Command and Colors Napoleonic Lockdown

So working for one of the unnecessary retailers I have been sent home to cool my jets for the next few months. Yes you read that right, this is not going to be a three weeks and back kind of things. I am confident that it will be at least two to three months before we can expect to be making our way back to work. This of course will allow for some things to be better. Today was the first day that I was free from going to work (close down stuff) so it has been marked by the first of what I hope will be many games with Joseph of Command & Colors Napoleonic. We also have ASL to play as he has played a couple of scenarios and last but not least I will be running a roleplaying campaign for the rest of the family as well as playing our huge collection of board games. So much welcome family time between the kids homework and my hobby and house duties.

So todays scenario was from the original release Salamanca (British attack on French Right) 22nd July 1812. The situation in the photo was taken about half way through the scenario with my only cavalry unit long since lost whilst Joseph's British cavalry has forced one regiment into square but he failed to cause casualties and my fire had reduced his two regiments of cavalry to the point of not being too much of a threat. 

In the end I was able to destroy both regiments of his cavalry when he ran out of cards and then we fought over the building hex near the rived Pela-Garcia with me finally getting it back for good as the British losses brought him close to defeat. We always play that I need an extra banner to required. 

In the end he just did not have the cards to co-ordinate his attack and I was able to pick off his regiments when he could not withdraw them behind his lines and took my 7th banner (he lost a leader when a unit was removed).

Given I have the first four expansions we are in place to play through quite a lot of scenarios, so we will play out the last two scenarios from the base set then back to the expansions that have for the most part had just a few games played from.

Command and Colours Napoleonic Battle of Pultusk AAR

I have actually played a few various games of late most of which I have as yet failed to write up but may get around to them. This ones a bit special as I played it against my son The Boy. Habit is a terrible or good thing depending on the habit.

Me and The Boy have got out of habit playing C&C:N but as I had taken the week off work last week it gave us a great opportunity to have another go. As always I gave him the pick of module to play and sides once a scenario has been picked out. I own all the nationality sets (five) but have yet to buy the more recent additions. Unfortunately beyond the base set we have not had a great deal of play so it was good to get the Russians out.

I got the Russians and we played the battle of Pultusk fought on boxing day 1806, Marshal Bennigsen ignored orders halted his retreat and gave battle. This is quite a big game with the board crammed with units. In the actual battle the French won a narrow victory on the day but both sides suffered heavy casualties and the Russians withdrew during the night.

Battle from my perspective, looks like the Russians have the numbers! In infantry it's almost equal, I have 14 the French one less, I also have an advantage of one more cavalry with four cavalry but also have three Cossack cavalry but these are only two strength so are not expected to have a major impact. My biggest advantage though was artillery, I had five units to my sons three which historically was a big advantage as it forced the French infantry to surrender their gains when bombarded.

Each C&C:N nationality have traits that add flavour to the game, this is really well done and of all the Command and Colour series I think this one carries through the best. My Russians tend to get a Mother Russia roll that adds troops to their forces. The thought behind this is the fact that many units enter battle reduced in strength as are not fully mobilised, as such many infantry units start under strength (just three blocks opposed to the usual four). You roll dice equivalent to the number of command cards and these give you troops or emplacements when in effect. I failed to gain any infantry but managed to add two Cossack units, strengthened two artillery units and added a field works to a hill where I had one of my gun units.

C&C is a card driven system and if you use try to plan ahead you can really increase your chances of winning. The Boy has always shown the ability to plan and generally does well when we play. This scenario needed the winner to gain ten victory banners including some location ones that tend to channel the fight to key terrain. When playing The Boy I always have to gain one more than required as a form of balance. It's not unusual for The Boy to win with me still needing to get the normal required banners but it's nice when I get the normal number and he gets there before I can get that extra one.

In this game I did get a good run of the cards early. I lost all the Cossacks before the end of the game but they did more damage than expected. Their loss is not an issue as they do not count for banner gain so they are disposable.

The Boy stuck to the original script by forcing me off the first line of hills and then In turn was forced by my artillery to abandon them. However he never really got going on my left flank and as such never really threatened the woods that he really needed to gain much needed banners. I had sent extra troops into that area and both of us suffered heavy casualties but when the dust settled he had just the one infantry unit able to threaten the woods.

