Napoleonic HITS/GCM Event: “Battle of Busaco”
Saturday August 10/GCM TeamSpeak HITS Channel http://www.sowmp.com/gcm/home/teamspeak
In Europe: 18:30 GMT; 19:30 British Summer Time; 20:30 Central European Summer Time
In the US: 2:30 pm EDT; 1:30 pm CDT; 12:30 pm MDT; 11:30 am PDT
Begin signing up now for side and command preferences at: http://doodle.com/2bq3q7rcv2vmat8w#table
It is north-central Portugal, 27 September 1810. The army of French General André Masséna is approaching the heather-covered ridge of the Serra do Busaco, occupied by the Anglo-Portuguese army under the Duke of Wellington. The defenders enjoy significant advantages in terrain, artillery, and battlefield intelligence. The French bring infantry superiority and enhanced flexibility in making their initial deployments. Cavalry will be comparably sized between the sides and limited to a single brigade for each army. Players will, for the most part, lead brigade-sized commands under a division/corps/army organizational umbrella.
Special Rules:
-To replicate Wellington’s excellent advance knowledge of French dispositions at Busaco, Anglo-Portuguese leaders may roam freely around the battlefield. French player/officers, however, must remain within 200 yards of friendly infantry, guns or cavalry at all times;
-The single victory objective will be located along the Serra do Busaco ridge in area A1.
Both Armies have some choices in their initial deployments:
-The Anglo-Portuguese may deploy their units (individually by division) in any of the northwest areas A1, A2, B1, B2;
-The French may deploy their units (individually by division) in any other area(s) of the map.
Players are encouraged to sign-up on Doodle. This will get us off to a fast start with CinC designations and early side assignments.
Sides -- French (commanded by Masséna) or Anglo-Portuguese (under the Duke of Wellington). Specific commands will be determined from preferences expressed in the Doodle sign up and as players show up. This will take a few minutes, so please be patient. Most standard KS and HITS/GCM game practices will be in place (e.g., Army CinC’s, 10 minute Council of War at launch; foliage always turned-on, no restrictions on TC’ing subordinate leaders, etc.)
CinC’s and a few early side designations will be announced by mid-week
Mods, Maps & Files Required for this Event:
Go to Uncle Billy’s post “Set Up for SOW NAPOLEON GAMES For Kriegspiel Style“ for a complete list of links to the mods & files you’ll need. http://forum.kriegsspiel.org.uk/t759-se ... piel-style
If you haven’t played the Napoleonic mod in the past couple of months, you’ll need to download the latest version of the “Road to Wagram & Peninsular” mod and either the large or small version of the“KSNapoleon” mod (note the need to delete/disable the Road to Wagram logistics folder)
Special note to Peninsular Campaign Players: Be sure to deactivate both “NAP_KSPeninsularMod” (large or small versions) and “RestrictedMovementMaps” mods
At game time, everyone should have (only these) mods activated:
*RandomMaps6
*Road to Wagram & Peninsular
*KSNapoleonMod (large or small)
*GCM Terrain 4 (optional)
Additional Background
Through the magic of modding, Scourge of War is now the best way to recreate Napoleon-era battles in multi-player. There’s no need to run the GCM Launcher or join the Battle Queue for this one!
There are many unique aspects of play involved with the Napoleonic mod. You will experience, for instance, cavalry charges, infantry squares, and 120 yard rifle ranges. The style of play is also different. As Marching Thru Georgia notes, “unlike the ACW games, [in Napoleonics] there tends to be a preliminary period before the infantry engages. During that time, artillery bombardments take place, cavalry try to establish their superiority and some of the infantry can go on long marches to attack an enemy flank.” In other words, preliminary action and maneuver is typically prolonged – with less of the dash-in for a quick fight.
Make plans to be there – and be sure to register your side and command preferences early on Doodle!
A full-resolution map of the battlefield may be downloaded at:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/wfxy9jt5uxpey ... -08-10.pdf
See you there!
-Ron (Palmer)
