A. INTRODUCTION
After Austria's defeat in 1809, Napoleon again dominated most of Europe. The Russian Tsar remained his ally. Austria became another French ally through Napoleon's marriage to a Hapsburg princess. French troops continued to occupy Prussia and the rest of Germany was apportioned among loyal princes and former French generals. For the next two years, only England and Spain remained at war with France.
Gradually, however, Napoleon's Continental system, which forbade trade with England, undermined the Russian economy, and the Tsar was increasingly pressured to sever the strangling pact he had signed after the Battle of Friedland. By 1812, the relations between France and Russia had greatly deteriorated and both powers had begun preparing for war.
In June, Napoleon invaded Russia with an army of more than a half million men. Initially outnumbered, the Russians steadily retreated throughout the summer as attrition rapidly eroded the Grande Armee. After the bloody but indecisive Battle of Borodino (September 5-7), Napoleon entered Moscow with barely 100,000 remaining troops. For the next two months, the French occupied the Russian capital while Napoleon waited in vain for the Tsar's capitulation.
Unable to sustain his army at Moscow, in November, Napoleon began retreating in order to shorten the French supply line. But the combined effect of the severe Russian winter and the harassing hordes of enemy Cossacks transformed the retreat into a cruel nightmare from which only a handful of the Emperor's troops escaped. By the end of the year, Prussia had defected, Austria had concluded a separate peace agreement with Russia, and the mood of the German rebellion was spreading rapidly as the Russians neared the Vistula. The tide had turned against Napoleon's Empire.
B. GAME EQUIPMENT
1. The scenario is played on map boards 3 and 4.
2. The scenario requires Austrian, Prussian, Russian, French and French satellite units.
C. VICTORY CONDITIONS
1. The French player wins if he controls Warsaw, Smolensk, and either Moscow or St. Petersburg, and none of these cities are besieged, at the end of the game.
2. The non-French player wins if there are no un-besieged French strength points in any city on map board 4, at the end of the game.
3. If neither player achieves his victory condition, the game is considered a draw.
4. The scenario begins in May 1812 and ends in December 1812.
D. SPECIAL RULES
1. Alliance Phase
a. The French player receives one City Point for each major city on mapboard 4 which he controls.
b. The non-French player receives one City Point for each major city on map board 3 or 4 which he controls.
c. If a modified die roll of "0" occurs during an Alliance Phase, the French player may immediately deploy the following Austrian reinforcements: At Lublin: 1I.
d. If a modified die roll of "7" occurs during an Alliance Phase, all Austrian and Prussian forces desert and are immediately eliminated from the map board (see e, below).
e. If a modified die roll of "7" occurs during an Alliance Phase, Napoleon must immediately return to Paris (to suppress an attempted coup d'etat) and is removed from play for the remainder of the game.
f. The Allegiance Phase is deleted until the start of the November 1812 turn.
2. Supply Sources
a. The supply source for all French and French satellite units is any major city which the French player controlled at the start of the scenario. If the non-French player gains control of such a city, it may not function as a French supply source for the remainder of the game.
b. The supply source for Austrian, Prussian, and Russian units is any city in the unit's home country. If the opposing player gains control of a city, it may not be used as a supply source for the remainder of the game.
c. Austrian and Prussian units (only) may never voluntarily enter a hex in which they would become unsupplied.
3. Cossacks
a. Cossack units possess a basic morale value of zero.
b. At the start of any round of combat, if a committed force contains Cossacks, the Cossack strength points may withdraw unless the opposing force contains a larger number of cavalry strength points.
4. Russian Patriotism
The basic morale value of all regular Russian infantry and cavalry on mapboard 4 is increased to three.
5. Davout's Leadership
In this scenario (only), the French leader Davout may move accompanied by up to fifteen strength points.
E. INITIAL DEPLOYMENT
1. French Player (deploys first)
a. French forces: At Dresden: Napoleon, Leader(0) * At Danzig: Davout, 12I, lC * At Posen: Bessieres, 6GI, 1GC * At Thorn: Ney, 5I, lC * Within two hexes of Thorn: Eugene, 3I, lC * Within one hex of Thorn: Murat, 4C * Within one hex of Danzig: Leader (0), 6I * In Prussia, within one hex of Warsaw: Poniatowski, Leader (0) * At Stettin: Victor, 2I * At Konigsberg: Leader (0).
b. French satellite forces: In Prussia, within one hex of Warsaw: Jerome, Leader (0), 6I (Po), 3I (S), 3I (W), 2C (Po), lC (S), 1C (W) * Within two hexes of Thorn: Leader (0), 5I (B), 4I (I), 1I (Pt), lC (B), lC (I), lC (Po) * At Danzig: 2I (R), 1I (Sz) * At Dresden: 2I (I), 1I (N), 2I (R) * At Hanover: 1I (W) * At Konigsberg: 1I (Po), 1I (W) * At Lubeck: 2I (D) * At Posen: 2I (Po), 1I (R) * At Stettin: 1I (Po), 3I (R) * At Thorn: 1I (Da), 3I (Wu).
c. French allied forces: At Konigsberg: Yorck, 4I, 1C (Prussian) * At Lublin: Schwarzenberg, 5I, 2C (Austrian).
2. Non-French Player
a. Russian forces (deploy in Russia): Within one hex of Vilna: Barclay, Constantine, 3I, 3GI, 1GC * Within one hex of Brest-Litovsk: Bagration, 8I, 2C, 2CC * Within one hex of Grodno: Docturov, 4I, 1C, 2CC * Within one hex of Pinsk: Tormazov, 7I, 2C * Within one hex of Kovno: Wittgenstein, 4I * At Vilna: Benningsen, 3I * At Kovno: Leader (0), 3I, lC * At Moscow: 2I * At Riga: 2I * At Kharkov, Kiev, Minsk, and Vitebsk: 1I each.
F. REINFORCEMENTS AND REPLACEMENTS
1. French Reinforcements
a. Each turn-At Dresden: 1I.
b. October 1812-At Danzig: 2C
c. The French player may replace one strength point of satellite infantry each turn. Polish replacements appear at Warsaw. All other satellite nationalities are replaced at Dresden.
d. French reinforcements and replacements are forfeited if the non-French player controls the specified city on the scheduled turn of arrival.
2. Russian Reinforcements
Each turn-At Moscow: 2I * At Kiev: 1I.
August 1812-At Kiev: Leader (0), 5I, 2C.
September 1812-At Moscow: Kutusov * At St. Petersburg: Leader (0), 5I.
October 1812-At Moscow: 2CC * At Kiev: lCC.
The non-French player may replace one strength point of Cossack cavalry each turn at Moscow.
If the French player controls a city on a turn when Russian reinforcements are scheduled to appear at that city, the reinforcements arrive at the nearest city which the non-French player controls.