The last one is obviously mine.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Little Wars
Here are some of the other great games that I saw at Little Wars this last weekend.
The last one is obviously mine.
The last one is obviously mine.
Little Wars and The Waterloo Campaign
I attended Little Wars in St. Charles, Illinois (which is about 20 miles north of my house) last Saturday.
This was my third year running a game of my home-brew Command and Colors rules with 28mm figures. Last year I did Gettysburg, and the year before I did Waterloo and Quatre Bras.
This year I decided to try to do the entire Waterloo campaign. The idea was to use the old classic Avalon Hill block game, NAPOLEON, to maneuver the troops, and when a battle occured on the board, we would fight it out on the tabletop. Paul Niemeyer, my artist/ wargamer buddy agreed to help me again this year (Thank you Paul!).
We had one full time player (Jim Thompson) who played the entire campaign as the British/ Prussians, and 6 other players who jumped in to fight a battle, but who could not stay the entire day.
Here are some of the pictures of the fun:
The French player (Paul), had driven half of his forces up the extreme left of the campaign map, aiming at taking Ghent (which would cause one unit of attrition to the British each turn, if taken). The other, larger, half of his Armee du Nord went 'up the gut' through Charleroi, aiming at Brussels (which, if taken, would cause 1 unit of attrition to both the British and the Prussians). Jim skillfully fell back toward Ghent with one Corps of the British army, taking a few pursuit losses, while meanwhile bringing a large army together to stop the central thrust. The armies met at Quatre Bras.
The initial deployments of the battle of Quatre Bras can be seen above: The British contingent is on the Allied right, and the larger Prussian contingent is on the Allied left.
The French were outnumbered, but determined. Here Paul makes his intial move.
His first move was to send forward the Imperial Guard! (Wow!) They moved into the town under the shadow of a ridge bristling with Prussian guns, which immediately and remorselessly bombarded the town. In this picture, the Chasseurs were already annihilated, and the Middle Guard has lost 25% of its combat power. Under pressure to advance or fall back, Paul launched a two pronged attack on the hill. The result was a bloody failure, and the vaunted Imperial Guard was hors du combat at the very beginning of the first battle of the campaign.
The action then shifted to the French right flank as Paul gritted his teeth, determined to crush the foe regardless of the inauspicious beginning.
A fierce cavalry action flared up as Paul sent foward his Chasseurs and Lancers, and they were met with a wall of Prussian Uhlan Lancers and Dragoons. Once again, the French elan was not enough to carry the enemy position.
Still undetered, Paul sent forward his cavalry on the left. This time, they were Cuirassier and Carabiniers. They were met by British squares (note the red markers), and British Heavies.
Alas! another bloody failure for the French as the supporting French infantry watch from a distance.
Beaten and bloodied, Paul finally decided that he'd had enough and withdrew the remnants of the French forces, now almost completely without Cavalry (or the Guard Infantry).
The next move on the campaign map saw the French capture Ghent, but the greater part of the British army was deploying nearby. Unwilling to accept a defensive battle, the French forces moved to attack them. The forces were almost even, with a slight edge for the French.
The first French move was to send forward the cavalry (again). ;-) Here they are threatening the British forward deployment of their Horse Artillery.
But instead of charging the hill, they swing left, bring up their own horse guns and prepare to charge the British light cavalry deployed behind the hill.
The British and Netherlands cavalry charged and with the support of their guns dispersed the French Cavalry.
Stymied on the left, the French send forward their infantry (finally!) on the right... Lots of infantry.
The casualties started to pile up quickly as the British pushed back.
Both sides fed in lots of troops and the center of gravity shifted toward the center, which became a meat-grinder. The aftermath can be seen here. Each casualty marker represents a brigade made combat ineffective from casualties.
Eventually the French attack in the center bled out, so all that was left to commit was the Imperial Guard Cavalry. They went in on the French left, and over-ran the British artillery, replacing it with their own. The British/ Netherlands cavalry counter-attack drove them back in turn and eventually forced the French back.
Both sides backed away from each other and waited for night to fall.
The battle of Ghent, though technically a French victory, had been a bloody affair. The strategic situation looked grim for the aggressive French: They had successfully destroyed half of the British forces in the first two battles, and so the remaining British troops retreated to the nearest port to embark for England, and their Netherlands and German allies evaporated as a fighting force. However, the Prussian forces were almost completely fresh, and were in position to face off both French forces. Napoleon had no choice but to retreat his ravaged army and hope to secure terms from the converging allied armies.
The campaign was great fun, and gave the battles the context that many tabletop battles lack. I love the marriage of these two games and plan to create a map for the 1812 and 1813 campaigns.
