"Russian and Prussian national characteristics in Maurice" Topic

Inspired by Alan Saunders' use of RISK game pieces in crafting 100 point Swedish and Russian forces for the GNW, I have started re implementing my pile of the same figures for the SYW. I'm new to the period and despite some epic web crawls I'm wondering which "National Characteristics" cards seem most reasonable in building the armies? Should I go for a highly mobile Frederick to improve command card economy? Was Russian artillery of a quality to warrant a card granting them a re roll on attempt to disorder enemy targets?

I'm not going for reproducing any particular orders of battle, just a general "vibe" of plausibility which captures the character of both sides and would serve to give a good game.

Thanks in advance for your help

Swedes: cold steel attacks. Russians: lots of 'em.

Edit: Prussians, you said. Duh.

For the Prussians I'd give them Cadence and Oblique Order to reflect the Prussians greater manovrebility.
For the stoic Russians I'd give them Rally to the Colours or Steady Lads.

Don't know enough to comment but its good to see that Alan's (Kaptain Kobold) amazing work with risk figures is inspiring others too…

On the Maurice Forum on the Sam web page there are the following National Advantages proposed by Greg Savinos:

Maurice Historical National Advantages (as proposed by Greg Savvinos, chief Australian playtester).

Early 18th century conflicts:

Maritime Powers ( Anglo-Dutch) : Lethal Volleys, Steady Lads, Great Captain, (if Marlborough is commanding).

Imperial (Austrian):  Steady Lads, Great Captain, (if Eugene is commanding).

French: a la Baionette, Maison du Roi in The Low Countries, Great Captain, (if Villars in the WSS or Luxembourg in the 9Yr war).

Bavarian: a la Baionette, Steady Lads.

Spanish: No special rules
             
Swedish:  a la Baionette, Steady Lads, Cavaliers, Clerics, Maison du Roi, Great Captain, (if Charles XII is in command).

Danish: Lethal Volleys

Prussian: Steady Lads, Lethal Volleys.

Saxon/ Polish:  Feudal if the army includes Poles.

Russian 1695-1702: Feudal, At least half the regular units must be conscript.
Russian 1703-1707: Maison du Roi, Feudal
Russian  1708-1724: Steady Lads, Maison du Roi

Ottomans: Feudal, Skirmisher, En Masse. No more than four regular Cavalry. At least 3 regular infantry must be conscript.
(The Kapikulu troops; that is, the paid regulars, seem to be a mixed bag.  The Janissaries were particularly patchy.  They seem to deteriorate in quality in the second half of the eighteenth century as more and more men are enrolled in to the Janissary corps simply for the perks and the pay rather than the service.  When they were mobilised in Istanbul against the Russians in 1774 20,000 mustered, but less than 3000 were left with the ortas by the time they got to Edrine, which was still a very long way from the front.  Most Janissary units from this period would have to be conscript with some trained.

However in the 1736-39 war against the Austria the Janissaries showed themselves to be capable of both defensive and offensive action with effective deployment of firepower. The army had recently undergone some reforms in improving army administration and training, though mainly on traditional lines though with some input by western renegades such as Bonneval. To me that sounds like trained regulars.  Special assault units of Janissaries, the Serden Gecti, were more or less equivalent to grenadiers and probably deserve elite status, though there is usually only one unit of such troops.  I would be disinclined to treat the formal guard infantry such as the Bostanci as anything other than ordinary Janissaries.

In the earlier wars of the late 17th and early 18th centuries, the Janissaries generally fought bravely but kept getting beaten.  A mixture of trained and conscript units might reflect that.

The Kapikulu cavalry never seem to have had the kind of impact on battles as say Imperial Kurrasiers did.  They were definitely battle cavalry, more than one Grand Vizier died leading a charge of the Guard cavalry, but they didn't seem particularly effective.  My instinct is that trained regulars would cover them for the whole period of the rules.

