigade SKI 3: l2-pdr foot A
R/C/2 (Cuirassiers) AG/2 Ogarev (Jagers) SKI 3: 12-pdr foot B
R: Saxon 6-pdr Hor e AG/3 Fritsch (Jagers) SKI RC: Uvarov (V) 3 / 3" Agg
VITI: Mortier (V) 3/ 14 Agg AG/4 Cavalry (Hu sars) RC/l Cossacks SK2
VIII/l/l Venux (Legere) SK2 AG: 6-pdr Horse RC/2 Lourkovski (Hussars)
VIII/l/2 Gency SKI S: Markov 3 / 3" R: Constantine (V) 4 / 8"
VIII/2/l Kozinski SKI S/l R/1 Deperadovich
VIII/2/2 Sokolnicki S/2 (with Grenadiers) R/2 Bachoutzki
VIII/C/l Dragoons 6: Lovov 4/4" R/3 Alexseyev
VIII/C/2 Hussars 6/1 Rachmaninov R/4 Gersdorf
VITI: l2-pdr Foot A 6/2 Glouchkov R/S Kollogirov (Gd Cav)
VIll: l2-pdr Foot B 6: l2-pdr foot A R: l2-pdr foot A
VITI: 4-pdr Horse (Dutch) 6: l2-pdr foot B R: l2-pdr foot B
Guard: Be siere (V) 3/ 14" 2: Ostermann 5/4" R: 12-pdr foot C
G/l/l Dorsenne SK2 2/1 Mazovski C: Platov (V) 1 / 8" Agg
C/l Cossacks SK2
G/l/2 Soules SK2 2/2 Sukin
C/2 Cos acks SK2
G/ l/3 Reveval (Fusiliers) SK2 2: 12-pdr foot A
C/ 3 Cossacks SK2
G/2/l Lepic 2: l2-pdr foot B
C/4 Cossacks SK2
G/2/2 Guyot LC: Gallitzin (V) 2 / 9" Agg C: 6-pdr Horse
Gd: 6-pdr Gd Horse A LC/1 Korff (Drag & UbI)
But Wellington cried, "Up Guards, and shoot The Battle Of
straight!"
The Scenario:
The weather is Overcast, and variable. The ground is Soft. The game's Basic Length is 7
turns. All towns are hard cover, and one base each.
Garrisons: The Anglo-Allied army has an Elite 9SP garrison in the "town" of
Hougomont, a Veteran 4SP garrison in La Haye Sainte, and a Conscript 10SP garrison in
Braine l'Alleud.
The French army is "Fair." Its Break Point is 17.
The Anglo-Allied army is "Fair." Its Break Point is 13.
The Prussian army is "Fair." Calculate its Break Point as its component Forces arrive.
Prussian Forces Enter: Napoleon I
At the end of certain turns, the allied player rolls to enter Prussian forces. If the roll is suc- The Duke of Wellington
cessful, those forces will enter in the first pulse of the next tum. Feldmarschall Prince Blucher
End of Tum 1: Roll S2 for Bliicher and the IV Korps
End of Tum 2: Roll S4" "
End of Tum 3: if not already entered, Bliicher enters with IV Korps. Roll S2 for II Korp .
End of Tum 4: Roll S4 for II Korps.
End of Tum 5: if not already entered, II Korps enters.
I Korps enters on the first pul e of the tum after II Korps, whatever that may be.
WaterlOO .
The Battlefield
of Waterloo
" Waterloo
1. Weather
Given the French superiority in artillery, it is likely that hard ground and better visibility would have greatly improved
Napoleon's chances for battering the weak allied left with his grand battery. Change the weather to "Normal" and the
ground to "Hard," with variation or no variation, as you prefer. That means the battle will start earlier, too. Change the
Basic Length to 8 turns, and add one to all turn numbers for arriving Prussian forces. (Tho e scheduled to arrive at the
end of Turn 2 will arrive at the end of Turn 3 instead, etc.)
4. C'est la Trahison!
Historians have long argued over the state of the morale of l'armee du Nord. On one hand, a majority of the men were
volunteers and professional soldiers, since Napoleon had been unable for political reasons to raise conscription in 1815.
That meant that the soldiers were largely veterans. On the other hand, there was still a lot of bitterness left from 1814,
between those who were Bonapartists and those who were simply French patriots. The double-switching of Marshal
Ney and especially the last-minute treason of General Bourmont gave the men good cau e for suspicion of their offi-
cers. To make matters worse, Napoleon deliberately lied to his men at Waterloo, telling them that Grouchy was
approaching, when he knew it was more Prussians. When that mass of soldiery opened fire on the exhausted French,
a rumor spread that Grouchy had switched sides with his whole wing, as Marmont had done in 1814.
