We played our first game using the newest version of the Et Sans Resultat (ESR) rules. For our first game, we chose the “Swolna” scenario from the ESR Campaign Guide, Master of the World, which covers Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812.
(This battle report is very long and detailed in order to describe the relevant mechanics of the ESR rule system, which is quite different from many traditional rule sets for the period. Here is a link to the ESR Quick Reference Guide that we used, and more information about the rules can be found at: thewargamingcompany.com ).
https://thewargamingcompany.com/pdfs/QRGv3%20Final%20Expanded%2075.pdf
The Swolna scenario is rated at the “Beginner” level, and it provides a balanced mix of formations on both sides, and requires a relatively small playing area, so it seemed to be ideal for our first game. Since the forces and the battle area were small, we decided to play the game using a ground scale of 75 yards per inch (ESR enables you to play at any scale you like). At the 75 yard scale, one mile equals 24 inches on the table.
The article in this link provides the background and a good map for the historical battle:
https://www.napoleon-series.org/military-info/battles/1812/Russia/Pultusk/PultuskChapter4.pdf
Historically, the combat at Swolna was a small clash of advanced guards, but the scenario provides additional formations that were in the area and able to participate in the battle, and the players have the option to employ those formations to create a larger battle.
(ESR uses these terms for the different levels of command:”Formations” are divisions and/or brigades (in the parlance of most armies of the period). Formations are composed of individual bases (“Units”) of infantry, cavalry, and/or artillery, which represent individual infantry battalions, groups of cavalry squadrons, and artillery batteries. Formations are the lowest maneuver element (to use a modern term) in the chain of command.”Forces” in ESR generally refer to individual corps. Each Force has an “Objective”, and force commanders give orders (“Directives”) to the formations under their control.”Army” in ESR refers to all of the Forces on one side. Army commanders give objectives to force commanders. In our scenario, each side only had one corps, so the corps commanders served as both the force commander and the army commander.)
Terrain: The battle area is 3 miles X 3 miles. We had to cut a half mile of depth from the French baseline in the south in order to fit this area onto a 6’X5′ table. The most important terrain feature is the Swolna River, which runs east-to-west across the table, about 1.5 – 2 miles south of the Russian baseline in the north. The river is only crossable at two bridges — one at the village of Swolna in the center of the table, and the other at the village of Ostroi-Konetz near the eastern edge of the table. Both of these villages are on the north side of the river. North of the river, the terrain is generally open, with some small villages, some small gentle hills, and some marshes. South of the river, the terrain is mostly wooded, except for some open ground near the bridge at Swolna.
Victory Conditions: At the end of the game, the French must retain control of the villages of Swolna and Ostroi-Konetz. (“Control” in ESR terms means that no enemy units may be within a half mile (12 inches at the scale we used) of the villages.) The Russians must cause all French formations north of the river to be retreating or broken at the end of the game. The scenario has a maximum of 21 turns (from 12 noon to 7 p.m.). (Each turn in ESR represents about 20 minutes of real time.)
Deployment: The starting forces were placed on the table in accordance with the scenario map.
The French, under the command of Marshal Oudinot, had two small brigades of light infantry (with 4 legerebattalions in each), with one brigade deployed at Swolna, and the other deployed at Ostroi-Konetz. About a half mile forward of the infantry, the French deployed two small light cavalry brigades (with 4 squadron groups in each), one to the west of the village of Pogarichtchi (north of Sowlna) and one to the east of the village of Sastenok (north of Ostroi-Konetz). South of the river, a large infantry division (12 line infantry battalions and two light artillery batteries) and a small heavy cavalry brigade (4 Cuirassier squadron groups) were deployed. This was the entire French force.
The Russians, under the command of General d’Auvray, started with two advanced guard brigades deployed on the table. Kazachkovsky’s brigade had two dragoon units, two Jager battalions and a horse battery. Helfrich’s brigade had two guard light cavalry units, two hussars, two cossacks, two jagers, two grenadiers and a foot battery. Both of these formations were deployed just inside the edge of the Russian baseline in the north. Later in the game, heavy Russian reinforcements would arrive from the north on Turn 7 (Berg’s infantry division), Turn 13 (a second infantry division) and Turn 17 (a grenadier division). These reinforcements would give the Russians an overwhelming balance of power, but it would be late in the day before they all arrived, and it would take some time for these divisions to deploy out of march column. The scenario would end at dusk, after Turn 21.
Objectives and Directives: The first few turns of the game were spent issuing and activating objectives and directives.
(ESR allows Force commanders to issue one Objective to their Force and one of six different Directives (orders) to each of their Formations: Withdraw, Attack, Move, Defend, Reserve and Support. Also, a formation could be under one of three Statuses: Reform, Retreat, or Broken, which would negate any directive that they had been given. Objectives and Directives are pending until they are activated, which could happen as soon as the following turn or much later, depending on the circumstances and the result of a dice roll.)
