NAPOLEONIC
WARGAME ANALYSIS #3
Defending Bridges
14 February 2007
Crossing
the River Nieman in 1812
CONTENTS
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1 - INTRODUCTION
2 - BACKGROUND
2.1 Defense Basics
2.2 ZOC and Hex Grain
2.3 Types of Bridges
3 - DEFENDING BRIDGES
3.1 Type 1
3.2 Type 2
3.3 Type 3
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4 - SPECIAL
CONSIDERATIONS
4.1 Defending Both Sides
4.2 Defending Artillery Concentrations
4.3 Not Defending a Bridge
4.4 Adjustments
REFERENCES
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1 -
INTRODUCTION
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Maxim
XXXVI. When the enemy's army is
covered by a river, upon which he holds multiple bridges, do not attack
in front. This would divide your force and expose you to be turned.
Approach the river in echelon of columns, in such a manner that the
leading column shall be the only one the enemy can attack, without
offering you his flank. In the meantime, let your light troops occupy
the bank, and when you have decided on the point of passage, rush upon
it and cross the bridge. Observe that the point of passage should be
always at a distance from the leading echelon, in order to deceive the
enemy.
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The aim of this article is to help Napoleonic wargamers win more
victories in scenarios dealing with defense of bridges. The
typical reader is assumed to be a member of an on-line wargame club
like Napoleonic
Wargame Club or International
Napoleonic Wargame Club. The reader is also assumed to have
available at least one of the Napoleonic game titles from Talonsoft or
HPS Simulations. [TS, HPS]
Since this article covers advanced topics, it assumes the reader has
mastered the basics of game play. For articles covering basics
see Napoleonic Archive
Articles. This article covers a fair amount of
tactics and strategy related to warfare and not just wargaming.
If the cited wargames are reasonably accurate models of
warfare, then learning tactics and strategy of warfare should directly
influence a player's wargaming ability.
2 -
BACKGROUND
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Nothing
is more difficult, not to say impossible, than to defend the passage of
a river, especially when the front of attack be of too great an extent.
-- Frederick the Great [ FRE47]
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2.1 Defense Basics
It is assumed the reader understands the basics of how to defend in TS
and HPS games. The tactics used in either can be highly dependent
upon options chosen. Suffice it to say that as defender you
should never allow "Line
Movement Restriction", which the author believes very strongly as
unrealistic. As defender in HPS games never agree to play with
options allowing multiple melees and get the attacker in the scenario
to play using MOE3
rules. Further, obviously it is in the defender's interest to
play with "hard" ZOC. Otherwise the tactics described in the
article will not work!
However, some of the most important rudimentary basics will be reviewed briefly for benefit of a novice
reader. (1) Keep infantry battalions in line formation to
maximize firepower and minimize fire effects. (2) Keep commanders
in C&C; generally this means 2x4 for Allies and 3x6 for
French. Keeping C&C will double
your firepower because you'll decrease time your battalions spend in
disorder, and reduces the chance of routing when taking a morale check
since disordered units get a -1 modifier when checking morale.
(3) Keep artillery and cavalry up-close
to your formed infantry battalions. Artillery and cavalry are
psychological threats as much as real ones in game terms. Up
close is where artillery can make a big difference. (4)
Understand that usually killing enemy units is the key, not obtaining
or retaining obective hexes. By destroying the enemy's main
force, you can then easily capture whatever objective hexes you want.
2.2 ZOC and Hex Grain
To purists, this topic is annoying. However it is a fact in
these
computer wargames: our soldiers live in a hex-grained
world. So you
might as well accept it and use hex grains properly. In this
article we will exploit hex grains and zones of control to their
fullest. Be prepared! There are really
only three hex grains in these games due to the way the hexes are laid
out and the LOS rules for ZOC and firing are designed. These
three directions are
shown in Figure 1.
Figure
1. The three hex grain directions in computer wargames
2.3 Types of Bridges
Because of the hex grain and terrain considerations, we classify in
this article bridges into three types, as illustrated in Figure 2.
Figure
2. Three types of bridges.
Type 1 bridge is probably the most frequently encountered; it is the
second easiest to defend, as we shall explain shortly. Type 2 is
probably the next most commonly encountered. It can be difficult
to defend since ZOC can be exerted on the opposite bank (or bridge
span if multi-hex spanned bridge) only from a hex at the end of the
bridge -- allowing direct melee assault across the bridge. Type 3
is uncommon; it is a
chateaux or other fortification on the defender's side of the
creek. This is probably the easiest bridge to defend, given
plentiful skirmish companies.
