From: kzucker@charm.net (Kevin Zucker) Subject: LDGA Q&A and Design Notes LAST DAYS OF THE GRANDE ARMEE QUESTIONS & ANSWERS / 1 JUNE 1999 5.15 Buelow, Hill, Orange and Uxbridge Q) The Prussian Leader Zeiten acts exactly like the above. Their corps are always in command as long as units are within command range. He may place one unit from another formation in command. Am I right? A) Right. Q) Why does Orange have a (2) for command rating? Can he place two other units in command? A) He can command another officer plus two odd units. Q) What about Wellington, does he have to spend a command point to put the RES into command, or is that automatic? A) It counts as one corps, as for the other commanders. Q) Cavalry may retreat from a non-cavalry force. So, you can retreat from a mixed force of infantry and cavalry, OK? A) No. Q) Am I right? Count up the odds, roll the die on the 'Elan' table, and if one or more attacking units fall below the result, then all the attacking units retreat. Even the units good enough to attack. A) Yes. 8.13 Forced March Q) Since "a Force March" may not be played two turns in a row by the same player," does this in any way effect the ability of a player to issue a march order to reinforcements that enter on the turn on which "forced march" may not be played? A) No. Q) If a player commences a scenario of 3 days duration (12 game turns) with,say, 4 chits in his hand, is he only permitted to force march during 4 movement phases max during the scenario? A) The only mitigating factor is that you get to draw one chit during Night, when you don't spend any. Q) Are the chits returned to the cup along with the regular movement chits? A) The Forced March chits are returned *not* to his hand but to the cup, where they are apt to become next turn's regular move chit ... 8.2 March Orders Q) This paragraph refers the reader to the definition of "force" in the glossary. According to the glossary a "force" is: "a group of combat units that are combining their combat strengths in order to attack the same hex." Does this mean that only units(other than reinforcements) which have first moved into enemy zones of control in order to make an attack, are permitted March Orders? This definition does not appear to describe the permissible composition of the "group" of units that is to be given a march order. Shouldn't 8.2 refer the reader to the definition of "formation" rather than "force?" If not, pray tell me what units (other than reinforcements as per 8.21) are permitted to compose a "force" for this purpose. A) As you surmise, the definition of "Force" in the glossary needs to be completely changed. The term doesn't even appear in the Combat Rules until the optional Elan rule (11.7). A Force is either: (a) a single stack or (b) a Formation excluding out of command units. 8.21 Reinforcements Q) Is there any limit to the number of reinforcing units and/or formations that may be placed under a "march order," on any given turn? A) There is no specific numeric limit. 8.24 Restrictions on March Order Movement "...A force given the march order must move at its maximum Movement Allowance each turn..." Q) Is that the max. MA as drawn by the chit or max MA. as on the counter ? A) Should say "total Movement Allowance (see 8.13.)" 8.42A Road March Restrictions Q) Why isn't there a combat penalty for being attacked while in road march? I can imagine you saying that each turn represents several hours, but why do I want to keep units in "normal" movement when road march is not penalized when attacked. A) If you plan on attacking you must. Units in road march ARE penalized (see 8.42A). Maybe you have missed this point. It means you must have 5-1 odds or better to attack when you are in Road March. Also of course you are weaker because you cannot stack. Q) If a road march unit is repulsed, does/can/must it attack during the combat phase? I think they have to but am not sure... A) If it is repulsed, that means it will not be adjacent. An energetic repulse of a formation moving carelessly could destroy the unit. However, let us assume all the division commanders realize the presence of the enemy nearby and are marching fairly dense columns. As the game now stands this security of marching infantry columns depends upon the presence of vedettes to their front. You, the player, must use your Vedettes to protect marching columns. This is why there is no effect on a unit defending. It is because the lead formation falls back on troops marching up from behind. Therefore it concentrates in half the time while it makes itself impossible to hit. Reserve brigade makes a line perpindicular to their front man and not oblique as attackers must. Attackers can be forced by skillful enemies to move obliquely across enemy field of fire. A hex is one mile. Troops can normally cover 8 miles of road in a turn. Cross- country rate is half that. When a force leaves road march to prepare for battle, its men must leave the road, to fan-out perpendicular to the road (or in any case marching feet must leave the road). The road column must be envisioned as several hexes long. First regiment in line is able to deploy immediately. For a defending unit drawing back upon its reserves, this change of formation can happen more quickly than for an attacking unit. 8.43 Removing Road March Markers Q) This describes how much it costs to remove a Road March Marker, but does not clearly state when it must be removed--and surely it must. May a unit that leaves a road hex, continue to move with a Road March Marker on it even thought it has left the road? Could you please explain? A) Yes. A unit in road column may indeed leave the road and remain in column. Just envision a division-sized unit of say 8,000 men, marching say 8 abreast with an average of 10 feet between files, to take up two hexes. The only difference being that there is of course no road rate benefit for a unit in road march moving cross-country. Actually there would be a "super-road-march" column of as few as 1,000 men per mile for a force moving administratively with no fear of encountering the enemy. The reason to remove the road march marker is to be able to attack. 