The Battle
of Skalitz,
28th June 1866
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On the 27th of June the battle of Nachod had occured, see Nachod, where the Prussian V Corps had held open the exit from the mountains. Ramming's defeated Austrian IV Corps had then fallen back and Archduke Leopold's VIII Corps had moved to plug the gap. They took up positions around Skalitz, but were advised by Benedek, the Austrian commander, that action was not likely that day. Meanwhile the victorious Prussian V Corps under Steinmetz continued its advance expecting to link up with the advancing Prussian Guard Corps. This in the event did not happen, for on that day the Guard Corps fought its own battle, seeBurkersdorf. Undetered by the news that he would face the Austrians alone, Steinmetz resolved to continue his advance and clear his enemy from the Skaliz area. The purpose of this page is to provide scenario details for the Battle of Nachod, 1866. The scenario is for use with the Mit Blut und Eisen rules for the mid Nineteenth century European wars - Mit Blut und Eisen. Note: The version for the old rules is here - Fire and Furia Francese scenario
Scale and notes: The game starts with the 08:00 Prussian phase and ends after the 16:00 Austrian phase. The Austrians move first in each turn. This scenario may be played historically or as a 'what if'. At the time of Skalitz many of the senior Austrian commanders tried to persuade Benedek, the commander in chief, to launch a counter attack against the Prussians. In the event Benedek chose to continue his attempted concentration of the Austrian army instead. The 'what if' scenario assumes that at some point Benedek was persuaded to launch the nearby IV and VI Corps, along with the 1st Reserve Cavalry Division, into an attack on Steunmetz's Corps. In such an event the Prussians would have been able to attempt to counter this action by calling on the support of their VI Corps. This unit was marching up behind the V Corps, but took no part in the real battle. Orders of Battle: HistoricalPrussians All infantry are armed with the Drefse Needle gun, NG. All artillery are armed as noted. Units marked with an 'L' are in skirmish formation. Roll a D6 for each unit that does not have a leader. On a roll of 5 or 6 the unit has a leader. Roll again and on a 1-5 it is a +1 leader, on a 6 a +2 leader. V Corps: von Steinmetz (2). Enter at either A or B. Formation Morale 21 - 2D6 Corps Artillery: 3 guns (2 Foot batteries - BLA & 1 Horse battery - SA) Corps Cavalry (4th Dragoons & 1st Uhlans): 4 / - / 3 Corps Jagers (5th Jager Btn): 3 / - / 2 L 9th Division: von Loewenfeld (3). Enter at B
10th Division: von Kirchbach (2). Enter at A
Detachment from the Guard Cavalry (under Corps Command)
Austrians All infantry are armed with the Lorenz rifle, a MLR, the artillery are RA. Units marked with an 'A' are using Assault Tactics, those with a 'L' are using skirmish tactics. Roll a D6 for each unit to see if it has a leader. On a roll of a 5 or 6 jager units have a leader, on a roll of a 6 all others have a leader. Roll again and on a 1-5 it is a +1 leader, on a 6 a +2 leader. VIII Corps: Archduke Leopold (0). Formation Morale 22 plus 1 for each addditional light unit used - 4 D6 Corps Artillery: 2 guns (1 Foot, 1 Horse) 1st 'Division': Fragnern (0)
2nd 'Division': Schultz (2)
3rd 'Division': Krevssern (2)
4th 'Division': Rothkirch (0).
Orders of Battle: Units for 'What if' Prussians: Notes as for V Corps. VI Corps: von Mutius (2). Formation Morale 15.5 plus 1 for addditional light unit used- 2D6 11th Division: von Zastrow (2).
12th Division: von Prodzinsky (2).
Austrians: Notes as for VIII Corps above. IV Corps: Graf Festetics (2). Formation Morale 22.5 plus 1 for each addditional light unit used - 4 D6 Corps Artillery: 1 Foot battery, 1 Horse battery and 1 Rocket battery. Corps Cavalry (half of the 7th Hussars): 3 / - / 2 1st 'Division': von Brandenstein (0)
2nd 'Division': von Fleischaker (0).
3rd Brigade: Pockh (1).
4th Brigade: Achduke Joseph 1 P.Ldr.
