Introduction to the Sixth 1813 Campaign

Map of Europe showing campaign areas

 

Aim of the Campaign

This is a fictional campaign, loosely based on the historical 1813 campaign.    This campaign has been chosen because it involves all of the armies of the Napoleonic Wars.   It is also a period when all of the national armies were more or less equal in organisation, morale and combat ability.

The campaign is designed to provide interesting for my wife and I to wargame.   In doing so I wanted to be able to use all of the model soldiers, and model buildings, in my collection.

Organisation of the Campaign

All of the maps have been designed to make it easy to transfer battles from the campaign map to the wargames table, and back again. 

The orders of battle have been designed to make use of all of my model soldiers.   They were bought before the campaign was designed, and the types and quantities were to suit orders of battle from previous rules.    They covered all of the major, and most of the minor, armies of the Napoleonic period.   They consisted of 4 infantry battalions of 30 figures, 1 cavalry squadron of 10 figures and 4 guns and 16 gunners.

The smallest nations, such as the Polish, consisted of 120 infantry, 10 cavalry and 4 guns and crew.   Most nations, such as British, had four such formations.   The largest nation, the French, had 8 such formations (including one to represent the garde.

I wanted to fight multi corps battles, so each corps had to be the same size as one of those formations.   I settled on 4 infantry brigades of 8, 1 cavalry brigade of 4 and 1 gun with crew of 4 to represent each corps.

You will find a full order of battle for each nation in the list of labels opposite.   For example 11 is the French, and 12 the Prussian, for north Germany

Campaign Areas

Europe if divided into five campaign areas, three in Germany and two in Spain

Each of these areas has one French and one Allied army

Each army has four corps

North Germany – 1^st French and Prussian armies

Central Germany – 2^nd French and Russian armies

Southern Germany – 3^rd French (Bavarian) and Austrian armies

North Spain – 5^th French and Anglo-Portuguese armies

South Spain – 6^th French and Spanish armies

Campaign Phases

I wanted to use each of the armies in rotation, and avoid the whole campaign becoming too complicated and confused.   So I decided to introduce a campaign phase, or a mini campaign within the main 1813 campaign.

Each phase would be designed to provide a 6-10 day mini campaign, similar to the Waterloo campaign.   Each should provide 4-6 battles to wargame.   Each would be a stand-alone campaign, starting with each army being full strength and with four days supplies for each corps.

History of the Campaign

The campaign started in April 2009.   Since then it has run nonstop, though it has been amended and redesigned six times.   This was because I improved the maps, or I wanted to run it as a PBEM rather than solo campaign.   Twice I have restarted it because I reached December 1813.

First a solo campaign from April to October 2009, had 3 phases and 14 battles

Second PBEM from October 2009 to July 2013, had 9 phases and 52 battles

Third PBEM from July 2013 to March 2015, had 27 phases and 95 battles

Fourth PBEM from March 2015 to February 2016, had 15 phases and 58 battles

Fifth Solo from February 2016 to May 2020, had 21 phases and 98 battles.

So far the campaign has provided 75 campaigns 321 battles to wargame

All of these campaigns concentrated on each phase, with no attempt to coordinate the overall 1813 campaign.   They worked perfectly well to provide the battles to wargame.   However I now want to introduce an overall strategic element to the campaign, to coordinate all five campaign areas, and to link all phases within each area.

 

Map showing military regions of Europe

To achieve this I have designed a whole new series of maps divided into fictional military districts in place of nations and counties.   Europe has 33 military regions.   Each campaign area has 3 regions.   Each region has nine military district.   Each square on this map is one district.   Each district has nine towns (not shown on this map) and each town is a wargames table.  

Campaign Diary Blog

A complete history of the campaign has been recorded in a series of blogs, starting in October 2009.   Each campaign day has been recorded and each battle has a wargame report with photos and description.   There are 14 blogs, all listed on the right under My Blog List.

This current blog started in February 2015, which was the start of the Fifth campaign

Start of Sixth 1813 Campaign

On 1 February 1813 the allied nations of Austria, England, Prussia, Russia and Spain declare war on France.

1813 Campaign Introduction

National map showing campaign areas

About the Campaign

This is a fictional wargame campaign.  It is not an attempt to replicate the historical campaign.   The aim is to provide interesting battles to wargame.

The campaign is designed to use all of our wargame figures and scenery in rotation.   To this end there are five allied and five French armies.

This campaign has been running since April 2009.  

During that time it has been reorganised six times.   There have been a number of reasons, including change from solo to PBEM campaign or simply reached the end of 1813.

There were two reasons for the latest reorganisation.   First to add a new level of command.   Previously it consisted of a series of mini campaigns, each bearing no relation to the previous or next one.    This new campaign will add an overall level of command which will create a narrative to tie all of the mini campaigns together

We have also, once again, neared the end of 1813.   The last campaign phase ended on 10 November 1813.    This one will start on 1 March 1813

Regional map showing initial deployment locations

The maps are designed as wargame maps, not historical maps

Europe is divided into 32 military regions.
Each region has nine military districts.
Each square on this map is one district

Each district has nine towns, and each town is a wargames table.

Background

In 1812 Napoleon invaded Russia with an army which included many nationalities, including Prussia, Austria and the Confederation of the Rhine.   The invasion ended in his complete defeat and rout.   By the end of the year the broken survivors of his Grande Armee had reached the relative safety of Germany.

The French had much more success in Spain.   Throughout 1812 they defeated one Spanish army after another.   They even solved their long standing problem with the Anglo/Portuguese army.   In early 1812 Wellington invaded Spain and won a series of victories.   But he was halted at the city of Burgus.   He laid siege to the city, but was unable to take it.   Both French armies combined and drove him back into Portugal.  The retreat was not as bad as Napoleon in Russia, but it did badly damage Wellington’s army.

