Military Modelling – September 1979

Teaser # 10 – “Rear Guard”

C. S. Grant offers
more food for
wargames thought
It is probably true that, to most people,
the glamour (if that is the right word) of
war is found in the offensive battle. One
may envisage success in terms of a
raid, a counter attack or a bold full-
scale offensive operation resulting in
the embarrassment of the enemy.
Names are made by such successes.
With the possible exception of
Wellington, reputations have been
established on successful attacking
rather than defensive battles.
Despite this, to be a successful
commander it is not enough to be
successful in attack; one must also
understand and be master of the art of
defence. It is a fact of life that one
spends more time in static defensive
situations than in any other phase of
war. As a prelude to this, the first of
several problems based on defence, it
seems appropriate to consider some
of the characteristics of defence.
The roles of the defender and the
attacker must each have their respective
pros and cons. Before considering these
further it is necessary to divide defence,
in a similar way to the ambush in Teaser
attacker to defeat him in detail. The tactical importance on the battlefield.
nine, into two types. The first is the
attacker has a number, of options These may be dominating features,
hasty defence, forced upon a
when faced with a pre-prepared natural obstacles, covered or
commander at short notice by
defensive position. H6 may by-pass or concealed approaches and built-up
circumstances dictated by the, enemy.
outflank the .position, turn one of the areas. The effect and usefulness of
The second is a deliberate or pre-
flanks or assault from a selected each of these will be considered by
planned defence. I will concentrate my
direction. He is better able to mislead the defender, who should consider
comments on the second type.
the defender with diversions and ploys the ground not only from his own point
Without going into great detail, we
to conceal his intentions. of view, but also that of the enemy.
will first consider some of the
While the would-be assailant is There will be many other
advantages which accrue to the attacker
making his plan and examining his considerations once the ground is
of the defensive position. The attacker
options, the defender has already made selected. These will include detailed
may, of course, choose his time to
his decisions and his position will stand siting of units; arcs of fire, security of
assault whereas the defender must
or fall on these. Most important of the flanks, lines of communication and
remain alert and on guard twenty-four
these decisions is the selection of the the maintenance of a reserve. One
hours a day. Apart from selecting his
ground. The defender selects his could talk in far more detail about each
time, the attacker also has the
ground for a deliberate defensive battle of these factors and many others.
advantage of choosing his direction and
so that it is most suitable for him to However, I would like to consider one
line of assault. If he does not have a
achieve his aims. The defender's particular aspect of defence
considerable overall numerical
advantage is that, should the enemy concerning ground which I , hope to
superiority (a definite advantage) he
attack, he does so on ground bring out in this month's Teaser.
can at least gain local superiority in
favourable to the defender and of the There are two types of position or
numbers by concentrating on one part
latter's choosing. In selecting the postures which one can adopt on a
of the defensive position. Such local
ground, he will be considering a defensive feature. In modern parlance,
superiority may well achieve a
number of factors. Without labouring these are called 'forward' and 'reverse'
breakthrough rendering the enemy's,
the principles of defence, there will be slope positions. The forward slope
position untenable or permitting the
particular features which will have position is one in which the defender
 Military Modelling – September 1979
Teaser # 10 – “Rear Guard”

