Alexander the not-so-Great at Debrecen

I think I've only written three scenarios in the last three years. They were all ACW and quite challenging to write, being complex higher-level operational games. I've been trying to get my scenario-writing mojo back and finally managed it (I hope). It turned out that nobody else had a game ready for this week and I had three days to come up with something, so I did.

The battle I chose is one that has been on my to-do list and knocking around in the back of my head for a while: Debrecen. It's from the Hungarian War of Independence, which was a big focus for me while we were preparing the scenario book we published in 2022, but which I haven't played a lot since then.

Fighting through the tall maize outside Debrecen.

The reason this battle didn't make it into the scenario book is that it was very one-sided. General József Nagysándor (whose surname literally means "Alexander the Great"), commanding the Hungarian 1st Corps, was tasked with delaying the Russian advance while the rest of General Görgei's Hungarian army was escaping southwards. The approaching Russian army under Marshal Paskevich outnumbered 1st Corps by about five to one. Nagysándor unwisely stood to fight rather longer than was prudent, so his force was overwhelmed and routed.

Nevertheless, fighting withdrawals are fundamentally interesting situations and I was intrigued to explore whether it could have gone better for the Hungarians. I put together a scenario and Dave T and I fought it out. Here's how it went in 11 photos, with some reflections at the end.

The battlefield is a compact one - only 36"x36". We're looking east towards the city of Debrecen, which is just off the top edge. The Russians march on from the bottom edge. They have to cross a big stretch of maize fields. The maize at this time of year was taller than a mounted cavalryman, a serious obstacle, so it is treated as woods. The Hungarian defensive line is behind a stream, along some low hills and vineyards on the outskirts of the city.

It's an 8-turn game. The four red counters are Objective locations. The Hungarians earn 1 VP at the end of Turn 6, and Turn 7, and Turn 8, if they hold at least 2 of those Objectives. They also earn 1 VP if at least two Russian inf or cav units are Spent or destroyed; 1 VP for getting half their artillery away; and 1 VP for getting half their inf/cav units away. They need 4 VP to draw or 5+ to win.

First big decision for the Hungarians is whether to post some troops forward in the maize to delay the Russians. Dave opted to deploy one of his infantry brigades and a battery there, as well as his cavalry.

Here come the Russians! This is Turn 2. On Turn 1, a cavalry division moved on, which has scouted the far edge of the maize (top right), obliging Dave to reveal all his troops behind the stream (they start the game hidden). Now two infantry regiments move towards the Hungarian advance guard while another two race up the road in march column.

Dave responds by attacking my lead regiment's march column in front and flank! No serious harm done - I was lucky - but the column was pushed back in disorder and delayed.

Figures are Baccus 6mm. The Hungarians are mostly proxied from the ACW range. The "Russians" today are actually my 1870 Prussians. At least they have spiked helmets and iron cross flags, so they look near enough like Russians.

Turn 3. All my four infantry regiments have shaken out into assault formations. They've driven the Hungarian speed bump back but are still struggling to get through the maize. Meanwhile, 96 guns are rumbling up the road, hoping to deploy a gun line to blast our way to Debrecen.

Unfortunately, deploying that gun line isn't straightforward. Dave's own guns blew some of mine away, then two of his brigades boldly charged. My cannister didn't deter the Hungarians and most of my guns were taken or forced to fall back.

So I brought another four regiments on! The Hungarians were now outnumbered 3:1. This is the view from the Hungarian side as their right is about to be enveloped and overwhelmed by the torrent of Russians. Nagysándor is in the foreground regretting his decision to stand and fight.

All quiet on the Hungarian left, though. Dave has chosen to hide his raw scythe-armed national guards here, which is enough to deter my cavalry (top left).

Russians are flooding across the stream and over the Hungarian right and centre now. We've just taken the hill objective, but Dave still earns the VP for holding 2+ at end of Turn 6.

Turn 7, looking across from the Russian left now. Russian cavalry have taken one road exit; Russian infantry try to capture the Hatvan Street vineyard but can't do it on Turn 7 - another VP for Dave.

Turn 8, the vineyard falls, so no Turn 8 VP. However, the Hungarians do manage to get half their troops and artillery away for 2 more VP, as a sole horse artillery battery covers their retreat.

