Two Games of August

 I have actually played three but only have the pictures from two of them. So just a quick run through based on a failing memory....

Another tilt against Matt, same armies but with a few more points. We did better with the rules but Matt continues to stink up the room with his dice rolls.

I on the other hand was rolling laver, this helped me with some questionable decisions but again the light troops seemed to do better against bigger units by disordering them on a number of occasions. 

Matt was able to clear away my skirmish line but unable to do much else allowing them to go back in.

My guys on the left run from the Persian skirmishers whilst my Cretan's watch. Fortunately I was then able to clear his troops away and continue to march forward.

My skirmishers on the right were doing much better, though we were to more or less wear each other down over the following turns neither able to get an advantage. However Matt was also wearing my cavalry down as it was much weaker on this flank than on my left.

The main action was on my left with Matt sending in his Cataphracts against my Agema, I had managed through eye watering rolls seen off one regiment whilst I was certainly losing another but through epic rolls not quite breaking.

But all good things must end and ended with a rather poor roll. Matt's quality then started to take over and my left wing was crushed leaving the ever vulnerable infantry phalanx's at risk. I did have the pleasure of seeing a Gallic warband hit one Phalanx and whilst it just survived the first round was not going to stand beyond that. 

Whilst we did not fight to a conclusion it was obvious the winner would be Matt. So after two games of Hail Caesar we will try Napoleonic 6mm with Matt trying the rules Lee and I worked on. Which is a nice link to....

Lee, my son Joseph and I have joined Chesterfield Open Gaming Society (COGS) which seems to be a retooled version of the club I used to go to in Chesterfield YMCA, certainly plenty of old faces there.

So this is our third visit and this time Lee played his Russians against James and me with the French.

The issue was that I had left the rules at home and Lee had not taken a set away so we were without the rules and trying to work without the charts. We did fairly well but I was rather annoyed with myself. Still we had a good game.

Joseph sent his cavalry against Lee's on the far left after Lee instigated the attack. His use of combined arms a timely reminder of how effective it is. Meanwhile on the right I was sending my light infantry through the woods after Lee had moved into it whilst keeping the rest of the Division back.

I had the heavy cavalry which I first moved towards the centre as Lee used his heavies to threaten Joseph's infantry with some success. Lee was to pull back when faced by my cavalry's move but we did not get chance to fight them as I had thrown them into his infantry.

Joseph in the centre about to be charged by Lee's heavies, Joseph did not have light infantry so his movement into the woods was slow going.

Lee's light cavalry had made a bit of a mess of Joseph's light cavalry and a foot battery but Joseph's response was to give him a taste of his own medicine. First defeating the weak Cossack division and then facing the better quality second line of cavalry.

Lee had two divisions of infantry to my one (Joseph had two to Lee's one) but I had cleared the woods and was starting to reposition the infantry to make it hard for Lee to drive against me and for good measure had sent my heavy cavalry into his weakened division. I should have taken the option of falling back but having kept in contact with his squares I was being sucked into a lengthy combat. One I was sure to win but it would leave them vulnerable to Lee's still strong heavy cavalry.

On the left Joseph was closing with Lee and able to either press the one Division of infantry with his one or threaten Lee's centre where he would then dilute Lee's strength of cavalry. By this point both Lee's and Joseph's light cavalry had reached their forced retire orders through mutual combats. Joseph effectively winning that battle as he had also dealt with Lee's Cossacks.

The shattered remains of Joseph's cavalry that was now limping off the field. This is the point we had to end but it still had plenty of play left with either side yet able to make a successful breakthrough. Still plenty of tweaking yet to happen but it felt like Napoleonic's and looked good too. We typically use these rules for BIG games and they work well with them. Club size games has been put under less stress. I think they will clear down to a nice set of rules.

We are back next Monday but changing to a Gunfight using Dead Man's Hand, that should give us a nice quick game or maybe two. Nice to get the opportunity to play again.

Battle of Bautzen 1813 Part II

The French continued to keep both bridges under pressure but was looking less likely to cross over. Prussian reserves were moving towards the twin spanned bridge in a bid to force the French back.

Further towards the centre the French were now very much on the defensive, Lee was trying to be aggressive over the majority of the battlefield, so far I had been able to repulse all attacks but not of these attacks had used the full force of the brigades engaged.

Lee's attempt at the twin arched bridge had left his attacking force in disarray, here two battalions are under retire orders (yellow die) leaving the available troops rather exposed. Lee was having some shocking rally rolls.

At the central position Lee's Saxon troops were still at full strength, these troops started to move in for the attack. Being the only full strength Brigade left of Lee's at start on board troops. My Prussians facing him was also close to full strength.

As can be seen my troops facing the Saxon's has their left flank drawn back though I have two battalions in the woods  and a cavalry regiment poised to charge into the flank of the attacking Saxon's.

