1870 - Battle at the Bois the Chemin - FPW new rules test for 10mm

This Thursday we all had a bash with my 10mm FPW collection, the French Guard corps (Bart and Mike) and my newly painted anonymous/generic reserve (half division) played by Tim. Peter and Alisdair were playing the Prussians the III corps von Alvensleben, while I was the cavalry division von Rheinbaben - in a TOTALLY fictional battle of 1870 at Bois de Chemin, as we also tested (for the first time) my newly designed rule set... I will call it Second Empire.

Bart just bashed, at the beginning of the terrain set up, a mega big forrest (with a road through it) bang in the middle. This was to become the centre of the complete battle soon, we just didn't knew it then. 

I was just holding the left flank with only feeble cavalry and a few horse cannons against Tims HALF division!! So I needed to attack, soon my Death skull hussars were frontally charging a Mitrailleuse, huzzah! AND because Tim failed to hit (in close range!!) I wiped them out! But only to get blasted away from his second line of guns ... 

Mike was advancing with all the grenadiers (a complete division, four regiments, 8 battalions) into the centre forrest. Peter and Alisdair let him - the visibility was only 6cm in the woods - what was to become a major problem for his grenadiers later. I bow my head Peters supreme strategy of letting them soak into the dense forrest and then get shot away from multiple sides.

Bart just slowly advanced to the hill and waited or attacked too late.

It looked like the French would roll us up. But then - the longer range of the chassepot was not bearing down in the forrest and Peters and Alisdairs troops could give the grenadiers hell for leather. Slowly they were melting away - faster than my flank was.

So at the end of the time the Prussians had the advantage of more kills than the French, although I would not have given my flank anymore than three turns before its collaps. A Prussian victory! Never go with longer ranged firearms into a dense forrest that eliminate your advantage!

I think everybody had a blast, and we will test this again! Even Jack announced interest!

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The Rules are tailored towards my collection (artillery and cavalry on 30x30mm, infantry on 20x30mm). A bastardised Black Powder were the units stats are in relation to the number of bases. 1 for hand to hand and 1 for firing and 1 for stamina. French had 6, Prussian had 9, all cavalry had two and artillery had 1 base (but 2 stamina). The Regiments were actually 3 (or 2 in case of the French) battalions (I know ... it was just for a test). the cannon/gun ranges were adapted, some new mods introduced and the morale/ was eliminated and a 4 stage cohesion system introduced (normal => disordered => shaken => retreating => lift off, each giving different malus). You would collect hits and bases would fall away AND you could lose a cohesion level by a natural 6 on a firing hit or a lost melee.

Each gun had ammo for 6 shots, ammo carts had 12 refills.

The engine works - it is quite fast and brutal, especially fire. Cavalry is cannon fodder. The fire distances work. We all forgot the Prone rule and we had some ideas for new modifier - so it was very positive!

The best it is very fast and good for multiple player games.

More test games to come!

If you are interested, you can follow the development under the following page:

https://meneken.blogspot.com/p/franco-prussian-war-10mm-rule-set.html

Initial set up Prussian on the right, French to the left the Bois de Chemin bang in the middle...

I  had the Cavalry division on the left flank without any infantry!

Soon everybody was running for the woods

My death hussars disordered after successfully charging a Mitrailleuse!

The battle of the forrest begins ...

Tims Reserve Frenchies are lining up to pulverise me

Peter tries to defend the hill, Chassepots are coming nearer!

Squadron after squadron I must send into their death

While in the woods the French get shot to pieces ...

At the end I choose to retreat and consolidate our very brittle left flank!

If Tim would have had more time ...

Front page play sheet 1.0

Back page play sheet 1.0

1813 - For Valour but no Fortitude...

We thought we could do another Napoleonic 28mm in the week Thursday club game... this time with new rules. For Valour and Fortitude. 300pts were the limit, but then misunderstood and Campbell (French) came with 300pts, Bart (French) had 180pts and I (Austrians) cranked all up in expectation of 600pts and just came about to 540pts ... yay oblique again, what's not to like.

On the Polish-French-Würtemberger side was then, Bart, Campbell, Mike and Dave fought for the Bonaparte, while me Peter Alisdair and Tim fought for the real Emperor!

The game was nice, as a first learning game could be. Of course the view was spectacular. Maybe another time on a Sunday.