A. Change the French army morale to "ShaI--y." The army break-point is 14.
WaterlOO .
Appendix I explains how the game's scales and basing system work, and demonstrates how to convert historical
Orders of Battle (OBs) into Grande Annee units. These are the methods used in designing the scenarios in this book.
This will give you more perspective on why units have the SPs that they do, how things like divisional artillery and
mixed brigades of infantry and cavalry are handled in the scenario design proce ,and how officers are assigned their
ratings.
Appendix II provides an exhau tive list of the major officers of the Napoleonic period, organized by nationality. You
can use this as an encyclopedia of names you might encounter when designing your own battle ,and needing to estab-
lish the ratings for officers. This section also provides a list of exceptional divisional commanders for each army, if you
would like to choose from among those names when deploying a general in the midst of a game.
Appendix ill is a compendium of the unit types for all the Napoleonic combatants, and how those units would be
rated using the Grande Armee system of morale classes and values. Here you will also find the distinctions between
heavy and light cavalry explained, and a note for each army on what types of artillery it would field under which cir-
cumstances.
Finally you will find the Eclaireur (the 'scout'). This is a handy quick-reference section of condensed rules and all the
major tables needed for play. I recommend that you photocopy the Eclaireur and keep it nearby as you play. In nine-
ty percent of the ca es you will not need to open the rulebook during a game; the Eclaireur should provide the answers.
Appendix I: Design-Your-Own
No matter what scale we choose to represent a battle in 1 . 0 Th e Units and the Scale
miniature, certain abstractions and simplifications are Grande Armee is a "brigade game," meaning that the
inevitable. Many games prefer to fudge historical OBs until units of infantry and cavalry we place on the table rep-
they resemble the game. Battalions become standardized to resent brigades. There is no figure-scale, since a single
equal numbers of figures, in increments conveniently divisi- ba e of figures on the table represents a variable num-
ble by the game's figure-per-base ratio. (Ever notice how ber of men. The ground scale of the game is essential-
French battalions always seem to have either 9 or 12 figures, ly 1:100. One inch oftabletop surface equals 100 yards
no matter how many men were actually in them?) Rather of ground.
than do that, Grande Armee uses actual historical OBs, then The choice of a 3" square base was not simply
applies the term "brigade" as a generic multi-battalion or drawn from a hat, nor was it elected because other
multi-squadron entity. popular games have used it. In fact, it represents the
Grande Armee is designed for those players who want frontage (at our ground scale) occupied by two full-
to fight the major, decisive battles of the Napoleonic wars. strength infantry battalions in three-rank lines. In
Consequently the brigade is our basic tabletop unit_ What we other words, three inches is the fighting edge of an
are really doing is cobbling together the battalions that would infantry brigade, and the depth represents the second
be operating together in some kind of cohesion, and calling line of units in that brigade, whether in line or column.
that a "unit," entirely for game purposes. You must imagine (In an attack posture, the battalions in column would
that a stand of infantry represents several battalions operat- often be formed in a checkerboard style, leaving
ing together, plus the empty spaces between them. The same enough room b tween them to form out into line.)
is true for cavalry: a stand represents several squadrons. Either way, for attack or defense, we have a roughly
And what about the fact that these units represent sub- squari h shape: the "area" of a brigade, even though
units of different strengths, abilities, and even functions? We much of it is empty space.
do our best to average. In a Prussian unit, for inStance, where Three inches also represents the frontage occupied
the grenadier companies of all the regiments have been by two full-strength cavalry squadrons deployed in
pulled out to form a massed grenadier brigade somewhere lines of battle. The other squadrons would be at least
else, we might rate that unit a notch lower than we would if 60 yards behind the first rank, and subsequent
those grenadiers were left in. In the end, it's entirely up to squadrons would be in re erve. The British, for
the players themselves; they get to play game designer. instance, preferred a reserve about 200 yards behind
Appendix III will provide you with the statistics for the vari- the second rank. The Prussians had a number of vari-
ous unit-types of each army. It will be your job to decide ations, but again a three-wave pattern was standard.
how to apply them. Does a cavalry brigade comprise The Ru sians tended to prefer a more linear formation
Hussars, Chasseurs, and Dragoons, all mixed together? Ask with a greater frontage, but this also meant that they
yourself which unit type was most numerous in that unit, and needed more space between the squadrons, in order to
if no clear majority appears, use your own judgment. allow for wheeling of the squadrons. (Deploying a sin-
Unlike most games that try to depict process, Grande gle squadron from column into line required 400 feet
Armee asks you to concentrate on outcomes. What would of open field!) So a cavalry stand, like infantry, repre-
be the effectiveness of this brigade, overall? That's your bot- sents several tightly packed groups of men, separated
tom-line when designing units for your own scenarios. by the open spaces they would need to change forma-
As with any brigade-level game, one must imagine that tions and facings.
a unit represents any number of possible configurations of
battalions. Perhaps it is something like the French ordre 2.0 Morale Classes and Scale
mixte, with a linear center, flanking columns, skirmishers out Grande Armee uses a simple method to depict the
front, and reserves in the rear. Perhaps it ls more like the relationship between numerical strength and morale.
