The Battle of Heliopolis, 1800

In the spring of 1800, the French Armée d'Orient was on the defensive. Cut off from Europe by Nelson's victory at the Battle of the Nile and having suffered defeat at the siege of Acre, they were then abandoned by Napoleon who returned to France with his favourites.  Nevertheless, now under the command of the redoubtable Jean-Baptiste Kléber, they were still a formidable fighting force and retained control in Egypt.

By mid March, a newly arrived British army had entered the campaign and peace negotiations had collapsed.  The Sultan's undisciplined but numerous forces, led by the one-eyed Grand Vizier, Yusuf Ziya Pasha, were closing in on the main French base at Cairo.  Despite this strategic weakness, his insecure supply lines, and being badly outnumbered, Kléber opted to go onto the offensive and engage the main Ottoman field army.

 

The Grand Vizier sent Nassif Pasha with a strong vanguard of Janissaries, reinforced by artillery and cavalry, to block the road out of Cairo at the village of Al Matariyya. Yusuf Ziya Pasha positioned himself further north near the village of Al-Khankah with the rest of the army.

The French advanced north, along the east bank of the Nile, with all the forces Kléber could pull together, and leaving only a skeleton garrison to defend Cairo against the inevitable uprising.

The following map, stats and rules present the historical scenario for the Battle of Heliopolis using the Blucher Napoleonic rules by Sam Mustafa.  

Set Up

Set up the table as shown in the map below. Al Khankah, Saryaqus, Al Marg and Al Matariyyah are urban areas. The green areas are groves of palm trees and count as woods. Birkat al Hajj is an impassable water feature. The ruins count as rough ground. The road is continuous from the north table edge to the south. Units may exit from the southern table edge into Cairo. The Ottomans deploy first. 

 

The Ottoman Advance Guard must deploy within three base widths of Al Matariyya village. The Janissaries and artillery may be deployed in entrenchments. One infantry unit may be garrisoned in the village. A single cavalry unit from the Cairo Force must deploy within one base width of the ruined mosque. The other units of the Cairo Force must be deployed within three base widths of Al Marg village. One infantry unit may be garrisoned in the village. The main army must be deployed within three base widths of the north table edge. One infantry unit may be garrisoned in the village of Al Khankah.

The The French army must deploy within three base widths of the southern table edge.

The battle starts at dawn with the French taking the first turn.

Victory Conditions

Breaking the opposing army is the primary victory condition.
If both armies exceed their morale in the same turn the game is a draw. 

If neither side's army morale is exceeded, victory is based on control of objectives and the Ottoman units that have exited the southern map edge into Cairo.

Count victory points at nightfall, or when both players mutually agree to end the game.

Each broken enemy brigade – 1 point
Control of each village – 3 points
Each unbroken Ottoman unit that exited via the southern table edge – 1 point

The Ottoman Forces

Ottoman Field Army [Army Morale - 8] - [179pts]

CinC Yusuf Ziya Pasha

Advance Guard [1st Corps] - Nassif Pasha - [42pts]
A♠ Janissaries - [Elan 5 Conscript, Impetuous, shock] – [6pts]
2♠ Janissaries - [Elan 5 Conscript, Impetuous, shock] – [6pts]
3♠ Janissaries - [Elan 5 Conscript, Impetuous, shock] – [6pts]
4♠ Provincial Cavalry - [Elan 5 Impetuous] – [6pts]
5♠ Mamelukes - [Elan 6 Impetuous] – [9pts]
6♠ Modern Artillery - [5,4,4,3,2,2 ] – [6pts]

3 Entrenchments [3pts]

Cairo Force [2nd Corps] - Ibrahim Bey - [44pts]
A♣ Mamelukes - [Elan 6 Impetuous] – [9pts]
2♣ Mamelukes - [Elan 6 Impetuous] – [9pts]
3♣ Provincial Cavalry - [Elan 5 Impetuous] – [6pts]
4♣ Provincial Cavalry - [Elan 5 Impetuous] – [6pts]
5♣ Provincial Infantry - [Elan 5 Skirmish, Conscript, Impetuous] – [7pts]
6♣ Provincial Infantry - [Elan 5 Skirmish, Conscript, Impetuous] – [7pts]