The French facing the rightmost Russians were also starting to move forward along with a couple of cavalry brigades. Up to this point most combat in this area had been our artillery taking pot shots at each others infantry.

Fresh French troops on my left are again moving forwards after the previous testing attack had been beaten back. This one looks a lot more determined.

On my far left Lee continues to push troops against the farm and hill. This attack has had troops fed in a few at a time and has never really got going but is taking a steady toll on both sides.

 The Italians attack across the small bridge again in the face of my weakened forward troops but I still have very strong reserves to commit against this attack.

However I did not need to bring in these reserves as the forward units were able to rout the single battalion. I really want the Italians to at least stay in this corner. I need to break through at the next bridge and then launch an attack on the Italians from two sides.

The Prussians gathering for an attack across the two arched bridge. With more than double the force of the French we have a good chance of forcing the crossing.

I manage to slow down the Saxon attack by charging my cavalry at the flanking battalion forcing them into square (red die) but that will not stop the main body from continuing the attack.

A view of the Russian positions, the Guard Cavalry are to the left bottom corner and are making their way to help out the Prussian cavalry fighting off a French cavalry attack.

One of the major attacks of the game finally kicks into gear. I have less troops but fighting in cover of the town should reduce much of the advantage Lee has. I also have reserves that I plan to plug gaps and counter attack where required.

Another turn ends with me feeling quite confident in the way the battle is going. I am about to go onto the offensive in the Prussian sector whilst the Russians look to be capable of holding the French off until the Prussians can help.

Battle of Bautzen 1813 Part I

On my first Sunday off in four weeks I was able to take The Boy over to Lee's and get the Bautzen game started. The Boy decided to fight on the same side as me and so took two Prussian Divisions nearest the open edge. Unfortunately these were  stuck behind the river so would possibly have the least action of the allied troops. I had the other Pussian Division the Prussian reserve cavalry and three Russian infantry divisions.

Lee was commanding a mixed bunch of French, Italian, Saxon and Wuttemburg troops that spanned the quality range between Old Guard through to Milita. This should be interesting.

The first turn saw The Boy and myself happy to stay in our positions and fire our guns into the slowly advancing French. 

The Boy set about reducing the Italian cavalry just as soon as it was in range. Seems the curse of the just painted was going to strike again. Not good news as the two Battalions directly behind have also just come off the painting table.

Lee steadily moved forward on his left flank and in the centre. Looks like he plans to try and take the bridges rather than cover them and hit my centre. The Boy was quick to react as he started to move his reserve into the bulge made by the river.

I had a single battalion out front with the job of slowing down the attack and causing as much trouble as possible. Unfortunately the farm was not proving to have thick enough walls and the battalion was quickly reduced to half strength.

The Saxons and French divisions towards their right flank start to move forward now there flank is protected by the captured farm.

I wasted the three Cossack cavalry units gaining neither time nor weakening the French cavalry. I would have been better to have kept them for attacking already reduced units rather than facing fresh cavalry.

But Lee also was quick to come to blows with his Division cavalry which was to allow me to have an advantage when stronger formations came to blows.

The French attack towards Bautzen was now developing, my troops would be outnumbered but had strong walls to protect them, would this be enough?

Lee brought up his Italian Division to try and force the small bridge. His fire was able to force back the one battalion but he was also taking casualties. I was quite confident that the attack against the bridge would not succeed. 

A little along the river Lee manages to get a single battalion across the large bridge and has four more battalions lining the river in an attempt to push The Boy away from the bridge. However with three fresh battalions close to the bridge he elects to stand and fight. The French battalion is quickly isolated and driven back across the bridge a shadow of its former self.

Blocking my way to the battle for the bridge is three battalions of French infantry. My Prussian cavalry has forced them into squares but I just can't get infantry up to smash them so a time consuming charge and retire cycle of actions take up the following few turns. I really needed to get these battalions away from the river to open a fresh attack of my own.

The French launch an attack to the right of the captured farm. This ties up the troops earmarked for the attack on the larger bridge and will possibly change the course of battle in this sector.

One of my cavalry regiments is under compulsory retreat (yellow die) but has bought me yet more time on this flank. I would be able to rally these cavalry back and bring them back into battle again after a few turns recovering their order. At this point the battle seems to be mostly going my way.

I continue to cause problems for the French, forcing infantry into squares (red dice), the attacks so far have been a little disjointed and most have lacked much in the way of support. However greater numbers are massed in the rear.

The Italians clear The Boy's Prussians from the little bridge, the Prussians are at this point quite weak but have troops close enough and in large enough numbers that they could contest the position if the Italians cross over.