Marshal Oudinot realized that he would have to expand the French bridgehead in order to control the vital villages near the bridges. He accordingly set the forward village of Sastenok as his force’s objective. That objective was activated on Turn 2, which enabled Oudinot to issue orders to his formations. He directed his two light infantry brigades to Move forward, while the two light cavalry brigades were ordered to Defend their current positions. The line infantry division and heavy cavalry brigade were directed to Move across the bridge at Swolna and then continue moving to the objective. Twenty minutes later (Turn 3), one light infantry brigade, one light cavalry brigade, and the line infantry division activated their directives and began to move. The activation rolls for the other French formations resulted in a delay in activating their orders. One light cavalry brigade rolled a 2 (on 2D6) and received a delay of four turns!
General d’Auvray set his force’s objective as the bridge at Ostroi-Konetz. When that objective was activated on Turn 2, he ordered Kazachkovksy’s small advanced guard brigade to Attack to this objective, and Helfrich’s larger advanced guard brigade to Support this attack.
(d’Auvray’s intention was to use both of his relatively more powerful advanced guard formations to attack the small light infantry brigade and the small cavalry brigade that were blocking his path to the bridge, forcing both of those French formations to break or to retreat across the river. He expected to accomplish this by the time that Berg’s infantry division arrived at 2 p.m., at which point he would set the bridge at Swolna as the new objective for his force. He hoped to engage the French line infantry division and the other French formations with all three of his Russian formations, using his superior artillery to weaken the French. Then, when d’Auvray’s second infantry division arrived at 4 p.m., it would likely provide enough strength to drive the French away and seal the victory. He was not counting on the grenadier division to have much of an impact due to its expected late arrival.)
Opening Moves:
Kazachkovsky’s brigade received a one turn delay in activating its Attack order, so Helfrich’s supporting brigade also bided its time for a turn. d’Auvray used the time to take two Leader Actions to commit the artillery batteries from both brigade’s reserve areas. This would enable the batteries to move and unlimber when each brigade moved into range of the French. (In ESR, artillery has an effective range of 900 yards, which was 12 inches at our scale.)
The delay in the Russian attack enabled the French light infantry brigade in Ostroi-Konetz to move forward to Sastenok unopposed. Upon reaching their objective, the light infantry converted to a Defend order. The French line infantry division on the south side of the river moved forward until it reached the bridge. It would take several turns for the all of deployed units in the division to cross the bridge. The other French formations held their positions, either because they were on Defend orders or because their Move orders were not yet activated.
When Kazachkovsky’s brigade activated on Turn 4, he advanced toward his objective, and encountered the French light infantry in Sastenok. The Regulating Unit of his formation was a Jager battalion, and it stopped when it came into skirmish range of the French (450 yards = 6 inches). The other Jager unit joined the first, then the two dragoon units moved up to the left of the Jagers, and the horse artillery moved up and unlimbered on the left end of the extended line, at long range from the French. (In ESR, formations on Attack orders must move at full speed directly toward their objective with their Regulating Unit until it either makes combat contact with the enemy or puts the enemy in its ranged Threat zone. Any unit can serve as a formation’s regulating unit on any given turn, and the other units then move to remain within 225 yards of the regulating unit and each other.Both sides move their formations simultaneously, with the priority being: (1) all moves made by withdrawing, retreating and broken formations, (2) all attacking formations and their supports, and (3) all other moves and their supports.)
The unlimbered Russian battery shot at the French light infantry in the ensuing Combat Phase, causing one fatigue on the French. Also, and very unfortunately for the French, when Leader Fates were checked, the commander of the light infantry brigade was badly wounded, which removed his leadership bonuses from the formation’s threat and cohesion values.
(In ESR, artillery may shoot twice in a turn — once in the Threat Assessment Step of the Combat Phase which follows movement of the formations, and once again in the Threat Assessment Step of the Movement Phase which precedes movement of the formations. The Russian Jagers could not shoot in the Combat Phase because skirmish fire only occurs in the Movement Phase. This gives artillery a powerful effect in the game, but that effect is limited to only causing fatigue up to the given Threat value of the artillery (which was 3 in the case of the Russian horse artillery).”Threat” is the negative effect that shooting and close combat can have on a formation. To assess what effect Threat has on a target, the threat values of all the units that are shooting and/or in close combat are added up, plus a few other factors, and minus any fatigue, plus the roll of one or more dice, and that total is compared to the total Cohesion of the target formation, which is generally 1 per deployed unit, plus a commander bonus, minus any previously accumulated fatigue. Any positive result up to 2X the Cohesion of the target causes +1 fatigue, and every multiple of the Cohesion (2X, 3X, etc.) causes that many additional fatigues and that many possible combat losses. “Fatigue” represents physical fatigue as well as casualties, stress, breakdowns in command and control, and other forms of disorder that diminish a formation’s effectiveness and willingness to stay in the fight. The negative effects of fatigue on a formation in the game tend to increase exponentially as fatigue accumulates and cohesion diminishes.Finally, all leaders that are within the threat zone of the enemy must check their fate at the beginning of each combat phase. An unattached leader must roll a 2 on 2D6 to possibly come to harm, which the French leader unfortunately did!)
