Napoleon's Rules of War First Game of the 2nd Half

Well, it didn't take long to get the first game of the official 2nd half of the season in the record books. Played a game of Napoleon's Rules of War at a club game night the other night.

Great game put on by the rules designer - Charlie.  The scenario was the battle of Bailen.  I was one of the Spanish players commanding a division on the southern flank.  In this battle, the Spanish had seized the town of Bailen with one force while two other forces moved in to help reinforce them.  The two moving forces were also slowly encircling the French forces.  While the Spaniards held the town, the French were trying to retake the town whlile preventing the Spanish from encircling them.

The forces were pretty equal in that the Spanish had superior numbers while the French had a slight advantage in quality.

Here are some photos of the game:

My division deployed along the river just south of the French attempting to attack into Bailen.

My Spanish light and militia troops attack from the West into the flank of the southern French attack.  It ended up being a pretty successful spoiling attack.  It was never going to stop the French outright, but it did slow them down enough to hold out until night fall.  

The French in the south had to face south in reaction to my division at the river as well as north to attack into Bailen.  It was not an easy tactical situation.

The French move on Bailen from the south.  A small Spanish brigade attacks from the west.

Our valiant French foes! (l to r) Kevin and Byron were commanders attacking from the North. Charlie, the GM.  Ralph, commander here on the southern sector.

Overall, I had a really good time playing the game.  Charlie is making some changes to his rules to help make them a bit easier to play.  I think he is getting very close to finishing all of the edits for Version 2 of the rules.

Post Napoleonic Wing Scale Volley & Bayonet

Had a really good time at Ed's house yesterday playing a game of Volley & Bayonet in Wing Scale.  They rules have been used in our club for many years and they really have passed the test of time.  We tweak them, but in many cases we return to the base rules when something different does not work out.

The scenario we played was the Hungarian Uprising against the Austrians in 1848.  Ed has become quite the expert on the time period.  He has researched and painted an extensive set of forces for both sides and the armies are a sight to behold!  The scenario we played was challenging for both sides and ended up being well balanced.

I played one of the Hungarian divisional commanders.  My forces consisted of three balanced brigades of two infantry battalions, a light infantry battalion and a squadron of cavalry.  My mission was to defend two ridge lines in front of a town that we had to defend.  If the Austrians could take our town under fire, we would lose the game.  Large numbers of Austrians under George and Ralph attacked my positions and eventually wore my units down.  I had to give ground but I was reinforced by another division similar to mine under Charlie and we ended up holding the line.  Meanwhile, Byron entered the table on our right flank and crashed into Mike C. scattering his units and making for the Austrian town which were tasked with taking under fire.  Due to Byron's ferocious attack, we ended up squeaking out a victory.  Here are some photos of the game with Ed's great terrain and even better Hungarian and Austrian armies of 1848.

The first attacks from George come in.  Note that I established a reverse slope defense in the hopes of staying away from Austrian artillery fire and a coordinated charge.

My initial dispositions with Charlie as the last line of defense.

Heavy pressure on my center number one.  George and Mike had a well coordinated attack 

Heavy pressure on my center number two.

The Austrian juggernaut pushes us back.

The Austrian are forced to react to Byron's attack from our right and Ralph and George pull back to save their town.  The Hungarians are victorious!

Overall, I had a great time and being with good people over the fields of friendly strife is always a great way to spend the day.  Thanks to Ed for an excellent game!

A Game or Two of ‘Not Brother Against Brother’

This weekend I played two games of ‘Not Brother Against Brother’ with my friend, Ed M.  The first game was a practice affair with Ed's excellent Prussian and French figures.  The second game we used my British, French and new Spanish Guerrilla figures.  I have not completed basing of the French Foot Dragoons or the Spanish, but we used them anyways because we wanted to try out some new troop qualification stats in the game.

We used Ed's Napoleonic adaptation of the very fun Brother Against Brother rules system.  He has really tweaked the base rules to give it more of a period feel and to also clean up what we find to be some inconsistencies within the rules themselves.  These two games gave us reasonable results with no game situations running outside of what could be 'expected'.

The results of the games were both a draw, but we were playing more to test new rules than to really try and gain a clear cut 'victory'.

Here are some photos of the first game:

And some pics of the second game featuring the new troops:

All in all it was a great couple of games.  I am looking forward to playing some additional games with my Napoleonic troops in the near future.  I also am looking forward to maybe tweaking the rules for my War of 1812 collection.

Rebasing New 28mm Figures

If you look at my Hobby Activities you might notice that I have added quite a few figures to the "28mm figures rebased" section.  That is because I recently purchased 48 painted cavalry figures and 24 painted infantry figures as well as 8 painted artillery figures and two guns and two painted mounted officers.  These figures have substantially increased my French Napoleonic forces.

The cavalry figures are four 12-man regiments of the Imperial Guard Cavalry.  I have taken pictures of one of the regiments, the Empress' Dragoons.  I also have the 1st (Polish) Cheveaux Legere Lancers, the 2nd (Dutch) Cheveaux Legere Lancers, and the Chasseurs a Cheval de la Garde.

