Supply, Movement, And More

Questions have been asked that are relevant to all of you so a post is in order!

Supply

We will have a vague supply system in place for the game, in general terms is it this:  It's Good Practice to have open lines of communication from where you entered the map to your troops.  If you don't have one for some period of time there can be in battle effects but, generally speaking, these effects would take place in the second and following battles as you do march with some supply of ammunition.  It is possible to move the source of your supply to a different road network or even entrance point on the map, you'll have to ask for it, explain why its important to your higher ups that have to do the work, and it will then take some time to occur.

Movement

As stated below this campaign is not based on accuracy in any way so movement rates are flexible but, in general, you can think that it will take your army five days of constant marching on the best roads to cross the Demi-Bishophric.  Using the eyeball test you can estimate how far that is and you should understand that's your "army speed" and detachments and cavalry can move faster than that if they need to.

Turns

Each "turn" will be a day, if nothing of note happens in a day we'll be moving through them quickly.

Asking for more stuff

You can ask for anything you like, you may or may not get what you ask for and you may or may not have to pay a price for exchanges or new toys but you can always ask.

Battalion Guns

Every battalion of line infantry, Grenadiers, and similar will have battalion guns at the start of the game.  Light infantry units will not.  If you have a question about specific units please let me know.  If, during the course of the campaign, a battalion loses it's guns (see the rules):

1) if it loses the battle it loses it's guns for the duration.
2) if it is a draw AND after losses are returned the battalion is still below the "loss point" it losses it's guns for the duration.

In all other cases the battalion guns will be with the battalion at the start of the next battle.

Scouting - The Art of Answering the Question: Where the h*ll are they?

A question has come up regarding scouting and how it’s going to be handled in the game.  Without further ado a description of how scouting will work:

There are several ways you will be able to actively scout.

Starting with the ones overtly in your control:

1. Your cavalry is detached by stand to form scouting parties, up to two parties per stand.  Having stronger scouting parties (keeping the two together, sending two stands with to the same location, etc) will increase the likelihood of accurate results as well as allowing the potential for penetrating the other guys screening troops.  Scouting orders are giving them instructions about where you want them to go, what you want them to do if they find someone, what to do if they don’t, and anything else you can think of that you’d like to put in there.  Remember that your instructions are going to be interpreted, and most likely interpreted the way a Captain or Lieutenant of Cavalry, desperate to show off how heroic he can be, would want them to read. 
2. You can detach whole units (battalions) of light infantry for the same purpose, their orders will be read more in the spirit you normally intend.

Some troops are simply better at scouting than others, as a general hierarchy of effectiveness you’d get something like this:

1. Austrian Light Cavalry
2. Other Light Cavalry
3. Prussian Hussars (I’m basing this on my reading of Prussian Hussars consistently losing the “little war” against the Austrians for the majority of the 7 Years’ War, when generally they were used as battle cavalry not as effective scouts) & LIPs, for those of you not up on your M*A*S*H* references that would stand for “Local Indigenous Personnel” or natives of the Demi-Bishophric.  I'm putting them in this category as, while they're probably great at finding armies trooping around, they may not be very accurate in their estimations and descriptions.
4. Dragoons & Light Infantry
5. Other Cavalry

Other ways to scout:

Once you enter the Demi-Bishophric you can expect to have some segment of the locals either on your side, willing to be paid to be on your side, neutral, or against you.  This is one of the things that you can invest your money on, offering rewards for information, hiring locals as scouts, or whatever other ideas you can come up with and explain to me.

In all cases there will be a degree of randomness to the results, look at the hierarchy of scouting prowess as die roll modifiers for how accurate the information is and you’ll be on the right track.  Also the terrain will factor into things, locals and light infantry will be much more efficient in woods or difficult terrain than horse will be, etc.

If you have any questions please let me know.