Not that the Italians lack numbers with eleven battalions a light cavalry regiment and a battery of guns at their disposal. Still a maximum of two battalions can cross per turn, a double move may be required to get enough mass in place to stay on the Prussian side.

So neither side as yet have managed to get any real advantage, Lee is building mass in a couple of points but still continues to send in attacks that are not closely supported whilst I continue to fail to dislodge the French squares blocking my approach to the larger bridge. I also continue to remain mostly passive on the hills leaving it to Lee to make the majority of the aggressive moves.

The Smell of Powder Is Ready

Finally we are at that point where we can sit back and say, that's a wrap. Well sort of as lets face it were a breed that never has really finished titivating rules, even our own. I say our own but it's no secret that we have taken bits of other systems and worked them together. The last piece was a complete re-work of the combat tables, replacing a morale based system with a casualty one. I still like the morale version for small games but bigger games the new combat works so much faster and as such better. We still have to try with a really large game but that's happening a week on Sunday. Once that is done we finally will get Project Waterloo played out as a game. I really can't wait for that. We played another test game a few weeks ago and it was a blast that saw fortune waver both sides at different points, below is the game report.

I did not get a decent photo of the start up positions so we start with the first action as I send my cavalry and a horse artillery battery to threaten the British left flank. My force is somewhat weaker in numbers than the allies but I have the edge on quality. In the distance you can see Lee's cavalry emerging from behind the woods (top right). Lee was wanting to force the issue with his cavalry for a second game on the trot.

My plan is to hold the centre anchored on the farm at the top of a hill, I would be facing about twice the infantry I had in this area if my cavalry could not keep some of them at bay. Not something I wanted to think about. The thin long woods did act to divide the British troops into two separate forces whilst I had no such problems.

On my left I awaited the Spanish assault, this was in fact my strongest division and I was even able to keep a few battalions in reserve. Reserves in our rules are almost a must. You increase your chance of success if you use your reserves correctly, thought and planning can be well rewarded.

The British cavalry position themselves ready for the charge across the valley. As Lee gets them into position I keep them under fire from my horse artillery and the right hand guns of my infantry brigade. Lee was answering this with foot artillery but with less guns in the fire fight and my better luck his cavalry was taking more casualties than mine, not good when my cavalry started the battle stronger.

The knock on effect was that Lee was also using up precious command actions to get his cavalry in position which was also delaying his infantry attack on my right flank. If he had simply screened his infantry with his cavalry I would have been forced to attack his cavalry before I was ready.

Lee gets his first reinforcements which arrive at a random point. These can either attack my left flank or centre. My left flank is capable of fighting them to a standstill so I hope he moves there.

The clash of the cavalry was always going to happen with Lee bringing his across the table to face mine. Rather than one mass attack we found that we both had charged in with half our regiments holding the balance in reserve. Much would depend on the outcome of this first clash of the game.

One regiment of British Light Dragoons was routed though the second held it's ground. My artillery though was making it's mark as both of Lee's reserve regiments had taken casualties and were now at quite a disadvantage.

Both my light cavalry and Dragoons were quite beaten up and down to half strength Lee was in no shape to take advantage of this with similar loses. I made matters worse by charging and defeating one of his supporting cavalry regiments but these were in turn bloodied by British muskets and canons. The tempo had been hard and fast but this could not continue.

I forced a couple of British battalions into square but again a few more saddles were emptied and I withdrew to try and rally back some of the missing troopers.

At this point I have one regiment that is still capable of offensive action. One falling back (next to the guns) and two one pip off the same. I need to start rallying my cavalry. If Lee can get his infantry moving forward he may be able to force my cavalry away from my infantry.

From the British point of view. If the British move away from the village and can drive off my cavalry he can put impossible pressure on my right flank, his infantry on his left flank is the cream of the British army.

This would have been a great moment for his last reinforcements to arrive on that flank but instead they arrived behind his earlier ones. These at least are also British so will add weight to his existing brigade. Indeed if the timings worked out for them, the British could ram a breach in my line based on my centre as I already have a gap in my line.

A view down the length of the table, the battle is on a 8 foot table by six deep. Lots of space for Lee to manoeuvre and too much for me to cover and have reserves (hence the gaps).

As I try and reorganise my cavalry the British advance and I find my horse artillery under concentrated attack. I have little choice but to fall back or loose my guns.

Lee's plan was starting to work, though it had cost him his cavalry. My cavalry were forced to retreat away from my infantry due to the woods but these same woods would also provide them the cover they needed to reform and be available later in the battle.

Lee showed his hand on his right so I started to move some of my reserves away from my weakened right to try and halt his attack on that flank. This of course was going to weaken my right beyond my ability to resist a major attack there but I planned to start to retract that flank once Lee changed his target from my cavalry.

I had used both by cavalry brigade commander and the CinC to rally my cavalry and had done enough to bring most of my cavalry back into the fight and sent in a few charges against his infantry in an attempt to buy time.