VI Corps: von Ramming (3). Formation Morale 23.5 plus 1 for each addditional light unit used - 5 D6 Corps Reserve Artillery: 2 Guns (1 Horse) 1st Brigade: Waldstatten (0)
2nd Brigade: Hertweck (0)
3rd Brigade: Rosenzweig (1)
4th Brigade: Jonak (1)
1st Reserve Cavalry Division: Holstein - Glucksburg (0). Divisional Artillery: 1 Horse battery. Solm's Cavalry Brigade (4th & 6th Cuirassier, 8th Uhlan): 6 / 4 / 2 (+1 combat)
Deployment and Reinforcements: Austrian Deployment: 1st Brigade: The 5th Jager's may start anywhere to the East of Dubno or in Dubno itself. The rest of the brigade within 12'" of the bridge to the west of Zlitsch and on the eastern side of the river. They are in Attack Column, skirmishing or unlimbered as appropiate. 2nd Brigade: Deployed in Attack Column, skirmish or unlimbered, as appropiate. On the hill between Zlitsch and Skalitz. They are in prepared positions and recieve a -1 in fire and melee combat. 3rd Brigade: Deployed in Attack Column, skirmish or unlimbered, as appropiate. In Skalitz, the Station or the area to the south of these and west of the embankment.
Terrain:
Woods / Villages: All woods and villages count as difficult going and give a -1 advantage in fire and melee combat. Hills: All the hills are normal 'Fire and Fury' hills, but as noted those units of the Austrian 2nd Brigade that start on the hill receive a -1 fire and melee combat advantage. They must remain in their initial positions, but may change face or formation. Cultivated Land: Blocks line of sight, as if where a wood, but has no further effect. Embankment: Provides a -1 fire and melee advantage if the unit is lining it. It has no effect on line of sight, but count as a 1" wide linear obstacle for cavalry and atrillery. Lake: Impassable to all troops. River: Impassable to cavalry and artillery except at the bridges. It counts as a 2" wide river for infantry. Special Rules: Austrian Activation: In the 'Historical' battle ONLY the Austrian army must be activated before it may operate normally. This is due to the fact that they were not expecting an attack that day. While the high command, ie Archduke Leopold, did absolutely nothing during the whole period of the battle. Therefore, except for the 5th Jagers of the 1st Brigade, none of the Austrian units may move until activated. They may still fire as normal. Units are automatically activated if a Prussian unit comes within 12" of them. They are also activated if the suffer any negative fire combat result, i.e. they are Disordered or worse. Finally all units are activated if 8 or more units have been activated by either of the above methods. Otherwise they must roll for activation. The key to this process is the 1st Brigade. Starting with the Austrian 08:30 phase they roll a D10 until activated. Needing a 10 on the 08:30 turn, a 9 or 10 on the 09:00 turn, a 8, 9 or 10 on the 09:30 turn, etc. A roll of a 1 is always a failure. Once activated they have no need to roll for movement, instead they MUST move a full move towards the nearest enemy unit. Light infantry, cavalry and artillery may ignore this if the enemy is within 12". Line infantry MUST move into melee combat if they can. Following the activation of the 1st Brigade the other units automatically activate, but do not have to advance. They roll normally for movement, but may only do so the following number of turns after the 1st Brigade is activated. 2nd Brigade: Activated in the Austrian phase following the 1st Brigade's activation. Corps Assets: Activated in the second Austrian phase following the 1st Brigade's activation. 3rd Brigade: Activated in the third Austrian phase following the 1st Brigades activation. Reinforcements: In the 'Historical' battle the only potential reinforcements are the Austrian 4th Brigade. In the 'what if' game not only this unit but also the ones listed in the 'what if' may enter the game as reinforcements. Austrian:4th Brigade, VIII Corps: Starting from the Austrian 08:30, or the phase after this that the Austrian player decides to start trying, phase the Austrian player may (must in the 'what if' game) roll for this unit to arrive as a reinforcement. If this unit should arrive the Prussians will receive 3 victory points. In the 'what if' game the Austrian player must start rolling from the 08:30 roll, but the Prussian player receives no victory point if this unit arrives. A D10 is rolled, with a 10 needed on the first turn, a 9 or 10 on the second (09:00) turn, an 8, 9 or 10 on the third turn, etc. roll of a 1 or 2 is always a failure. If the brigade arrive a D6 is rolled to see where it comes from. 1, 2 or 3 it arrives at point C, a 4, 5 or 6 it arrives at point D. Units are in March Column, Limbered, etc. Other Reinforcements (what if only): Starting with the 10:30 Austrian phase a D10 is rolled for each of the potential groups of reinforcements, ie one each for the 1st Reserve Cavalry Division, IV and VI Corps. On that phase a roll of 10 is needed for the formation to start arriving. On the 11:00 phase a 9 or 10, on the 11:30 phase a 8, 9 or 10, etc. A 1 or 2 is always a failure. All units