The Battle of Octpingrad
Orders of battle for each side
On October 17th the Jackson gamers played a "Large" Napoleonic battle using Larry Brom's Bring up the Guns rules. The "True 25mm" forces were parts of the Napoleonic armies of Jay Stribling, Robert Whitfield and Jim Pitts.
Each of our infantry and cavalry regiments are composed of siz 4-man stands, so 24 men per regiment. Our French and Russian foot artillery batteries each have four stands, with a gun and two gunners on each stand. The horse batteries have three stands each.
Photo by Jay Stribling
Three regiments of French infantry, heavily reinforced with four batteries of artillery are moving against the Russian center-left.
The French Order of Battle
INFANTRY - total 45 regiments - Each of 6 stands with four infantrymen per stand
Guards Division
1st Brigade: 1st, 3rd Grenadiers, 1st Chasseurs, 1st Voltigeurs, Neuchatel Battalion
2nd Brigade: 2nd Chasseurs, Fuslier-Grenadiers, 1st Tiralliers, 6th Voltigeurs
1st Division
1st Brigade: 14th, 17th 18th 58th Line
2nd Brigade: 66th Line, 4th, 8th, 9th Legere
2nd Division
1st Brigade: 36th, 47th Line, Regiment de Prussia, 6th Legere
2nd Brigade: 4th, 5th, 7th, Line, 20th Legere
3rd Division
1st Brigade: 8th, 22nd, 23rd Line,
2nd Brigade: 100th, 101st, 103rd Line
4th Division
1st Brigade: 18th, 41st, 48th Line,
2nd Brigade: 20th, 28th 71st Line
5th Division
1st Brigade: 1st, 3rd, 4th Swiss, Valais Battalion, Irish legion
2nd Brigade: 30th, 38th 40th Line
ARTILLERY - total 9 batteries
Reserve artillery: 7 Batteries (each of 4 stands with one gun and two gunners)
Horse artillery: 2 batteries (each of 3 stands with one gun and two gunners each)
CAVALRY - Total 12 regiments - Each of 6 stands with four Mounted Cavalrymen per stand
Reserve Cavalry Division
1st Brigade: Grenadiers a' Cheval, Empress Dragoons
2nd Brigade: Polish Lancers, Dutch lancers
1st Cavalry Division
1st Brigade: 1st Carabiniers, 10th Cuirassiers
2nd Brigade: 1st, 2nd Cuirassiers
2nd Cavalry Division
1st Brigade: 22nd, 28th Dragoons
2nd Brigade: 6th Dragoons, 5th lancers
French Special Rules for this game
The French objectives
The frosts have not yet come and fortune favors the French. A lucky intelligence find has revealed a portion of the Russian army deployed with its back to the swollen Topomak river (off the battlefield to the Russians' rear).
You will attack and press the Russians back, destroying them against this river. You have 46 infantry regiments, 12 cavalry regiments and 9 artillery batteries. They are at bay and we French have a decided superiority in numbers. There will be 9 hours (turns) till darkness.
The positions that must be taken are the three roads that lead into the Russian rear areas, and the town of Octpingrad. If you can seize two of these, the game is a draw. If you can seize three, the game is a French Victory.
Vive l' Emperor!
Photo by Jim Pitts
One of Clay James' infantry brigades, accompanied by a battery of artillery, advances into its positions. In the middle right is part of Clay's horse artillery battery in firing positions in the church yard; while in the far background is his dragoon brigade.
The Russian Order of Battle
INFANTRY - total 35 regiments - Each of 6 stands with four infantrymen per stand
1st Division
1st Brigade: Pavlov, St. Petersburg, Kiev Grenadiers, Velikolutski, Shirvan Line .
2nd Brigade: 14th Jagers, Pensa, Galitch, Kexholm Line
2nd Division
1st Brigade: 13th Jagers, Crimea, Saratov, Tomsk Line
2nd Brigade: 18th, 40th Jagers, Moscow, Pskov Line
3rd Division
1st Brigade: 2nd Jagers, Odessa Podolsk Line
2nd Brigade: Shusselberg, Pernov, Sofia Line
4th Division
1st Brigade: 7th Jagers, Yeletz, Nizhegorosky Line
2nd Brigade: Revel, marines, Niski-Volvgorod Line
5th Division
1st Brigade: 38th Jagers, Old Ingermanland, New Ingermanland Line
2nd Brigade: Archangelsk, Ladoga, Ukraine Line
ARTILLERY - total 10 batteries
Position artillery: 8 Batteries (each of 4 stands with one gun and two gunners)
Horse artillery: 2 batteries (each of 3 stands with one gun and two gunners each)
CAVALRY - Total 12 regiments - Each of 6 stands with four Mounted Cavalrymen per stand
1st Cavalry Division
1st Brigade: Astrakan, Ekaterinoslave Cuirassiers
2nd Brigade: Pskoff Cuirassiers, Kharkov Dragoons
2nd Cavalry Division
1st Brigade: Schitomir, Livonia Dragoons
2nd Brigade: Kinburn, St. Petersburg Dragoons
3rd Cavalry Division
1st Brigade: Siberia, New Russian Dragoons
2nd Brigade: Litovsky, Tatar Uhlans
Russian Special Rules for this game
The Russian objectives
The frosts have not yet come and the French are mounting a fresh attack. Our army is pinned against the Topomak river (off table to your rear). You must hold the French until our wounded and supply trains can be evacuated. One corps of troops is on the other side of the river, marching to your aid. There are three roads by which it can enter. By the grace of God, it should enter on turn 4 of the battle.
You have 34 regiments of infantry and twelve regiments of cavalry. You have 10 batteries of artillery, Eight of these are "Position" batteries, and two are Horse Batteries.
The French must not be allowed to exit the rear of our lines. If they do this they will be among our hospitals and supply trains. Who knows what mischief those dogs will do to our brave wounded ones.
The positions that must be guarded are the three roads that lead to your rear areas, and the town of Octpingrad . If you hold two of these, the game is a draw. If you can hold three, the game is a Russian Victory.
There will be 9 hours (turns) till darkness. Remember, you must defend those four areas!
God save mother Russia! Long live the Czar!
Who were the players in this game?
The Russian players were Jim Pitts (army commander), Clay James, Sean Pitts, and Larry Reeves (spelled by Jay Stribling).
Jim commanded an infantry division (primarily grenadiers) on the left center, defending the Great Redoubt. He also controlled the Russian reserve cavalry (3 regiments of cuirassiers and 1 of dragoons).
Clay James commanded an infantry division and a cavalry division on the army's left flank and protected a road leading into the Russian rear.
Sean Pitts commanded two infantry divisions on the right center and defended the town and the center road leading into the rear.
Larry Reeves commanded an infantry division and a cavalry division on the Russian right flank. He also protected a round leading into the Russian rear. When Larry had to leave early, Jay Stribling took over his troops.
So, Who won this battle?
The defenders fought bravely and violently against the French attackers. The French were unable to 'get at' the Russians with enough troops to crush them. None of the four objectives fell to the French, although on the French left they came tantalizing close to one road exit into the Russian rear. So - a Russian victory!
Several players, during and after the game, mentioned that the system of deciding which units could arrive as reinforcements or move after reaching the table was not allowing enough units to move. This was a valid point which should have been addressed by the Game-Master during the game, but was not.
We allowed the commander-in-chief of each side to sum the total of two D6 at the start of each turn. The side with the highest total could move that many brigades. Then the other side moved brigades equal to their die total. We should have added another D6 or allowed 3 brigades PLUS 2 D6 to move.
The French bore the brunt of this restriction since they had more brigades and the burden of the attack was on them.
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