Sum total: 4 VP, making it an honourable draw.

Reflections

The fun of one-to-one. Dave T has been a bit occasional in recent years because of his work, but happily is now a regular attender again. He's a good bloke and we've missed him, so it was good to have a game with just the two of us. Also it was just a nice change from our usual more hectic multi-player games.

The fun of Hungary 1848. This is such a characterful war, full of incident and interest. That maize field alone made this a distinctive action to fight on the tabletop. And how many 19th-century battles feature scythemen? 

More research needed. Because of time pressure, I created the scenario from just two resources (Ramming and Rüstow). I know there is more detail to be had from two others (Bánlaky and Hermann). What I produced was great as a game but I'm sure it is imperfect as a historical recreation, so I'll go over it again at more leisure.

Got my mojo back! It was great to have a tight deadline and motivation to produce a scenario quickly, and I was very pleased with the result. I need to knuckle down and create a couple more particular ACW scenarios that I've been postponing for ages. Having bashed out this one should help me get on with those as well.

This draft scenario (with all its historical imperfections) is available from the BBB io group files here.

The "Bloody Big Hungary '48 Battles!" scenario book is now available in pdf format from SkirmishCampaigns here.

ACW: Pea Ridge

Possibly the first historical ACW battle I ever wargamed was Pea Ridge, the biggest battle of the war west of the Mississippi, fought in Arkansas in 1862. In a nutshell (pea-pod?), Confederate General Earl Van Dorn launched an audacious attack with his Army of the West against the rear of Samuel Curtis's Union Army of the South West, encamped on the escarpment above Little Sugar Creek; in a two-day battle, the Union counterattacked and drove the tired, hungry and poorly-led Confederates from the field; Van Dorn's battered force was subsequently transferred east of the Mississippi.

On that occasion all those years ago, we were not using miniatures but playing the SPI boardgame. [update: actually on reflection I think it must have been the preceding battle in the west, Wilson's Creek, that appeared in Strategy & Tactics magazine #80.] Now at last I have fought it with figures. This was Crispin's latest creation as part of our project to design scenarios for all the major battles of the American Civil War. Both the scenario and his custom battlemat were beautifully crafted. They produced a wonderfully tense and absorbing game.

Ten photos briefly recount the action. Some reflections follow.

I thought this was a particularly lovely battlefield with all its colourful patches of woods. White lines are roads and tracks. The seven victory locations are marked with red stars. (The US gets to move its camp during the game.) The Confederates need to hold only 2 for a draw and 3 for a win at game end, so although the Rebs need to move initially and seize a few, they can then go on the defensive, as the onus will be on the Union to take them back.

Two of the four US divisions start on-table, top centre of pic. The other two march on from the top edge halfway through. The two Confederate columns under Price and McCulloch march on via the two roads on the bottom edge on Turns 1 & 2.

The pink counters on some of McCulloch's units indicate that half his force is Fragile. Furthermore, most of the Confederate troops are rated Raw, whereas the Union is all Trained. 

 This quality advantage will tell.

I was Price, facing Mark; Phil was McCulloch, facing Dave W. Crispin GM'd. All the figures are Baccus 6mm from Crispin's collection.

Price's column seizes Elkhorn Tavern and pushes up the track through the woods to the left of it. Mark's Union columns are visible in the distance. Our main advantage was plentiful artillery, so my basic plan was to park my guns on the objectives and dare the Union to brave the cannister.

On our right, McCulloch occupies the line of woods in front of Foster's Farm. Unfortunately, he's done so with dismounted cavalry who only have short-ranged weapons, as indicated by purple counters. These are going to be outranged and outgunned by Dave's riflemen and artillery. Phil and I had talked about using our more numerous cavalry to get around flanks and pin the enemy that way, rather than stand-up fights. Oh well. At least there's one Confederate cavalry unit following that plan, upper left. This is Albert Pike's brigade of Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw and Cherokee Indians.

As well as establishing guns on two objectives, I wanted to set up a line in front of them to disrupt and delay the Union advance. It wasn't easy in the difficult wooded country, but Mark's troops weren't moving as fast as he'd have liked them to either. Top left you can see my only 2-base cavalry unit trying to pester the Union flank. They managed to distract the opposing Union cavalry for most of the game.

