GRAVELOTTE ST PRIVAT
Coming soon, the FPW Battle of Gravelotte St Privat. The Northern California Gentlemen's Gourmet Wargaming Society will be playing this game on February 18th. We will have 11 to 13 players and all the troops from both sides represented. This is another tactical game using my adaptation of "Snappy Nappy" by Russ Lockwood. My title is "Sappy Nappy" (hopefully for obvious reasons). We will (or they will, I will again umpire) play on a 6' by 12' table using my base terrain boards and Geo Hex.
To make the terrain as close as possible with Geo Hex, I photocopied Bruce Weigel's map in his "1870" rules and enlarged it. After scaling, I gridding it off in one foot squares. I made a set of cardboard pieces at that scale to match the Geo Hex pieces (12" hexes for the solid pieces, so it would fit in the 12" square). I have one cardboard piece per Geo Hex piece. Then I colored in each level (contour) on the map on separate sheets. After looking at the amount of terrain, I decided that level 4 would be my base terrain, and Geo Hex used for levels 5, 6 and 7. (The cardboard pieces are rough approximations of the full size Geo Hex pieces).
I toyed with getting foam and exactly doing the terrain, but lack of time (and a place to store it) kept me using the Geo hex.
I have attached pictures of the 3 levels showing the scaled Geo Hex pieces. I believe I have enough to do the terrain as depicted. I will take pictures of the terrain as it is set up on the table and post them later, most likely before the game as I have given myself a week to get it right.
http://s915.photobucket.com/user/kiptrexel/media/Gravelotte%20St%20Privat/Gravlotte%20level%207_zpsbsmksvd3.jpg.html.
And after the battle, I will post a report and pictures.
Looking forward to seeing this come together :)
That is certainly a lot of Geohex :o
Quote from: paulr on 24 January 2017, 05:27:06 AM
Looking forward to seeing this come together :)
Same here ! :)
Cheers - Phil
You're going to have a lot of fun wityn that, look forwards to seeing it.
Ditto
As above. Coincidentally the BBB Bashday will also be taking place on Feb.18th.
Here is the next installment - setting up the table.
GRAVELOTTE ST PRIVAT
Table Set up
On February 11th my friend Didier and I set up the game board. See the attached pictures (numbered for sequencing) for the construction thereof.
During this week I have been doing some small adjustments, naming villages, setting up rosters and gathering the supplied for the table.
Game day is February 18th.
http://s915.photobucket.com/user/kiptrexel/library/Gravelotte%20St%20Privat%20table%20set%20up
Another quite amazing setup. Look forward to the battle report(s).
Excellent
Looks brilliant
It always gladdens my heart to see real effort being put into crerating terrain - must be the geographer in m
:-bd =D> :-bd
Excuse my ignorance of the battle, is the white 'fluffy' stuff fog?
I suspect we have all seen a similar look on our wife/significant others face ;D
Great looking setup - really looks like real terrain, with the rolling hills and valleys.
Quote from: paulr on 16 February 2017, 06:31:34 PM
Excuse my ignorance of the battle, is the white 'fluffy' stuff fog?
I wondered the same - it is mentioned in one of the captions - it represents haze/fog and limits visibility into it.
Nice board. The Prussian right flank artillery shouldn't be able to hit Frossard so your infantry are going to have to do the heavy lifting there.
Only the 6# guns will reach (barely) if they displace forward.
The forest is so dense and the trees so high its virtually impossible, that's why Steinmetz tried to push artillery over the Mance and up the causeway. The railway was unfinished at the time of the battle. These big terrain board excersises are fun, don't forget to post the AAR, what rules are you using ?
AAR will be posted. The Prussian official history does have guns firing from the west side but not very effectively, hence Steinmetz's push to the east.
Rules will be Russ Lockwood's "Snappy Nappy" with my changes to "Sappy Nappy".
;D
This really looks excellent.
And here is the game.
GRAVELOTTE ST PRIVAT
The After Action Report
The battle, played on February 18, 2017, is done. The actual battle occurred on August 18, 1870, 146 and a half years earlier. Our fight was different.
