1870 Redux
I took a break from code writing last night and set up a solitaire game of Over There, HMS/GRD’s World War One simulation. As ever, I decided to muck with history and define an 1870 Redux scenario, wherein the Germans abandon the Schlieffen Plan for political reasons and instead try to defeat the French much like the 1870 campaign.
The changes to the typical campaign scenario setup are as follows:
- Belgium and Luxembourg are neutral.
- Great Britain is neutral, but sympathetic to the Entente cause.
- The German 7th Army is deployed to the Eastern Front (off-map).
- The Sep I 14 transfer of several corps from the Western Front to the Eastern Front is ignored.
- The hex east of Belfort in Alsace is not owned/occupied by the French.
- As such, the Belfort fortress garrison is activated.
- The French may voluntarily abandon Plan XVII, but at cost.
- Different morale point penalties for the abandonment of the Schlieffen Plan and Plan XVII.
- Different opening turn sequence.
Great Britain’s neutrality is based on two situations: Benelux neutrality and a closure of the Strait of Dover to combatant naval traffic. If either Germany or France invades Belgium, Netherlands or Luxembourg, then Great Britain declares war on the invader and becomes a full ally of the other power. Furthermore, if German fleet elements enter the English Channel from the North Sea via the Strait of Dover, then Britain will declare war on Germany. If French fleet elements enter the North Sea from the English Channel via the Strait of Dover, then Britain becomes a strict neutral and German ships may navigate through the Straits without penalty.
The deployment of the German 7th Army to the Eastern Front is based on a lack of frontage available as well as the fact that 7th Army lacks offensive punch. In a defensive stance on the Eastern Front, they will serve the political needs of the Prussians ably. Furthermore, as this army contains more combat power than the Sep I 14 emergency transfer, it’s deployment in the east mitigates the reason for this transfer.
Another tweak that I did was to swap two ersatz rifle divisions between the Grman 6th and 7th Armies. As the ersatz division assigned to the 7th was a Bavarian unit, and the 6th is a Bavarian army, I simply swapped two very similar divisions.
Having a game where the French are forced to fight into the teeth of the Germans might be marginally interesting, but hardly a challenge. The turn sequence of the game has the Entente player going first in each game turn. The campaign scenario, however, gives the Germans a special invasion turn consisting of a movement phase and a combat phase for the German 1st-3rd Armies only, in order to give them a chance to jump into Belgium. As Belgium remains neutral, this special invasion turn isn’t necessary. On the other hand, the Germans are making France a priority and I would assume that that should count for something.
So, here is how I see history unfolding at game start and how the mechanics compare with the traditional scenario. The Alsatian hex east of Belfort is not owned/occupied by the French. Historically, the elements of the French Army of Alsace raced ahead and entered Mulhouse, then retreated part way while the German 7th Army mobilized. Since, this territory is now occupied by the German 6th Army and is a major offensive part of the Moltke Plan, this seizure of territory runs smack dab into a strong German force and gets nowhere. Further attempts by the French to seize the initiative here are foiled by the arrival of yet more Bavarian troops, the presence of which raises the alarm of the nearby fortress of Belfort.
Whereas historically, Plan XVII hit a German defensive area while the offensive armies were in Belgium, this scenario pits the main weight of both sides’ offensive punch squarely against each other. In the typical scenario, the German 1st-3rd Armies move first in the north while the Entente 1st-4th Armies move first in the south, relatively speaking. So, how should I accomodate both sides opening movements against each other?
As the game features army-based reaction movement and combat, this scenario will start with a special German invasion turn consisting of individual army reactions across the front. Each German army will have to roll the 1 or 2 (on a d6) to move and fight. No inter-army cooperation is allowed during this turn as the reaction roll represents the localized friction of two mobilizing offensive armies trying to get the jump on the other. However, if the French player decides to abandon Plan XVII upon seeing the German juggernaut just over the border, modelled as Joffre receiving reports of sharp rebuffs of probes across the whole frontier, then the Germans get a +2 to their reaction rolls. Otherwise Plan XVII will be in effect after the German special invasion turn.
Morale points come into play with the modified war plans. The original scenario assessed morale point penalties for the abandonment of either the Schlieffen Plan and/or Plan XVII. I will do so, too, but in a somewhat less gamey manner.
Under the original scenario rules, the Germans are assessed a -100 morale point penalty if they abandon the Schlieffen Plan or if they don’t capture Lille and Paris by Jan II 15. The French are simply assessed a 50 point penalty for abandoning Plan XVII. By designing a new opening scenario with an alternate war plan, I’m going to try to generalize the war plan morale penalties in a way that coincides with the original rules.
Here are my general morale point penalties:
- German: -100 morale points if no hex of Paris is occupied or besieged on Jan II 15 (long war penalty)
- German: -50 morale points if less than 2 French fortresses have been captured by Nov I 14 (warplan failure penalty)
- France: -10 morale points for each province of Alsace and Lorraine that is not more than half controlled by Jan II 15 (long war penalty)
- France: -30 morale points if no territory in Alsace or Lorraine had ever been occupied by French forces by Sep II 14 (offensive warplan failure penalty)
Note the use of the term “offensive warplan” above. Another scenario variant would be for the French to avoid Plan XVII altogether and adopt a purely defensive war plan from the outset. While this wouldn’t protect them from the long war penalty, it would protect them from either horrendous losses or further morale point losses. However, if this were done, I would give all German armies a full invasion turn prior to the Aug II 14 Entente turn.