Action, Accounting and Assessing Risk....

The Campaigning Continues:

Have been doing some pre-battle "bookkeeping" for the ongoing campaign......
One of the things about running a campaign (as opposed to gaming one-off fights) is the "shock" of how QUICKLY your army gets whittled away - not so much in battle, which one expects, but with the allocating of troops to protect lines of communication, garrisoning salient points and the drip-drip-drip of desertions (and SO far I've managed to keep my guys fed & watered.....).



Apropos; I was looking through the pre-battle "Order of Battle" for Burgoyne's army at Saratoga the other week (like you do..) and was (yet again) stuck by the comparison with the "paper strength" of his regiments and the réalité of the "effective strength"... These ranged from an average of just over half the paper strength to just over a quarter (!!!) in one case....

My legions haven't degraded THAT much (yet), but I'm watching the figures - and the relatively small portion of the map "dealt with" so far - and thinking Ummm..........


Meanwhile, back on the map....




Sepporis has fallen after a only week's seige (Yielded on terms. We can still afford to be generous). The next week is taken up with:

A cavalry probe towards (hostile, fortified) Arbela, which comes face to face with a blocking force - and swiftly comes scurrying home without engaging (Clever boys..).

Little Garis turning out to be friendly - but the settlement will need a garrison (no pun intended) to keep it safe from raids from Arbela.
More probing.. On the road to (as it turn out, hostile, fortified) Tiberias the patrol of horse are ambushed... Except where...? The nearer one gets, the flatter the country.... Help me Mr. Google....

There is an indecisive skirmish (the enemy have no horse and the ground is a bit "Meh"...). The above is followed by a day or two of Strategic thinking (Council of War), loss assessment, redistribution of garrisons etc....

A decision has been reached that Tiberias - with its direct road connections to garrisoned Scythopolis and Garis, plus the threat it poses to friendly Pella, Gadera and Hippias - HAS to be the next target.

This being so, a plan to march a legion and supports force via Ptolemais to Bersabe to push into Galilee from the north, in concert with the two legion push from the south, in order to speed things along, has been put on hold....
One of the frustrations of campaigning... I turned my back for a moment while sorting a logistic issue and having a "Council of War" and raiders from the "soon to be besieged" Tiberias raided friendly Pella. THEN, once I got them moving, my columns ran into bad weather before they got any further in closing down this danger point... Frustrating, yes; but "real".... Chess this ain't..

The army moves. besieging Tiberias (another 8 days lost) then on to Tarichaeae (another nine days). Losses are minimal but keeping my army together is eating up the weeks. Having taken Tiberias and Tarichaeae the army moves to Beersabe, which surrendered after three days.
Here is the balance problem: a large army can scare the enemy into surrender or subdue a town by sheer presence/numbers in a siege situation. However, this will always take at least a week (plus clear up). I can deal with more towns at a time by splitting my force, but each individual siege will likely take longer, use more supplies, leave those columns more vulnerable to ambush and could result in losses in manpower I cannot afford... Hmmm.....

Titus and the Vth have been left at Beesave. Meanwhile, Vespasian and the rest of the army retrace their steps, to Tarichaeae, then move to deal with hostile, fortified Arbela. An ambush is triggered..... 

Again, I get Google Maps up and running. The short distances involved flummox me once more...The approach from the Sea of G. is flatish - until it starts rising to the mounts, where there is a suitable looking "ambush me" gully..

However, thanks to this wonderful resource (Streeview & the 3D tool), I can see where the sources (which are so bloody vague sometimes) suddenly fit the geography...



"Arbela" seems to cover the mount itself and possibly the nearby jebel, both of which look riddled with caves, as described/hinted at in some sources, which Josephus seemingly protected with walls..




Given the small distances involved, assuming I beat off the ambush, this might turn into an interesting a "follow-up and assault" on the table, rather than a siege. Looks have to dug out me old cork bits for this one...



