Changing History: Dr. Sam Beckett in the Seven Years War

[Alfred Packer]

Having recently purchased the most excellent AGEOD/Paradox game "Rise of Prussia," I was immediately faced with 3 questions:

1: How do I learn how to play this crazy game?

2: How do I share this experience with others?

3: How do I alienate as many potential readers as possible right out the gate?

The obvious, indeed only, possible solution to these three questions was to not just write an AAR based on a game of Rise of Prussia, but to AT THE SAME TIME make that AAR a work of Quantum Leap fan fiction!

So, presenting possibly the only Quantum Leap Fan Fiction / History Book AAR Crossover extravaganza the Web has ever produced: Changing History: Dr. Sam Beckett in the Seven Years War!

[loki100]

well welcome ... this should be ... err well different?

[Narwhal]

Instant subscribe !

[hgilmer]

I'm going to watch this one.

[Alfred Packer]

Thanks fellows...hopfully what follows can justify your initial interest!

[Alfred Packer]

"AL!" Sam cried, "who am I?"

Al materialized in the corner of the room. As his gaze fell upon Sam's withered, bewigged frame he started violently. "Good Lord Sam, you are hideous!"

Sam was agitated, "I realize that Al, but who am I? Quickly! I never arrive when its quiet like this!"

Al pulled his reader from his pocket, "Ziggy says it is...no...this can't be right..." Al shook the device.

"What Al? What does Ziggy say?"

"Well, Sam, its a good thing you speak German. It's September of 1756 and you are Frederick the Great, King of Prussia."

Suddenly, the doors burst inward. A muddied officer burst in the door and slapped his heels together in salute. "You Majesty, the guards are ready. Per your orders, we are prepared to move on the Saxons at once."

"Oh, uh, great. You go ahead. Uh, I'll be right there."

The officer regarding the King quizzically for a moment. "Of course, sire." He turned and strode out the door.

"Oh Jesus Al, what do I do now?"

Al punched some numbers. "Well, Ziggy says that if you don't take the Saxon fortified camp at Pirna in the next 21 days, there is a 76.2% chance you lose the war, your kingdom, and your head. So you do that while I try and find out why you are here."

Sam nodded. "Right. Off to lead an 18th century army. Oh, boy." Sam paused at the door. "Hey Al, aren't I only supposed to leap within my own lifetime? This really doesn't make any sense."

"You just take Pirna Camp, I'll see what I can dig up. Oh, and I'll get a history book or something so we can see what you are supposed to be doing."

Sam pointed his assent. "Yes, do that!"


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That's right, Fan Fic AND Fan Comics.
Next, The West Point Atlas of the Seven Years War and Sam's first go at commanding an army.

[loki100]

stupendous stuff ... I'd vote this as the wierdest you've come up with yet

[Alfred Packer]

Al dug around in Sam's office for a while until he uncovered a fairly general atlas of warfare. He quickly scanned it and found a shockingly detailed chapter on the Seven Years War in Europe from the Prussian perspective. What luck!

Al ran back to the hologram room, along the way scanning the pages on the Fall of 1756. As he read, the text and maps subtly changed before his eyes. "That is probably not a good sign," Al thought as he ran.

-------------------------------

The situation Frederick the Great faced in the Fall of 1756 was a desperate one and only a military genius of his remarkable quality could have any long term hope of victory. While Saxony proper had already been occupied, the main Saxon army, some 24,000 strong was holed up in the fortified camp of Pirna, in hopes the large Austrian Army in Prag would come to their rescue.

At the same time, Frederick needed to be prepared because at any moment the Swedes, Russians and French were expected to jump into the conflict with the goal of overwhelming and dismembering the small Prussian state.

Accordingly, Frederick laid his plans for the Fall:

The main Prussian effort was directed at the Saxons with one Army Corps moved further south to block the expected Austrian relief. A small Cavalry detatchment was sent into the Eiger/Karlsbad region to possibly draw off more Austrians while in the east, Schwerin's Army advanced on Troppau, in the hopes that the Austrian response would be further delayed or confused.

In the event, Pirna did fall after three vicious frontal assaults, an unusual tactic for Frederick when time seemed to be on his side. However, he seemed possessed of an almost maniacal need to seize the Saxon camp immediately, "within 21 days" being his endless mantra. The camp was carried, of course, but at a serious cost in manpower, losses the Prussian Army could ill-afford.