Note that all these same concepts apply to multi-hex span
bridges. The concepts used for defense are the same, except the
attacker will be on a multi-span bridge hex rather than on the opposite
side of the hexside creek.
3 -
DEFENDING BRIDGES
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Have
the course of the river watched by bodies of light troops, without
attempting to make a defense at every point. Concentrate rapidly
at the threatened point in order to overwhelm the enemy while a part
only of his army has passed across.
-- Baron Antoine de Jomini [ JOM38]
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This section is a rework of a previous "hidden" article written for a
select group of NWC play testers of the NiR Project The Battle of Wavre (which is the
ultimate scenario in bridge defense) in the year 2000. As such,
the author decided to include it here to make it available for a wider
audience. Note that is assumed (1) that the river or creek which
is spanned by the bridge is impassable in game terms, and (2) that the
time frame of the scenario prevents the attacker from moving downstream
or upstream of the creek until a fordable place or another bridge is
found. If multiple bridges are present on a mapboard in a
scenario, then each bridge
must be garrisoned as described in the following for the overall bridge
defense to work. Take heed of Frederick the Great's admonishment
in the preceding section's quote; do not try to defend too long of a
span of a river with many bridges; each scenario will have to be taken
into account in itself. If a river line is deemed too long or
having too many bridges or fords to defend, it is better to withdraw to
a better defensible terrain that allows your defensive line to be
shorter or at least its natural length given the force composition,
size, and terrain.
3.1 Type 1: Bridges That Can NOT Be Melee Assaulted
Some bridges are placed in the map hex grain in a way that if the
defenders are correctly positioned, enemy units can neither move nor
melee across the bridge. For bridges spanning creek hexsides or
deep water hexes, which are impassible to all units (except with
engineers with pontoons in the HPS Campaign series), this means the
hexside obstacle
can not be traversed until the bridge is captured. This is very
useful when delaying an enemy force. In this section, how to
defend these types of bridges is discussed. For an abstracted
view of how to defend such a bridge, take a look at Figure 3.
Figure 3. Defending a Type 1 bridge
This figure is an abstraction that minimizes aspects not relevant in a
normal map view. Here the bridge is defended by three infantry
battalions, three skirmisher companies, and one artillery
battery. The blackened hexes to the southeast hare hills.
The darkened line on the hexsides is the impassable creek. The
key concept to this setup is the zone of controls of Battalions #1 and
#2. As evident in Figure 3, if a unit moves up to the east-end
bridge hex, it is stopped by the ZOC of Battallion #1. In the
next enemy movement phase, the ZOC of Battalion #2 prevents movement
across the bridge. Also note that since no unit lies on the
west-end of the bridge, this bridge can not be melee assaulted.
The only way to get across is by causing the defender to give way due
to losses sustained from firepower. Note that the ZOC of
Battalion #2 is not needed until an enemy unit moves up to the east
bridge hex. Therefore, keep Battalion #2 out of fire path unitl
it is needed to block movement across the bridge. No need
exposing troops until they're needed. Battalion #3 is used to
replace Battlalion #1 or #2 when either becomes fatigued (i.e., fatigue
value of more than about 4) or routed. The skirmisher companies
along the river screen the battalions from fire and apply additonal
fire to the enemy units on the opposing side. The skirmisher
companies can move up and down the west bank of the river as better
targets arise. The artillery battery is placed in such a way that
it can not be hit by musket fire from the east bank of the creek.
It also has enfilade fire on any unit approaching the east-end hex of
the bridge.
Two other examples of defending Type 1 bridges are shown in Figures 4
and 5.
Figure 4. Example of defending a
Type
1 bridge
Figure 5. A second example of
defending a Type 1 bridge
A variant of this defense is using a single battalion in the hex
occupied by Battalion #1 in Figure 6, but rotated clockwise one hex
spine to face southwest. In this way, this single battalion's ZOC
covers both end hexes of the bridge. The weakness in this
defense lies in exposing the battalion's flank to enfilade fire by
opponents across the river and perhaps artillery on the ridge.
This variant could be a last ditch effort when only one battalion is
available. This is shown in two ways in Figure 6.