My left flank had also seen plenty of action but again no real threat was able to get past my first line of defence. Whilst many of my infantry units were reduced to single blocks my artillery were there to punish any units that tried to get through on that flank.

In the centre I still had a lot of strength that I could have called on if required. The Boy had lost most of his guns to cavalry attacks and his cavalry had been almost totally destroyed through follow on attacks from my cavalry when he brought these against my cavalry. Indeed he suffered many a bad roll in attack which set the tone in the centre. The fact that I still had all four artillery units on board to his one really made this so difficult for him.

In the end he just did not have the strength to push through or the opportunity to replace worn units in the front line with fresh units as I seemed able to pull the required cards whilst his units got stuck in the open close to my troops.

It was a fun game, both of us had a great time though I suspect the scenario could be a bit pro Russian. It's scenario three from the module and as we tend to play from front to back shows how few games we have played from this set. I am sure though we will be playing yet more in the near future, just from which set?

Commands & Colors Russians AAR

I took over to Lee's the Commands & Colors Napoleonic set allowing him to pick which we played. No surprise that he choose the Russian expansion and so out came the bits. The idea was to show how the game it self played out seeing as we were using some of the combat system in our rules.

I played as the French and had the advantage of having played this scenario already with The Boy, would this help though?

View from the Russian side. No matter which side I look at it from it looks grim for the Russians. The Russian mod allows the Russian player to roll dice in most scenarios before it starts that allow some units to be reinforced or possibly fortifications to be set up.

Lee quickly drove in my right flank but in doing so weakened his cavalry but for now at least made the town safe from my attack.

A couple of turns later though his cavalry was ruined and I had thrown the Russians out of the town. Unfortunately I was not really in position to support my success.

My left flank just sat most of the game watching the battle develop. It can be frustrating when your not getting the cards to get an attack going, worse though when you run out of cards mid attack. Planning is so important in this game.

In the end I was stripped of troops on my right and with the victory hexes safe in Russian hands as well as victory banners for French units removed Lee won a comfortable victory.

Lee enjoyed the game so we went with scenario two, but that's another story.

Commands & Colors Napoleonic's - A Broad View

I got to play a couple of games of Commands & Colors Napoleonic's with Lee a couple of weeks ago, more on that in a following post though. Today's post is about the system and my thoughts on the game since starting to collect the sets just after Christmas.

It's not an inexpensive game to get into, though much cheaper than ASL tends to be. Fortunately the £50+ price tag is reserved for the core module that supplies not only the board and cards but also the largest stack of wooden blocks you will get in any of the modules. Indeed as each expansion has been designed to be playable with just the core set needed you end up with rather a lot of French line infantry and so many terrain tiles you won't struggle to find that extra town hex.

The expansions actually work out (in my mind) quite a bit better value than the core set often in the £30-40 bracket, even the newly released Prussian module. There is now four expansions available supplying the Spanish, Russians (recently reprinted), Austrians and the just mentioned Prussians. A fifth expansion is due out soon that breaks tradition and rather than introducing a new nation brings a few new troop types such as British Rocket Troops and the biggest change a new deck of cards that are set to change gameplay quite a bit. Indeed I will wait for news of the new mod before making a move on it as it could be one step too far but equally possible a big step forward. A nice touch is that all the previously released scenarios will have details for how to incorporate the cards into revised versions of the scenarios. What possibly makes it most worth buying though is the extra scenarios that come with the expansion.

The twin facts that I am talking about this fifth expansion and have bought the four already available give you a clue that I think the games worth buying. One major factor is that The Boy really likes to play the game and we have clocked up a fairly impressive tally of games played. Currently the Austrians are his favourite nation though he is experimenting with the Russians since I bought the re-released module. Lee also rather likes the Russians with us getting two games in recently. Indeed he liked the system enough to buy the Ancients franchise the week after our games.