Russian double line, with grenadiers stiffening the regular Each morale level uses a different scale. If designing a
Infantry. In any event, we assume that the brigade com- scenario from scratch, players will have to calculate
mander on the scene will be making the decisions about the these things themselves. They should adhere to the fol-
formations his battalions will adopt. If he is charged by cav- lowing system of six morale c1as es:
alry, we hope he will form square. It is not the province of
the commander of the army to order each battalion and
squadron, or even whole regiments, to change formation at
every change of circumStance. Like any army commander,
we depend upon the competence of our subordinates.
Appendix I: Design-Your-own _
teamsters, etc, could stretch back 200 yards to the The Russians deployed very large batteries, with anywhere
rear. from 50100% more cannon than other nations, but
In Grande Annee, we do not actually represent Grande Annee does not renect this, other than to broaden
with miniatures all the batteries that would have been the frontage of Russian batteries. The Russian guns were
in action on a battlefield. First, our scale is too large to sound, horses were plentiful, and the men were brave, but
show the small sections of "regimental" or "battalion" there were many problems which made a Russian battery less
guns that were often attached to infantry units. Their effective than its smaller British or French counterparts. Poor
firepower is assumed to be part of the infantry units ofncer training resulted in atrocious tactical mistakes in the
themselves. And second, we don't (directly) show the early years. Russian generals, who almost never came from
the artillery, didn't appreciate their gunners. (By contrast,
regular foot batteries that were attached to most
the French had many old artillerists in the highest ranks, such
infantry divisions or brigades. What, then, do we as Eblt!, lauriston, Drouot, Mannont, and of course
depict using miniatures? We depict the heavy (usually, Napoleon himself.) Other nations devoted more manpower
but not always 12-pounder) batteries which were to artillery than did the Russians. A Russian foot battery of
assigned to corps or army reserves, and the lighter 12 guns was served by 82 gunners. A French 8-gun battery,
(usually 3-6 pounder) batteries of horse artillery. by contrast, was served by 86 gunners. That's four more
men per gun in the French unit: a lot more hands for mov-
ing, aiming, and serving the piece. The most serious prob-
3. 1 Artillery Strength and Type lems seem to have been bad powder and fuses. Depending
Because of the small size of artillery units, we do not upon the campaign, as many as a third of Russian fuses and
apply a scale based on morale, as we do for infantry howitzer shells might be duds. And there was less of it to
and cavalry. The quality of artillerists was more often spare - Russian caissons carried 25% less ammunition per
differentiated by their training and tactical doctrine, as gun than did the French.
well as their equipment, rather than by their morale.
Gunners tended to be a brave lot, regardless of nation-
ality. 4.0 Rating the Officers
The most important thing to remember about the rat-
ings of officers in Grande Armee is that we rate the
3.2 Factoring Divisional Artillery officer's abilitiesfor that particular day of battle. Like
We don't deploy guns on the table to show individual
all commanders, Napoleon had his off-days. He wasn't
light and medium companies of artillery that are
always "Great." If we were recreating the battle of
attached to infantry units, but we do "factor" them into
Borodino, for instance, we would have to rate him as
the strength of infantry units. This is important,
"Average," since he was sick that day and decidedly
because not all divisions had the same level of artillery
unimaginative in his thinking. If we were playing
support, and thus firepower.
Waterloo, we might even have to rate him as "Poor,"
When looking at an historical order of battle and
since not only was he ill and uninspired for that whole
creating units for the game, note how much artillery
week, but his staff system wa barely functional. A sub-
was assigned to a particular infantry division. Usually
commander who might merit the (V) bonus in one bat-
it was one battery, but sometimes more, and some-
tle might not in another. Use your own judgment,
times none at all. However many batteries were
based on what you know of the battle you're recreating.
attached to that division, multiply that number of bat-
teries by two. This is the number of extra SPs that we 4.1 Rating the Commander
will factor in to all brigades in that division. Distribute The army commander is rated for his own skills, which
these SPs as equally as you can among the brigades of include the efficiency of his staff. The commander's
that division. Skill can be one of four ratings which express his intu-
ition and quickness of mind on the particular day of
Example: an infantry division has three infantry battle we are depicting:
brigades and one battery of artillery (2SPS). Two
brigades will each get a 1SP bonus, and the third is Great A rare, brilliant man at the peak of his
out of luck. (Choose randomly, if you like.) powers.