Here are some photos of the Dragoons:

The regiment in line.

The regimental commander and trumpeter on the left and the color bearer and escort on the right.  All I have left to do is get a proper regimental standard for the Eagle and get it mounted on the color bearer.

A close-up of a couple of Dragoons.

The bases include an area painted with metallic paint.  Unit markers for each squadron is mounted on sheet magnets and cut out.  The unit makers include identification as well as training level (in this case Elite) and special capabilities (in this case Shock Cavalry).  These designations are part of the rules set we use at our club - Napoleon's Rules of War.

I have been looking forward to collecting these units for many years now.  My specifics in Napoleonic gaming has always been with the cavalry and the Guard Cavalry represents the best of the best of French horse during this time period.  I am glad that I was able to finally find them painted and ready to base.  I am looking forward to their first time on the battlefield!

I will post photos of the rest of the new troops when I return home from the Thanksgiving holiday time with our daughter and son.

Northern Conspiracy Game Day 2017

Our good friend, Ed M. planned and executed a wonderful Napoleonic themed game day at our local club.  The game was simply MASSIVE with several hundred figures on each side.  Prussians vs. French with the Orders of Battle from the Waterloo Campaign and the terrain we fought over was the field of Ramilles of 1706 fame.  We used Napoleon's Rules of War written by our very own club member, Charlie G.  It is a great set of rules with the main maneuver element being an infantry battalion, cavalry squadron and artillery battery.

For this event, I had the honor of playing the role of Marshal Grouchy, Commander of a reinforced French Corps d'Armee.  In the weeks leading up to the game day itself there was a lot of planning.  We set the order of arrival for each of the divisions (3 line, 1 Young Guard, and 1 Reserve Cavalry - Dragoons) along with an artillery reserve and an attached Hussar Brigade.  Along with the sub-commanders I was able to develop a general plan to assault and secure the town of Ramilles.  The plan also included the deployment of four advanced guard detachments each of a Legere Battalion and two squadrons of Chasseurs a Cheval.  During the approach march on game day we were able to adjust our assault plan on the fly, but there was not much that we needed to modify as we had a pretty solid plan.

The table-top game was a hard fought affair and we wish we had more time to really get to a conclusion.  We had the typical ups and downs as determined by General Dice.  We were not able to push the Prussians in the North as much as we wanted, but our Hussar Brigade was able to hold off a major push by a full Prussian Brigade in the southern part of the field.

Overall the battle was adjudicated to be a draw, but it was a tremendous amount of fun for all involved.  Many thanks to all of the hard work that Ed put into the preparations of the game and for Ed and Charlie for running a great game.

Following are a few of the photos I took of the game in progress:

The Prussian opponents from across all three sets of tables.  Closest is the French (our) approach table, the center main battle table and then the Prussian approach table.  Players were nominally not allowed to go to the center table until they had troops on the main board.  No one from the French table was allowed to go to the Prussian side of the table during the game.

The indomitable French command team.

The French approach table.

Friendly conversations as the first units arrive on the main table.  The conversations would soon turn into banter between commanders locked in the grip of mortal combat!

An advance guard force composed of a battalion of the 36eme Legere and two squadrons of the 4th Chasseurs a Cheval.

The French advance guard forces move onto the main battle table.

The French 2nd Division maneuvers south of Ramilles.

Prussian commanders look over their options on the game QRS sheets.  In the foreground is the French 2nd Division.  In the middle distance left is the French 1st Division moving to secure the town of Ramilles.

From the top of the table is the French 3rd Division moving to secure the Corps' Left (North) flank.  In the middle 1st Division and the Young Guard move to secure Ramilles while 2nd Division moves just south of the town to put pressure on the Prussians covering on Ramilles and to secure the French Right (South) flank.  In the foreground is the heroic separate Hussar Brigade which held off a combined arms attack from a full Prussian brigade.

The Young Guard and reserve cavalry move on the French approach table.

Prussian commanders try to figure out how to stop the mass of the French Dragoon division as it appears on the main battle table.

Prussian commanders on the French Right flank as they face yet another attack from the dreaded Hussar brigade.

Another view of the dashing Beau Sabeurs of the French Hussars!

Game Night - Napoleon's Rules of War

Played a game of Napoleon's Rules of War at game night last Friday.  We were playing a practice game for the upcoming Game Day scenario.  It has been a while since I last played NRW so this was a great chance for me to get reacquainted.  As we played the game I began to recall why I like the system so much!  Simple to play, but gives a very realistic result if you play using authentic Napoleonic tactics.

Here are a few pics of the evening's festivities:

The Prussian commanders begin their deployment. From left to right, Pete, Byron, Bob and Mike.  They did an excellent job throughout the evening.  I think they will be formidable foes come Game Day next month!

The French commanders likewise prepare their troops for the battle.  From Left to Right; Rob, Ralph, Earl and Charlie.  It is always nice to have the author on your team!