So I have plenty of reason to buy the game but how does it stack up as a Napoleonic game? Well if your looking for depth and realism then you need to look elsewhere, somewhere far far away from planet C&C N. Regardless of that it's not only a fun game it does feel like Napoleonic's, the strength or weakness of the game (based on your angle of thought) is the card driven movement and combat. The idea that you rely on getting cards to allow you to move in the left, centre or right areas of the board can be a real turn off. I have owned and enjoyed Battle Cry and played Memoir 44 show I am used to the system and can take enjoyment from it. For me it's just part of the game and it's manageable to a point. However the rules get the theme across through well written wrinkles that set the various nations apart such as the British superior standing fire, the French infantry's powerful attacks and the Russian staunchness under fire. Austrian infantry units are not only larger than other nations but can form a type of square that has advantages over a typical square. The Spanish seem more of the odd ones out with a special rule that brings the partisans into play (not represented by units) that effect the tactical situation on the board but represent events prior to the battle. This gives them a flavour of their own but not quite fitting with the other nations. The Prussians have the ability to ignore a set amount of retreats, something that can be very useful.

The components are of high quality, the special cards add more than just move x units to your options and it's play is fast and interactive. The rule that forces you to loose one of your command cards for each unit in square is a really good wrinkle that really adds to the game. Do you risk the unit to the cavalry charge or do you risk one of your killer cards being taken at random from your hand until the unit can come out of square? All the flavour rules are not cumbersome or add too much complexity allowing players to move between modules without needing to read up lots of fluff. Indeed I think the rules are so well written that it would be hard to improve without losing some of it's playability. It strikes the right balance between historical feel and a nights fun gaming. 

Command & Colors: Prussians

Keeping with the Prussian Napoleonic theme, I thought I should update our progress with Command & Colors. We have dabbled with the new Prussian module as well as continuing through the original set. The Prussians certainly have their own feel to play with. Above is the Jena morning scenario after the first couple of moves. I as the Prussians need to hold the town in the centre if possible and the victory banners required is eight (nine for me to give my son a better chance). 

I can see why the suitable age has risen from 12 to 14 as the scenarios are that bit more complex and a straight forward attack is often not going to get you the win. Far more use of temporary victory banners are in play. In this scenario the player with absolute majority of town hexes gets a victory banner. This was our second playing of the scenario and as you can expect the centre two hex town saw heavy fighting in both games though in the first game my exploiting my success with my cavalry on my left flank and attack past the town saw me get the win. The second game my son was somewhat more cagey with his own cavalry keeping it in reserve and darting out for attacks on weakened units and then taking them back into reserve made the game a lot closer. He finally got the win with an overwhelming attack on the two hex town though it did bring him close to loss as most of the units attacking took a beating. Combined arms was the tipping point in the attack.

The mechanics continue to impress and I am keen to try the combat mechanics with our 6mm figures and rule set to see how that would play out.

How good is it? well once work is sorted out I will be picking up the other sets as the game has become a staple of  our regular play and I think it will get use with other friends as well.

Vth Analogue Challenge Cool Down & Presents

So another Painting Challenge comes to an end and poor Curt can try and gather his breath post mayhem of the final days submissions.

I am really pleased with this years results having painted up a rather epic number of figures and gaining 2025 points, slightly over my revised aim and twice that of the original expected score. At the start I wanted to finish in the top twenty, something I thought might be a task given the original 71 painters under starters orders. I revised that to hoping to stay in the top ten and was really surprised and pleased that I managed to finish ninth, so the final figure count:-

Fifty Four 28mm Infantry

Two 28mm Mounted

Thirty Eight 20mm Infantry

Three 20mm Tanks

Two Hundred and Eight 15mm Infantry

Forty Eight 15mm Cavalry

One Thousand and Seventy Two 6mm Infantry

Forty Four 6mm Mounted Figures

Sixty Four Crew and Sixteen guns in 6mm

Not the best number of 6mm figures during the challenge but fairly close and a figure I am happy with. As for the 15mm I don't think I have ever done so many in a three month period.

So a great challenge and as always a great deal of thanks and applause for Curt who is systematically sending wargamers bust all over the globe ;-)

I also mentioned presents in the post title. Wednesday was my Birthday and I got the latest expansion for Command & Colours Napoleonic, that being the Prussians from the wife and kids. Spent Wednesday evening putting the stickers on and will be taking it for a test drive tonight with my son.

