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.