The latest battle in our PBEM campaign is a good example of the sort of interesting and unusual wargames a campaign can produce. It is also very good example of how difficult it can be to transfer the action from the campaign map to the wargames table when both sides have not anticipated a battle.
This is the campaign map prior to the battle. The white square is the battlefield area
At Oppenheim all four French corps had orders to attack. Only one was to attack Oppenheim, the remaining three to attack the isolated 1st Russian corps just west of the town.
That particular Russian corps had orders to retreat to Oppenheim on hold orders. Two more had orders to move to new locations on hold orders. 1st Russian corps, 15 miles from Oppenheim, had orders to move towards the town on attack orders.
In the campaign the square between the two armies is "no man's land". It can only be entered to attack the enemy.
If I followed these no battle would have taken place. Both French and Russian corps would have marched through "no man's land" but ignored the enemy.
So it is necessary to interpret what the players actually want to do, and how they would adjust their plans when they discovered what the enemy were doing.
This is the wargames table at the start of the game
First I have to decide what area the wargames table will cover. I calculate where the first fighting will take place, and make that square the centre of the wargames table. I then calculate when each corps will arrive at the edge of the table, and what move that will be in the wargame. Finally I change their orders, and direction of march, to make the actual wargame easier to manage.
You can read the full battle report on the campaign diary blog
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