Comment to the rules: it is somewhat nice, you have to think yourself into the quick ref. sheet and the phases, atm it is all over the place - (maybe the playsheet from Little Big wars?). Also - my main point is the feeling of the era... VERY BASIC. If you tinker with it or the army sheets you might get near to it, but for example the Austrians: Flintenkartasche, Abteilungen, or Battalion Mass totally missing, you will search in vain, Jaeger units can only be detachments, there are no Jaeger battalions instead all normal line has skirmisher rule (??? as the Austrians didn't or were crap at it)) while Cavalry detatchments loose their specific unit type rules ... so for me it felt a bit too generic.

Initial set up

My light cavalry brigade

The middle ground

the other flank with the heavies

The centre, Peter and Alisdairs brigades advance!!!!

... just me had some issues ... I rolled a 1!

and another !!!

but Peter gave out nicely, and Barts French-Polish were suffering

but my lights were stuck somehow, bottlenecked

And Bart had the BUA/objective earlier on

Peter broke Barts Infantry brigade - very quick

Yup I tried a break through but then retreated back to position 1

while Barts squares just had a scratch

I came up with a plan ... but too late ... a draw

LAST BATTLE OF THIS YEAR - Gross-Peronitz 1760

As my club mates mostly are too lazy to read my SYW rules, they wanted to test Rank&File in that era, which inspired me to not read these rules either. As this was probably the last proper battle of this year, I wanted to do something differently in this total fictional scenario and gave the Russian a nice sturdy veteran army, while the Saxons and the Prussians were mostly uninspired greenies or just about to desert. (Miniatures by Front Rank, Foundry and Crusaders all my collection apart from the Cran Tara Saxons in Barts possession).

The Russians (Peter and Mike) had more shock troop cavalry, better guns, and better troop quality (all veterans). While the Saxo-Prussian force (me, Alisdair and Bart) had one infantry brigade more, but less guns, all light cannons, and all infantry were down graded to greenies (and the grenadiers to normal) and just two shock cavalry instead of four. It would be a walk over for the Russians.

So the Russians appeared on the hills and began to shell our lines with their medium guns. We instead capturing the two BUAs Gross-Peronitz and Klein-Peronitzen in the second turn. Our CinC General Entschuldigung (Sorry!) Alisdair didn't throw very good at the initiative and helped to paint a picture of an totally un-prussian force phlegmatic and slow.

But then Peter attacked with his Cuirassiers and the real battle began. As per usual I could count on his abysmal red skull dice, he is particular unfortunately with red dice lately (political? subconscious??). So I slaughtered his Hussars with my "black"!!!! Death Skull Hussars (maybe black skull dice next? just a suggestion ... or just throwing the dice instead of laying them out like a gout ridden rabbit).

We didn't have that much time as we liked, due to the fact that the people who had read the rules, didn't have read them as good as the ones who did not.

My Black-Death-Skull-Judgement-day-Hussars couldn't be stopped at flanking fire from a half blind Russian veteran musketeer regiment and chased the remnants of the Hussars and nearly killed the Russian CinC. Then they broke through and were behind their lines - Ouch!

Mike wanted to save the situation but his dragoons were just a bit too late, so that I could let the Black Skull Hussars charge the Pavlovian Palast Guard from behind! They had to flee through their frightened comrades toward the Prussian lines. This is when we decided to pull the curtains over the ensuing massacre because of the the festive spirit of this seasonal event! We killed more Russians than them Prussians - so a clear victory for the underdog!

We had all a wonderful time! - and the lesson is: Don't drink diet fizzy drinks, don't buy red dice and read the goddamn rules! ;)

The Prussian initial deployment - the Peroni fraction

The Russian initial deployment - the diet coke fraction

The battle field at the beginning

The Prussian advance to the Klein-Hill

The Hussars of both clash for the first time

all other march along

The Russians set position on the Gross-Hill.

While the Prussians slow down

The other Russian flank advance

The Saxon flank under the iron grip of the Peroni fraction.

Black (and Skulls) beats Yellow

That regiment had it that day!!!

Flanking fire from Musketeers? - pah!

The two armies come nearer

Again the Prussian Hussars attack!

While the Prussian centre gets hammered

Shot to pieces by the Russian artillery

Line after line marched into the hellish din

Gross-Hill is Russian hand

The battle of Klein-Peronitz is full swing

The Russian cuirassiers could have swung the tide but decided otherwise
(Peter is NOT a cavalry man!)

And then my Death Skull Hussars were behind enemy lines!!

The Russian flank just closes up

The last attack of the Hussars

The Pavlovian Guard has to stumble toward our lines

In an all out attack the Russian stumble forward

But just as expected by the Saxon flank

Gross-Peronitz still in our hand