Being a difficult bugger to buy for I mostly got gaming tokens (hard cash) but my sister went out on a limb and bought me Wolf Hall in the hope it would be of interest. I think she scored on this, yet to start it but I have been spending lots of time trying to get through my current novel so as to be able to get this one started. It's especially nice to get something like this when you know so much thought (and worry) went into it's selection and whilst the money to spend on the hobby is really good getting something like this is even better :-)

Command & Colors Battle of Rolica 17th August 1808 AAR

As mentioned in a previous post Command & Colors Napoleonic arrived last Wednesday and I had the stickers all in place that night. The following evening I was over at Kev's enjoying having my clock well and truly cleaned so other than reading the rules n progress was made Thursday. Friday saw me set up the first scenario for me and my son to play that evening.

Start positions.

The first scenario in the book looks to be rather pro allied. They have more units and three times the artillery and the French not only have most of their troops in the centre but will have to keep them there most of the game. This in effect means the French player is likely to have less useful cards. Lastly the hill on each flank is worth one victory point to the Allies but nothing for the French. 

Portuguese forced into square.

As such I took the French which is as well as my son loves to always play the Brits. I coached him to an extent trying to explain how battles worked in the period and how the rules worked to give an advantage to players who tried to use such tactics.

I also read out the historical background and talked about the Peninsular war as I wanted him to be immersed in the action and feel it is important for him to get an understanding of the periods he plays from the start. 

He started with six cards t my five and also got the first turn. The cards have a great mix of standard move x units in x area and more specific cards such as Forced March, Rally etc. Such is the wording of the cards that my eight year old could come to grips with them and have a good idea how and when to use them.

Our fight was rather drawn out as he tried to blast me off the hill with Artillery and I managed the rolls that would force back his attacking units in the centre. It became apparent relatively early that the Allies needed the advantages earlier mentioned as the defender benefited from stationary firing that often broke up attacks, clearly this game has a lot of depth.

Winning moves on my left flank.

I was winning when we stopped for the night but was soon back at it post breakfast. I had four victory points and my son only two with the flank hills under no threat at all.

Then came a few turns where my son attacked hard on my left just at a time I was without any cards for that sector having used them up trying to force the win. Suddenly his light cavalry was forcing me into square whilst the infantry then came for the kill.

He was to do this twice so on the third attempt I stayed out of square and got a god kicking by the cavalry but no retreats before he finished them off with the infantry and took the win. A very pleasing game and one he really did pull out the bag.

We played a second game which I won though I had been forced off the hill through high losses. Unfortunately for my son he had sent a few units in unsupported and I took advantage. Much quicker end as I was able to defeat the Portuguese in the second game after they had won the first one.

Clearly the system has a lot of play and the depth of it's system is only starting to be mined but it's a game I think I will get a lot of pleasure from, both against my son but friends as well. As mentioned before we will build up forces in 6mm for it over the blocks starting at York in just over two weeks.

One point though is the build quality. I had Battle Cry years ago and the quality of the terrain tiles was much better than this games. That is a fairly minor issue given the quality of the other components such as quick reference sheets and play aids through to the counters.

In short, to me £50 was a great price and I am sure when my son is grown up and hopefully still enjoying our hobby we will both look back to this game with many fond memories.

Christmas Present Arrives

This year I had no idea what I wanted so ended up with a chunk of money. Part will sit waiting for future spends but I have been thinking of getting GMT's Command and Colours, either the Ancients or the Napoleonic's but had not connected it to Christmas. Indeed the £50 label had put me off, strange given the amount of times I have spent up to double that for a ASL product.

Suddenly I connected free cash = free game and then it was just a case of choosing which to go after. Well given my Son gets a real kick out of Napoleonic's I had an obvious choice and ordered it Sunday and it arrived today. 

Quality and production are high and I was surprised how quick I got the stickers in place for the first scenario having read so many moans about the time it takes. I will continue to finish the blocks over a DVD and will have the lot done before bed tonight I think. 

I had given my Nephew Battle Cry years ago, written by the same author and a more basic version. I played my Son at that Tuesday night having borrowed it back and he seems to have the idea fairly in place and so either Friday night or Saturday we will take this baby for a run.

Only issue is that after discussing it with my Son we have decided that I will paint up 6mm bases (6 infantry to a base etc) so as to have an even better experience. Guess the new project idea did not last long but in my defence we will take it slow and besides it's not mine it's the boys....honest.