11.31 Terrain Effects on Combat / Towns Example, last line: (change) Towns only increase a defender by 50%, not double. 11.4 COMMENTARY Why do we not have partial unit elimination in this game? Increment model is wrong for units in this era. What invalidates it is the use of reserves: most of a division is in reserve at start of battle, at least 75%. These "increments" must not be counted as contributing to the combat power of the unit. DIVISION: ONE BRIGADE IN RESERVE ONE BRIGADE IN CONTACT: ONE REGIMENT IN RESERVE ONE REGIMENT IN CONTACT This means only about one-quarter of the troops begin any battle engaged with the enemy. If Reserves are fed into battle as losses occur, the front line firepower of the unit remains unchanged. What is perhaps missing is "high-stakes" attack where you commit your reserves to clinch the battle. Problem is, your defenses are also more brittle if the attack fails. The Player should be able to "stake" any of his corps. (See below, "Optional High-Stakes Attack," 16.34) 11.41 French Old Guard Does Not Exchange Q) Don't you find the change from Ex to De or Ae is a bit too much? It is possible to lose several Prussian Corps attacking the Guard at 6 to 1 or more. I've been in this position before in Six Days. Maybe the Allies may lose half but not all! A) (change 2nd sentence): "If an attacking or defending force ... then the combat result is automatically changed to _No Effect_." (change 4th sentence): "In other words ... while attacking units at least equal to the strength of the _non-guard unit_ would be removed also." 11.51 Grand Batteries (addition) Horse and Foot artillery must be from the same corps in order to combine their fire together in a single bombardment attack. EXCEPTION: The French may select one target hex to receive the combined fire of foot and horse artillery units from different corps. This is considered a "Grand Battery." The French player may have only one Grand Battery on any given turn. 11.54 Resolving Bombardments, A.(change) Ar, *EX* and Ae are treated as "no effect" (delete balance of sentence). 11.7 Optional Élan Q) I'm not clear on what happens when a stack fails the elan roll and must disengage back to the hex it came from. What if this creates an overstack because other units moved up behind them? A) Apply the regular displacement rules as if those units had retreated after combat. 13.21 Vedettes and Retreat (add to the end) "But vedettes may be displaced. See 11.45." 15.1 Entry of Reinforcements Q) This rule states that reinforcements may move and attack freely on the turn of entry. However, the first sentence makes a parenthetical reference to rule 8.21. Is this just a reference, or does this mean (despite the statement that "Reinforcements may be placed...) that in order to move on the turn of entry, all reinforcements must be placed under a "march order" on the turn of entry? A) No implication intended. 16.2 Cavalry Retreat Before Combat (add) Horse artillery *may* retreat before combat along with cavalry if it is stacked with cavalry. 16.34 OPTIONAL: HIGH-STAKES ATTACK (add) The Player may "stake" any corps to increase the chances of a decisive result (one way or the other). These "staked" units get the "irresistible" benefit (16.32),_for_that_turn_only. If they do not achieve De or Dr in the ensuing combat result, THEN add one to the die as it stands. Example: 3-1 odds, Attacker rolls a 4; Defender must retreat one hex. However, if Attacker rolled a 5 ("Ex") he would add one and must himself retreat. In this example, NO 5 result is possible. 20.12. Controlled Freidnly Supploy Source The heading says 1 VP (incorrect), the text says 2 VPs (correct). The Counters Q) Are there really blue and gold Napoleon counters available as shown on the back of the box? I think blue and gold Nappy and Ney counters would be preferable to the Guard colors. A) Nope. They're all the same color. I guess we must have changed colors between times... Q) I don't think giving the Prussian Corps commanders a command point was necessary, but then I like strict command and control rules. A) We tried the game without giving Mr. Zeiten a command point and we thought it didn't seem right. Why don't you try it with him as a regular officer and see what you think. Bulow on the other hand, was high-stature. I am going to add infantry vedettes to the system with the next game, on the Battles of Castiglione and Lonato for Clash of Arms. If Zeiten had some infantry vedettes to line the river, it would be a bit more difficult for the French initially. Kevin Zucker Visit the OSG page at http://www.charm.net/~kzucker/osg/ and the 1999 Tour page at http://www.charm.net/~kzucker/hq/html/Tour99.html hour-by-hour tour itinerary at http://www.charm.net/~kzucker/99Itin.html ORDERS: Phone or Fax 1(610)935-7622 Operational Studies Group PO Box 50207 Baltimore, MD 21211 U.S.A.