Post script battle from playtest at Potsdam II

Jim, one of our campaign players, had run the second encounter at Potsdam during the playtest phase.

His Blog post about that battle can be found here:

Playtest Ended, French Tactical Victory

With the victory of French ADC Baron Corbineau over the Russian ADC Pozzo di Borgo in the second battle of the upper Spree the play test phase of our game plan has come to an end.

You can read all about the details at MurdocK's MarauderS.

The victory for the French over two days of battle has resulted in a third crossing of the Spree River, meaning that a larger force of French could easily mount an assault on the city of Berlin.

With the play test now done, we have been working ferociously towards having the details mapped out for the main campaign.  Players now have their commands and are laying out the forces accordingly.

As we have a 'team' of French players it is my pleasure to state that we will be having a simultaneous movement system in the main campaign and a referee to provide the thrills, chills and spills of 'fog of war' issues in the game.

Watch the extra pages here at Campaign of Nations for the juicy details of game mechanics and in the coming weeks we shall be able to share some of what has been going on behind the scenes.  I say 'some' as we will need to keep certain details confidential so as not to spoil the game action.

Final battle of playtest ... Pozzo di Borgo vs. Oudinot

In a second clash along the Upper Spree river, this time the Russians and Swedes are outnumbered.

Strategic situation from Cyberboard map

Oudinot leading XII Corps from the south and Baron Corbineau leading XIV Corps and III Cavalry Corps from the North against three Russian Corps and the whole of the Swedish Heavy Cavalry ... battle awaits!

Technical Support - dividing units

During the course of the play test it has come to light to have a few more Cyberboard helper items.

While I cannot claim to know all about Cyberboard, here is one method I have been using for managing the units:

Here I have selected the Cavalry Corps of Pahlen III.

here the cursor is over the unit showing the data

With the unit selected, simply double left-click to get the text box to show.

now the corps text box is ready to edit

I copy the primary headline text and the text for the unit to be 'split out', in this case the 1st Line Division of Millesinov.

The section to be 'cut out' is highlighted the 'control x' will cut it and hold it ready to be pasted

Now go back to the pieces selection, in this case Army of Bohemia and select the unit piece to be added to the board, in this case a Russian Cavalry Division.

left click and hold while dragging the new unit onto the mapboard

Now double left-click on the new unit and paste the data 'control v' into the text box for the new unit.

after entering the cut data, I go back and copy the formation - then with the header 'detachment' to identify that the unit is not the sole or parent formation

Also worth while to correct the formation data, [1] on the new division and [2] in the Corps parent formation and to correct the Troop Strength numbers subtracting 2688 from the Corps strength of 7008.  This makes tracking the relative combat strength of the units easier for both the player and game controller.  Note that the sub-unit Division does not have the Troops Strength of the whole corps formation, for now it is only the one Division.

Then completing the change by updating the parent Corps formation data.

updating the parent Corps formation data

Finally re-stacking the whole new group, simply highlight the whole formation by left click-hold and drag out a rectangle around the troops to be included in the stack.

selecting the troops for stacking

Then click on the auto stack button or you ma use 'control a' or use the drop down menu under Actions

once they are all 'stacked' together you will be able to shift around the entire stack

I also like to see the senior officers, so I commonly will 'send to the back' of the stack some split out or other blocking units so that the wing commander or ADC is visible on the top of the stack.   You can either send the top unit (the new counter) to the back or grab the ADC/Officer and move him to the top.

I hope that you find this little tutorial on unit splitting helpful.

French Strategic Flank action

The Play test continues - now I want to see if the Allies will take direct action to stop the French flank action moving in on Berlin or not ...

After 4 moves the Allied forces are out of Berlin with French across the Spree in 2 places

If the Allies permit French into Berlin, that could be the end of the battle ... unless they are able to blast a hole in the French line and capture Oudinot!

Playtest moving to final stage

Russians cross the Spree in battle with Polish forces

The play test continues, now with at least one more large battle to simulate.

Plans are to get into discussion about the issues that have come to light in the play test now in the first week of February.

The aim being to have the troops laid out and getting into motion with the full campaign before the start of March 2013, in order to have time to get the action moving and possibly have a resolution within the year.

Allied move in Playtest

Crown Prince Charles John

Following Potsdam, the Allied forces are to move ... can they push back the French enough to overcome the two secured crossings of the Spree River?

Second day of playtest map, in the west the troops are spent from the battle at Potsdam

Playtest in motion

Marshal Oudinot

The campaign map is setup with the playtest forces.

Now the French are to move.

At last we shall see if all the preparation tools will work.

The starting positions for the playtest

Playtest to begin

The commands are set up for the playtest in December.

The more limited map of the playtest area

The map is limited as are the simple objectives for the teams.

For the French, penetrate the line of the Spree River in three places *and hold open those crossings uncontested for three days* or get a Division to survive combat in Berlin.

For the Allies, drive the French back from Brandenberg and penetrate the upper Elbe River between Wittenberg and Luckau.

We will see what battles come about with this setup.

*amended on 8 Dec 12