Good A sharp and highly competent general.
Another example: a division has three infantry Average A competent but unremarkable per-
brigades, and two batteries (4SPs) of attached formance.
artillery. Give each brigade 1SP, then randomly select Poor A general who is having trouble con-
one brigade to get thefourth. trolling his forces and staying on top of
events.
Appendix I: Design-Your-own
On the right is a sample segment of an historical 1/1/1 Soulier Trained ,sp, SK2
order of battle. This shows a French infantry division 1/1/2 Cas san Veteran SSP, SK2 MX
from the 1813 campaign in Spain. In Grande Armee it
is two units. Let's review how to create those units:
Appendix II: Officers
E.xceptional Au man Divi ion General Exceptional Briti h Divi ion Generals
eipperg Cole
Hofer Cotton
ordmann Craufurd
Simonyi Hope
Wacquandt LeMarchant
Weissenwolf Lumley
Pack
Paget
Picton
Appendix II: Officers _
These men were part of the Nizami Jedid, and thus wouldn't be
in play after 1807.
2 The only man who could handle the Janissarics by 1807 -
commander of the Danube front for several years.
3 This man was a Grand Vizier (Prime Minister, essentially) of
the Empire.
4 (Ali Pasha of Janina). A fascinating man; the best Ottoman
commander of the era, but flagrantly disloyal to the govern-
ment.
5 Also known as the Qadi 'Abd-ar-Rahman. A "Qadi" was techni-
cally a judge. lie owed his command to court prestige, but the
judge turned out to be a decent general.
6 Bonaparte's wily opponent in the Levant campaign of 1798-<}9.
Bavaria Sweden
Officer Army Force Note Officer Arm y Force Notes
Crown Prince Ludwig 3/ 1 Adlercreutz Good 2/1.5 Aggre ive
Raglovich 4/ 1 Cautious Bemadotte (as Prince) Poor
Wrede Average 4/ 1 V K1ercker Average 3/1 Cautious
K1ingspor Average 3/ 1 Cautious
Exceptional Bavarian Divi ion General Stedingk 3/ 1 Cautious
DeRoy
Exceptional Swedish Division General
von Dobeln
Dutch-Belgians
Officer Army Force Note
Prince of Orange Average 2/1 Wurttem b erg
Exceptional Dutch-Belgian Division General Officer Army Force Not
Chas e Crown Prince Poor 3/ 1
Perponcher
Italians
Officer Army Force Notes
Fontanelli 3/ 1 V
Lecchi 3/1 V
Omano 2/1 V, Aggressive
Appendix III: Unit Ratings
Artillery:
Briti hand KGL foot batteries could field 6-pdr or 9-pdr
guns, depending on whether they were "light" or "heavy." The
9-pdrs were, of course, rarer, though they were excellent
guns; nearly as powerful as a French 12-pdr. Horse batteries
nearly alway used 6-pdrs, although occasionally might be
found with 9-pdrs. The British-trained Portuguese artillery
also u ed 6-pdrs almost exclusively, as did Dutch-Belgian,
Brunswick, and Hanoverian artillery companies.
e Appendix Ill: Unit Ratings
Artillery:
Corps reserve artillery units will almo t always be 12-pdr foot
batteries, although some 8-pdrs (the "medium" artillery of
the early Empire, used for divisional batteries) served as
corp reserve batteries in Spain.
Horse batteries in the early war period were usually 4-
pdrs, with orne captured Austrian 3-pdrs mixed in. By 1810
most horse batteries had standardized with 6-pdr batteries,
although the lighter guns remained in ervice in Spain.
Appendix III: Unit Ratings e
Forgotten Army I: The Ottoman Turks Prussia
The uTerrible Turk" was past his plime when a young General
Bonaparte landed In Egypt in 1798. As the 18th century closed, the
Infan try, pre-1812 Morale SK
empire surrered an elghteenyear period or terrible weather and crop
Guard Elite o
railures. This heightened tensions as the state was wracked with Inter
Grenadiers Elite o
J agers Elite
nal connlct and reeional revolts. The essentially reudal nature or the
Fu iliers Trained
empire's regions Invited this problem, and lert the government In
Mu keteers Trained
Istanbul weak and poor. By the Napoleonic era, the new 28year-old
Sultan, Sellm III, was committed to rerorm.
When brigaded, Musketeers were usually given several
There are many myths about the Ottomans In this peliod. For
companies of rifle-armed schiitzen (literally: "marksmen") as -
example, many people think that the Turks rought as a "horde," and
skirmishers. Depending upon the number of them present,
that Selim was trying to Instill Europeanstyle training In order to
improve the firepower and discipline or his troops. In ract, the
SK could be either 0 or 1.