occupies the side of the feature which

faces the enemy. A simplification of its
pros and cons would be that it is a
position which sacrifices the advantage
of concealment and cover from fire in
order to achieve wider arcs of fire,
longer ranges, greater observation and
domination of the area in front of the
position. Christopher Duffy describes
just such a forward position:
"The Russians at Borodino put all their
troops in the shop window in full view of
the French. The Jaeger regiments of
infantry divisions were spread out
nearest the enemy along the river banks
and in the brushwood. Next came the
line infantry, arranged in two rows of
battalion columns with the cavalry
deployed in two lines in close support.
The local and general reserves stood
almost immediately behind . . .
Thousands of men lost their lives to no
purpose because the French gunners
had such excellent targets in these
compact masses of troops standing
motionless in the open."
It is, of course, possible to occupy a
visible on the forward slope, the bulk of (the standing rye remains though the
forward slope position without providing
the troops being concealed behind the sunken road is no more) to see the
such blatan1 targets. One need not put all
crest." Similarly, the slope rising from La advantages of the position. This, then, is
one's troops "in the shop window". The
Belle Alliance up to La Haye Sainte the reverse slope that concealed the
quotation does, however, serve to
provided Wellington at Waterloo with a British squares which were only revealed
point out, somewhat extremely, the
good opportune to fill the "shop to the breathless and blown French
dangers of such a position.
window" between Hougoumont through cavalry as they broke the top of the
In sharp contrast to the forward slope
La Haye Sainte to Papelotte. The Iron deceptively gentle slope.
described above, the advantages of the
Duke, however, opted once again for the It is, perhaps, misleading that these
reverse slope are best exemplified by the
advantages of the reverse slope using quotations would seem to imply that the
Duke o Wellington who used it to
the sunken road and hedge line at the forward slope has nothing in its favour
devastating effect both in the Peninsular
crest to good effect. The troops stationed and that the reverse slope has
War and at Waterloo. At Bussaco, J.
in this area could not be seen by the everything to recommend it. The choice
Marshall-Cornwall in his biography of
French artillery, nor could these troops be is not so easy and will depend on the
Massena says: "Wellington had . . .
disturbed by the advancing enemy commander. The reverse slope must
concealed on the Bussaco ridge 50,000
because they could not see what was have some forward slope outposts for
men and 60 guns it a magnificent tactical
happening in the valley below. One observation, early warning and to delay
position. Only a screen o out-posts were
needs only to visit the battlefield today the enemy's assault and to restrict his
movements. While the reverse slope
provides cover from view and fire it
reduces the range at which the enemy
may be engaged, the effectiveness of
both man-made and natural obstacles
and the ability to observe the enemy's
movements. The reverse slope may
conceal strengths and weaknesses and,
to some extent, force the enemy to
attack blind, but it risks the loss of
important ground, dominating features
and crests. For this reason the summit or
crest must be covered by fire and made
untenable for the enemy. Forward slope
strong points and likely concentration
areas for assault must be held, for
example Hougoumont at Waterloo. It
can, therefore, be seen that, at least to
some extent, what one gains from one
type of position one loses with the other.
For example, one can physically hold the
important ground in a forward slope, but
risk one's forces to the enemy's fire; on
the other hand, in the reverse slope, one