The cavalry diversion made an attempt to storm Karlsbad during the Pirna Events and were lightly rebuffed.

After the fall of Pirna, Frederick probed carefully into Bohemia, build a fortified camp and depot for Spring Operations and then mostly withdrew with the November snows. A second, stronger push on Karlsbad was abandonded shortly after. Schwerin pulled his forces back into Silesia after establishing a Depot for spring operations as well.

The Austrians remained curiously quiet throughout the Fall and Frederick suspected they were planning a winter assault. Frederick, it should be noted, was unusually sluggish during these operations and many suspected then, and do now, that he was suffering from some sort of ailment. That he was hallucinating at points or was suffering an eye ailment is beyond question as reliable testimony exists of him talking to people who were not present, or at least not facing those to whom he was speaking.

------------------

"At least he took Pirna," Al thought, "I need to find out what Ziggy recommends...and why the hell is Sam in the 1700s anyway?"

[Narwhal]

This is going to become a classic.

I believe speaking French would be more useful than speaking German - Frederick's general might wonder why he became so "rude" (German-speaking) all of a sudden. Maybe it is linked to his eye ailment ?

[Alfred Packer]

This is going to become a classic.

I believe speaking French would be more useful than speaking German - Frederick's general might wonder why he became so "rude" (German-speaking) all of a sudden. Maybe it is linked to his eye ailment ?

Thanks, I'm glad you've enjoyed the first bits and, yes, Frederick's language choices will definately need to be addressed!

[Stuyvesant]

Good grief! I... well... I'm at a loss for words. Plus, I'm at work, so I should probably watch my stream-of-consciousness reactions anyway.

I look forward to Glorious Victory or Glorious Defeat - just as long as it's Glorious Gloriousness!

Switching to serious mode for a second, I think you yourself pointed out that the assault on Pirna cost you losses you can ill afford. But then again, who am I to criticize? I know even less of the game than you do.

[Thandros]

Hmm Ummm Most interesting. Can't really say anything else.

[Alfred Packer]

Good grief! I... well... I'm at a loss for words. Plus, I'm at work, so I should probably watch my stream-of-consciousness reactions anyway.

I look forward to Glorious Victory or Glorious Defeat - just as long as it's Glorious Gloriousness!

Switching to serious mode for a second, I think you yourself pointed out that the assault on Pirna cost you losses you can ill afford. But then again, who am I to criticize? I know even less of the game than you do.

Don't worry about the Gloriousness...there will be plenty o' that, I'm sure! And, yeah those are awful losses, but the pop up at the start of the game indicates its a good idea to take that camp by turn three...so I did. I don't know what happens if you don't take it by turn three though, to be fair.

Hmm Ummm Most interesting. Can't really say anything else.

Can't blame you...I don't know what to make of this mess either!

[Alfred Packer]

The last few months had been very stressful for Sam. First off, he had to really brush up on his French, since he'd learned to his considerable emberassment that the King of Prussia pretty much just spoke French. In addition, he had to convince his ministers and generals that he wasn't completely mad since he behavior seemed to odd to them and, as a consequence, he'd been faking an eye ailment so long he was pretty sure he'd developed Lazy Eye.

He'd spent the winter strengthening his armies and making certain they were well fed and resting. He was also planning: 1757 would require some aggression. After all, he still didn't know why he was here and if Frederick the Great somehow lost the Seven Years War, there was no telling what sort of massive impact that would have on the future. Al had been very good about military advice, though as an Admiral his tactical input wasn't as useful as his logistic advice.

What Al and Ziggy had not been so good on was answers. So far, the only explanation Al could coax from the computer was the Sam WAS travelling within his own lifetime, which made no sense whatsoever. The worry and work meant that Sam went to bed totally exhausted every night. It was becoming apparant why his host body was so worn, hunched and haggard! And one night, as Sam prepared for bed, the plot thickened considerably...

"Al?" Sam called out, quizzically, but he was alone.

[Alfred Packer]

Frederick's plans for the winter focused on maintaining his forces and keeping them supplied. The continued inactivity of the Austrian Army in Prag puzzled the Prussians who planned to keep one Corps based in Bohemia to watch and stall any potential Austrian advance towards Saxony.