Prussian National Cavalry lead the attack on the French left flank.  When I first looked, these looked like Dragoons.  Fortunately for our side, that was not the case.  These light cavalry were all Earl could handle as Pete put in a really effective combined arms attack.  Ed has done a great job painting, basing and marking all of these units. I really like the unit tabs Ed has developed as it makes it very easy to track units and use the game play sheets.

Earl's French infantry defend the left flank under heavy attack from Pete's troops.  I didn't take too many pics as I was very involved getting back into the rules.  This picture also shows the unit ID tags that Ed has developed.  Rings on the units represent hits and as a unit gains these hits it begins to 'waver' which affects its combat effectiveness.  As additional hits are accumulated, the unit routs off the board.  A very effective way to limit book-keeping.

The Prussian players in disbelief as Earl rolls lights out and the French left holds firm.  At the end of Turn 1 the French players had the same look on their faces.

Overall the game went very well.  Ed was trying out some slight rules modifications like an additional bonus when defending in line.  Ended up not being such a slight modification and the game really swung on a couple of battles that would have gone the other way if the modification hadn't been made.  I'm thinking that Ed might put it back to the original version for game day.

During game day I will make sure to take more photos of the troops in addition to the players.

Volley Bayonet & Glory Wing Scale

Had a chance to play a game with my friend Ed using his new revisions to Volley, Bayonet & Glory.  We played two infantry brigades and one cavalry brigade per side.  The game plays very realistically and I think it is the best rules set that I have ever played for Brigade/Division Napoleonic's.

The table was 6 feet wide and 4 feet deep.  This was set up as a Spain scenario so there was only minimal terrain.  We were basically fighting over a small town with a well at a crossroads in the center of the table.

I moved forward very aggressively and ended up beating Ed to the village center.  I garrisoned the built up area with a stand of infantry and supported it with the rest of one battalion.  There was another battalion on the flank.  On his part of turn two Ed counter-attacked my forces in the village and ended up knocking me out of the built up area.  He occupied the village with his own infantry stand and he would stay there for the rest of the game.  I launched at least four separate counter-attacks of my own, but to no avail.

On turn four Ed had me seriously on the run.  He had conducted some really effective cavalry attacks using the Brunswick Hussars and it looked like my right flank was about to give in.  Just when all looked bleak, one of the Polish battalions decided it was time for the Brunswickers to head home and destroyed one of the Hussar squadrons.  Combined with the threat of charges from the Provisional Dragoon Regiment, Ed started to consolidate his gains on the flank rather then pressing home further attacks.

After turn five we faced each others lines and decided that there would be no further decisive attacks and called the game a minor victory for Ed.  He held the village, but couldn't finish me off.  I had been totally unable to move him off the crossroads.

Here are a photos that I took at the start of the game.

The battle lines face off across the table.  The French are in the foreground and the British/Allies in the back ground.  The village and crossroads that were the focal point of the battle are in the center of the photo.

The first (and only successful) French assault on the village.  I have pushed the British out of the built up area and garrisoned the town with my troops.  Looks like a pretty strong position.  But Ed needed only one turn to counter-attack and throw me out of the town.

Here are the results of Ed's counter-attack.  The 41st Foot has occupied the built-up area and there they would stay for the remainder of the game.

The brightest incident for the French was the charge of this squadron of the provisional dragoon regiment.  In a solo charge against the Swiss Regiment de Mueron (unstoppable until that point) the dragoons sent the Swiss packing!  This one action allowed the French and Polish units behind them to reorganize and stabilize what had been a very confused situation up to that point.

The Swiss at the end of their retreat from the dragoons (top center).  British artillery has reinforced the 41st Foot in the village.  The Brunswick Lieb battalion is on the right in a position to protect the Swiss and support the rear of the artillery.

Overall, this was a great game and I can't wait to play the rules set again soon!

Napoleon's Rules of War

   Played a game of Napoleon's Rules of War a great set of rules developed by fellow NC Penguin, Charlie, and refined by our club over the past several years. With the basic unit of infantry battalion, artillery battery and cavalry squadron, this game is fast paced and very realistic.

   We played a great game of French vs. Austrian of several Austrian divisions attacking several French divisions during a club game day.  It was a huge game involving the equivalent of two corps + on each side.

   Here are a couple of shots of the battlefield at the end of the day on our table.  This represented about 1/4 of the entire game!

The French on the left have crushed an Austrian Division and the center and right have stabilized after being pummeled by well coordinated and executed infantry and cavalry attacks. 

The Austrians push hard on the French Right Flank.  The Hussar Regiment at the bottom center of this photo especially covered itself in glory destroying no less than two French battalions and threatening to completely break into the French line of communications.

The Carabiniers go into the attack, supported by a battery of Horse Artillery.

I had a really good time playing this game, even though I did not play especially well.  On our side, Robert R. did such a great job that he won the Legion d'Honneur as the best French player of the day.