Battle Report

Well, well, what do you know? I've actually managed to photograph a whole game for the first time in ages. So, on with the report.

Looking north, we left the battle with a French divisional attack on the hill in the southern sector stalled and in disarray; in that divisions rear the best French division was arriving late to the field; in the northern and central sectors the French preparing to defend against a strong attack by the British who were crossing the river in numbers, and who had taken the hill to the south early in the first phase of the battle. 

At the start of the second night's play, it looked like a very sticky wicket for the French. If you were a betting man......

The British divisions in the central and northern sectors crossed the shallow river unopposed in preparation for their assault on the town beyond.

In the south the French moved to counter the threat posed by the British cavalry which was preventing further forward movement by the French infantry.

This would prove to be moderately successful.

The assault on the town began in earnest and the French conscripts holding the outskirts were quickly pushed out by the 13th and 16th Portuguese (quite new units actually doing something in a game!).

In the northern sector the French stalled the British advance by threatening with their cavalry. 

However, the French were greatly outnumbered and soon the volleys of musketry began to tell and the French were holding on by their fingernails. 

To the south of the town the late French arrivals, led by the Paris Municipal Guard battalions with artillery support, stormed their lost position and retook took it, routing the 13th Portuguese.

To the north things were beginning to look very bleak. The French were falling back and the British were making assaults on the north end of the town.

Led by the 53rd Foot, the British gained a foothold in the northern part of the town. 

The writing, for the French, now running low on army morale chips, was being scrawled on the town walls by jubilant Spanish patriots.

The struggle for the town now reached its crescendo. 

The 53rd Foot made a gallant attack on the Paris Municipal Guard holding the southern outskirts. The melee was an intense affair which went backwards and forwards (with at least four dice rolls, including one where both sides rolled 12!) before the Municipal Guard finally broke and fled.

We're using the FoB 2 rule that all melees must be fought to a conclusion, even if that requires multiple dice rolls. Napoleonic melee's were generally over pretty quickly by all accounts.

The combats in this sector had not gone all one way. The 2nd battalion of the Municipal Guard had managed to put the 16th Portuguese battalion to flight (quite new units reverting to war gaming form!).

These were the only units lost by the British. The French would lose five.

To the north the British attack had resumed and the French were compelled to declare a general withdrawal. 

The day was British.

The 53rd, under canister fire from two batteries, occupy the southern sector of the town. 

Even though they are being blasted they have done their job well. I'm awarding this unit the 'man of the match' award.

The award for bravery, for sticking it out under tremendous pressure (it had to rally back lost UI a couple of times to stay in the fight), goes to the very averagely rated (green / green is DD6, CD10) French Legion du Midi, in their very smart brown coats with pale blue facings.

Due to the very formidable position held by the British to the south, this sector saw little fighting during this session. To prevent the British from exploiting their initial success on the first night of the game, the French were forced to bolster this flank with more than half of the French late arrivals. If more could have been diverted towards the town the position might have been saved. 

An overview of the battle at the end of the second night's play.

Conclusions: 

The morale point objectives worked, though we did downgrade their values from five to three, and from three to two respectively. They drew the fighting towards the centre of the table and I liked the way they changed hands.

Here, we all feel that skirmish lines are a very important component in Napoleonic battles. The sight of Voltigeur companies and 'light bobs' out in front of units gives games a lot of period feel. We all want them included, and for them to have function and effect. However, the rules we used for integral skirmishers were pants. I'm not quite sure how I came up with something so ill thought out, stupid and lack lustre. They've been substantially changed for the next game - in fact we'll use a completely new set of rules for them. I'm now convinced, especially after arguments put forward by Graham H., that to make skirmishers work properly, a simple, workable, elegant, abstract rule is probably unobtainable and some rule complexity must, unfortunately, be added to the mix. We will see.

On the whole, the rules are working. But, why wouldn't they? Piquet and Field of Battle have tremendously solid core mechanisms. They are quite similar at their heart - sequence decks and initiative - so a hybrid version isn't exactly new, or 'out there'. It's just tinkering to improve period and game feel, really.

This Wednesday, more Napoleonic gaming. I've tweaked the terrain, I've tweaked the rules, and I've finally managed to knock up an Army Characterisation Deck which (to save on set up time) also deals with the possibilities thrown up by the FoB 2 style pre-game set up we've come to like so much.