The Hundred Minutes Campaign

A misnomer, as it took a whole lot more than 100 minutes just to prepare, but this is, as the title might lead you to guess, a cut down, laid back, bathtub in a shoebox version of the Hundred Days' Campaign. On one table. The whole thing. There was even a 'Battle of Quatre Bras' and  'Battle of Waterloo'. But there were a fair few other combats besides. This was another indulgence of an idea that has been with me now for several years.  

   

French Army about to launch itself across the Sambre and 
into Belgium

Actually - not quite the whole thing. My table map (see below) was a cropped version of a hex-grid campaign map I put together some months ago. It excludes Ghent in the west and Liege in the east, where begin two of the Allied Army Corps, but I believe it includes all the likely battlefields. The excluded Corps, the IInd Anglo-Dutch and IV Prussian Corps, will both require 2 full game turns to arrive into the map area at Alost and Huy respectively.

Map and Table Set-up:

The table was set up on the basis of this hex-map.  There were some changes, mostly simplifications of road and river networks.  Only the Meuse and Sambre Rivers actually appeared on the table; I really need more river sections! I think the map could have used a River Dyle, running past Wavre, not that it would have impacted on the campaign as it played out. 

My table map.

The Armies:

In terms of figures, I had the idea of much larger army corps in terms of figures than I eventually ended up with.  But 9-12 infantry, 2 cavalry and 2 gunners for a 'standard' French Army Corps, though it could just 'fit' a hex grid area, was really too large, especially as the Allied formations (my thinking ran) would have to be larger.  There is another problem with this concept using figures: even at maybe half a dozen figures and a model cannon, the battles would be really be single army corps facing off.  But what that led to was plenty of action!

Anglo-Dutch:
General Officer Commanding (GOC): Duke of Wellington

I Army Corps (at Enghien): 6 infantry, 1cannon, 1 gunner 
II Army Corps (off map, at Ghent): 6 infantry, 1 cannon, 1 gunner
Reserve Corps (at Brussels): 6 infantry, 1 cannon, 1 gunner
Cavalry Corps (at Ninove): 6 cavalry, 1 cannon, 1 gunner

Anglo-Dutch Totals:
18 infantry, 6 cavalry, 4 cannon, 4 gunners, plus the Iron Duke himself.

The Anglo-Dutch - looking uncommon Anglo-Saxon -
at their starting points.  II Corps is off the board 
to the right of Alost

Prussian:
General Officer Commanding: General-Feldmarschall Prinz Blucher
I Army Corps (at Fleurus): 4 infantry, 1 cavalry, 1 cannon, 1 gunner
II Army Corps (at Namur): 4 infantry, 1 cavalry, 1 cannon, 1 gunner
III Army Corps (1 hex south of Ciney): 4 infantry, 1 cavalry, 1 cannon, 1 gunner
IV Army Corps (off map, at Liege): 4 infantry, 1 cavalry, 1 cannon, 2 gunners...

Prussian Totals:
16 infantry, 4 cavalry, 4 cannon, 5 gunners, plus Marschall Vorwaerts himself

Allied Totals:
34 infantry, 10 cavalry, 8 cannon, 9 gunners 

Prussians at their starting points.  IV Corps 
is off the board east of Huy.

French Army:
In Command: Emperor Napoleon
I Army Corps (at Mauberge): 4 infantry, 1 light cavalry, 1 cannon, 1 gunner
II Army Corps (north of Beaumont): 4 infantry, 1 light cavalry, 1 cannon, 1 gunner
III Army Corps (at Beaumont): 4 infantry, 1 light cavalry, 1 cannon, 1 gunner
IV Army Corps (at Laneffe): 4 infantry, 1 light cavalry, 1 cannon, 1 gunner
VI Army Corps (entering table on road south of Beaumont): 4 infantry, 1 cannon, 1 gunner
Imperial Guard (on road just south of Beaumont): 4 infantry, 2 cavalry, 1 cannon, 2 gunners
I Cavalry Corps: 2 light cavalry
II Cavalry Corps: 2 medium cavalry (dragoons)
III Cavalry Corps: 2 heavy cavalry (cuirassiers)
IV Cavalry Corps: 2 heavy cavalry (cuirassiers)

French Totals: 24 infantry, 14 cavalry, 6 cannon, 6 gunners.