Turkish method or war was completely dirrerent rrom that or the
Europeans (which makes it very hard to assign game morale-ratings.)
Infantry, 1812+ Morale SK
Guards Guard 2
Where the Europeans prized lock-step discipline and order, the Turks
Grenadiers Elite
prererred soldiers to act as individuals. The Turks retained their older
Jagers Veteran 2
slower-filing muskets not because the empire was decrepit and back:
First 12 Line Regiments Veteran 2
wards, but because these weapons were more accurate, and Ottoman
Reserve Regiments Trained
soldiers always aimed their shots Individually, rather than filing in
Landwehr Regiments varies lor 0
unalmed volleys, like Europeans. The Turks did not use bayonets
because they believed that they discouraged a man rrom learning to
Some Landwehr regiments were quite good. The Silesian
fight as an Individual with a proper handto-hand weapon like a sword
landwehr, and those units which by late 1813 had become
or an axe. Small wonder they were excellent skirmishers.
experienced, would be rated - [rained." The other Landwehr
Why then did Selim raise the Nizaml Jedld, his uNew Army,"
of the 1813-14 period, and much of the 1815 Landwehr would
even when he had to levy an unpopular new sales tax to pay ror It?
be "Conscripts." The hastily-raised home militia units, and
He wanted a rorce directly answerable to him, and the Janlssalies no
the 1815 Landwehr from Saxony or the Rhineland areas (such
longer fit the bill. By this point In their long history, the Janlssalies
as Westphalia) would be "Raw." If a Landwehr unit has any
were no lon&er an elite, and no longer very obedient to the monarch.
Jagers attached, give it a SKI rating. If not, then SKo.
Each Janissary reefment had evolved Its own traditions, Its own
recruitment system, and Its own sense or how and when to make war.
Cavalry, pre-1812 Morale CavType
Sellm wanted an army he could use twelve months out or the year.
Uhlans ("Towarczys") Veteran Light
(Another popular myth Is the notion that the Nlzaml Jedld perished
Cuirassiers Elite Heavy
when Sellm was assassinated In 1807; In ract most or It was sarely out
Guard Cavalry Guard Heavy
or the capital, In the field armies, and continued service through the
next two Sultanates.) The Nlzaml Jedld was uEuropean style" In the
Cavalry, 1812+ Morale CavType
sense that It was recruited by conscription and directly served the
Landwehr Cavalry Con cripts Light
central iOvernment (and had taken some dlill elements trom the
Uhlans Veterans Light
Russian system), but It was still undeniably an Ottoman rorce.
Dragoons Trained Light
War&ame traditions would have you field an Ottoman army as
Hussars Elite Light
a hu&e body or cavalry, a horde or irregular Inrantry, and a small core
Cuirassiers Elite Heavy
or uregulars." This, too, Is mostly fiction and misunderstanding. The
Ottoman cavalry was In Sleep decline by this time, and Ottoman
armies were mostly on root. The regular cavalry "Slpahls" rarely lOOk
In 1813-15 there was at least one Guard unit oj each oj the
the field with more than 3,000 men, and like the Irregular horsemen
above cavalry types, except Landwehr cavalry. For Guard
who supplemented them, their Job was mainly reconnaissance.
units oj that type, increase the morale by one level; Guard
Ottoman cavalry was not really up to the task or charefn& European
Uhlans would become Elite, Jor example. Consider the
inrantry. Selim made a &reat error! to Increase the sIze and errective-
"Garde du Corps" to be Guard Cuirassiers.
ness or the Suvalileli heavy cavalry, and although It theoretically
Artillery:
numbered nearly 30,000 men, It never fielded more than 10,000.
Prussian heavy ("reserve") batteries consi ted of 12-pdrs,
Only In Mameluke Egypt was there a great host or battie-cavalry.
while the "line" batteries and horse batteries used 6-pdrs.
For all this, the Turks could still be rormldable. They were orten
After 1807 the Prussian artillery was always desperately
reckless and brave, &ood at sle&ecrart, and &enerally adept at dlg&in&-
under-equipped, and used whatever it could get, but they
In. They lost more orten than they won against the Russians and
were the only nation to mass howitzers into concentrated bat-
Austrians, but we orten ror&et that by this time the Ottomans were
teries, in addition to a igning a section of howitzers to each
broke, were fighting two powerful European empires and racing Asian
"normal" battery, the way most nations did. See M3.0 for the
enemies trom Persia to North Arrlca, as well. In 1812 the Turks
made peace with Russia, light as Napoleon crossed the Nlemen.
rules for Prussian howitzer batteries. At least two massed
howitzer batteries are known to have seen action.
