Plancenoit - the game

Tony and Goya came over on Sunday to play my Muskets & Marshals scenario for the Battle of Plancenoit. Tony took command of the French and Goya the Prussians whilst I acted as umpire.

For the scenario and initial deployments map click here.

The initial deployments - Prussians on the left and French on
the right. The buildings are my recently re-based Airfix ones.

The good old 45th ligne (nearest the camera), when the 45th are
on the field you can be sure of a good game and of course they
never lose their eagle (or if they do it comes back again for the
next battle).

The Young Guard and Guard Marins started the game in reserve
behind the village.

The 105th ligne occupied one of the buildings supported by a
foot artillery battery on the road.

The 9th legere were deployed in line to the front of the village.
They were to play a significant part during the fighting but were
eventually forced to quit the field when their strength dropped
below 9 figures.

The Prussian line. The troops with the lighter green bases are
all S-range figures from Goya's collection.

The unit in the rear are Prussian Grenadiers. I think these were
all converted from line figures which meant adding a lot of
plumes. The brushwork is excellent. 

The action kicks off with an advance on the French left. The
wily Prussians chose not to press directly against the occupied
buildings but rather to push against the infantry in the open.

The Uhlans lost no time in charging the single unit of French
cavalry present. Sadly this was not the best of days for the
French mounted arm.

The situation at the end of turn 3. The Young Guard have
advanced and occupied the church while the Prussians make
headway against the French left.

The French Voltigeurs had a good game. After blowing away
most of the Jagers with a crushing volley they then crowded
around the Prussian left and eventually caused the 2nd
Silesian Landwher to rout from the field.

The French were safe in the buildings of Plancenoit but the
Prussians chose, perhaps wisely, to bypass the village.

The 45th were forced to form square due to the presence of
Prussian cavalry in their flank and rear. This made them
vulnerable to a charge by the enemy infantry.

The battle in full vintage mode.

The 45th broke for the rear only to be confronted by the lances
of the Prussian Uhlans - hold on to that eagle lads!

The situation at the end of play - turn 8. The French still hold
Plancenoit but the Prussians have turned their left flank and
are threatening to move on La Belle Alliance.

The final tally was 5 VP's to each player so an honourable
draw was declared by the umpire.

At the end of turn 8 we were quite surprised to find that the game was a draw on points although possibly it was more of a strategic victory for the Prussians who managed to get troops around the French left flank. I was pleased that the scenario turned out to be so balanced and that we managed to play the full eight turns.

Games using my rules have tended to be bigger affairs of late, so it was nice to play something more manageable for two players which is more in tune with my original concept. The rules themselves have perhaps become a little more complex than I initially envisaged which is inevitable ‘mission creep’ I guess. I have some thoughts to streamline them but want to be careful not to tinker with them too much as generally they do seem to give a good game.

My thanks to Tony and Goya for a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon.