French v. Brits & Allies Part 2

 Starting from the Allied left. One independent cavalry unit from the Kings German Legion. A Brunswick infantry battalion with a Brunswick jeager skirmish unit. One Belgian infantry battalion that I classed as "inferior". The Dutch-Belgian carabiniers (gorgeous Front Rank miniatures) giving an extra punch to the brigade. All supported by a Brunswick Horse Artillery gun. The Allied brigade commander is classed as "Steady".

The center is four battalions of British infantry. One classed (23rd Regiment of Foot) as " Superior". The commander is classed as "Steady "

The cavalry brigade (The Blues, Scots Grey's and Inniskillings) are not fairing well with a "Dithering" commander. The Duke of Boots will have to keep an eye on them. All supported by a gun from the Royal Horse Artillery. 

The far right is an independent cavalry unit of British hussars. 

The defending French are positioned as follows. Starting from their left. An independent cavalry Lancer unit. I believe the 5th Line. A brigade of cavalry consisting of Chassuers, Empress Dragoons ( classed as "Superior ") and the Dutch Red lancers. Commander in "Steady".

The center is being held by four infantry units. Two from the Guards, both classed as "Superior ". Chassuers of the Guard and a Battalion of Middle Guard occupying the walled farm. Supported by a gun from the horse artillery. The commander is classed "Steady ".

The right is four battalions of infantry with a small voltiguers skirmish unit. One artillery piece and an independent cavalry unit. The commander rolled poorly and was classed as "Dithering". I'm pretty sure this same fellow commanded this brigade with Poles and Swiss, the last game I had. Time to split them up next time!

Napoleon himself is on the field to command and hold the crossroads.

I put small white dice on the "Dithering " classed brigade commanders base just as a reminder.

French v. Brit and Allies Part 1

 Setting up another Napoleonic wargame using Osprey's 'Honours Of War' by Keith Flint. It's another fictional scenario.  This time using my British and Allied forces against my much used French.

I used a card driven, random terrain generator.  I've used this "function" in the past and has yielded some interesting battlefield features. I'll show how I use these cards and their makeup in a future game.

Once the terrain was laid out, I rolled to see who would be the defender. Thankfully, the French won. I really didn't want the Allies to be the defender...it would look too Hundred Days campaign.

Another game of Honours of War

 This is a repeat of the last game, but this time the field works on the Russo-Austrian positions were taken out of this scenario.

The French unfortunately and uncharacteristically, rolled two "Dithering" leadership qualities. One for the brigade commander of cavalry on the left flank and the infantry brigade on the right. Needless to say the army commander was busy to upgrade a notch during the activation phases.

The French drove onto the Russian occupied  hills hard and suffered horrendous losses. The cavalry on left, despite poor leadership,  had no problem defeating the Russian cavalry, thus adding to the threat of the Russian right flank for the remainder of the game.

The same result happened on the Russo-Austrian left. Their cavalry destroyed and driven away with the infantry center collapsed.  The game was really a tit for tat engagement.  Both sides really could not claim victory. With the scenario calling for a "Last Stand ", it was oddly the result for both antagonist. It just became a fight to the last unit standing. Which became rather ridiculous towards the end. This being my fourth game, its pretty clear that units can get eaten up rather quickly.  Pulling units out of line to rally off "hits" can become a never ending chore. I'll continue to play this rule system because it has promise. To be honest, I played the units fairly vanilla.  This rule system require various troop quantity types and clear objectives to scratch the itch and make the game engaging.

Happy New Year!

Aside from my five year hiatus from blogging, I thought I'd start it up again with documenting some miniature wargaming. I am experimenting with adopting Keith Flint's wonderful set of Seven Years War centric rules 'Honours Of War' and using it with my Napoleonic collection.

With a little tweaking,  it worked out OK. Not for me however...My son and I used a scenario from Neil Thomas' One Hour Wargames rules set. The scenario was inspired by number 30,  "Last Stand". My son played the Russians who occupied two fortified hills with his back to the river. His force consisted of 5 infantry units, one artillery battery and three cavalry units. I played the French with equal amount of units.

Since I was designated as the "Attacker", I  moved first. Starting with a cavalry action on the French left. It didn't take long for a the French to drive off the Russian two cavalry units. Thankfully, I picked one unit as 'Superior' before the game stared. That played a decisive move along with some good dice rolling. After that, it went down hill for the French. It war far from a "last stand" for the Russians. I was about to get my butt wooped.

Yeah,  attacking fortified positions, no matter what rule set you use, is never a good idea. The French payed a hefty price for this maneuver. They persisted however. But after a few volleys of musketry and blast of cannister at close range, it was a done deal. Even when rallying, the French could not overcome the Russian's strong positions. 

The French carabiniers were poised to exploit a potential French breakthrough, but alas, the infantry were driven back and broken.  The battle was too one-sided at that point and lost for the French.

The game lasted about an hour and a half. Since it was my third game with this set, there were some moments of page flipping for rules clarification. Despite the loss, it was a fun game.  Any time I get to roll some dice with my son, it's a bonus. As for the rules, I think with some tweaking, it can be adopted to other "horse and musket" periods. If your looking for an easy, quick playing ruleset, you can't go wrong with Honours Of War. I have to say, this rules QRS is one of the better layouts out of all of the other Osprey blue book series titles I own.