The result was a string of British squares but the butchers bill was fairly high. I again needed to rally back troops whilst Lee was busy shaking squres back into line. The red dice show units in square. These can not come out of square whilst enemy cavalry are within charge range and able to charge them.

To cut back on casualties I withdrew my infantry from the crest of the hill. This saved me from further loss to artillery but if the British threatened the hill I would have to take possession of the hill or fall back towards my left.

After a couple of minor scraps on my left/centre Lee finally sent in the main attack of the day. If successful my centre would be pinned allowing Lee's hammer of a left flank to force my right to stand and there bring overwhelming numbers and firepower to smash through my defence.

I in turn brought my reserves into the line and started to break up the attacks blunting the Portuguese and Spanish flank attack and thus creating a further reserve ready for the solid attack I knew was coming.

The woods was forcing the British attack to become separated and this gave me opportunity to attack back against one attack and hold a defensive position against the other point of attack.

Lee's first attack up the hill to in my centre saw mixed results. One battalion managed to rout it's opponent but with 50% casualties whilst the second battalion failed to drive me back. 

Meanwhile the stalled attack on my right allowed me to re-order my cavalry once more. Lee was by this point moving a couple of battalions through the squares and using these battalions to screen the squares that would in turn come out of square. This was a slow process and allowed me to again charge the forward battalions forcing these into square. Each charge saw either my forced withdraw (retreat result), the loss of a strength point or no casualties. I also occasionally caused a casualty and retired back to my start position. Neither side was able to break the other but slowly I was now falling back and I had slowed down this attack to a crawl keeping the infantry safe.

Meanwhile where the original breakthrough was about to be reinforced I simply repositioned my flanking battalions and set myself to send this first assault back.

Gone are the neat lines as the first wave fights for it's life and I try and stop the second wave breaking through. This could be what makes or breaks the battle for us but in whose favour?

To the left of the woods that split the British attack the balance of the allied brigade is reforming and trying to recover from the reverse earlier. I now have the advantage of numbers and quality. My plan is to go fully over to the offensive and if I can drive back this weakened brigade I can then attack the stronger brigade from both rear and front crushing it.

I start to close the route for the trapped forward troops facing British volley fire. This was less effective than hoped as they had to move and fire. I in turn plan to charge in and use the French advantage, infantry column.

Some of the Spanish in the first wave continue to push back a battalion of French whilst a second is pushed back off my hill. Fighting further down the line saw each of us break a opposing battalion. I though have reserves on hand whilst the British still need to fight through more French battalions to support any success on the ridge.

Finally the attack against my right flank is starting to regain momentum, I now have to make a final stand with my cavalry or manoeuvre away from the elite British infantry. I will make use of the greater movement of my cavalry to get them out of trouble.

Already a spill over of the success against my cavalry is the start of the attack on my infantries right flank. I just don't have the troops to contest the hill with any hope of success, will this attack be in time to halt my attacks on the opposite flank?

However the British are wearing down on the opposite flank as the British battalions fighting to get through to the forward troops are either pushed back or broken. One brigade is already now under retire orders and a second close to breaking.

With six French battalions now attacking behind the woods and threatening the rear of the shaky brigade time has ran out for the British attack against the centre. Whilst the left wing is still in good shape the centre is under threat of being rolled up. With just under 50% of the units under retreat orders or broken the British will need to save their army by retreating behind the elite brigade. The success on the left could not be capitalised on other than to act as a rearguard. My cavalry was still on the field and it was possible they would be able to force their way between the still staunch infantry and the wavering brigades to cause a great deal of damage though time was called at this point.

So what did we learn?

Sustained attacks need both close support and built in reserves. When carried out successfully they can really change the dynamic of the battle. Lee's attack on my right was countered by my cavalry but what really slowed it down was when his second attack on the opposite flank was first slowed and then suffered my counter attack. Too often Lee ran out of attack options before being able to activate his left brigade as he had to react to threats on his other flank.

Reserves and more reserves, attacking really soaks up your offensive power. Having a second and possibly third line to move in and take over before the original units are worn down to far is key to keeping the initiative in a sector. The inability to rally troops back to battalions faster than a battalion a turn can really leave a trail of weakened units very vulnerable to a counter attack.

Committing  your cavalry to a cavalry melee should be considered only with a good chance of success and is really dangerous if you commit all your assets to the combat. 

Artillery should be given time to reduce it's targets and then main attacks sent in.

All these points reflect that the rules for us at least give a real feel of Napoleonic battles. We are very confident that with the new combat system we can handle really large battles and play them quickly. As mentioned above, we will be trying them with a large game in about ten days time, I will even get to see more of my Prussians on the table than I managed in the Waterloo demo.