All the players who stopped by to play said that they had fun and liked the rules and the figures (Perrys, Front Rank, and Calpe painted by Fernando 95% and me 5%).
This was my third year running a game of my home-brew Command and Colors rules with 28mm figures. Last year I did Gettysburg, and the year before I did Waterloo and Quatre Bras.
This year I decided to try to do the entire Waterloo campaign. The idea was to use the old classic Avalon Hill block game, NAPOLEON, to maneuver the troops, and when a battle occured on the board, we would fight it out on the tabletop. Paul Niemeyer, my artist/ wargamer buddy agreed to help me again this year (Thank you Paul!).
We had one full time player (Jim Thompson) who played the entire campaign as the British/ Prussians, and 6 other players who jumped in to fight a battle, but who could not stay the entire day.
Here are some of the pictures of the fun:
The initial deployments of the battle of Quatre Bras can be seen above: The British contingent is on the Allied right, and the larger Prussian contingent is on the Allied left.
The French were outnumbered, but determined. Here Paul makes his intial move.
Still undetered, Paul sent forward his cavalry on the left. This time, they were Cuirassier and Carabiniers. They were met by British squares (note the red markers), and British Heavies.
Beaten and bloodied, Paul finally decided that he'd had enough and withdrew the remnants of the French forces, now almost completely without Cavalry (or the Guard Infantry).
The next move on the campaign map saw the French capture Ghent, but the greater part of the British army was deploying nearby. Unwilling to accept a defensive battle, the French forces moved to attack them. The forces were almost even, with a slight edge for the French.
The first French move was to send forward the cavalry (again). ;-) Here they are threatening the British forward deployment of their Horse Artillery.
The British and Netherlands cavalry charged and with the support of their guns dispersed the French Cavalry.
Eventually the French attack in the center bled out, so all that was left to commit was the Imperial Guard Cavalry. They went in on the French left, and over-ran the British artillery, replacing it with their own. The British/ Netherlands cavalry counter-attack drove them back in turn and eventually forced the French back.
Both sides backed away from each other and waited for night to fall.
The battle of Ghent, though technically a French victory, had been a bloody affair. The strategic situation looked grim for the aggressive French: They had successfully destroyed half of the British forces in the first two battles, and so the remaining British troops retreated to the nearest port to embark for England, and their Netherlands and German allies evaporated as a fighting force. However, the Prussian forces were almost completely fresh, and were in position to face off both French forces. Napoleon had no choice but to retreat his ravaged army and hope to secure terms from the converging allied armies.
The campaign was great fun, and gave the battles the context that many tabletop battles lack. I love the marriage of these two games and plan to create a map for the 1812 and 1813 campaigns.
All the players who stopped by to play said that they had fun and liked the rules and the figures (Perrys, Front Rank, and Calpe painted by Fernando 95% and me 5%).
Monday, February 20, 2012
Waterloo part 3
Paul responded well by cobbling together a strong line behind the ridge.
I sent forward a formidable combined-arms attack, and both lines clashed with an immense ferocity.
The Brunswickers and Hanovarian Landwehr units fought like lions with support from British Heavy Dragoons and Dutch Hussars, and Horse artillery, and my attack was beaten back.
Now the pressure from the Prussians started to exert itself again. I was tempted to fall back to reorganize again, but realized that if I did, I might never regain the initiative, and would be ground down by superior numbers. Instead, I gambled with an 'Out of Ammunition' card, which allows me to move any five units, but afterward I must remove 2 artillery units from the battle.
I moved my weakened cavalry forward again against the British right flank, supported by what was left of my infantry, and drove them back. When Paul tried to counter with 2 fresh units of British infantry from his center, my Chasseurs heroically shot them down and forced them back as well.
A half broken line of weakened militia grade infantry and Dutch cavalry clung to the edge of the battlefield. I knew that one more push could drive them off and break the British army's morale. The infantry went forward once again with the skeletal remains of my heavy cavalry supporting it's attack.
The only fresh unit of infantry in that part of the field was French, and it marched to within 30 yards of the Brunswickers' square and fired...
As the Brunswickers fled the field, they swept Wellington along with them and all cohesion went out of the British/ Allied force in that sector of the battlefield. The stream of retreating men soon became a raging torrent as the realization that the battle was lost spread from the broken British right to their center and then on to the left. Soon, the Prussians saw that they stood alone on the field, and tried to retreat back from where they came. Unfortunately Grouchy had been victorious at Wavre and they had no escape route. Those that did not flee, were soon rounded up.
Napoleon marched his victorious army into Brussels the next day.
Paul texting about the game...Not sure his wife really cares, but who else is going to give him comfort?
I sent forward a formidable combined-arms attack, and both lines clashed with an immense ferocity.