Figure 6. A third example of
defending a Type 1 bridge using a single unit
The key to defending Type 1 bridges is leaving the friendly-end hex
of the bridge open. If a unit is in the friendly-end
hex, it can be melee assaulted across the bridge, which unbalances the
whole defensive tactic; take care not to do this! To
counter this tactic, the assaulting player will concentrate his fire on
either Battalion #1 or #2 or both, and therefore they will eventually
rout or become fatigued. You must rotate your battalions back and
forth from positions of protection like Battalion #3 to the defense of
the bridge. Otherwise, your front will melt away. A defense
such as this with 4 or 5 rotating battalions can hold a bridge for a
very long time.
3.2 Bridge Type 2: Bridges That Can Be
Melee Assaulted
Defending Type 1 bridges seems very nice if you are the defender.
However there's always a fly in the ointment and a Type 2 bridge is it;
it can not be defended in the manner described in Section 3.1. As
shown in Figure 7, some bridges are laid in the hex grain such that
there is no way to defend the bridge without being assailable by melee.
Figure 7. Defending a Type 2 bridge
The best defense for this is to stand back a hex, screen your infantry
with skirmishers, and counter-attack mercilessly any enemy battalion
that melees across the bridge. As this is considered road
movement, keep in mind that only one unit and its
accompanying leaders may move across or melee across a bridge.
Use this disadvantage to the attacker to smash any battalion that
melees across the bridge. You usually can win such a melee and
capture the units for lack of retreat hexes. (A unit can not be pushed
back from melee across a bridge since that is road movement and is not
allowed during melee.) In Figure 7, Battalions #2 and #3 are
sitting out of LOS for just that purpose; to counter-attack and smash
any successful melee. The defense shown in Figure 7 can be used
for the other types of bridges too, but the other bridge defense tactic
described in Section 3.1 is preferred because it leaves no room for
doubt - "the attacker just ain't gettin' across".
Militia or Landwehr are good candidates for these types of jobs.
There is no threat of enemy cavalry charge so they don't have to change
to square under large threat values. They are not that valuable
for regular combat, so using a half dozen of these battalions rotated
at the front end of the bridge is the real deal.
3.3 Bridge Type 3: Bridges Defended by
Fortification or Chateaux
Another type of bridge is one that is has a chateaux or fortification
in the hex on the friendly side of the bridge. This type of
bridge is shown in Figure 8. In that case, stack 250 skirmishers
in the chateaux and keep adding more to replace losses below 250 from
the
friendly side each movement phase. The bridge defense can be
considered nearly impassible.
Figure 8. Defending a Type 3 bridge
4 -
SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS
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When
an invading force crosses a river in its onward march, do not advance
to meet it in mid-stream. It will be best to let half the army get
across, and then deliver your attack.
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4.1 Defending Both Sides of a Bridge
There is one more way of defending a bridge across unbroken creek
hexsides or water hexes. You can place units on both sides of the
bridge. I've seen this done in The
Battle of Ligny (TS) by Prussian players. This can be a
delicate
maneuver particularly in face of large numbers of opposing troops on
the other side of the bridge. The main concern is losing a melee
with no routes of retreat open; your units are then captured.
KNOW THIS: You can not retreat from a lost melee across a
bridgehead; your unit is lost for no ZOC. See Figure 9 for an
example of this.
Figure 9. Defending both sides of a bridge
In this figure, a 75 man skirmisher has just lost a melee at the east
end of the bridge. Since is has no available ZOC to retreat
through it
would only be able to retreat across the bridge. But, as this
figure
shows, the game engine does not allow this. However, placing
skirmishers on the opposing side of the river can gain you a few
additional turns of delay before the attack begins on the bridge
hex.
In the case of the bridge type shown in Figure 9, it's probably best to
stay on the friendly side of the river. However, at defender
discretion a skirmisher or two may be placed in a road on the opposite
bank inward a few hexes if the enemy does not have LOS to them.
In
this way, the attacker's road movement is stopped for a single turn and
he won't know ahead of time to surround the defender during his
movement phase to cut off your retreat. In the case of Figure 9
however, it may pay dividends to have an infantry battalion guard the
opposite bridge hex. Make sure to place skirmishers on each flank
to
prevent being cut off from retreat. Once the attacker has brought
up
forces in strength, the defender should get that unit back across to
his side. Personally, this maneuver is not recommended, but is
suggested to keep the reader's mind alert for other alternatives.