Meanwhile: From the Annual Annals of Crun the Elder:

"And Vespasian, with all his arméd might, did march from Tarichaeae even unto Arbela, and on first sighting this fell hold of his enemies gathered unto himself his Legates and spoke unto them, saying  "What the frick..??!! I was expecting a town, not a bloody rock..."

Honestly, sometimes being ambushed en route is a positive relief...

A Word about Casualties...

If you've followed the last couple of table-spats in the ongoing "This Ain't Siluria" campaign you will have noted the casualty round-up at the end of each battle.

Now, hopefully obviously, in a campaign project casualties are important, and this post may well seem to be very much a "Suck Eggs Seminar" to some, but I thought I'd do a quick run-through why the stats. are not a just a gleeful (or doleful) "Scores on the Doors" - and the (really, really basic) way I handle this kind of issue..

During an actual fight the figures removed will not just be representing the actually dead, but also folk removed "from play" for a range of reasons -physical or psychological damage (temporary or permanent), helping mates or important officers out of harm's way, shirkers, deserters etc. etc.  Afterwards, however, there is a need to separate out the halt and the lame and the "not coming back"....

I use a really, really simple post-battle method: each figure removed through combat figure is diced for (1xd6).  Throw 5-6: slightly wounded. 4-5 Seriously wounded. 1-2 Dead. Shimples....

Then we come to what those categories actually mean.....

The dead/those logged as fatalities: Generally speaking these are the fallen. These will not be available again.

The slow (or swift) attrition of a force on the "board" through lack of supply or through combat is largely going to determine the outcome of the campaign and certainly going to affect the ability of a force to function (Well, like "Duh"). The need to log these - since "equal sided battles" or "points" battles aren't my thing - is obvious.

However, this number will also represent those so seriously physically/psychologically affected that they are permanently out of the game (succumbing, in time, to their wounds or permanently disabled), the "Missing" and the "Sod this for a game of soldiers" guys who have decided enough is enough and won't be coming back to play.

Now, in this project these latter categories are not differentiated. In more modern games/projects these definitions may well be important "politically" (e.g. some of my 19th/early 20thC "Colonial Conflicts") or from the point of morale, and I will look at historical stats. for the period/conflict and apply methods to calculate likely percentages (though always with an element of chance), but basically my "dead" are figures no longer in play for the duration.  

WTF...??  Last Time I buy Strezvda's "IXth Legion" pack.....

Slightly/Lightly Wounded:

The walking wounded. The physically or psychologically damaged who will, with treatment, be available for work or combat in a few days. These will have made their own way off the field/been helped swiftly off by mates or medics.
 
In extremis (such as "The Last Stand at Fort Horrible" type scenarios or even during an extended battle) these guys may be returned to the fray (faster than they might like) with a reduction in effectiveness.

Seriously Wounded: 

These will potentially recover in time. For some short campaigns this category may not be important for operational purposes, but (as above) in some projects this figure will have a political or moral-related significance.

Note: these guys are deemed not to be able to make their own way off of the field and cannot be helped off out of harm's way during the fight unless either 1) there is a serious lull in proceedings of at least four moves or 2) their own army has a formal, in-combat casualty treatment/removal protocol. Unless these conditions prevail they are left on the field at the end of the battle - which means they are captured. What happens to them next will depend on the cultural and moral characteristics of their foes. Some may end up as prisoners.  Some offered for ransom or exchange. Some, um, not..........

"Bending River or Estuary Convention..? What Bending River or Estuary Convention..?"

In certain scenarios these guys will not be coming off of the field if their positions are overrun or their unit is routed/wiped out during the battle (i.e. any wounded are summarily "dealt with").


Oh, and one final thing: you know all those Shock markers still in place at the end of a fight? I count those as "Slightly/Lightly Wounded". No real reason, but when I'm "scaling-up" from the table (e.g. 1 bod represents 20 guys or whatever) it makes the casualties list look a bit less even... 


Well there we are... Quick, simple, not entirely necessary - but adds a bit of colour to proceedings....

Funnily enough, the same thing has been said about me.. ;)