After Napoleon III was defeated and captured at Sedan, Paris was surrounded by the Germans. The new Government of National Defence chose to fight on, and this second phase of the war revolved around the three new republican field armies (of the North, of the Loire, and of the East) trying to relieve the capital. There was one serious attempt by the army in Paris to break out at Villiers / Champigny, and join up with the Army of the Loire. Clearly this deserved to be treated with a scenario for BBB.
I generally like to try to draw the frame of a scenario a little wider than the maps you usually see of a given battle. This is partly because it may give the players more options, partly because by doing so often gives better insight into why a battle happened where and how it did.
Villiers is a good case in point. The contemporary German general staff map of the battle just shows the sector where Ducrot's 2nd Army attacked on 30 November 1870. However, the day before, a diversionary attack had been carried out by Vinoy's 3rd Army, on Ducrot's right.
I therefore chose to extend my battlefield map to the west, to include all 10 French divisions involved, and to start it on 29 November. This changes the game from what could otherwise be a rather dull frontal assault, and allows the French three possible axes of attack for victory (and many ways to achieve an honourable draw). It is also likely to compel the German defenders to think more about where to move their uncommitted troops.
Both sides get to do plenty of attacking. The first half is all about the French trying to overwhelm outnumbered and thinly spread Germans, and to seize objectives without exhausting too many of their units. Then strong German reinforcements arrive, and the second half sees them trying to retake whatever the French have managed to grab.
From an aesthetic point of view this was nice because I was able to use my pontoon bridges, and to put 7 forts on the table! (I used Peter Pig's 1:600 ACW coastal forts – ideal.) In this battle the French used not only river gunboats, but also some of the first ever armoured railway guns. Their combat effect was negligible, of course, but I obviously had to include them as an option in the scenario.
I've fought this a couple of times, and it really is pretty tough for the French to break out. (I have set the bar for their victory conditions pretty low accordingly.) One player said he came out of the game with a lot more sympathy for the French C-in-C in Paris, General Trochu, than he started with!
Scenario map:
FPW Villiers map by
bbbchrisp, on Flickr
Ducrot's 2nd Army musters around Vincennes. Red-dotted river monitor and railway guns yet to be deployed:
Ducrots 2nd Army musters around Vincennes by
bbbchrisp, on Flickr
View of the whole battlefield for the Grand Sortie. Hordes of French! Beautiful forts!
0 Ten French divisions about to sortie from their Paris forts by
bbbchrisp, on Flickr
The full scenario is in the files section of the BBB_wargames Yahoo group:
link
weighs the pros and cons of using a power drill on the minis workbench.