e Appendix III: Unit Ratings
Russia Sweden
Infantry Morale SK Infantry Morale SK
Foot Guards Elite
Guard Grenadiers (pre-1812) Elite 0
Grenadiers Veteran
Guard Jagers (pre-1812) Elite
Jligers Trained
Guard units (1812+) Guard 1
Other infantry regiments Trained or Con cript
Grenadiers Elite 0
Fu i1iers (pre-1812) Veteran 0
Musketeers (pre-1812) Trained 0
Cavalry Morale CavType
Line infantry (1812+) Veteran or Trained 1
Life Guards Elite lIeavy
Jagers (pre-1812) Veteran 0
Cuira iers, Carabiniers Veteran lleavy
Jagers (1812+) Veteran
lIu ars Trained Light
Opolochenie Raw
Dragoon , Mounted Jager Conscript Light
Cavalry Morale CavType
Dragoons Veteran Light
Uhlans Veteran Light Forgotten Anny II: The Swedes
Hu ars Elite Light A century before Napoleon, the Swedes were one of the major pow
Chasseurs (from 1813+) Veteran Light ers - If not che malor power - of northern Europe. Defeat aeainst
Cuira iers Elite Heavy RussIa was followed by a century of atrophy In political and military
Guard Cuirassiers, Horse Guards Guard Heavy spheres. A Finnish revolt In 1788 led to another RussIan war, In
Guard Uhlans, lIus ars, Dragoon Guard Light whIch the Swedish military and government were singing different
Cossacks Raw Light (SK2) runes. Distrust erew and morale arnong the officers fell. There were
open conspiracies and talk of revolt by the eenerals. 8y the time of
Artillery: the French revolution, Sweden was clinging to a few Baltic harbors
Throughout this period the Russian artillery retained the 12 like Stettln and Stralsund, and trying to avoid tangiing with the big
gun (4 of which were their unique "unicorn" howitzers) powers. In 1808, however, another war with Russia began, and
organization. Guard batteries might be smaller, with propor- Sweden lost all of Finland. By this time the Swedish royal family had
tionately more howitzers. Ilorse batteries consisted of 6-pdrs. run out of sane male heirs and Sweden's nobility and eenerals were
Foot batteries were designated "light" (6-pdrs), or "heavy" scouting for a crown prince. They selected Marshal 8ernadone,
(12-pdrs.) Napoleon's old friend who had become persona non gnu in the
Grande Amree. GIven the inability of the king, 8ernadone as Crown
Prince became the effective ruler of the country by 18 10.
8ernadotte has not fared well with historians. He was a rather
Spain lacy commander and a fairly unpleasant and seifaggrandizing person,
even by the standards of the French Marshalate. Nonetheless, from
Infantry Moral e SK the moment he took the throne, he was bent on improving Sweden's
Guards Veteran 1 place in the world. He buried the hatchet with Russia, cut a deal with
Grenadiers Veteran o the British, and prepared to loin the allies. His real aim was to attack
Light infantry Conscript 1 Napoleon's ally, Denmark, and thus reeain for Sweden the dominant
Line regiments Raw or Con cript 1 roie in Scandinavia.
Foreign regiments Trained o There Is no aereement on the quality of the Swedish anny duro
British-trained line, 1812+ Trained ing the NapoleoniC wars. Bernadone kept them out of action most of
Militia units Raw the time, using instead the Prussians and Russi ns under his command
in the allied "Anny of the North." this might have meant that the
Cavalry Morale CavType Swedes were unreliable troops, or it might have meant that he was
Guard Cavalry Veteran Light simply being careful with their lives. Swedish cavalry, apparently, was
lIu ars, Lancers, Dragoons Conscripts Light in poor shape, Sweden having few good horses. A British liaison offi
Militia Cavalry Raw Light cer In 1813 commented that the Swedish Guards looked solid
enough, but that the line infantry was poorly equipped and "neither
Artillery: the old troops nor new levies were steady under anns." Swedish
There was really no Spanish artillery "corps." Lacking a cen- artillery was antiquated and heavy: uthe carriages and everything
tral administration during the war (due, among other things, relating to equipment were very far behind those of the present day,
to French occupation of 7596 of the country), there could be and those in other annies. "
no standardization. Batteries varied widely in size and com- After the victory at Leipzig, in which the Swedes played a very
position. Later, British-trained and equipped units would minor part, 8ernadotte tumed his anendon to northern Europe, con-
have British-made 6-pdrs. Shortages of horses meant that quering Norway and solidifying his dynasty, which stili holds the
Spanish guns were often pulled into battle by mules, oxen, or Swedish throne to this day.
cattle. Good luck!