Over on our right wing, Phil's line looks solid now - everyone has moved up, his guns have deployed, and his Injuns have descended on Osterhaus's 1st Brigade and pushed it back Disrupted (yellow counter).

Unfortunately, Dave's guns are on line too, and his mass of infantry is about to scare off the Indians and smash into Phil's left wing.

With my forward line having obliged Mark to deploy, and my sharpshooters having driven back his guns, it was time for me to fall back on my main line of resistance. Getting that battery up onto Big Mountain on my right was important to protect my right flank. That infantry unit by it will climb the mountain as well next turn.

This was a real game of chess in the woods. Understandably, Mark didn't want to take on that formidable gun line directly. One large brigade is out of shot to the right, trying to clear me off Big Mountain. He launches an assault through the trees between my battery positions. That US unit with a green counter is armed with deadly breechloaders. That firepower hurts and they will push my infantry back, but my line holds.

Interesting things happening in the centre. Look towards the top left and you will see the remnants of Pike's brigade. His Indians have rallied from their initial rout and snuck through the gap in the Union lines, hoping to find plunder and scalps (and Objectives) at Pratt's Store and the Union camp. Mark has been obliged to divert a 3-base brigade (left centre) to deal with them. The US fire will finally see them off but they have played a useful part and written their own story.

McCulloch pushes for victory! Actually, not McCulloch - he got killed on Turn 3. Anyway: by now, the Union has battered a lot of Phil's units and has captured Foster's Farm. Phil sends his last two intact brigades in to retake it. The odds were good but the dice were not. With that repulse, the battle was effectively over on our right wing. The question now was whether we could hold on the left.

The usual last-turn drama! Mark had cleared Big Mountain (top right) but too late for the brigade there to reach the Elkhorn Tavern. The previous turn, he sacrificed his cavalry charging my massed guns. This meant his infantry among the trees in the centre could renew their charge without being cannistered, wipe out my small infantry unit there, and follow up onto my gun line. Although that assault bounced off with heavy loss, it did oblige my guns to limber up and find somewhere safer.

Consequently, with his final move, Mark was able to send one 3-base brigade (the one that had seen off Pike) into a frontal assault against my fragile Missouri State Guard. He pushed the Guard back and took the Tavern.

I was left holding the two road exits (left edge and bottom right corner, with my artillery streaming towards it), meaning we Confederates had hung on for a draw. Yeehaw!

Reflections

Fencing (1). Snake rail fences and a tavern nestling among the rich greens and browns of extensive Arkansas woods - it really looked lovely, a striking sight to greet me when I walked into the village hall. The aesthetic matters and it was a pleasure to play on this battlefield.

Fencing (2). I really enjoyed fencing against Mark in our chess match in the woods. He's a sharp player who I knew would take full advantage of any errors I might make in my defensive deployment. The wooded terrain and steep hills limiting visibility made it tricky to cover the approaches and avoid exposing any flanks. It was just as tricky for him, trying to find a way to get at me without being cannistered to bits. Consequently, every move mattered and every turn was full of tension. The pleasure of this mental exercise matched the pleasure of the aesthetic.

Character! This is hardly the first time I've been pushing the blue and the gray around in the woods. Still, a couple of elements gave it a very distinctive and different character and feel from the usual. One factor was the poor quality of the Confederate troops (a boot that is more often on the other foot); another was the particular layout of the terrain and the victory conditions that made it a special tactical challenge; and then of course Pike's brigade doing their thing.

Creative Comrades. These days I am writing about one scenario a year. I don't need to do any more - I am surrounded by clever creative friends who keep churning them out, and painting new armies to fight them, at an impressive rate. Crispin excelled himself this time. Bravo!

Why do some battles become favourites?

Last Sunday, Anton and I laid on a Franco-Prussian War game for a couple of new friends, Malcolm and Ian. When we were deciding which battle to offer, it was very simple: I immediately thought of Loigny/Poupry.

French garde mobile in the quaint little village of Loigny. Baccus 6mm figures from my collection.

Field from Hotz Mats (no longer trading). Roads by Rob Owens of Rob's Scenics.

Building from a set of ornaments picked up at a country fair.

