Finally a Napoleonic Game!

Two nights ago  after almost 3 years I finally got to play some real wargaming. I had originally planned to present the Général d'Armée ruleset at the Abyss in Montreal on Wednesday but I got struck down by the Covid and thus could not travel. I was anxious to get in a refresher so after a short discussion, Pierre-Yves agreed to have a go. This was interesting as I believe that P-Y has only played skirmish games in the past, so playing a game where a base was a 100 soldiers rather than one was going to be quite novel to him. He also admitted he knew very little about the Napoleonic era. I gave him a quick briefing on Attack columns, Lines and Squares and how you should not get caught in line with cavalry around etc etc.

Well it is funny how things go, as he wiped me off the table in 7 turns! I should also note that we brought the game to a conclusion which I have yet to do in the past and this was playing virtually with me moving both sets of figures. I did simplify the game by leaving out skirmishers and making all units line.

We played the Attack of the Old Guard from the 100 Days Supplement. Aside from the skirmishers all units were on the table. P-Y opted for the historical deployment of the French, while I put my Brunswicker's and Nassau in the middle with the Guard Brigade on my left with the my Light Brigade on my right, with a tiny Infantry Brigade. I attached the RA to the Guards.

I, as usual, am a little too lazy and of course also too forgetful to do a detailed report but suffice to say I advanced my troops almost immediately to the ridge line (Wellington was clearly a better commander than I), making them a target for the French Artillery Brigade. The French advanced in Attack Column with the Old Guard leading up the slope. Within 7 turns, I had a dispersed Brigade with my Light Brigade cut in half and all my frontline units 8-10 casualties. I tried to get my reserve in position but there was no hope so I withdrew giving P-Y a victory.....one for the French!

The game went quite well with the rules being much smother than I remembered. I made one major mistake in letting a charging unit have supports when not on an Infantry Assault order. I also left out the Massed Columns rule and forgot about the Interpenetration rules for units withdrawing. This may seem like a lot but there was a lot of movement, utilizing of ADC's, charges and firing in the game. I believe we actually did quite well.

Some photos:

The French left flank

The French right flank, scary, 6 Attack Columns

One of the few casualties on the French, the French Cavalry threaten at the centre

The Old Guard

The French Brigade, they did a lot of damage, I think P-Y had three double sixes

The single unit of RA

The British Guard Brigade advance to no avail.

My favourite, the Black Brunswicker's