Casualties and Replacements

Casualties

The rules for tracking casualties between battles will be simple and easy to manage.  As losses in Rank and File are tracked on a per hits per stand basis that mechanism will be used to track campaign losses.   Losses are tracked per Battalion, Artillery stand, and Cavalry Regiment.  At the conclusion of a battle a players army will be declared to be either the winner, the loser, or that the battle was a draw.  That battle end state will determine the percentage of hit point losses accrued in that battle that his units regain.  All numbers are ROUNDED DOWN.

Winner: 70%
Draw: 60%
Loser: 50%

Examples:
von Kaier's battle with the forces of Russia has resulted in a tragic Austrian defeat and his Battalions have taken the following losses:

1 Battalion - 5 hits out of 18 (3 hp per stand 6 stands per Bn)
2 Battalion -3 hits out of 18
3 Battalion - 18 hits out of 18

As the loser he gets 50% of his losses back as the wounded return to duty and the routers and malingerers return to the colors.  So the final strength of the units are:

1 Battalion - 15 hits (50% of 5 rounding down is 2 hits returned to the roster) = 5 stands
2 Battalion - 16 hits (50% of 3 rounding down is a hit returned to the roster) = 6 stands w/ 2 hits
3 Battalion - 9 hits (50% of 18 rounding down is 9 hits returned to the roster) = 3 stands

On the other hand the Grand Duke Aleksey's frontoviki took the following losses:

1 Battalion - 2 hits out of 12 (3 hp per stand 4 stands per Bn)
2 Battalion - 1 hit out of 12
3 Battalion - 6 hits out of 12
4 Battalion - 2 hits out of 12
1 Medium Artillery - 1 hit out of 3

70% returns from a winning performance means that he ends up with:

1 Battalion - 11 hits (70% of 2 is 1 returned) = 4 stands w/1 hit
2 Battalion - 11 hits (70% of 1 is 0 returned) = 4 stands w/1 hit
3 Battalion - 10 hits (70% of 6 is 4 returned) = 4 stands w/2 hits
4 Battalion - 11 hits (70% of 1 is 1 returned) = 4 stands w/1 hit
1 Medium Artillery - 2 hits (70% of 1 is zero returned) = 1 stand w/ 1 hit

Casualties (lost hits from bases) will carry over from battle to battle so, after seeing some action, your Battalions and Regiments will likely start with casualties on the bases.

Lets look at a follow up battle and see how that would look.  This this second battle Aleksey fights Graf von Franklinstein and his Prussians.  This battle is a draw and the Russians took the following losses:

1 Battalion - 11 hits out of 11
2 Battalion - 4 hits out of 11
3 Battalion - 1 hit out of 10
4 Battalion - 7 hits out of 11
1 Medium Artillery - 2 hits out of 2

Returns from a draw are 60% again rounding down so the returns look like:

1 Battalion - 6 hits (60% of 11 is 6 returned) = 2 stands
2 Battalion - 9 hits (60% of 4 is 2 returned) = 3 stands
3 Battalion - 9 hits (60% of 1 is 0 returned) = 3 stands
4 Battalion - 8 hits (60% of 7 is 4 returned) = 3 stands w/1 hit
1 Medium Artillery - 2 hits (60% of 2 is one returned) = 1 stand w/ 2 hits

The Grand Dukes' Brigade as been to the wars... and we're violating the minimum sized unit rules in Rank and File, which I'm ok with, and brings us to another subject:

Merged & Disbanded Units

You may merge units, essentially combining the hits points from two units together or disbanding one unit to strengthen others with the following restrictions.

You cannot merge lower morale figures into higher morale units (so you can't disband green line infantry to fill out your Grenadier battalions).

You cannot merge different troop types (so you cannot merge Line infantry into Dragoons).

By assigning hits to a unit you cannot exceed the number of stands that that unit started the campaign with.

Once a unit is disbanded it cannot be recreated.

