Napoleonic Wargame Club (NWC)

Four Hanoverian officers would like to challenge a similar number of French officers, all belonging to the same brigade, to a contest on the fields of Belgium. The scenario will be 059.Hypo_10 from the HPS Waterloo Campaign. The number of units per officer will be small compared to the large area of play. This battle lends itself to a perfect training platform for campaign play. My hope, as the Hanoverian Brigade Commander, is to provide an opportunity to introduce three, eager junior officers to the concepts of campaign play and better prepare them to take on the large campaigns in the future.

If there is a brave French Brigade Commander, willing to commit three junior officers and himself to this challenge, the Hanoverian Brigade stands ready to meet you on the field of battle.

If interested, please send a courier to mark(dot)jones(at)neel-schaffer(dot)com. We promise that he will be treated well.

Your challenge may be a bit confining. The French officers in ONE brigade are not all allowed to come out together. They have to have a nanny (Marechal of France) with them.

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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)

I am looking for a fight.
But I unfortunately only own Jena-Auerstedt.

Well, it would seem that there is at least one brave French Lieutenant in the IV Corps. Unfortunately, he seems to be lacking a proper weapon with which to fight. I remember you Lt. Sarazin. When Marechal Corbin announced your new commission, I was rather inebriated from toasting the long line of newly commissioned French officers, but I did have the clarity of thought to offer you the set of Anglo-Allied Enlistment papers that Marechal Knox had adamantly refused to sign that evening. A pity that you did not see fit to join us at the time. You see, we Anglo-Allied commanders actually care about the welfare and professional development of our junior officers. This is particularly the case with my Brave Hanoverian soldiers.

You look parched after your long, dusty ride here alone. Please join us for a drink. Whereas we Hanoverians may be fierce of countenance and action on the field of battle, we are most generous with the drinks that we purchase for our fellow officers, irrespective of the color of their uniform. Now I do wonder where all of your leaders have gone. Although we have slain many, perhaps we have inadvertently killed them all. That certainly would be a pity. Maybe we have only managed to slay all of your brave senior commanders, however few in number they initially were.

General Peters, your wise comment has me thinking. Perhaps I was correct in my previous statement that the entire French Army hides behind the petticoats of the Triumvirate of France. I have cordially requested a group of three French junior officers and one senior leader for a training opportunity under live fire conditions. Must my three Hanoverians, none with a rank higher than 2nd Lieutenant, face an equal number of French Marechals of the Old Guard? Really gentlemen, your fear of the Hanoverians is no doubt justified, but even I would consider it a bit overrated.

We will continue to patiently await your reply to our Brigade Challenge here at this comfortable table in the company of your brave, Lieutenant Sarazin. If we do not receive an appropriate response before we finish our drinks, my brigade will be forced to march on Paris in advance of the Anglo-Allied Army. With your leadership indisposed, Ensign Reed's Field Jagers will likely capture your capital alone.

A very nice drawing as usual, Lieutentant Clawson. It certainly does capture the spirit of the entire French war effort. Bravo, Herr Rat. Bravo indeed!

My Dear French Adversaries,

It seems that we have only a limited response to date for our Brigade Challenge. I have been approached by two eager, young French Lieutenants who would like this training to improve their skills for future campaign games. What is pointedly lacking to date is any response by a French commander of Brigade level and above, despite the fact that I have sent a personal email to every commander of brigade level and above in the French V Corps on which the French Army C-in-C was copied as well. Now, I do realize that the Hanoverian Brigade is really more the equivalent of a French Division, so I will expand, and clarify, our challenge a bit further. The Hanoverian Brigade is willing to play:

• Any Three Junior, French Officers, regardless of their unit assignments
• Led by any One Senior, French Officer, regardless of his rank, Guard status or unit assignment

A Junior, French Officer would be Lieutenant. That gives nearly a 200 point OBD range in which to work. Generally, my officers have 50 OBD point s or less.

A Senior, French Officer can be anything up to a Marechal of the Old Guard. That gives you an unlimited number of OBD points and experience. As a Lieutenant Colonel, my OBD points are less than 500 and I am not a Guardsman.

If you have looked at the scenario, you will see that the French have the better army. The French have more cavalry, more artillery, a much superior command structure, and no troops with a Morale Rating of less than C. The Anglo-Allied Army has a large number of troops that are Morale E.

