On Wednesday Goya came over to the Hut to help me with the continuing playtesting of the tweaks for my rules Muskets & Marshals. We ran through a couple of small scenarios that turned out to be surprisingly good fun to play.
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| Here come the French again taking on an allied line on a ridge - should be a piece of cake. |
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| The attacking French columns were all forced into line but were eventually successful in the centre and right flank. On the left flank the 45th ligne were routed by a spirited counter-attack from the Black Watch. We both agreed that the rule changes resulted in an interesting little game. |
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| After lunch we swapped sides and his time the French were tasked with attacking an Austro-Russian force with one flank anchored on a village. |
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| The action developed into a pell-mell fight with units shooting and charging all over the place. It was good fun but we didn't really get to test the rule changes so much in this one. My main conclusion is that the rules are pretty good as they stand but a bit more work on morale may nail it. |
For the record these are the amendments we tried out:
Morale
+1 advancing in column
+1 charging (not uphill)
-1 unit receiving 4 or more casualties in a single turn
If a column declares a charge on a line and the line passes its morale test with good morale throw 1 x normal die:
1, 2 or 3 the column must HALT and deploy into line instead of completing a charge.
4, or 5 continue with the charge as normal but do not add +1 for charging to the unit morale test score.
6 continue with the charge as normal.
A+ troops +1 to die roll
Fascinating. Must do some changes to my rules. It looks like fun. Why did the French succeed so handsomely after being forced into line? Was it just good dice? You would expect, after a morale check and having to form line, with one move suffering fire that they cannot return, the odds would be against them, especially attacking uphill. This really is good stuff.
ReplyDeleteNigel, I can't remember exactly but the Brunswickers in the centre became disordered and were therefore no longer able to support the British on their left who scored a 'retreat' when charged. If the allies had reserves behind in support (as they would in a bigger game) it may have been different. On the other flank the Highlanders were able to charge the 45th who had become disordered which was quite satisfying!
ReplyDeleteThat Grenadier is a stunner Ian. Rule tweaks sound interesting and the photos are great!
ReplyDeleteHi Ian,
ReplyDeleteA most interesting post on your Play Testing of your Rules...certainly very satisfying to put into motion your ideas for Napoleonic battles and see them work properly. I admire your painting of the French Grenadier- you certainly do a beautiful job- superb! Cheers. KEV.
I assume the guns in the background were responsible for taking down some of the British units - how many did they have? Similarly in your comment reply above, when the 45th became disordered, was that the result of a morale test for being fired upon?
ReplyDeleteIt's looking pretty good to me and it was a case of 5 units vs 3 (not sure what the arty odds were).
However, I'm not sure about the extra die roll for the column if the line stands.
I still don't think columns should get any bonus in melee or that there infantry should get any bonuses for trying to frontally contact formed foot. I view infantry close combat as a giant game of chicken and doing all by morale tests works for me. The more steady, disciplined and confident the attackers appear the more likely the defence are to bolt and vice versa so don't charge anything unless you believe their morale will crack.
I look forward to the next playtest.
Cheers Lee, the grenadier is a lovely figure which makes it easier to paint!
ReplyDeleteThanks Kev, it was fun playing with the soldiers without the pressure of a 'big' game. Small is beautiful I guess!
ReplyDeleteRob, there were 2 French batteries firing at long range against 1 gun on the allied sides. The 45th became disordered as a result of taking fire from the highlanders who then charged them the following turn causing the rout.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info on the batteries in support. Were all units B class? Are you going to include skirmishers in further play tests? During the French Glory Years the effect of skirmishers in unsettling the enemy before an attack was quite significant.
ReplyDeleteSorry about the barrage of questions but I am very interested in how this plays out.
The column going into line if the opponent stands and stays formed is reminiscent of Charles Grant's rule that cavalry will not frontally charge formed infantry - so your forced change-to-line rule has a nice Old School feel to it.
I didn't say in my earlier post but the Grenadier is a treat - how many will there be, four or six?
Rob, The French had a couple of A class and the British were of course A's. I will be playing further tests and then work up to skirmishers and cavalry. My aim is to get the rules balanced for the sort of games I like and hopefully others will like them too.
ReplyDeleteThe grenadier 'company' will be 6 figures, not historically correct but I like the look of them!
Rob,
ReplyDeleteThe skirmishers will have to get out the way before a charge so they won’t have a direct difference. They would be like artillery - causing casualties prior to the contact phase so affecting morale and also shielding the main forces.I’d like to try increasing the effect of casualties on morale e.g. -2 if you lose 8 figures in a round and also increasing the cumulative effect of casualties. I’m sure we’ll experiment a bit more.
Goya
Goya, the charge is declared and the target tests for being charged before movement so it's quite possible for skirmishers to be in a position to fire at that point. Perhaps if they are in position fire at least, say, 3 figures it might reduce the target's morale. Obviously if the line has skirmishers out then the attacking skirmishers would have to outnumber them as only the surplus is allowed to target a unit screened by skirmishers.
ReplyDeleteI love the FN 237!
ReplyDeleteYour rule tweaks are coming along nicely. The "Macedonian Phalanx" problem seems to be well on the way to a solution. Bravo to you and Goya.
Best regards
WM
Cheers Mathew, hopefully the final result will be worth it all!
ReplyDelete