New Leipzig PBEM AAR

[milrevko]

Turn 22:


As the armies come closer to each other in the south I will give a full tactical break down of all unit positions:

Above is the main line or resistance, the allies can look at it all the want there is no weakness.
That is why the Allies cav is pushing hard to my left flank but every step they take to that flank is a step they take away from the main army and they inhibit there ability to support the infantry.

[milrevko]

The French Army and Details as of turn 27

(No real contact has been made except for cav action of which I will post the screen shots and comments)

All the Blue dots are French
All the Black dots are Prussian
All The Brown dots are Austrian
All The Green dots are Russian

[BigDuke66]

The reason that the results were "UN historical" is because: (In the North)
1) The Isolation and Destruction in total of the French IV Corps
2) Which lead the French III Cav corps to try to rescue the doomed IV Corps and was in turn destroyed.
3) This lead to the French XII Corps Total isolation and Destruction
4) That meant the French VII Corps could not make it across the river in time and it was also
totally destroyed
5) The above was even before the main battle in the south

This about 60,000 casualties of French for about 6,000 allied. This is not a "rules" option but a poor choice of corps placement to say the least.

I would have been able to make this happen with any combination of optional rules because I isolated,disrupted then "routed and Isolated" every unit there was, then I over ran them....

So, I apologize if I seem harsh but when a person see's something they do not understand and then attribute the cause to non attributable factors I am prompted to make them read the facts again.

Multi-melee is only used against skirmishers and in the last game the French did not make use of skirmishers and I did.

In some ways the column pass through could benefit the allies but it does also hurt them.

In earnest I would say the excessive casualties were caused buy the French attempting to operate corps in a semi-independent manor with out cavalry support where as I used INF corps integrated with CAV and ARTY to pin then Isolate the destroy the bad guys...

It seems that you were and still are far superior to you opponent at least on a strategical level, seems he has problems like a some French Corps commanders that were placed in charge of a whole army.
Out of curiosity, how are the optional rules set in this game?

[milrevko]

I am a patient methodical player, I do not attack just kill something. I attack as part of a larger operational objective and retreat if that objective will not be met. I know what happens when a unit is isolated and I try to make sure that have I retreat routes.

[BigDuke66]

Not much different from my settings.
I have the Optional Melee and Fire Results ON, gives a bit more certainty what outcomes are to expect but uncertainty can make the gameplay more interesting has you have to expect a wider range of results.
I have "Limited Routing" OFF to force the players to care more about their units and especially the way they position them on the map.
And "No Retreat Overruns" is also OFF, it would help to prevent skirmishers from be used unhistorical for example to sack a whole battalion or even stack just by blocking retreat with a handful of skirmishers.
I have "Multiple Infantry Melees" OFF but with your house rules it makes sense to turn it On.

[milrevko]

We have a gentlemen's agreement not to use skirmishers to block retreat routs

As I have mentioned skirmishers are the games biggest fail and if they are used all of the house rules are used to keep skirmishers in line.

Rout limiting when used means that units that are adjacent to a unit when it routs must make a moral check. As the checks go down the line each successive unit that is further away from the unit that routs checks with a slight higher chance of not routing. I do not see how it effects unit placement.

[BigDuke66]

Well for example by forcing to spread attack/defense formations so they don't interfere with each other.
Within brigades the battalions sometimes left a lot space between them, with this rule the same can be achieved so you won't have a compact formation advancing or defending but the player will spread out formations making multiple lines, look here for example:

[milrevko]

Well for example by forcing to spread attack/defense formations so they don't interfere with each other.
Within brigades the battalions sometimes left a lot space between them, with this rule the same can be achieved so you won't have a compact formation advancing or defending but the player will spread out formations making multiple lines, look here for example:

Very cool, thank you for the post, were did you get it? (napoleonistyka.atspace.com?)

Having retreat routes and keeping distance for units to rout without disrupting other units is absolutely critical.

There is a "moral" benefit to having units on your flanks, a "D" moral unit with a unit on either flank becomes a "C" moral unit, it really makes a difference to try to support the flanks at a tactical level(not really a big secret)

I think that "Disruption" is the devil and will do everything to keep my units undisrupted and disrupt the enemy.

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Turn 28:

I was planning to start the Totaler Kreig at 1:00 but by my estimates the enemy on the southern front was beginning to coalesce into a stronger front and I wanted to hit them before the lines had congealed


The above show the Advance of:
II Corps
VI Corps
Young Guard Corps
Old Guard Corps
III Corps (behind the lines and on the left flank)
I Cav Corps
II Cav Corps
Guard Cav Corps
Kellermans Cav Wing

All this will hit the Austrian III Corps, Reserve Corps, Cav Corps and the Russian army

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Turn 29:

Details of the attack in the south on the right flank: (vs. the Russians)
Details of the attack against the Austrians:

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T30:

The Allies in the south do something totally unexpected, they attack with everything and manage to get everything they attack with disrupted and isolated.

I could not have asked for a better result. This is a real case of when not to attack...the black circles show the units that are isolated

[milrevko]

Turn 31:

The Retreat in the north is going smoothly, he is chasing 1,000 light cav around the map while 60,000 (estimated) escape across the river after which I will blow the bridges.

This shot gives a zoom out of the general advance of the French Army in the south:

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T33:

May we have a moment of silence Czar Nicolas is dead, long live the French ARTY!

Some how the Allies are attacking with everything and because they are outnumbered and outflanked it is not going well for them. Keep an eye on the casualty levels as the isolated units fold the Austrian and Russian casualties will sky rocket


General developments on the southern front:

[milrevko]

T34:

I was able to capture the leader of the Austrian Army and the leader of the Russian Army on the same turn. I would have never thought it possible and I will likely never see it again.



The big picture:


Not all of the below that is being described is in line of sight so they do not show on the map:

On the bottom left half of the map is the Prussian I corps and the Austrian I corps, they are not killing French or in position to help the main army.
In the bottom center of the map is the Austrian II corps (between the rivers) it can not support the main army.

To the bottom center right of the map is the Austrian and russian armies that are now being fully engaged by the French armies

On the extreme right of the map is a Russian INF corps, it is not in position to save or support the main army and can only watch as it's compadres get destroyed.

I think the lesson is to try to keep your guys together and in supporting distance of each other

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T35:

The wages of Isolation:


The following is shot of how the French II Corps is keep together and withing command range:


The following is a shot of how the french VI Corps is not keep together and is not in command range:
(looks like I got a little to excited in my exploration of my breakthrough)


The Allies have continued to attack and attack and attack, they have probably lost 80% of the melee's they have initiated and continue to get isolated. Losing a melee is really bad, high fagigue make units worthless and a danger to other units. He made brief mention of trying to cause high French casualties and not having anywhere to back up to. It does not make much sense to me. On the right side of the map he made an excellent withdrawal with his cav corps but in the main area he has not retreated even one hex. But, where it really counts he failed. If he had even backed up 10 hexes he would have avoided 50% of his losses, 20,000 men.

It is a case of something? I do not even have words to describe what is happening.

And, yes I get a little to preachy!