Teaser # 10 – “Rear Guard”
is not exposed but the ground may be
occupied by the enemy. The balance is a
fine one which only the commander can
decide and only history can judge.
This month's Teaser centres round a
blocking position occupied by a rear
guard and provides the defender with the
choice of a forward or a reverse slope
position or indeed a combination of both.
Period
This Teaser is suitable for any period. The
forces shown are for a horse and musket
game, but as you know by now that is by
no means restrictive. A modern game will,
of course, add the problems of indirect
fire and observations, but these are not
insuperable.
Terrain
The terrain is shown in Map 1. The rear
guard sits astride the main north/south
road marked crossing the hill feature. The
river to the west is impassable. The hill
rises gently to the crest shown by the line
X-Y on the map. The attacking force
cannot see beyond this crest when it
appears on the table. We will look further
at this visibility factor later.
Forces
Red Force (rear guard)
1 battalion of
already positioned on
line infantry
the table in a forward
2 guns slope position shown
2 battalions
of line
infantry. Not put down on the
1 heavy table, but positioned by
cavalry Red on a map on the
regiment. reverse slope north of
1 company the line X-Y.
of engineers.
I gun.
Blue Force (advance guard)
5 battalions of line infantry.
1 regiment of heavy cavalry.
2 regiments of light cavalry. 2 guns.
Scenario and opening actions
Red's main force is retiring north
pursued by the numerically superior Blue
forces. They are retiring to cross a bridge
a days march north of the map to marry
up with other forces. In order to cover this
move, Red has left a rear guard to hold
up the enemy for one day. Red has
already decided to put some forces on the
forward slope, at least initially, to stall the
enemy. The remainder are positioned on
the reverse slope, but out of sight. Blue's
advanced guard, hot in pursuit of Red,
arrives on the table at the start of the
action just after first light.
Red's forward slope forces are
Military Modelling – September 1979
deployed as shown on Map 1. The feature but short of the crest X-Y. He can
umpire gives Red a map of the table and therefore-see all along the contour only
instructs him to mark the positions of his up to the crest as shaded. He could also
remaining rear guard forces which are see anything on the similar contour to
out of sight north of the line X-Y. Red now the east, but below the crest. In C's
writes full orders for all his units to cover case, however, the unit has crossed the
the day's action from the arrival of the crest and can now see all on that side
enemy. Forces hidden behind the dead shown by the very wide arc. He will not,
ground or skyline may move in any however, be able to see beyond the top
period (provided they have orders) by left contour down towards A because this
marking the move to scale on the map. will still be dead ground. Finally, D1
An example of how this works is shown shows the effect of the line X-Y where
on Map 2. Red, in this case, sees from the unit can see over a wide arc up to
his HQ on the forward slope what the sky-line. Once over the sky-line D2
appears to be the start of a flanking (cross hatched), shows how there is a
movement to the east by Blue (in period wide arc, how the reverse slopes are
6). He decides to send two units to his revealed bur dead ground remains
left, but on the reverse slope to counter behind the higher contours. These
this. A messenger from HQ moves over simple guide lines should enable visibility
the crest in period 7 and arrives at the problems to be worked out without too
first unit in period 8 and unit 2 in period 9. much confusion. Of course, once a unit
These units take one period each to is seen it must appear on the table and
digest and react to the new orders and therefore is seen by all.
they commence moving on periods 10
and 11 respectively. Each move is Conclusions
marked to scale on Red's map. His The battle is now ready to begin. Blue
actions are unknown to Blue. Blue's unit must achieve his aim by brushing Red
is, of course, actually moving each period aside and press on quickly. The
on the table where his movements are unpleasant terrain and the unknown
clearly visible to the Red HQ. In period beyond the sky-line may, however,
13, Blue crosses the sky-line X-Y and the cause him to move with caution .and to
two units disclosed below are put.on the lose valuable time. On the other hand, a
table with the umpire's supervision. Once wild advance, dashing blindly up the
this system of concealed movement is slope, brushing aside the screen, may
understood (we used it in Teasers 2 and find itself rapidly in the midst of well
9) it can add considerably to the realism formed squares, newly made redoubts
and surprise in a variety of settings. and devastating gun fire and may quickly
Returning to Red, once his orders for the meet a dreadful end. Red too, will have
day are written and his units deployed on much to do to counter Blue's probes and
the table or map, the game can begin assaults. The battle may well fall into two
with the arrival of Blue. phases with a forward slope and then a
reverse slope action.
Red Force's aim The game is partly dependent on a
Red force's aim is to hold up the enemy's time element—let us say 24 periods from
advance guard until last light and. then to start to finish to represent the day. For
disengage and withdraw north. Blue to win the game he must be able to
press on with his advance north, off the
Blue Force's aim table having defeated Red, by period 20.
Blue force's aim is to break through The game is drawn if Blue is able to beat
Red's rear guard as quickly as possible Red and to press on by period 24. Red
and clear the road north in pursuit of wins the game if he still holds the
Red's main body. north/south road and is not defeated by
last light (period 24). He then lights his
Visibility bivouac fires and withdraws unseen
When there are visibility problems on the under cover of darkness.
table, the best rules are the clear and MM
simple ones. Map 3 shows a variety of
examples of how to decide when and
what is seen. .As has been said before,
the line X-Y is the horizon for Blue's force
when it appears on the table and behind
this line all is concealed. This remains so
until one or more of the following criteria
are achieved. In the case of A, Blue has
moved a unit round the side of the hill on
the flat. Here the X-V line does not apply
and he can see all the area inside the
shaded arc restricted only by the contour
on his right. B is a unit on a contour