Appendix III: Unit Ratings e
The Minor States Denmark
This section tries to give a general - certainly not com- Infantry Morale
prehensive - index of the infantry and cavalry types Guards Elite
Leib regiments,
fielded in large numbers by the minor states in the
light troop and other "elites n Veteran
Napoleonic Wars. You might not see your favorite unit Line infantry, pre-1813 Trained
in this list (Hey! Where's the Westphalian Guard Jager Line infantry, 1813+ Con cript
Dragoon Rifle Tirailleur-Voltigeur Grenadier
Company?!) When creating your own scenarios, just
use common sense and keep the big picture in mind. Cavalry Morale Ca v Type
For artillery of the minor states, pay attention to the Light Dragoons and Dragoon Conscript Light
size of the guns, and whether they were foot or horse. lIu ars Veteran Light
Heavy cavalry Trained Ileavy
Portugal Westphalia
Infantry Morale SK Infantry Morale SK
All regiments before 1808 Con cript 0 Guard Grenadiers Elite 1
Line battalions, 1808-11 Trained Guard light infantry Veteran 2
Line battalions, 1812+ Veteran 1 All other line infantry Con cript
Cazadores, 1808-11 Trained 2 Other light infantry Trained 2
Cazadores, 1812+ Veteran 2
Ordenanza (Militia) Raw 2 Cavalry Morale Cav Type
Hussars, pre-1812 Con cript Light
Cavalry Morale Cav Type Cheveaux-Iegers, pre-1813 Trained Light
All Cavalry Trained Light Hussars and Chevauxlegers, 1812+ Trained Light
Heavy cavalry, pre-1813 Elite Heavy
Heavy cavalry, 1813+ Veteran Heavy
Saxony
Note that these ratings cover the pre-1807 Saxons allied to
Prussia, the 1808-13 Saxons allied to France, and then the
1813-14 Saxon "legions" which joined the allied war effort Wiirttemberg
after Leipzig. For the 1815 Saxons and Saxon duchies
absorbed into the Prussian service altogether, see the section Infantry Morale SK
on Prussia. Leib Guard Elite 2
Light infantry and Jagers Elite 2
Infantry Morale SK Line regiments, through 1813 Veteran
Guard Grenadiers Veteran Infantry in allied service, 1813-14 Trained
Light infantry Trained
Line regiments, pre-1808 Trained
Line regiments, 1808-13 Conscript Cavalry Morale CavType
Infantry in allied service, 1813-14 Conscript All cavalry, through 1812 Veteran Light
All cavalry, 1813+ Trained Light
Slow Inbntry: Austria, Prussia before ISII, Russia, Spain, Portugal before IS09, German minor states before IS09.
Fm Inbntty: France, Britain (and British minor allies), Ottomans, Prussia after lSI I, and all others not yet mentioned.
Oblique:
Up to 45 degrees, forward only, free. Infantry may move to
H12.3 1: Artillery Escape
contact.
Attacker
Defender Infantry Hvy Cav. LtCav.
Ft. Artillery 3 2
HI2.23 Cavalry Evades Hs. Artillery 2
4 3
Each side rolls one die, with defender's roll modified: Modifiers to Die Roll:
-1 if defender is heavy and attacker is light. +1 in Mud, Snow, or Rain
+1 if defender i light cavalry and attacker is heavy. +1 Artillery in rough terrain
+ 2 if defender is Cossack, against any attacker -1 Artillery behind an obstacle ( uch as a wall or ditch)
(It is possible, with enough modifiers in certain circum-
If the Attacker's roll is greater, then the defending cavalry
stances, to be unable to escape.)
loses ISP, and a combat will be fought here.
If the Defender's roll i less than or equal to the attack-
er's, then the defending cavalry Evades: roll for its move-
ment allowance, as normal, and then moves half that num- HI7.1 Units Outside the Radius of
ber of inches as directly away from the attacker as possible. their Sub-Commander
* May not Skirmish attack
* May not fire (if artillery), except "Final Shot"
H14.0 The 6" Rule * Lo e one pip on combat dice
* May not recover lost SPs
Once within 6" of the enemy, a unit may only * Mu t attempt to move back in.
move directly towards or away from the clo est
enemy unit.
If starting a move within 6" and rolling for move-
ment, a roll of "1" means that the unit will not J5.0 Officer Casualty
close with the enemy. A roll of "6" means that it * Within 1" of a unit that was successfully SK-
must try to attack the nearest enemy to its front. attacked.
* When he used his (V) to influence a combat.
* When an enemy unit moves through him.
* When within 1" of a unit that Breaks.
