<blockquote id="quote"><font size="3" face="book antiqua" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by JasonC</i>
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I am also interested in modified settings, in particular versions of Borodino featuring modifications to lower godlike morale and moderate artillery firepower, ammo, etc.
But I vastly prefer to play someone who is actually a member. A 44 turn Borodino scenario (Best Laid Plans e.g., my favorite of the BD scenarios) is a large time commitment. PBEMs that large last months. If played in the club, that time spent is properly rewarded with points toward promotion etc. If played with someone outside the club, I get a game sure, but nothing else. Other things being equal, I'll always prefer the club points too.
Here is the scenario I am looking to play.
Best Laid Plans - 44 turns full Borodino with variable release times. Only optionals on are extreme fog of war, VPs for leaders, and cavalry countercharges.
My modifications are meant to avoid the excessive casualties and rapid battles ending in wholesale annihilation, that the default settings of KTF typically allow. Lower artillery firepower and lower morale across the board, along with variable releases, are designed to prevent unhistorical instant smash-everything wholesale slaughter.
extensive .pdt modifications:
16 MP cavalry and horse artillery
cavalry divisor reduced to 2 (large squadrons)
fatigue recovery chance is 25% per turn
infantry low ammo is 1/16 chance instead of 1/24
Drastically reduced artillery fp, slightly reduced range
A type 4-3-3-2-2-1 out to range 16
B type 4-3-2-2-1 out to range 12
C,D type 4-2-2-1 out to range 8
Longer range infantry fire allowed
Range 3 muskets - 6-2-1 fp
Range 5 rifles - 4-3-2-1-1 fp
flank and cavalry shot modifiers reduced to +1
Russian "golden morale" reduced to +1 only
some .scn modifications -
4 VPs for guns or cavalry losses, both sides
drastically reduced artillery ammo. French 24 shots per battery, Russians 16, giving totals of 848 Russian and 2040 French.
Slight repositionings of some batteries, no extended line deployments of them e.g.
Note that average battery sizes are 12 for Russian and 6.8 for French.
.oob changes -
a few half batteries consolidated (2 French 4 gun horse arty made one 8 gun e.g., and Russian 4-8 splits and a few 6 gun lights also consolidated into 12 gun full batteries). Note that this is in part to prevent uneven ammo issues (a 8 gun elite A uses 1 point, a 4 gun line D uses 1 point, etc. Thus the incentive is to avoid firing with the small batteries unless they have much closer shots).
The main one is drastically lower morale throughout. Gone are a third of each army treated as elite.
The French have elites only for the Old Guard, infantry and cavalry. The Young Guard, French legere, and French cuirassiers are 5s. French line and a few select allied formations are 4 (e.g. some of the lights). Most of the allied formations are 3s. Artillery is not uniform 5+, but follows the above so e.g. Old Guard artillery are 6, Young are 5, line are 4, allied are 3.
The Russians have elites only for Emperor and Empress cuirassier regiments and a few Guard grenadiers. Most of the Guard and of the Grenadier formations are 5s. Most of the cavalry are 4s, but the dragoons are properly shown as heavy cavalry. Jagers are 4s like the line infantry. All the militia are 2s, including the musket armed and Jagers (yes, that means they don't shoot very well - they are militia!). Cossacks are 3s, except for a few non-K regiments with cossack names only, in the Guard e.g. Artillery is uniformly 4.
And remember, golden morale is only +1. So the Russians are stoical and tough in the sense that they fight like 5s, not like 8s. Their grenadiers etc stand like 6s but don't get elite combat bonuses. The French (nationally French) are better than most of their less motivated and trained minor allies, instead of every picturesque mob being treated as elite. There is a reason the Poles and Italians are given the less exacting flanks, while Davout's Frenchmen get the hardest job.
A few unit sizes have been tweaked to avoid things like 25 man skirmishers from half-battalions, especially the Russian grenadiers. Instead of 175 man half-regiments they are put in 350 man full ones, that can send out a single 75 man skirmisher.
The Russian rifles in Borodino proper are giving a formed remnant units to rally on, instead of being expected to fight forever completely broken down.
On the artillery changes to fp and ammo, the default Russian ammo total is enough to wipe out the entire French army, at 2 fp ranges and 12 guns, firing at a mix of column and cavalry targets for the most part. In reality, the French lost only a fraction of their force and at least half of them came from musketry.
Rule changes and restrictions -
skirmishers - the biggie: skirmishers may not initiate melee attacks. When stacked with formed they can come along, no problem. But they are meant for fire combat not bayonet charges. Send a battalion or more in column if you want to melee. They don't deserve their lowered losses when melee attacking.
Only 2 skirmishers may stack to a hex, maximum, whether formed are present or not. In addition, skirmishers over 100 men may not stack at all - only a single 125+ company in a hex deserves the open order bonuses.
fatigue - units at fatigue 9 may not initiate melee attacks. Rest first. They defend normally.
cavalry - no charge-through of own-side units.
infantry vs. cavalry - square may advance on enemy cavalry at will, leader or not. Other formed infantry may not voluntarily enter the ZOC of a cavalry unit with 1xx strength or greater. Range 2-3 to plink is fine, flanks are fine.
Formed infantry not in square may not move so as to trap cavalry with ZOCs. Infantry in square or cavalry may do so, and infantry not in square can remain stationary to help do so. But can't move (even to a non-ZOC hex) so as to surround cavalry with units or ZOCs.
Skirmishers stacked with formed may do whatever the formed does, around cavalry. Otherwise, stay 2 hexes away minumum, and if starting your move adjacent must get to 2 hexes or stack with formed.
Notice, morale is lower and there are no flank morale modifiers, nor any rout limiting. Crowd at your own risk and expect mega-rout to be possible if you don't leave intervals. You'd better use ranks and reliefs, because fatigued men without morale inflation won't stand the fire forever. Skirmishers skirmish - at up to range 3, but by fire combat not melee brawling with each other. Since the cavalry is not all morale 6, when it gets shot by infantry after a charge, it will sometimes actually run away (!)
Overall, the focus is less on slaughtering entire formations of the enemy with point blank inflated caseshot firepower or huge surround melees in a soccer scrum, or panzer-cav overrun "breakthroughs" - and more on bringing about enemy morale failure through sustained fire, and maintaining one's own force through ranks and reliefs. Oh and also, you can't pick up the whole army on turn 1 and make them all run every turn for 4 hours - they release gradually.
I am looking for a French commander - preferably an experienced one - to play Borodino with me this way. If no one in the club is willing, then Philip I will offer it to you. And you can have it if you join, if you are willing.
Sincerely
Maj. Jason Cawley
Aleksopol Infantry
VII Corps, 2nd Army of the West
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