If a unit is disbanded and it has more hits than can be assigned to other units those left over hits can be held as a "replacement pool" and assigned later.  For example if you disband 13 points of infantry but your other units have only lost 11 points, those left over two points can be held onto until you need them later on.

So in the above example of Grand Duke Aleksey's Brigade he can disband the 1st Battalion and assign 3 hits to each of the 2nd and 3rd Battalions to bring them back up to their starting strength of 12 hits/4 stands.

Replacements

Over the course of the game it will be possible that replacement solders (as distinct from reinforcements by additional units) become available to the combatants.  Essentially these will be figures that can be added to depleted units to bring them closer to strength, there will be a requirement that the replacements are assigned to units when they become available, that they then move to the units that they're intended for, and that they be appropriate to the unit.  As an example you will not be able to assign cavalry replacements to an infantry unit, you will not be able to use line infantry replacements to fill out your Grenzer or Grenadier battalions, etc.

Any questions?  Please ask.

Victory! And how one goes about getting it...

Victory Locations
 
The following locations will be worthwhile to take and hold:
Schwerin, Crivitz, Goldberg, Wittenburg, Hagenow, Lubtheen, Ludwigslust, Grabow, Neustadt-Glewe, Parchim, Lubz, Domitz, Karstadt, Putlitz, & Meyenburg.  Those cities can be considered to cover the whole area of the Demi-Bishophric.

Of that list the following are the most important when holding a plebiscite to elect your Claimant Demi-Bishop:

Ludwigslust, Neustadt-Glewe, Parchim, Hagenow, Putlitz. 

By intention you don't know how many you need to hold to successfully win the hearts and minds of the locals, you'll have to try it out and see, or you can spend your valuable time on Public Relations (instead of marching and fighting) to get a feel for the pluse of the locals.

Generally speaking forces will enter from the edges of the map in the following areas:

Prussia: on the E55
Austria: on the Dannenberg road for all Austrian troops, German allies will randomly appear from an unlikely direction.
Britain: on the A24 south of Zarrentin am Schaaisee
France: on the road south of the A24 that leads to Hagenow or Ludwigslust (depending on if you go straight or turn left)
Russia: at Schwerin
Locals: ???

Road quality:
There are two types or classes or roads on the map, "roads" and "paths".  Roads are all the hightways (the A24 for example) and all the tan colored roads.  All the grey colored lines on the map are "paths", understand that you will move faster on the roads than on the paths, faster on paths than cross country, faster cross country in the open than through woods.  Movement is going to be utterly subjective so don't get too worked up about it but armies staying on roads is generally best it being faster and harder to get lost.  Cavalry forces will move faster than mixed or infantry forces, Austrian light cavarly will move faster than anyone else.

Coalitions:
You can freely drop out of a Coalition, make a new Coalition, change sides to another Coalition, or even form a Coalition of one (one would assume that you'll try to recruit new memebers at some point), it's all up to you and your powers of persuation.  Remember it's better to be on the winning side than the losing one pretty much no matter what so scheme accordingly.

Ways to Win:
Each player will be getting a packet with their orders, a sum of cash on hand, and a set of Victory Conditions unique to them.  The "default" victory condition is to have your claimant elected Demi-Bishop, if you do that you cannot lose no matter what else happens to you.  Even if, after the election, you're routed from the field and driven off the map, you still win as you've the "legitimate" Demi-Bishop under your control and that's sure to come in handy sometime before the end of the century.  If you don't start the game with a Claimant one wonders how you might come up with one... or even if you can "win" with out one (hint: yes, yes you can!).  Remember, being in the same Coalition with the person that wins the game may be better than being on the losing side, but everyone will have a slightly different take on "winning".