Main Army [3rd Corps] - Seraskier Mahomed Pasha – [93pts]
Suvarileri
A♦ Regular Cavalry - [Elan 6 Impetuous] – [9pts]
2♦ Regular Cavalry - [Elan 6 Impetuous] – [9pts]
3♦ Regular Cavalry - [Elan 6 Impetuous] – [9pts]
Janissaries
4♦ Janissaries - [Elan 5 Conscript, Impetuous, shock] – [6pts]
5♦ Janissaries - [Elan 5 Conscript, Impetuous, shock] – [6pts]
Topijis
6♦ Modern Artillery - [5,4,4,3,2,2 ] – [6pts]
7♦ Old style Artillery - [4,4,3,3,2,2 Heavy] – [6pts]
Delis
A♥ Provincial Cavalry - [Elan 5 Impetuous] – [6pts]
2♥ Provincial Cavalry - [Elan 5 Impetuous] – [6pts]
3♥ Provincial Cavalry - [Elan 5 Impetuous] – [6pts]
4♥ Provincial Cavalry - [Elan 5 Impetuous] – [6pts]
5♥ Provincial Cavalry - [Elan 5 Impetuous] – [6pts]
Sekhans
6♥ Provincial Infantry - [Elan 5 Skirmish, Conscript, Impetuous] – [7pts]
7♥ Provincial Infantry - [Elan 5 Skirmish, Conscript, Impetuous] – [7pts]
8♥ Provincial Infantry - [Elan 5 Skirmish, Conscript, Impetuous] – [7pts]

The French forces

French Armée d'Orient [Army Morale - 4] – [177pts]
CinC Jean-Baptiste Kléber - [Mobile] – [10pts]

1st Infantry Division [1st Corps)]- Reynier – [78pts]
Brigade 1/1 - Robin
A♠ 22e demi-brigade légère - [Elan 6 Skirmish Attached Artillery] – [14pts]
2♠ 9e demi-brigade de ligne - [Elan 6 Skirmish Attached Artillery] – [14pts]
Brigade 1/2 - Lagrange
3♠ 13e demi-brigade de ligne - [Elan 6 Skirmish Attached Artillery] – [14pts]
4♠ 85e demi-brigade de ligne - [Elan 6 Skirmish Attached Artillery] – [14pts]
Reserve - Songis & Sanson
5♠ Foot Artillery - [5,4,4,3,2,2 Heavy] – [9pts]
6♠ 25e demi-brigade de ligne & Grenadiers - [Elan 6 Skirmish Shock] – [13pts]

2nd Infantry Division [2nd Corps] - Friant – [56pts]
Brigade 2/1 - Belliard
A♥ 21e demi-brigade légère - [Elan 6 Skirmish Attached Artillery ] – [14pts]
2♥ 88e demi-brigade de ligne - Elan 6 Skirmish Attached Artillery – [14pts]
Brigade 2/2 - Donzelot
3♥ 61e demi-brigade de ligne - [Elan 6 Skirmish Attached Artillery] – [14pts]
4♥ 75e demi-brigade de ligne - [Elan 6 Skirmish Attached Artillery] – [14pts]

Cavalry  [3rd Corps] - Leclerc d'Ostein – [33pts]
A♦ Horse Artillery - [5,4,4,3,2,2 Mobile] – [9pts]
2♦ Combined Light Cavalry (22e Chasseurs & 7e Hussars) - [Elan 5] – [7pts]
3♦ Combined Dragoons (3e & 14e régiment de dragons) - [Elan 6] – [10pts]
4♦ Régiment de dromadaires & Guides à cheval - [Elan 5] – [7pts]

   

This is a first draft of the scenario.  I will amend it as and when necessary , especially after play testing.