This is a description of the game we played at our club today:-
Forces engaged:-
French:
2 brigades each of 6 sqdns drilled horse
1 bde 4 irish foot (elite)
1 bde 4 Swiss foot (guard)
1 bde 4 Bavarian foot (drilled)
1 bde 6 French foot (drilled)
4 light guns
Allied
1 bde of 3 grenadiers (elite)
1 bde 4 Danish foot (drilled 16 figs storng (I gave the Danes the same fire advantage as the Dutch/British).
1 bde 6 Dutch foot (drilled)
2 bdes 3 Austrian foot (drilled)
1 bde of 4 sqdns dutch horse
1 bde of 6 sqdns Austrian cuirrassiers.
4 light guns.
rolled for commanders
French got a plodder and guess what, the allies got an inspirational leader.
I kept the scenery simple with just a couple of hills scattered about the field.
French set up
from left to right
1 bde French horse with 4 sqdns in front and 2 in reserve
Bavarian bde
Irish bde
French bde
Swiss set up next on long gentle hill slope
1 bde horse with 4 sqdns in front and two in reserve
two light guns wer set up on the hill beside the Swiss, the other two were placed along the rest of the line.
Allied set up
from left to right (allied)
Austrian cuirrassiers in two lines 3 sqdns each
1 Austrian bde with 3 battalion in line with another bde in rear support.
Dutch bde in two lines
Danes in one line with grenadier bde in rear support
4 sqdns Dutch horse in one line
guns were scattered along the line.
With the French having such a poor commander they decided quickly to sit on the defensive and force the Allies to come to them.
We found the command system worked well, and I thought it was quite historical as the French quite often fought on the defence.
Back to the game.
Both cavalry wings clashed before the foot got withing striking distance and melees were taking place all the time on the wings as squadrons charged and counter charged.
When the foot actually started coming to blows the Danes had advanced to engage the Swiss on the hill, the French cavalry had seen off the Allied horse on both wings, although in doing this they had sustained massive losses, and had effectively shot their bolt.
The Swiss, reinforced by some French battalions, were gradually disrupting the Danish advance, and with the Dutch still a wee way back,
and the time coming close to finishing I decided to concede.
We both agreed that it was a really good, fun game, and the forces engaged were quite large for the time we had to play the game in(1 till 5 Sunday)and although we later discovered a couple of things that we were doing wrong, I think we got the gist of the rules ok.
Another game organised for a fortnight.
Sorry if this rambles a bit as it is the first game description that I have written about.
Cheers
David