The Provincial troops are even more variable.  Most would be a mixture of irregular and regular infantry and cavalry units.  In the early eighteenth century the Provincial forces would make up between one quarter and half the infantry and up to 100% of the cavalry.  As the eighteenth century wore on Provincial  forces seemed to make up a greater proportion of the army and by the Russo Turkish war of the 1770s the bulk of the army was made up of provincial forces.  Some were reasonably well trained and equipped, others less so.  Bosnia seemed to have particularly effective forces.)

Between 1740 and 1763:

Prussian 1740-41: Lethal Volleys, Steady Lads, Cadence, Oblique. Prussian Cavalry must be at least half conscript and no Elite Cav.
Prussian 1742-45: Lethal Volleys, Steady Lads, Cadence, Oblique, Great Captain, (if Frederick is in command).
Prussian 1756-57: Lethal Volleys, Steady Lads, Cadence, Oblique, Cavaliers,(if Frederick is in command).
Prussian 1758-63: Lethal Volleys, Cadence, Oblique, Cavaliers, Great Captain, (if Frederick is in command).

Austrian 1740-48: Skirmishers, Cavaliers.
Austrian 1756-63: Skirmishers, Oblique, Artillery Academy.

French 1740-48: a la Baionette, Maison du Roi in The Low Countries, Great Captain, (if Maurice is commanding).
French 1756-63: Oblique, a la Baionette (?)

Anglo/Hanoverian 1743-48: Lethal Volleys, Steady Lads,
Anglo/Hanoverian 1757-63: Lethal Volleys, Steady Lads, Oblique.

Dutch 1744-48: Nothing

Russian 1756-63: Steady Lads, Rally to the Colours

Reich Army 1757:  At least half the units must be conscript.
Reich Army 1758: Nothing

Spanish: 1742-48: Cavaliers

Piedmontese 1742-48: Skirmishers, Steady Lads

Greg Savvinos' are a good starting point; I am basing my GNW forces on his proposed characteristics (although I'm steering clear of Steady Lads for the Russians as really it just cancels out the Swedes' a la Baionette, rendering both fairly pointless. I just use the points to buy more units :) )

SYW armies are a better use for the Risk figures anyway as that's closer to what they look like.

You're probably already aware from your epic web crawl of the usefulness of Kronoskaf for all things SYW:
link

I'm not certain Russian artillery was of such a quality above other European powers to warrant "artillery academy", though by all means justify it if you wish by refering to examples, such as the Battle of Gross-Jagersdorf. "Rally to the colours" seems appropriate for stoic Russian infantry who just don't know when to quit. Several units of irregular Cossacks and Pandours would add a bit of variety and size to the army, so "feudal" and "skirmishers" are not out of the question if you take these units in sufficient quantity.

You could do the Prussians as a smaller, highly mobile force, maximising national advantages (30 points) with "lethal volleys", "great captain", and either "cadence" or "oblique order". You'll rarely be short of cards and run rings around the enemy, just won't have that many units.

I agree, Kaptain Kobold's Risk figures are a lesson in creativity. Very inspiring indeed!

"You could do the Prussians as a smaller, highly mobile force, maximising national advantages (30 points) with "lethal volleys", "great captain", and either "cadence" or "oblique order". You'll rarely be short of cards and run rings around the enemy, just won't have that many units."

This is pretty much how I am approaching my GNW Risk figure armies – pile national advantages onto the Swedes at the cost of them having a smaller army than the Russians, who will have few (if any) advantages, but heaps of troops.

Nice Post Altefritz! Lots of good stuff in Greg Savvinos's analysis.

Thank you all. Yes, Kronoskaf has been of great use. Altefritz, thanks for pointing out and sharing Greg Savinnos' take on this topic. That is a big help. Cea5ar, Kaptain Kobold, I've been following your Riskovian adventures on the Stronghold and I'll try the proposed cards.

Just to hark back to the original inspiration, I finished my 'Maurice' GNW armies last night. All done with Risk figures and a little bit of conversion.

link