Napoleonic Wargame Club (NWC)

I have been asked over the years as to whether I would ever want to put together a small set of scenarios to cover the Polish vs. Austrian campaign of 1809 in Poland. Here is my answer to this:

1. The module would best fit into the Eckmuhl game.
2. We lack artwork for the Polish troops.
3. John does not like to invest artwork funds on older games.
4. The graphics for this game are of an older style and the new ones would not mesh well with the old style.
5. Adding the game into one of the other games would not make sense. Also the additional icons would drive up the artwork price.

While this remains a sore spot with some (and I would like to have the actions too) we also have to weigh the investment vs. the return.

During production of Eckmuhl I had no idea of the artwork process. I was learning quite a bit in those days. As a matter of fact it would not be until after Jena was done that I really learned the process. Once I did learn it my feeling was that we needed to reuse our artwork as much as possible to save not only on time but also on the waiting period that the Scenario Designers have to endure.

I was all for reusing the artwork of Jena for instance in the Austerlitz game to save on time. That was vetoed as it was felt that Joe had progressed to a better level. And I must admit that the 1805 graphics look better than those from the 1806 game. (and I am never AGAINST seeing better work in our games it just being that it takes so long to finish)

Once we decided to do 1813 I knew we had an uphill climb. The icons for the earlier games were in the low 100s. Leipzig would need at least 230-240 icons. Add in the icons for Wallmoden's command and the ones for 1814 and it soars above 290.

Had I cut out all of the Frewilige Jagers and some of the unique icons (see the Prussian army - Elbe Regt. - 1-2 Bns use one icon while the 3rd bn. has its own icon - it is used ONCE in the game ....). The Prussian army and its auxiliary allies got the lion's share of the additional icons. Had I cut them out, the 1814 icons, the icons for Wallmoden's corps, the game probably would have had only 190 icons. Something like that.

So now we have a robust set of icons - enough for two more titles. This was my main argument for such a large set. We could use them for two more titles plus the icons could work partly for the French in the Peninsular game.

If you have looked at the Field of Glory (Slitherine) game they also had to take the same tack. They generated a huge amount of graphics and are now reusing it. The Far East module according to them will not be done as it will cost to much to produce the artwork for each of the Asian armies.

We have to take a similar tack when we produce a game. And while a "new look" is great the dollars and cents of the whole thing is such that we need to make sure that if we invest in 290 unit pictures (plus 3D icons) we are going to need use that artwork again. This is how small companies survive.

And really the new artwork for Austerlitz did not make ONE iota of a change in my royalties. That was highly disappointing for me as I had been hoping to just use the Jena graphics again (which include the Austrians) and forgo the wait. Add in a few extra icons and so on.

Add in that I have another title, separate from the 1813-14 era, that will use only 90 icons. I figured that this will only take about a month and a half to two months for Mark and Joe to finish. Just this week I pruned out of it about 30 icons as I just have to cut down on the amount of graphics that go into a game. Both to satisfy my financial needs and also of course to save John some shekels.

To sum this all up: I would love to see the Polish module in Eckmuhl but it just will not happen. Even for a game like Eylau to include them is out of the question (that title being the next closest one to 1809).

What I would say is this: take the 1809 game Units.bmp file. Add to it the Polish pictures. Add in the 3D icons. There you go. Add the mod on one of the online sites and build some scenarios for it. If you want to work with me on the maps I may be able to get John to add them into a future module. Please - no more than 3 maps. Contact me if you are interested and we can figure out how to get this all done. John is in no hurry to do another Eckmuhl update due to time constraints and the fact that it is an older title. YES it will get an update eventually.

But if you want the Polish 1809 campaign added into Eckmuhl - that is the ONLY way it can happen. I will help get the maps added in if you will do the scenarios and artwork that is needed to be done. You post the artwork and scenarios, OBs and PDT files and the game will have the maps. Contact me if interested.

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Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Prinz Peters von Dennewitz

3. Husaren-Regiment, Reserve-Kavallerie, Preußischen Armee-Korps

Honarary CO of Garde-Ulanen Regiment, Garde-Grenadier Kavallerie

NWC Founding Member

For Club Games: I prefer the Single Phase mode of play. I prefer to play with the following options OFF:

MDF, VP4LC, NRO, MTD, CMR, PR, MIM, NDM, OMR (ver 4.07)

Ok - since I know that someone will want to help out here is what we need to know:

1. What icons would be needed for the "bonus pack?"

2. What battles besides Raszyn should be covered?

3. What was the weather like for these days? It is April in Poland. I would suspect somewhat wet. Were the roads good or awful based on the weather? I would imagine that whoever does the scenarios would want to consider that.

4. How would you rate the Polish morale?

5. The 7th Corps is already in one of the Eckmuhl or Wagram OBs. I forget which but all you would have to do is copy it and start from there.

6. Remember that once this "bonus pack" is put out by whoever does it that the players could use the Units.bmp file along with the 3D graphics files that go with it with their existing game install. We have no plans of updating those files so they would never be overwritten. In case of reinstall they "bonus pack" would just have to be added on again after the latest update is applied. For subsequent updates of the game the "bonus pack" would not need to be added again more than likely.

7. Do not use existing OB files - always make a new OB file. Thus if you want to add in the Poles for a super 1809 campaign scenario or campaign copy the OB data you want to use and create a new file.

If you need a spreadsheet that shows the various open slots on the sheet let me know. I will send you what I have though you would want to verify the info before you start using icon/unit pic numbers.