On Turn 5, the firefight at Sastenok continued at the beginning of the Movement Phase, with the skirmishers on both sides joining in. Each side received one fatigue.
During movement on Turn 5, Kazachkovsky’s attacking brigade used its unlimbered battery as its Regulating Unit. Since the battery was within threat range of the French, it fulfilled the requirements of its Attack order, thus none of the units of the brigade had to actually move forward. Kazachkovsky shuffled his units to place his dragoons on the left of the battery, and his Jagers on the right, out of skirmish range. He was concerned that the French light cavalry brigade near Sastenok might Convert to an Attack order, and he wanted to have his units concentrated to meet any French charge.
(In ESR, under certain circumstances, formations may have opportunities to voluntarily Convert their directives to different directives, and, under certain adverse circumstances, they may be forced to Convert their directives to different directives. This represents the brigade and division commanders assessing their local situation and then using their discretion to do what is good or necessary for their formation. A Cavalry formation is able to Convert to an Attack directive if a target is in its charge range and within its charge arc of 45 degrees.)
At the beginning of the Turn 5 Combat Phase, Kazachkovsky’s battery fired again on the leaderless and fatigued light infantry brigade, with a result that was 2X the target’s cohesion. (However, only one more fatigue was actually added to the French light infantry brigade (giving it 3 total) because that was the limit of the battery’s threat value.)
During the Conversion Step of the Combat Phase, the battered French light infantry in Sastenok decided that discretion was the better part of valor, and voluntarily converted to Withdraw, moving a half move (8 inches) to the rear, facing the enemy.
Also during this Conversion phase, the French light cavalry brigade near Sastenok, under Castex, converted to Attack and charged Kazachkovsky’s brigade. Two French Chasseur units made contact with two Russian dragoon units and the unlimbered battery. Here is how the Combat Assessment was resolved:(The two French Chasseurs contributed 2 threat points each, and added +1 for Castex’s combat bonus for a total of 5. The roll of one D6 was added to this, which was a 6, for a total threat of 11. This was compared to the Russian cohesion. The Russians had five deployed units and received one cohesion point for each unit, plus Kazachkovsky’s cohesion bonus of +1, minus -1 for their one fatigue, for a total cohesion of 5. 11 is more than 2X 5, so the Russians received 2 fatigues and 2 possible combat losses.In return, the two Russian dragoon units contributed 3 threat points each and the unlimbered battery provided 2 points, plus Kazachkovsky’s +1 combat bonus (he had no ranged threat bonus), minus -1 for one fatigue, which subtotaled to 8 points, to which 1D6 was added, which was a 6, for a total threat of 14. The French had one cohesion point for each of their four deployed units plus Castex’s cohesion bonus of +2 and no previous fatigue for a total cohesion of 6. 14 is more than 2X 6 so the French received 2 fatigues and 2 combat losses.Since the Russian threat assessment total had been higher, the French had to take their combat losses first. Because the assessment result was 2X the French cohesion, two Chasseur units had to test to see whether they routed or merely retired. One passed and retired 225 yards, and the other routed and was moved back to the brigade’s Reformation Area, located 900 yards in the rear.When the Russians checked their combat losses, no French units remained in contact, so the combat losses were ignored and they remained where they were.)
The two opposing brigades then had to check their Status, using the ratio of their Fatigue to their Cohesion after the combat.
The French light cavalry brigade tallied up its cohesion by adding +1 for the three non-routed units and +2 for Castex’s cohesion bonus, and then had to subtract -4 for the 2 fatigues it had (cavalry formations suffer double the normal penalties for fatigue). Thus, the final fatigue score for the formation was 1, which is as low as cohesion can go. This gave it a fatigue-to-cohesion ratio of 2:1, which was more than enough to convert the formation to Broken status. Its units then fell back a half move to the rear, facing away from the enemy.The Russian advanced guard formation tallied up its cohesion by adding +1 for the five deployed units and +1 for its leader bonus, minus -3 for its 3 fatigues, giving it a cohesion of 3. Thus its fatigue-to-cohesion ratio was 1:1, which was enough to convert the formation to Retreat status. Its units then fell back a half move to the rear, facing toward the enemy.
