Cossack ambush (september, 1813)
Somewhere in Saxony, the French and Allied light cavalry units are
scouting the terrain between both armies, trying to gather information
about the whereabouts and composition of the enemy.
The Polish General Uminski has sent a patrol of the 1st squadron of the
Krakus Regiment, under their young ADC Lieutenant Kaminski, to scout
towards the village of Herrnhut. Past the cemetery, the road leading the
village crosses a stream and a drainage ditch through a plank bridge.
There is a lone cabin log on the far bank at left and a small wood at
the right flank and the Poles, fearing an ambush, approaches cautiously
to the water stream.
Meanwhile and hidden in the wood, lieutenant Uvarov (a young aristocrat
serving as ADC to Majorgeneral Tetteborn) watches the approaching Poles,
while his men, veterans from the Denisov #7 Cossack Regiment, are
awaiting his signal to fall over their ancestral enemies.
This is a Scenario for Song of Drums and Shakos from Ganesha Games
TABLE-TOP ADAPTATION
| GO TO THE BATTLE IN PICTURES |
 |
| The stream and drainage ditch are fordable for mounted men. Men on foot must use the fords or bridges. The stream is also fordable at a distance of 1M from the bridge. Beyond that distance, the Special rule about drowning must be applied. |
ENGAGED FORCES
Cossacks
(Denisov Cossack #7 Regiment) 1 Officer, 1 NCO, 9 Cossacks. 11
men 680 points
Poles
(Krakus Regiment) 1 Officer, 1 NCO, 8 Privates. 10 men 716 points
DEPLOYMENT
Cossacks
Must deploy at the East (right) side of the game-table behind line A-A.
They can be hidden into the wood or behind the cabin. Until 1D4 men
can dismount and use a musket and these men can also hide within the
cabin. The horses are behind the cabin.
Poles
The Krakus enter through the western roads (pink arrows). Roll 1D6 for
the men along the northern road. The rest use the southern road. The
officer will be included in the greater group, and the NCO in the
smaller one.
SDS SPECIAL RULES
Cossacks: Elan, Leader,
Mounted, Fear, Light, NCO, Unpredictable, Wavering
Poles: Elan, Leader,
Mounted, NCO, Strong.
SCENARIO SPECIAL RULES
• Krakus are the first side.
• Krakus and Cossacks were ancestral ‘enemies’, so both sides check
Moral with only two dice.
• The officers leading scouting parties were a searched prize so his
life was usually preserved. When an officer loses in hand-to-hand
combat, a doubled result means that he is made prisoner and is
unhurt. A trebled result means that the officer is prisoner and
slightly wounded. For Moral and End-of-game purposes, prisoner
officers are considered to be out of action.
• The horses of dismounted men must be hold by other mounted or
dismounted man.
• Any dismounted model recoiling on the stream and beyond 1M
distance from the bridge, must make a Quality roll or drowns. In any
case, the water will spoil his shot and powder. And the model cannot
fire anymore until he picks up a firearm and ammo from a wounded or
dead model.
• Models can enter the cabin only through the door that is closed.
It takes an action to open or close them.
• Models inside the cabin log or behind a wall benefit of hard
cover.
• Line of Sight and Arc of Fire through windows. Models can fire
through windows, but only with an arc of fire of 45°. Anything out
of this arc and near to the wall cannot be seen.
• Only one mounted or two dismounted models can be placed side by
side on the bridge.
VICTORY CONDITIONS
• Both sides have the same objective: to deny the enemy any
information, so the winner will be the side remaining on the
battlefield.
• Normal End-of-Game rules and Morale tests apply to both sides
(i.e. they lose if their Squad breaks)
THE BATTLE IN PICTURES