Except for Heinrich's unplanned and unexpected quick assault on Karlsbad, which carried the town, very little happened on the battlefield. Mortiz's Corps remained in Bohemia to cover Heinrich's return to winter quarters, but that was it. Schwerin continued his lackadaisical pace, failing for a second time to establish a depot for future operations.

Things did get more dangerous, officially speaking, for Frederick as the Holy Roman Empire officially declared war on Prussia and the Russians and French began preparing armies for action in Prussia.

In January, an unknown assailant attempted to murder the King in his campaign tent in Dresden. Subsequently, Frederick remained in Dresden, but claimed the Mayor's Palace for his winter home. Six shots fired at his head had somewhat cooled the King's desire to 'share the suffering of his soldiers.'

Outside Europe, Calcutta fell to a British Army and the English strengthened their ties with Frederick by creating an Army of Observation to be based in Hanover, a clear warning to the French. The Braunschweig Army was unified under the command of General Keith, bringing the number of Field Armies, officially, to 5.

[Stuyvesant]

Since I can't see anything that's obviously bad or astonishingly genius-like with the campaign, I'll just focus on the Quantum Leap stuff - or rather (since QL isn't my forte, either), the pictures you use - what in the blue bejaysus is that tent in which Sam/Friedrich is changing? Specifically, what's with the 'For shame' easel in the background?!?

Questions, questions... Oh, and one more, that is actually game-related: have the Russians joined the party yet?

[Alfred Packer]

Since I can't see anything that's obviously bad or astonishingly genius-like with the campaign, I'll just focus on the Quantum Leap stuff - or rather (since QL isn't my forte, either), the pictures you use - what in the blue bejaysus is that tent in which Sam/Friedrich is changing? Specifically, what's with the 'For shame' easel in the background?!?

Questions, questions... Oh, and one more, that is actually game-related: have the Russians joined the party yet?

This winter, I think it was easy for me to look smart just because I didn't starve my soldiers (a first!) and the Austrians didn't do anything. The tent, I think, is a recreation of George Washington's tent. I can only assume that the 'for shame' was some set designer calling out the producers of Quantum Leap for resorting to beefcake photos of the start this early in the show (actually, I have no idea & pondered myself...it was the factor that made me choose that particular tent shot). I'm playing about May right now and the French have definately joined the party. The Russians have as well, but move so slowly that I haven't seen any evidence. I just seem to recall from my Austria game being able to move Russians about the same time as I could move the French.

The real question is: is Quantum Leap really anyone's forte?

[loki100]

well I'm letting the Quantum Leap stuff wash over me (not being American and all that)

so maybe some comments on the supply situation. With the Prussians, don't be afraid to build depots, you have enough cash that building new supply trains isn't a major issue (it is for the Austrian side as each will cost you the equivalent of a months income). A nasty trick that Narwhal uses is to then make it into a fortified camp (spend a gun and another supply train), even with a 1 battalion garrison, they can impede any French-Austrian attempt to cut your supply lines. Again you have the artillery to sustain this to some extent.

You need to whack the Austrians hard before say July when their spring reinforcements will start to arrive around Prag etc.

[Alfred Packer]

Quick question: I completely tanked the game (Schwerin was caught by Charles and his whole army was destroyed - 33,000 Prussians gone, which demoralized the Prussians. Then Frederick's Army was shattered by a shockingly large Austrian Army, costing me another 15,000 dead. Then the Swedes routed Wilhem and have charged on Berlin.

I bungled this rather badly and, to be honest, I've been displeased with my AAR (except for the maps, which I like). Would it bother anyone overmuch if I just called this a 'failed experiment' and instead focused on finishing up my HOI AAR? the execution was not as good as the premise, alas.

[loki100]

nope, think you were very brave to put up your first attempt with the game as an AAR.

From what I could see, I think you were being too passive, you need to disrupt the Austrians in 56 (not beat them but do some damage to Browne's army) and then try and put them under pressure in early spring 57, before the Wien reinforcements move up.

The real problem is if you feel you are really on the back foot, its an awful long game to play to its inevitable end ...

I know there is some controversy about this (ie some people who know what they are talking about disagree with me), but from experience with Narwhal and PBEM, if you are inflicting damage, then the Prussians have the cash to convert the conscript companies that result (a portion of your battle losses come back that way) back into units/RPs. The Austrians can never mobilise their potential manpower (even if they go the militia route), so in that sense you can end up mid-game with roughly parity of numbers and a much higher quality army.