In January 1813 Napoleon ordered the creation of five new armies, three in Germany and two in Spain.  There were three sources of manpower available to him.   The survivors of the Russian campaign.   The large number of experienced men serving in Spain.  And new conscripts from France, Germany and Italy.  

Large numbers of experienced men were transferred from Spain to Germany to form the cadre of these new armies.   They were replaced with inexperienced conscripts.

The threat was from the large, but exhausted, Russian army which had halted at the river Elbe.

In Germany he could rely on Prussia to hold his northern flank, and Austria the southern flank.   What was left of the Grande Armee would hold central Germany.   The new brigades, divisions and corps would be formed in France, and deployed in Germany when completed.

Allied Plans

In early January Britain held secret talks with Austria, Prussia and Russia to form a new alliance against Napoleon.   They agreed a coordinated plan of attack in Germany and Spain.

The Prussian army would concentrate at Berlin and take Brunswick

The Russian army would concentrate at Dresden and take Erfurt

The Austrian army would concentrate at Vienna and take Munich

The British/Portuguese army would concentrate at Lisbon and take Madrid

The Spanish army would concentrate at Santiago and take Burgos

French Plans

On 1 February 1813 the allies declared war on France.   

This was not a complete surprise to Napoleon, who had received intelligence throughout January which caused him to prepare for an Austrian/Prussian/Russian attack in Germany.

On 2 February 1813 he issued orders to his five armies

1^st French army would concentrate at Osnabruck and invade northern Germany

2^nd French army would concentrate at Dusseldorf and invade central Germany

3^rd Bavarian army would concentrate at Munich and hold Bavaria

4^th French army would concentrate at Madrid and invade Portugal

5^th French army would concentrate at Burgos and invade western Spain

1 March 1813 – Start Campaign

Location of French and Allied armies 1 March 1813

About the Campaign

This is a fictional wargame campaign.  It is not an attempt to replicate the historical campaign.   The aim is to provide interesting battles to wargame.

The campaign is designed to use all of our wargame figures and scenery in rotation.   To this end there are five allied and five French armies.

This campaign has been running since April 2009.  

During that time it has been reorganised six times.   There have been a number of reasons, including change from solo to PBEM campaign or simply reached the end of 1813.

There were two reasons for the latest reorganisation.   First to add a new level of command.   Previously it consisted of a series of mini campaigns, each bearing no relation to the previous or next one.    This new campaign will add an overall level of command which will create a narrative to tie all of the mini campaigns together

We have also, once again, neared the end of 1813.   The last campaign phase ended on 10 November 1813.    This one will start on 1 March 1813

Campaign Maps

The maps are designed as wargame maps, not historical maps

Europe is divided into 32 military regions.
Each region has nine military districts.
Each square on this map is one district

Each district has nine towns, and each town is a wargames table.

Background to the Campaign

In 1812 Napoleon took Moscow, but lost his army in the brutal retreat to Germany.

By February 1813 he has built a new army, and was ready to take on his traditional enemies Austria, Britain, Prussia and Russia. 

He had five armies deployed, three in Germany and two in Spain.

First French Army – Osnabruck, Germany

Second French Army – Dusseldorf, Germany

Third French Army – Freiburg, Germany

Fourth French Army – Burgos, Spain

Fifth French Army – Madrid, Spain

Prussian Army – Berlin, Germany

Russian Army – Dresden, Germany

Austrian Army – Vienna, Austria
British Army – Santiago, Spain
Spanish Army - Seville, Spain

12 April 1813 – End of Armistice

Location of the five French and allied armies 12 April 1813

On 5 April 1813 Napoleon proposed an armistice for seven days in order to allow consideration of peace proposals.   The allies promptly accepted his proposal.

In the previous month the five French Armies had fought 58 battles.   They had won 25, and drawn 4.   Both they and the allied armies were weary and in urgent need of rest, reorganisation, resupply and reinforcement.  

For Napoleon there was the added problem in Germany of national resistance.  They regarded this as a War of Liberation.   Throughout the area he occupied there was widespread opposition and aggression towards the French.  As a result he was forced to retreat to Westphalia to shorten his lines of communication and to impose some discipline on the local population.

The Austrians have moved north to draw closer to their Prussian and Russian allies.   They have moved their main base to Prague.

The peace proposals ended in renewed hostilities on 12 April 1813 when Napoleon ordered his First Army to cross the river Weser and attack Brunswick.

Location of armies at the end of the armistice

1 French       Hannover

Prussian       Brunswick

2 French       Kassel

Russian        Gotha

3 French       Darmstadt   

Austrian        Bamberg               

4 French       Zamora

British           Oporto

5 French       Aranjuez                                                 

Spanish        Toledo         

All ten armies are at full strength and have been fully resupplied.         

5 April 1813 - Start of Armistice

Battles in Germany

Since 1 March 1813 the French and allied armies in Germany and Spain have fought a total of 58 battles.   The French have won 25 and drawn 4.   Both they and the allied armies are weary and in urgent need of rest, reorganisation, resupply and reinforcements.

On 5 April 1813 Napoleon proposed an armistice for seven days in order to allow consideration of peace proposals.   The allies promptly accepted his proposal.

For Napoleon there was the added problem in Germany of national resistance.  They regarded this as a War of Liberation.   Throughout the area he occupied there was widespread opposition and aggression towards the French.  As a result he was forced to retreat to Westphalia to shorten his lines of communication and to impose some discipline on the local population.

Battles in Spain

This phase of the PBEM campaign started on 21 February 2015 and finished on 9 February 2016.

I would like to thank all who took part in what was, for me, a very enjoyable campaign.