Looking back through this blog I see posts about playing it in 2022 and 2023 (the latter also prompting a "Reflections on Wargaming" essay). As the 2022 report notes, apart from the playtests before publication in 2014, I had already played it several more times since. Evidently it is a favourite of ours.

Why should such a relatively unsung battle - a French repulse in the unglamorous republican phase of the war - keep drawing me back to it? (Literally as well as on the tabletop - I visited the actual battlefield in 2024.) Rather than just list its virtues in isolation, I thought it might be interesting to see how its characteristics compare with other much more famous 'favourite battles'? By which I mean, not my personal favourites, so much as those that seem to get most attention from wargamers. I'm thinking of the likes of:
- Waterloo and Borodino for the Napoleonic period;
- Gettysburg and Antietam from the ACW;
- the Alma and Balaclava for the Crimea;
- and Blenheim for the 18th century.

Let's look at some important features of these battles in both historical and game terms and see how they all measure up.

1. Epic History!

The most famous ones are generally also among the largest and most consequential: both sides' main armies in a clash that is seen as either a crucial turning point or a climactic end. (This latter factor is why a battle such as Resaca in the ACW, which was just as large as Gettysburg though not as bloody, hardly impinges on most wargamers' consciousness at all. It was a speed bump that changed nothing.)

The Crimean battles are exceptions, as the largest engagement of the war and arguably the most important was actually the battle of the Chernaya. They are famous for other reasons: Balaclava has no fewer than three famous episodes within it, the Charge of the Light Brigade obviously being #1; the frontal assault on the heights at the Alma has a certain legendary status too. (The Chernaya remains relatively obscure among us Anglo-Saxons as it features hardly any Brits.)

At about 35,000-45,000 a side, Loigny/Poupry was only medium-sized by FPW standards. However, it is a turning point of sorts, in that the French repulse here was the highwater mark of their advance during the Loire campaign - and it was a close contest that could conceivably have gone the other way. It also has one notable dramatic episode at the end, when the Papal Zouaves attempted to storm Loigny.

2. Great Generals!

Famous battles are fought by famous generals. This verges on tautology. Napoleon vs Wellington; Bobby Lee; Marlborough - all famous. (As for McClellan and Raglan, you might say infamous.) Kutusov and Meade play supporting roles. Tallard, Menshikov, Liprandi: more like bit-parts.

One of the French corps commanders at Loigny was Antoine Chanzy. His is a less familiar name than most of these above but deserves to be better known. He is something of a hero of mine for the way he subsequently held his 2nd Army of the Loire together during his determined fighting withdrawal down the Loire.

3. The Battlefield!

The terrain shapes the battle; the battlefield gives it its character. All our famous examples feature famous locations. Waterloo has the bastions of Hougoumont and La Haye Sainte in front of its ridge; Borodino is all about the Raevski Redoubt (in a lot of wargamers' imaginations, at least); more Russian redoubts on the heights above the Alma; the Gettysburg 'fishhook' and all its landmarks; Antietam's Bloody Lane; Balaclava's valley of death; the two villages anchoring the French line at Blenheim.

Loigny/Poupry is unremarkable by comparison. It was fought on a relatively flat and open plain, dotted with a dozen villages. However, from a practical perspective, its plain terrain is a major virtue. Doing large historical battles properly often requires quite a complicated terrain set-up: a jigsaw of hills, a patchwork of woods, a network of streams and rivers. As Loigny is so quick and simple by comparison, that makes it particularly good for a Monday night at the club, where we have to factor in the set-up and take-down time. That is definitely a significant contribution to making it a favourite for us. (It was also a snowy winter battlefield, an aesthetic plus as far as I'm concerned.)

4. The Armies!

Tabletop wargamers want to get troops on the table. The more varied and colourful those troops, the better. Characterful and unusual units add a lot to a game.

Waterloo is hard to beat in that respect and Borodino not far behind. Napoleon has his Imperial Guard in all its glory, while Wellington has the most variegated and motley of allied armies. ACW can be a bit drab - all that monotonous blue and gray - mitigated for our US brethren by being able to point at their local regiment or the unit great-grandpappy was in. The Alma and Balaclava are a proper parade: not only does one side get three different armies, but each army has multiple different types of unit. Blenheim has lots of 18th-century peacocks in tricornes and lace.