The Brunswickers and Hanovarian Landwehr units fought like lions with support from British Heavy Dragoons and Dutch Hussars, and Horse artillery, and my attack was beaten back.
Now the pressure from the Prussians started to exert itself again. I was tempted to fall back to reorganize again, but realized that if I did, I might never regain the initiative, and would be ground down by superior numbers. Instead, I gambled with an 'Out of Ammunition' card, which allows me to move any five units, but afterward I must remove 2 artillery units from the battle.
I moved my weakened cavalry forward again against the British right flank, supported by what was left of my infantry, and drove them back. When Paul tried to counter with 2 fresh units of British infantry from his center, my Chasseurs heroically shot them down and forced them back as well.
A half broken line of weakened militia grade infantry and Dutch cavalry clung to the edge of the battlefield. I knew that one more push could drive them off and break the British army's morale. The infantry went forward once again with the skeletal remains of my heavy cavalry supporting it's attack.
The only fresh unit of infantry in that part of the field was French, and it marched to within 30 yards of the Brunswickers' square and fired...
As the Brunswickers fled the field, they swept Wellington along with them and all cohesion went out of the British/ Allied force in that sector of the battlefield. The stream of retreating men soon became a raging torrent as the realization that the battle was lost spread from the broken British right to their center and then on to the left. Soon, the Prussians saw that they stood alone on the field, and tried to retreat back from where they came. Unfortunately Grouchy had been victorious at Wavre and they had no escape route. Those that did not flee, were soon rounded up.
Napoleon marched his victorious army into Brussels the next day.
Waterloo part 2
The movement of D'Erlon's Corps forced Paul to move more and more of his forces away from his right to support his left. Therefore, I decided that I would leave D'Erlon's troops in position to strike and put some pressure on his weakened right.
I moved 2 infantry and 3 cavalry units to my left and drove back the defenders that Paul/ Wellington brought forward to stop me.
Unfortunately, Paul rallied his troops and pushed me back in turn.
Meanwhile, off to my right, the Prussians started to arrive on the battlefield. my careful maneuvering had consumed a bit too much time.
I knew that I needed to buy some time while I moved up reinforcements for a renewed effort on the left, so I organized a strong cavalry attack on the Prussian vanguard. A vicious little cavalry fight developed. Charge and counter-charge occured, with both sides losing heavily.
With the Prussian advance halted, I ordered up the Imperial Guard. The Middle Guard and the Chasseurs rolled forward along with a division of line infantry and the Grenadiers a' Cheval to strike to the right of Hougoumont while, simultaneously a re-organized force attacked from the left. Both converged on the British Infantry holding the ridge behind the chateau.
The combined attack was too much for the British Infantry, and two Guards units broke and fled to the rear.
Meanwhile, off to my right, the Prussians started to arrive on the battlefield. my careful maneuvering had consumed a bit too much time.
I knew that I needed to buy some time while I moved up reinforcements for a renewed effort on the left, so I organized a strong cavalry attack on the Prussian vanguard. A vicious little cavalry fight developed. Charge and counter-charge occured, with both sides losing heavily.
With the Prussian advance halted, I ordered up the Imperial Guard. The Middle Guard and the Chasseurs rolled forward along with a division of line infantry and the Grenadiers a' Cheval to strike to the right of Hougoumont while, simultaneously a re-organized force attacked from the left. Both converged on the British Infantry holding the ridge behind the chateau.
The combined attack was too much for the British Infantry, and two Guards units broke and fled to the rear.
Battle of Waterloo
Today we used my House Rules version of Command & Colors: Napoleon to refight the Battle of Waterloo.
I was Napoleon, and my buddy Paul Niemeyer was Wellington. The view above is from the French left (just in front of Hougoumont) looking toward the Grand Batttery.
French Infantry of D'Erlon's Corps preparing to move through the Grand Battery. En Evant!
French Cuirassier ready to support D'Erlon's assault on the British left.
The British Line ready to receive the attack.
Skirmishers infest the Chateau, ready for the enemy advance.
TURN 1 - 5 THE FRENCH ATTACK COMMENCES
The first few turns saw me moving D'Erlon's Infantry forward with cavalry support on both flanks, while the Grand Battery drove the Dutch/ Belgians and the British artillery off the ridge in front of them.
The red markers show that I formed the infantry into square near the base of the ridge; a necessary precaution as Paul had moved several units of British cavalry up to support the infantry just on the other side.
TURN 1 - 5 THE FRENCH ATTACK COMMENCES
The first few turns saw me moving D'Erlon's Infantry forward with cavalry support on both flanks, while the Grand Battery drove the Dutch/ Belgians and the British artillery off the ridge in front of them.
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