In the actual battle, Bazaine was not even on the field and essentially kept the Imperial Guard out of the fight. Wargamers being wargamers, and my friend Didier (as Bazaine) being aggressive, had the Guard notified on turn one and moving on turn 2. (I used Bruce Weigle's map and OB's for the game, but to get everyone playing – we had 14 gamers – as soon as possible, I moved up entry times by an hour).
General von Steinmetz had special rules, as follows:
General Von Steinmetz Special Rules
1. You are a Charismatic leader but with Poltroon judgement. This means that rallying or leading (attached to a unit) troops, you use the Charismatic factor but when giving orders you use the Poltroon factor. However, if you attach and give an order, that order is followed when you detach.
2. You have the VII Corps under your command. While the VIII Corps and 1st
Cavalry Division are not, you claim them as needed by announcing the fact to whoever is their commander.
3. You see that the French right flank appears weak and your personal mission is to take the St Hubert and Moscou Farms, no matter what the cost.
These were not to be shared other than when he took command of the VIII Korps and 1st Cavalry Division.
The Prussians had as their objective the road from Metz (off board) through St Privat and Roncourt. The French to keep open the roads off the NW>
We started the day with some history of the 4 days previous combats; Colombey-Nouilly on 14 -August, Vionville/Mars-La –tour on 16 August. Forces in those combats were noted, indicating that there had been losses (this to somewhat reinforce Steinmetz mind set).
Set up on the board were the French II, III and part of the IV Corps. The corps cavalry, corps artillery reserves and most of the IV Corps infantry were hidden behind the ridge line. The entire VI Corps was behind the haze (grey line in the pictures). Also the Imperial Guard, Artillery Reserve and Cavalry Reserve were off board and could only enter one hour after ordered to do so. As noted above that order was given immediately, so they could enter at the 1300 hour turn.
The Prussians had the VII and VIII Korps on board, except for one brigade of the VII Korps, which was skirmishing the French off the south end of the board. Most of the IX Korps was on and the advanced guard of the Guard Korps. See the attached pictures for initial setup.
In the pictures you will notice a clock in the background; that indicates the game turn, not photos of some of the Prussians commanders.
The pictures are labeled by order and have descriptions included to identify the action.
http://s915.photobucket.com/user/kiptrexel/media/Gravelotte%20-%20St%20Privat%20Day%20of%20Battle/E_zpsd0mqn176.jpg.html
I have also attached pictures without descriptions taken by my son (who played General Ladmirault, 4th Corps).
http://s915.photobucket.com/user/kiptrexel/library/Gravelotte%20-%20St%20Privat%20Day%20of%20Battle/Gravelotte%20-%20St%20Privat%20Chad%20pictures
Excellent !!
Looks absolutely great. 8)
Cheers - Phil
Superb looking game!
Well I think I would call that a French win at he moment (St Privat, Ammenville and the Mosco heights are still in French hands, St Marie Eglise is still contested), which means the French will lose the battle as they retreat!
Looks like Von Steinmetz hasn't gone off the rails either!!
:-bd =D> :-bd =D>
Yes a French win and yes IF they retired they would lose. However the French commander had no intention of retiring. The Imperial Guard had deployed and was ready to rock and roll (of course into Prussian guns so who knows)?
Steinmetz did a good job of being Steinmetz, following his secret instructions. They whole time complaining about the strong French position.
How long did the game take?
Briefing at 9:00, started pushing troops at 10:00, hour break for lunch and stopped at 4:00. Seven out of nine game turns played.
I think Snappy Nappy and your BBB amustbe similar.
Quote from: kipt on 22 February 2017, 09:50:17 PM
Briefing at 9:00, started pushing troops at 10:00, hour break for lunch and stopped at 4:00. Seven out of nine game turns played.
I think Snappy Nappy and your BBB amustbe similar.
Similar in ambition, maybe, but BBB would struggle to entertain your 14 players for so long with a single game. As it happens, Gravelotte was one of the games on offer at last weekend's BBB Bash Day. I think four players (three virtual BBB novices) fought through the whole battle in a four-hour afternoon session including set-up and take-down. It was done as a mini-campaign with Mars-la-Tour, which they'd fought in the morning.
Congratulations on a magnificent game!
Chris
Epic! :-bd =D>
Great terrain, miniatures and report!
Congratulations!