Loigny/Poupry can hold its own in this respect. The German side is not just a lot of pickelhaubes in Prussian blue, it has the Bavarians to add colour. The French are more varied. Their infantry is a mix of newly raised garde mobile and regular regiments' depot battalions, further spiced by the presence of the Foreign Legion and the Papal Zouaves. Assorted cavalry livens up the picture as well.

5. The Drama!

Famous battles tell famous stories. As well as strong characters (the famous generals), these stories have multiple chapters, twists and turns, and moments of high drama in which other particular characters may step forward for their moment of glory. I hardly need to list these for the battles we've been examining. Instead, let me generalise and say that they all have some ebb and flow, fortunes swaying from one side to the other until their grand finale. For wargamers, ideally this means they translate into close and exciting games on the tabletop.

Loigny/Poupry does tell just such a story. It's worth going into this in a little detail and explaining why it is such a good game to keep replaying.

Multiple Chapters. This battle lasts a day and a half. Both sides receive reinforcements in several echelons, mostly on the second day. The Germans start with just most of a Bavarian corps on the table; the Hessian and Holstein divisions then march up on the Bavarians' left, with the remainder of the Bavarians arriving on the right. As for the French, they too have just one corps initially, but two others join them as the game progresses. This reinforcement schedule has a couple of benefits. One is that it means the shape of the game changes as it goes on, which is always good for keeping things interesting. (See my essay on Changing Situations Mid-Game.) Another - a definite advantage when there are newish players involved - is that the players can get to grips with the scenario situation and the game mechanics gradually, rather than being overwhelmed by having to order 50,000 men around from Turn 1.

Twists and Turns. Although the Germans are on the defensive, the fact that more than half their army has to march on obviously means the German players get to do some manoeuvring. And it's not simply a case of marching directly into a pre-ordained defensive line without much thought. There are three objectives to defend and different ways of defending them - plus, of course, much depends on what the French attackers do. The French, meanwhile, have to advance and develop their attacks to take a couple of those objectives. The French have several different routes to victory, while the Germans, as mentioned, have different ways to defend. The many possible interactions between the two sides' different plans produce twists and turns that can play out in multiple different ways. The existence of these different options therefore means the scenario has a lot of replay value.

Moments of High Drama. Historically, the grand finale was a dramatic one alright, when de Sonis led the Papal Zouaves in their vain attempt to storm Loigny. This is exactly the kind of last-gasp assault that we see all the time in BBB scenarios!

To Sum Up:

Although Loigny/Poupry was not among the largest or most consequential battles of the FPW, it has enough merits in all the other respects to deserve the attention it has had from our group. I commend it to anyone else who wants to wargame the Franco-Prussian War.

I'd be very interested to hear from you all, a) whether you think there are other features that contribute to making battles into 'favourites' and b), which are your favourite battles and why.

The Game

Just for the record, here are a few photos of the Loigny game (including a couple labelled up at great pains for the greater enjoyment of my reading public) so you can see how that went. No extra reflections this time as you've already had the major one above.

The two wings of the battlefield. Pics not perfectly aligned but I hope they give the idea. Situation around Turn 4, morning of Day 2, when the German reinforcements have just arrived and French 15 Cps is about to march on.

A better view of the right wing, a couple of turns later. 1st Bav Bde is now isolated in Faverolles as French swarm past it towards Loigny (left of pic). On the right, German 4th Cav Div sacrifices itself charging Barry's French regulars to cover 3rd Bavarian Brigade as it occupies Nonneville.

The centre, penultimate turn. Some Holsteiners are backing up the Bavarians in Lumeau, bracing themselves to receive the inevitable French assault. Elements of French 15th and 16th Cps converge on Lumeau either side of the march columns of De Sonis's 17th Cps. (By this time, Loigny has fallen to the French garde mobile, as shown in the pic at top of this post.)

The grand finale. That unit in line left centre of pic is a Hessian brigade that has thrown itself across to help protect Lumeau. That meant only the one French assault column centre of pic managed to reach Lumeau. It was repelled. Final score: a draw.

Loigny/Poupry is one of the scenarios in the BBB rulebook, now available in pdf from SkirmishCampaigns.