The
main reason to be leery of this tactic: What do you do when your
line
unit disorders? Units in line formation can not cross a bridge.
4.2 Defending Artillery Concentrations
A good assaulting player will realize he doesn't have a good chance of
melee success across a bridge. He'll then revert to the obvious:
using artillery concentration. So when the attacker masses dozens
of cannon across one bridge head and begans to blow away the defending
battalions, what do you do? This is a difficult situation, but
one you are almost certain to encounter. So, be emotionally
prepared for it. Let's make a list of things we can try.
- Perhaps, the best answer is to mass your artillery on the
opposing side and fire counter-battery fire. Try to get your
batteries on higher elevation to gain the fire modifier. Just
remember that for every cannon you destroy, you get 4 pts, while he, if
he maintains fire on your infantry, will get 1 or 2 pts (1 or 2 SP) per
shot.
- If the assaulting player has brought up his artillery to within
musket range of your side of the river bank, place all your skirmishers
to fire at his artillery.
- Hide your battalions behind all blocking terrain possible.
Only leave the lead battalion in the LOS of artillery; the "lead"
battalion is the one that maintains a ZOC to the opposing bank's bridge
hex if defending like Section 3.1, or your side bridge hex if defending
like Section 3.2. Rotate this lead battalion so that it doesn't
become so fatigued to be useless for many hours.
- Use skirmishers to shield your infantry from artillery if on the
same elevation as the artillery.
- Finally, if it is bad enough, withdraw your infantry battalions
to be out of sight and keep a skirmisher at the bridgehead so that the
attacker will have to melee across the bridge to get across. When
he does this smash that lead battalion with one of your larger-sized
battalions (only one), to regain the bridgehead on your side of the
river. Make sure you have a large enough skirmisher to ensure it
is not blown away during the assaulting player's defensive fire phase,
otherwise he will move across the bridge with the empty hex on
the otherside. Of course, all this is only if the fire
from the artillery becomes so bad that you are losing a great deal of
troops to the battery.
- Keep in mind the number of shots of artillery allowed to the
attacker. Make sure the attacker uses up a disproportionate
amount of ammunition getting across the river, which can be a good
tactic for when he confronts you in open battle later.
4.3 Not Defending a Bridge
As stated in the quote opening this section, sometimes it might be
better to wait further back from the river and meet the enemy when he
has crossed half his army over the bridge. This strategem is
something you'll have to decide on a case-by-case basis. If there
is only one or two bridges, the creek is impassable along the entire
mapboard length in question, and you have sufficient forces, it
might be best to defend the bridges quite vigorously. However, if
there are many bridges, few defenders, and long river lines, it might
be best to drop back and counterattack once the opponent has crossed a
part of his force.
4.4 Adjustments
Of course, against a good assaulting player, you will have to make
adjustments. Do so as needed. Also, depending upon position
the attacker has selected for his main assault, you will have to
shuffle troops
as well. So keep a reserve back from the river and equally
centered between bridges and move to the bridge that appears to be the
main assault. However, don't be
fooled by a ruse and leave a bridge unguarded. If you've decided
on defending the bridges, keep them all
plugged all the time! And, even if it's just a single Landwehr
battalion or a skirmisher.
REFERENCES
[CLA12] Carl von Clauswitz, Principles of
War, 1812. on-line
[FRE47] Frederick the Great, Military Instructions for His
Generals, 1747. on-line
on-line
[HPS] HPS
Simulation's Napoleonic games: Napoleon's Russian Campaign (NRC), Wagram, Jena-Auerstadt, and Waterloo.
[JOM38] Antoine Jomini, The Art
of War, 1838.
[MG] Matrix
Games: soon to re-release the Talonsoft (out of business)
company's game titles. There is disagreement between gamers as to
which system is better TS vs HPS.
[NAP21] Napoleon, The
Maxims of
Napoleon, 1821. These maxims were not actually written
directly by Napoleon but were instead recorded by those around him
while at St Helena island. on-line
[TS] Talonsoft's Napoleonic Battleground
series
games: Napoleon in Russia
(NiR), Prelude to Waterloo
(PTW), and
Battleground Waterloo
(BGW). Alas, the Talonsoft software company is now defunct,
though recently Matrix Games
has expressed interest in updating and re-releasing these three
titles. You may obtain copies of these CDs through eBay for example.
[TZU] Sun Tzu, The Art of War,
6th century B.C. on-line
on-line