arrive on the board in March Column, Limbered, etc. The 1st Cavalry Division arrives within 6" of point E. IV Corps arrives at point D and VI Corps at point C. Except for the Cavalry Division they do not all arrive at the same time. For the Corps the following procedure is used. The formations of the Corps are divided into 'echelons' by the use of a D6 dice. 1, 2, 3 or 4 means the 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th Brigades of that formation, a 5 means the Corps assets and a 6 means two formations have arrived, roll again to determine which. A maximum of two formations can be in any 'echelon' and they can be a maximum of 5 'echelons'. Therefore if a second six is rolled, ignore it and re-roll. Similarly if a roll calls for the allocation of a formation to an 'echelon', but that unit is already in a previous 'echelon', then you re-roll until a formation that is not allocated is obtained. For example on the 11:00 Austrian phase the Austrian player rolls a 9 for the IV Corps and they start arriving on the table from point D. He then rolls for the composition of the 'echelons'. The first roll is a 3, so the 3rd Brigade is the 1st 'echelon'. The second roll is another 3, but the 3rd Brigade is already allocated to an 'echelon'. Therefore a re-roll is made, a 5 is rolled and the Corps Assets are the 2nd 'echelon'. The next roll is a 6, so two formations are in this 'echelon', the third. Two further rolls are made for the units and they are the 1st and 4th Brigades. This leaves just the 2nd Brigade therefore it becomes the 4th 'echelon'. The 1st 'echelon' arrives on the turn that the Austrian player successfully rolls for them to do so. On the Austrian phase after all of the 1st 'echelon' are completely on the board, the 2nd 'echelon' may roll for arrival. A D10 is rolled for the 'echelon'. A 1 - 5 means it has failed to arrive, a 6 - 10 that it has arrived. The roll is modified by a +1 for each 'E' leader (not unit commanders), a -1 for each 'P' leader and a +1 per additional attempt after the 1st that is made. A 'natural' roll of 1 or 2 is always a failure. Once the 2nd 'echelon' is completely on the board then the 3rd 'echelon' may start to try to enter on the following phase. For example in the example mentioned above the 3rd Brigade, IV Corps arrived during the 11:00 Austrian phase as the 1st 'echelon'. As they were all on table at the start of the 11:30 phase, the arrival of the 2nd 'echelon' was rolled for, the Corps Assets. A 6 or more is needed as the Corps commander is neither an 'E' or 'P' leader. A 3 is rolled and they don't arrive. On the following Austrian phase a second roll is made, this time a 5 or more is needed because of the plus one for a subsequent attempt. At the start of the 12:30 Austrian phase all have the Corps assets have arrived so the next, 3rd, 'echelon is rolled for, the 1st and 4th Brigades. Normally a 6 or better would suffice to bring these units on to the table, but both leaders of these Brigades are 'P'. Therefore a -2 dice modifier is applied and an 8 or better is required. Prussian: In the 'what if' game the Prussian player may also receive reinforcements. They may start rolling a D6 on the Prussian phase following the arrival of the first 'echelon' of either of the two Austrian Corps. The first such phase they require a 6, on the second such phase a 5 or 6, etc. A roll of a 1 or 2 is always a failure. On a successful roll the Prussian VI Corps starts to arrive. They arrive in March Column, Limbered, etc and at Point A. In a similar manner to the Austrian reinforcements above they then have to roll for the second 'echelon' of reinforcements to arrive. A D6 is rolled on the Prussian phase after the VI starts to arrive. The first such phase they require a 6, on the second such phase a 5 or 6, etc. A roll of a 1 or 2 is always a failure. The composition of the 'echelons' though is fixed. The 1st 'echelon' is: von Zastrow, 10th and 38th Infantry Regts. The 2nd 'echelon' is: von Mutius, 11th Division's Artillery, 50th and 51st Infantry Regts. The 3rd 'echelon' is: von Prodzinsky, 6th Jager Btn and 22nd Infantry Regt. The 4th 'echelon' is: 23rd Infantry Regt and 12th Division's Artillery.
Victory Points: In addition the following scenario specific rules are used. The first number is used for the 'historical' game and the second for the 'what if'. Austrians:+10 / +10 v.p's for being the sole occupier or last occupier of Kleny. +10 / +10 v.p's for being the sole occupier or last occupier of Skarkoc. +0 / +5 v.p's for being the sole occupier or last occupier of Dubno ('what if' only). Prussians:+10 / +15 v.p's for being the sole occupier or last occupier of Zlitsch. +5 / +10 v.p's for being the sole occupier or last occupier of Skalitz. +5 / +10 v.p's for being the sole occupier or last occupier of the Railway Station. +0 / +5 v.p's for being the sole occupier or last occupier of Zibeto ('what if' only). +0 / +5 v.p's for being the sole occupier or last occupier of Dubno ('what if' only). +3 / 0 v.p's if the Austrian 4th Brigade arrives as a reinforcement ('historical' only). |