I really don’t know how to make this any easier for you. The French Army holds all of the advantages in this challenge and yet not one, single French leader has stepped forward. The honor of your army is at stake, gentlemen. The Hanoverian Brigade stands fully ready to do its duty for our King.

I will lastly say this. Even as an Anglo-Allied officer, I am proud of the two young, French Lieutenants who bravely stepped forward on their own. Your Grand Army possesses the same eagerness to learn among its junior officers that I see, and encourage, within my own brigade. I exist to help my men, the question is, are you going to help yours?

Mr Jones
I don't know if I qualify as a senior officer. (Certainly my behaviour in the mess after too much New Zealand Pinot Noir would suggest otherwise.) Nevertheless, I would be happy to offer my services in this endevour.

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Lt Colonel Baron Neville Worland

My Dear Lt-Colonel Worland,

Well met, sir! It is certainly good to see another brave, French officer step forward! I am also glad to meet a new French Kiwi. Your GdD Knox is one of my personal favorites. If you are anything like him, I should probably save myself some trouble and just present my sword to you now.

Yes, you are well qualified to operate as the Senior Officer for the French cause. I must tell you that General Zupancic, the Commanding Officer of your V Corps, has also personally responded in a private email. He has asked for volunteers from his Corps to answer our challenge. Since you are a member of the Cavalry Reserve, and Lt. Giovanni Boffi serves in your same outfit, having expressed his desire to also participate in this challenge, perhaps you can find two other Junior officers in your Corps who would like to play. If so, I will solicit my officers and see if they are willing to answer two challenges at the same time. I would also offer you the thought of including the brave Lt. Sarazin on your team if there is a way to resolve his lack of the proper software.

Actually, this challenge is intended for the benefit of our Junior Officers. They are the ones that will perform the detailed maneuvers under our general direction and guidance. We can discuss, and agree on, the specifics if you can pull together a team of players. In no instance do I want this to become a fight between you and I. We should have a minimal, tactical role while imparting our experience to them.

Please forgive my somewhat delayed response. It seems my wife preferred that I take her shopping today. Ah, the things we do for our women. Sometimes it seems that it might be easier just to take a bullet.

Sigh.......maybe it's just me.

My dear Sir
Thank you for your reponse; I will scout around for suitable candidates.

For the record, I must correct your understanding. I am in fact Australian, who acnowledges that our sister dominon New Zealand does some things better than us: wine, rugby, snow, Fred Dagg etc. Quite a long list, which I am happy to accept. I did consider moving to NZ at one stage, but given that the flow is entirely the other way and that my most likely place of employment was Wellington (nicknamed "windy Wellington" for reasons which do not require explanation), thought better of it and moved to Queensland instead.

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Lt Colonel Baron Neville Worland

My apologies, Neville. I think the misunderstanding must have started when I read the small, bio attached to your post. It clearly said "Brisbane, Australia" but it was written in English! Now why should anyone ever expect me to be able to read something written in this language? So many letters, so much confusion. After all, I am an American. Born, raised and lived here all of my life. Heck, every small school child around the world knows that the native language of Americans is......er.......I mean.........Uh, oh................Dang! Never mind.

Yes, I know Australia. The only populated country in the world that entirely occupies its own continent. The home of the Roos, Wallabys and Dingos among others. Originally an English penal colony like the State of Georgia in which I currently live. My fault entirely and all of the sincere apologies that go with it.

And you wonder why the Hanoverians would follow me at all. Well, they are coerced actually, if the truth be known. I'll bet they are even now starting a petition to have me removed from my command, reduced in rank and remanded back to the potato peeling pits of the Anglo-Allied Kitchen from which I emerged.

Now, I must ask since you are not actually one of those dastardly French Kiwis of which I am so afraid, does this mean that there is some very slight chance that I may be able to keep my sword after all?

Not the slightest.

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Lt Colonel Baron Neville Worland

Well, at least you are honest.

Oh, and do be sure to bring your sword along as well, just in case.

Sirs,

I would be pleased to take part in this fight, I you think I am capable of the task and there are still places available.

Rgds,

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Colonel Andreu Olmo

I have had positive reponses from two other enterprising young officers, keen to test the mettle of these uppity Hannoverans. If Lt Boffi can contact me directly at neville.worland4@bigpond.com, we can settle our communication lines etc.

Marc, can you also please contact me and we can sort out rules.

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Lt Colonel Baron Neville Worland