In terms of figures, the French are relatively over-represented, on reflection, perhaps too much so.  I blame those tiny French Cavalry Corps, but I was not going to limit them to a single figure each. On the other hand, I got a pretty balanced sort of game out of it!  

Overall view of the campaign theatre.

The French right wing, north of Philippeville.

The rule set I used for this campaign was one I have used before to test the idea of 'map war gaming' with figures.  Its inspiration of course comes from the Command and Colours/ Memoir '44 types of games.  Here's the link to that article - Sluggard Valley campaign - but as I have made a few small adjustments to the rules - most notably the inclusion of Army Commanders, I'll revisit them here.

Hundred Minute Campaign Rule Set:

1. Movement IGoUGo but each turn, dice for who goes first. (Optional. For this 'Hundred Minute' Campaign I made it simple IGoUGo, the French beginning).

2. Army Corps moved a maximum of 2 hexes along a road (1 hex cross country if forced to do so). Cavalry Corps move a maximum of 3 hexes along a road. They moved 'en bloc' occupying just the one grid area, even when on the march.

3. Combat is joined by opposing forces in adjacent hexes.

4. Engaging or attacking the enemy counts as a 1-grid area move, as one side 'moves' into an enemy occupied grid area. The 'move' is notional, the attacking side remaining in the grid area it occupies at the outset of the battle. So if an army corps moves 2 hexes to a point adjacent to an enemy held hex, there is no battle. 
 
5. Each side rolls one die per figure, plus one for each arm represented. If an army commander is present, add one further die to the combat allocation

    Examples:
(i) An army corps of 4 infantry, 1 cavalry and 1 cannon (with gunner) rolls 9 dice: 1 for each of the 6 figures, plus 3 for the 3 separate arms represented.  
(ii) A French cavalry corps of 2 mounted figures rolls 3 dice: 1 for each of the mounted figures, plus 1 for the cavalry arm represented.
(iii) General-Marschall von Blucher, accompanying II Corps engages the enemy. II Corps then receives 4 (infantry) + 1 (cavalry) + 1 (cannon) + 3 (3 arms represented) + 1 (Blucher) = 10 combat dice.

5A. An army attempting to force a river crossing halves its standard allocation of combat dice (rounded up).  For this campaign, there was no bonus for defending or penalty for attacking a 'town' grid area. (I did consider that perhaps some such rule might have applied to attacking Mons, Charleroi, Namur and Brussels, but decided that the battles would take place, as it were, in the fields outside of town. As it was there was considerable action around Charleroi.)

6. Combat
Combats are competitive; both sides roll -
A roll of '1' = enemy artillery hit
A roll of '2' = enemy cavalry hit

A roll of '3' = enemy cavalry hit
A roll of '4' = enemy infantry hit
A roll of '5' = enemy infantry hit
A roll of '6' = enemy Army Commander hit

Having rolled the dice, each die pip score is cancelled by a same pip score by the other, until only the unmatched scores remain. The remaining hits then result in figures being removed. A roll of '4' is not cancelled by a '5' roll, and both sides stand to lose an infantryman.

7 (Recommended, but not used for this campaign). 
At the end of each move, or perhaps a fixed number of moves (IGoUGo pairs), the losses are totted up on both sides, and each receives back, for each arm, the lesser of of the respective sides' losses.  These are distributed among the units as the player sees fit.  There ought to be some maximum that a unit can not exceed.  I suggest 4 infantry, 2 cavalry and 2 guns for an 'Army Corps', and 5 cavalry for a 'Cavalry Corps'.  (I didn't actually use this rule, but it might serve to reduce the attritional effects.  See also the end of this posting).

8.  Units that receive more losses than they inflict in terms of numbers of units, must retreat two grid areas. The reason for this is to allow defeated units to break clear of the victorious enemy, which, following up can reach the adjacent grid area, but not bring on an immediate battle.  See Rule 4.

9. Victory Conditions -
To be decided when I 'call' the campaign!