G6.o "Attached" Officers
Roll two dice. A normal officer has fallen on a roll of
(An officer may do one of each of these per pulse)
11+ (an officer with the (V)alor bonus falls on a roll
of 10+.) If the officer has fallen, roll another d6:
* Re-roll a movement die for a unit within 3"
* Re-roll a terrain table die for a unit within 3" 1-2 Lightly Wounded
* If he has a (V)alor bonus, he may give a Bonus 3-4 Badly Wounded
die to one friendly unit in combat. (This exposes 5-6 Killed in Action
him to an officer casualty check (J5.0)).
_ Eclaireur: Grande Armee at a Glance
14.0 Procedure for Combat
" Square up attacker's base.
" No more than one attacker per defender's base side. No more 14.4 Saving Throws in Combat
than two attackers, total.
1 Infantry or artillery on higher elevation
" Bonus die for a MX brigade (14.2), or for a (V) officer.
2 Cavalry saving vs. infantry in the rain
" Both sides roll dice, trying to score Hits.
2 Heavy cavalry saving vs. hits scored by
" Infantry and cavalry normally hit on 4-6. Artillery hit only on 6.
light cavalry
Subtract one pip from each die for:
2 Protected by Soft Cover.
-1 Vulnerable
4 Protected by Hard Cover.
-1 Flanked
-1 vs. Combined Arms
-1 Outside radius of sub-commander Save Number i never greater than 5.
-1 Infantry attacking cavalry
CP CP CP CP CP CP CP CP Inactive Inactive
CP CP CP CP CP CP CP CP Inactive Inactive
CP CP CP CP CP CP CP CP Inactive Inactive
CP CP CP CP CP CP CP CP Inactive Inactive
CP CP CP CP CP CP CP CP Inactive Inactive
CP CP CP CP CP CP CP CP Adjust Adjust
CP CP CP CP CP CP CP CP Adjust Adjust
CP CP CP CP CP CP CP CP Adjust Adjust
CP CP CP CP CP CP CP CP Adjust Adjust
CP CP CP CP CP CP CP CP Attack! Attack!
CP CP CP CP CP CP CP CP Attack! Attack!
CP CP CP CP CP CP CP CP Attack! Attack!
CP CP CP CP CP CP CP CP Attack! Attack!
CP CP CP CP CP CP CP CP
CP CP CP CP CP CP CP CP
CP CP CP CP CP CP CP CP
If you want to know Dlore
about the Napoleonic Wars-
Contact the experts!
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Grande AM1lee Charts and Tables
Each Turn: Weather Visibility
A. Weathe r Variation (skip this on thejirst turn) Sunny 24"
B. Comma nd Phase Normal 20"
1. Any lightly wounded officers might return to their duties Ove rcast 16"
2. Both players roll for command points (CPs) Precipita ting 12"
3. Roll to determine initiative for the first pulse
c. Pulses:
1. Simultaneou kirmishing
2. Simultaneous artillery fire
3. First Side Phasing
a) Control Segment: I ue command and/or take control te ts Force Status
b) Movement Segment: Move units
c) Combat Segment: Resolve combats
Roll Status
s6 Inactive Modifier
4. Second Side Phasing: repeat segments a-b-c, as above. +3 Aggressive
5. Remove suppression from artillery units 7-9 Adjust -1 Visible enemies
6. Roll initiative for next pul e, return to C. Or, if turn ends, go to D. 10+ Attack! only cav & arty.
D. imultaneou Rally Segme nt: -2 Cautious
1. Attempt to recover 10 t SPs
2. Attempt to rally broken units
Anothe r Turn?
Command Table
The Terrain Table
Cost of
Type Rough Obstacle
Infantry 2-3 1-2 Great 40 45 50 55 6.0 65 70
Cavalry 3-4 2-3 Good 30 35 40 45 50 55 6.0
Artillery 3-4 3-4 Average 30 30 35 35 40 45 50
Officers 1-2 1-2 Poor 30 30 30 35 35 40 45
Grande Armee is a registered trademark for the game of the great battles of the Napoleonic Wars in miniature. Copyright 2002. all Rights Reserved.
Grande AMltee Charts and Tables
Cavalry Evades Artillery Escape
Each side rolls one die, with defender's roll modified: Attacker
-1 if defender is heavy and attacker is light. Defender Infantry HvyCav. LtCav.
+1 if defender is light cavalry and attacker is heavy. Ft. Artillery 3 2 1
+2 if defender i Co ack, against any attacker Hs. Artillery 4 3 2
Modifiers to Die Roll:
+ 1 in Mud, Snow, or Rain
Grande Annee is a registered trademark for the game of the great battles of the Napoleonic Wars In miniature. Copyright 2002. all Rights Reserved .
ARTIZAN DESIG S by Mike Owen
WWII (North Africa, Normandy Range with Crusader)
R
WWI, English Civil War, Celts, American Civil War, Fanta y
150,ool