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Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Prinz Peters von Dennewitz

3. Husaren-Regiment, Reserve-Kavallerie, Preußischen Armee-Korps

Honarary CO of Garde-Ulanen Regiment, Garde-Grenadier Kavallerie

NWC Founding Member

For Club Games: I prefer the Single Phase mode of play. I prefer to play with the following options OFF:

MDF, VP4LC, NRO, MTD, CMR, PR, MIM, NDM, OMR (ver 4.07)

Bill,

Why can't artwork from NRC be used? I do not recall any significant changes in the Polish uniforms between 1809 and 1812. It's far inferior the new ones, of course, but better than nothing.

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That is a thought. I do not know though if John would approve of the addition/use of Mark's time.

If I get something in the way of a list of icons that would be needed then maybe he would approve of it.

Or maybe I will just do it myself and then send Mark the files for checking. Just copy the entire Polish set.

I want to hear from Tomasz and others on this who know the Polish army well. If that works for them it works for me.

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Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Prinz Peters von Dennewitz

3. Husaren-Regiment, Reserve-Kavallerie, Preußischen Armee-Korps

Honarary CO of Garde-Ulanen Regiment, Garde-Grenadier Kavallerie

NWC Founding Member

For Club Games: I prefer the Single Phase mode of play. I prefer to play with the following options OFF:

MDF, VP4LC, NRO, MTD, CMR, PR, MIM, NDM, OMR (ver 4.07)

Bill,

It also depends on the scale. For batallion level you'd need 7 icons:
2 for infantry +
1 chasseurs a cheval +
1 uhlans +
1 foot arty +
1 horse arty +
1 supply

For company level you'd need 10:
2 for line infantry +
1 grenadiers
1 voltigeurs
2 chasseurs a cheval (elite and central coys)
1 uhlans
1 foot arty +
1 horse arty +
1 supply

I'd very much prefer company level scenarios with 33m=100feet hexes. Like in early american series.

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Here is what I determined for the campaign:

1 for Line Infantry
1 for Chasseur a Cheval
1 for Uhlan
1 for Foot Artillery
1 for Horse Artillery

I came up with a chart for NRC to EC transfers. Hoping that we can do it in house. I was not sure if the Polish uniforms in 1812 would work but Warren Bajan seems to think that they are close enough to not worry about it.

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Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Prinz Peters von Dennewitz

3. Husaren-Regiment, Reserve-Kavallerie, Preußischen Armee-Korps

Honarary CO of Garde-Ulanen Regiment, Garde-Grenadier Kavallerie

NWC Founding Member

For Club Games: I prefer the Single Phase mode of play. I prefer to play with the following options OFF:

MDF, VP4LC, NRO, MTD, CMR, PR, MIM, NDM, OMR (ver 4.07)

An update on the Battle of Raszyn map. I have the topography done, the roads, water and now am working with author John Gill on determining where the woods were on the map.

I used two sources that are very contradictory and his map in his book is different as well.

Sources online:

http://napoleonistyka.atspace.com/Raszy ... _of_Troops

and

http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/mcnell ... aszyn1.gif

The latter is a wargame scenario map and cannot be trusted. The former is by a fellow that is usually pretty good.

The map from John Gill's Vol 3. 1809: Thunder on the Danube page 15 is not bad but the woods are hard to determine.

Actually the woods played little to no part in the battle but it is nice to have them placed correctly.

River was very swampy. I am using a creek for the full length as the accounts I read say that it was impassable.

I am going to use the OB from the first website I reference. Gill's OB is for the campaign and does not divide up the command for the Poles as it was on the day of the battle.

Now the kicker - I cannot playtest this scenario as the maps are locked, new maps will not work with the engine and I do not think I have an older install (pre-game release engine) on either PC I have. So the best I can do is come up with a set of victory levels that work well.

But this should be done very soon and hey, here is a screenshot of the map so far:

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Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Prinz Peters von Dennewitz

3. Husaren-Regiment, Reserve-Kavallerie, Preußischen Armee-Korps

Honarary CO of Garde-Ulanen Regiment, Garde-Grenadier Kavallerie

NWC Founding Member

For Club Games: I prefer the Single Phase mode of play. I prefer to play with the following options OFF:

MDF, VP4LC, NRO, MTD, CMR, PR, MIM, NDM, OMR (ver 4.07)

Bill,

I have a map from another source and a good Russian language article based on polish sources. Some important details differ from what you have created. I will try to scan the map today and send it to you with brief description. also I'll try to make a serch in Polish sources. The languages are very similar and at least allow vague comprehension.

Could you send me the map file. I had an old patch stored somewhere in the archive. A little playtesting is better than none

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Anton - actually the map file worked in my current install of Eckmuhl. I will be sending you the files and you can look them over.

Note: I went with the order of battle found on the website and the unit strengths as found in Gill's book. I cannot spend a lot of time on this project and the idea that we actually will have the MAP opens up the gates for folks to post their own version of the battle. The important thing is to get the (few) icons into the EC game as well as the Map file.

Email off to you in a few minutes.

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Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Prinz Peters von Dennewitz

3. Husaren-Regiment, Reserve-Kavallerie, Preußischen Armee-Korps

Honarary CO of Garde-Ulanen Regiment, Garde-Grenadier Kavallerie

NWC Founding Member

For Club Games: I prefer the Single Phase mode of play. I prefer to play with the following options OFF:

MDF, VP4LC, NRO, MTD, CMR, PR, MIM, NDM, OMR (ver 4.07)