While all this was happening, on another part of the field, the other French light cavalry brigade under Corbineau also converted to Attack and charged part of Helfrich’s brigade. Two Polish lancers contacted one Russian Guard cavalry unit. The resulting combat saw the Russians defeated, with the Guard cavalry retiring. Corbineau then used his Mass Cavalry trait to launch another attack on Helfrich. (This was totally wrong on our part. The Mass Cavalry trait does not allow a formation to make multiple attacks in one phase.) During this second (incorrect) attack, one of Corbineau’s units contacted Helfrich’s Reformation Area, which caused his formation’s cohesion to be halved. The results of these additional combat assessments and status checks converted Helfrich’s formation to Retreat status with 5 fatigues. Corbineau’s formation was involuntarily converted to Withdraw, due to its fatigue being in a ratio of 1/2:1 with its cohesion.
A lull then fell over the battlefield as the fatigued brigades of both armies regrouped, and fresh forces came forward.
On Turn 6, Berg’s infantry division was just off the table and due to arrive on Turn 7. In the Command Phase, d’Auvray issued an order to Berg, directing his formation to go on the Attack.(ESR allows off-table formations to receive and activate orders, and also to receive leader actions.)
During the Leader Action Step, d’Auvray used a free action to Reform & Recover Helfrich’s brigade. This changed the formation’s status from Retreat to Reform. d’Auvray then Consolidated the brigade, removing the two Cossack units and recovering 4 fatigue. Thus Helfrich was made ready to get back into the fight.
There was no combat in the Turn 6 combat phase, and all units on both sides that were not under threat were able to recover one fatigue.
On Turn 7, Berg’s pending Attack order was activated. d’Auvray then ordered Helfrich’s reformed formation to go on the Attack. d’Auvray then passed two leader action tests to commit both of Berg’s heavy artillery batteries. Berg then halted his division off-table in order to try to deploy his units. (ESR allows attacking formations that are fully Ployed (i.e. in march column), to halt for one turn and deploy.) Five of Berg’s infantry battalions were thus able to deploy before the division entered the table.
At the beginning of the Turn 7 Movement step, Kazachkovsky’s brigade had recovered enough fatigue to convert to a Defend order. He unlimbered his battery and oriented his units to face the approaching French line infantry division, which had finally arrived at the front after crossing the river.
Unfortunately for the French line infantry division, it had arrived at the front nearly simultaneously with three other formations, all of which were on Move orders. Move orders require the regulating unit of the formation to move toward the objective at full speed, with all other units maintaining coherency. By Turn 7, the French objective had been moved to the small hill NW of Sastenok. Four formations all tried to pile onto this tiny hill, which created a massive traffic jam!
(This debacle was caused by our unfamiliarity with the rules. In retrospect, it would have been better for only one French formation to be on a Move directive, with the other formations being on Support directives. A formation on a Support directive can pretty much move however it pleases, as long as it stays within 900 yards of the formation it is supporting.)
Turn 8 was the decisive turn. Helfrich activated his attack order, and charged the French Chasseur brigade and light infantry brigade in the east. Both of these French brigades were in Helfrich’s path to the Russian objective, and both of them were still weak with fatigue from the previous fighting.
In the Movement Phase, Berg’s infantry division moved onto the table and unlimbered its two commited heavy batteries. Berg also deployed two more battalions from his march column, leaving three units still ployed.
In the Combat Phase, Berg’s batteries and Kazachkovsky’s battery fired at the French line infantry division, causing one fatigue. The French division’s two batteries fired at Berg’s division, causing one fatigue.
Much more dramatically, Helfrich charged two French Chasseur units with two Guard cavalry units. The resulting threat assessment was 14X the Chasseurs’ cohesion, which caused 14 fatigues and the automatic rout of both of the Chasseur units in contact, and broke the French formation, effectively for the remainder of the game.
Helfrich also charged the French light infantry brigade with a grenadier battalion and a jager battalion, and his artillery battery added its fire to the combat. These units provided enough threat factors (9) for Helfrich to roll 2D6. The roll was a 9, which produced a total threat of 18, which was 6X the cohesion of the French light infantry, which caused 6 fatigues and routed the two French battalions in contact. This French brigade was also left badly fatigued and broken.
At that point, the French had nothing to stop the Russians from capturing the bridge at Ostroi-Konetz and Marshal Oudinot concluded that he could not win the battle, and he graciously conceded the victory to Russia!
Unfortunately the GM was so busy running the game and playing, he forgot to take a lot of photos! Hence the photos in this post only show the game up thru Turn 6, and do not show the dramatic finish.
We reached this conclusion after playing 8 out of the 21 possible turns in a bit over three hours of playing the game. Coincidentally, that is about how long it took the Russians to win the historical battle of Swolna, so the result of our game was pretty good and is certainly very plausible. Our pace of play will no doubt get faster as we get more familiar with the rules. We have written this detailed report in part to help us remember what we did in this game so we can apply what we learned to our next game of ESR!
- TJ
Another top report with detailed explanations.
Regards, James