The Coalitions

Seemingly random and pointless Coalitions were a major component of 18th Century warfare as diplomats cobbled together states large and small for virtually any purpose you can conceive.  The War of the Henzlein Inheritance is a perfect example of nations cobbled together in pursuit of their occasionally common aims.  The war started with two Coalitions:

LIX Coalition: Deutschland fur die Deutschen

The LIX Coalition included initially Austria and Prussia.  Empress-to-be  Maria Theresa, nearly new to the throne with her non-entity husband Emperor Francis were determined to enforce their rights as Holy Roman Emperors In Waiting by posing as defenders of the minor houses, cheaply gained prestige and perhaps a puppet in north Germany were the objectives.  As was often the case for Prussia intervention was designed for the acquisition of territory and along with the territory a new pool of conscriptable young men.  The public explanations and rationale were that the vast debits owed to Prussia by the last Demi-Bishop would allow them to seize all or some of the territory in compensation, possession being 9/10ths of international law who could say when or if it would ever be returned?


LX Coalition: Pour la defense des droits de ces Allemands 

This Coalition comprised at the start of the war a motley assemblage of nations each with their own motives and several with their own claimant for the Demi-Bishophric, but all of them allied to ensure that the ancient founding principle of the Holy Roman Empire (specifically the right for the lots of small states to be manipulated and controlled by their larger non-German neighbors) be stoutly defended. 

Coalition members Britain, France, and Russia each had their own preferred, and at least slightly plausible, candidates and, through adroit diplomacy and bribery convinced Landgrave Helmut Freidrich  Adenauer-Kohl to declare that the Demi-Bishophric would resist any attempts by other Imperial and German states to seize it's territory.  From the east, sailing in a rented fleet came the Russians sent by Tsarina Anna who, due to the untimely death of her husband Frederick Wilhelm Duke of Courland, was a bit off in the head and determined to seize ports in the Baltic.  Following in the tried and true footsteps of Richelieu and Louis XIV, the French intervened decisively by bribing Herr Adenauer-Kohl and convincing the British that another war in North Germany was The Thing To Do.  Sir Robert Walpole, PM, MP, KG, KB, & etc who was all too amenable to being bribed, found a theoretically probable inheritor of the Demi-Bishophric on a farm in East Surrey and dispatched his own expedition.

The board was set, the pieces were in movement, the players would get some inkling of what was going on...

War of the LIX & LX Coalitions, Also Known As The War of the Henzlein Inheritance: A fictitious 18th Century War - A Real Miniatures Campaign

Some Back Ground...

North of Saxony, east of Hamburg, south of the Bay of Mecklenburg, and west of Berlin lies the quaint town of Ludwigslust, the center of the Demi-Bishophric of Ludwigslust-Parchim held herriditarily by the house of Henzlein.  The Henzlein family, as was the case with most nobility, had married daughters, sons, nephews, nieces and cousins off to any titled takers regardless of nationality and religion for centuries, a practice that would yield bitter fruit in the 1740's.  The last Demi-Bishop, Klaus August Victor Emmanuel Alfonso Heznlein, lived a life of adventure, notoriety, and quiet desperation.  As a young man he served as an altar boy in St. Peter's Cathedral to Pope Innocent XIII, returned to Germany to be a leading light in the Lutheran Pietism movement, became the first native German acupuncturist, and started a business selling "nearly" smokeless powder to the Prussians in what came to be known as "Klaus' Foley".  After the failure of that venture, saddled with crushing debt, he opted for a career in Baltic piracy that came to a tragic end when his ship the Plunder Mich Baby was lost with all hands off Bornholm in a freak mid-July hurricane.  Few could have imagined that the loss of an eclectically religious mediocre pirate would have such out sized consequences.

The map of the campaign area.

The Combatants:

Prussia - Graf Leopold Eugene Dietrich Zeppelin von Franklinstein
Austria - Archduke Charlz Xavier Freidrick von Kaier
Britain - Wesley Willbritforce, Duke of Erin
France -  Douglas, Duc d'Villefoq
Russia - Grand Duke Aleksey Petrovich Antropov of Malchow
Demi-Bishophric of Ludwigslust-Parchim - Helmut Freidrich Adenauer-Kohl