Ian Godwin's 'Emperor of the Battlefield' is an excellent Divisional/Corps level set, with units as battalions, but written such that Napoleonic tactics (not exactly my usual dish of choice) work, doctrines are easily written into the rules and where units can be brittle such that managing reserves becomes absolutely critical. An excellent game which we enjoyed immensely for our Christmas bash.
Cuirassiers charge to the 'sound of the rules'...
At its heart is the 'control' test and the 'morale' test - control gets stuff done, morale lets units get hit (units are brittle) and/or stand.
That there old ordre mixte thingie...
Unit traits are simple and movement and units in melee, though not overcomplicated, has a nice feel to how you can play tactics or choose to throw units into the fray and/or lose them to rout.
For the first time ever, I found myself using 'ordre mixte' with a French Brigade and it worked in terms of shooting in an assault column...which was nice...
Ian previously wrote 'King of the Battlefield' for the 7YW and this is an extension of his Napoleonic notes after that - I believe that KotB is getting the 'new edition' treatment in light of EotB.
To battle...
The scenario represented the afternoon at Quatre Bras, when Ney's caution has abated, but it's all too late...
The guys' superb 15mm collection
The 'Emperor's Widget' design copied from that in the rulebook - encompassing movement and arcs and distances in a single place
Bachelu's Division readying itself to get its ass kicked...
Most of the Allied centre
British units in the centre
French on the march - two strong flank attacks, with what would prove to be a feint in the centre
On the French right
Vive la D10!
The widget in use
The French left - heavily forested - the flanks would decide the battle
The French right, as artillery moves to get flank control, the Allies venture from the woods
Centre and French right
The centre holds against a French feint
On the French right, there is cavalry action and infantry assaults
Lancers and light cavalry crossing the river
More action on the French right
The centre holds with neither side gaining advantage
French columns assaulting on the right
Note: the mass of Allied reinforcements at centre
Attack columns!
Into the woods
Attempting to break through at centre right, the French are stymied...
A sizable Allied contingent moving to reinforce their left
...as the centre continues to play space for time
The French left has devolved into a draw, though the Allies have British guards moving to reinforce - they think it's all over...
French now on the defensive in the centre...
Cuirassiers arrive to reinforce, but it's all too late
Dutch cavalry now free to roam in the centre
Disarray on the French right...it's all over now.
A great set of rules - very Napoleonic and very tense. More to follow from this one I think...suggestions that I might have been inspired to write some notes for 'Duke of the Battlefield...1670-1720' are simply rumour... ;) ...
As usual, le Duc is busier than the proverbial dog with the proverbial double appendage...
However, one did manage to squeeze a game in with Sgt Steinahhhhh.
'Get on with it!!!'
As some may know (we keep talking about them), our favourite set is Brent Oman's Field of Battle. Battle Command takes the same basic mechanics, but changes how the cards work, with a view to extending the influence of the multi sided dice of the commander, such that he has more influence and thereby choice, in terms of what cards to play and - depending on even or odd roll - whether to apply the card play to a single brigade, or the entire army.
Now, I thought about trying to explain all of this, but instead, I have opted to outline why the rules and mechanics are much better than everything else (a bold statement, but it's a bold post). Well, perhaps it's not that they are much better - it's simply that they address the problems of wargaming with an elegant and highly efficient design, which pokes a finger straight into the eye of traditional wargaming rules.
There is no turn sequence
Why would that ever be an advantage? Surely we need a turn sequence? The sequence comes from the cards which dictate moves, firing, morale, leadership & rally - with opposed rolling - the deck is random, but built based upon commanders in FoB, and dictated heavily by command rolls in BC. I can't predict what my options, and in a sense, 'luck' will let me do when i get to activate. I have to work with what I have (what - like a real battle?), and the deck and my command roll does the rest. Now in BC, I get a little more choice than in FoB, but it still works roughly in the same way. I can't look at the turn sequence and know that I will get to do 'X' before my morale check. I can't know that my firing will have 'X' effect on that flank statistically speaking, before the opponent's turn. What? No predictability? Don't we get that sort of predictability in real battles dammit? I rest my case.
There are no modifiers
What? But modifiers help to simulate what happens in real battles? Two aspects here. Multi sided dice - so if i get an 'up two' i may go from d6 to d10 and vice versa - this is genius in terms of probabilities. Conditions will affect dice ups/downs; more genius is the fact thatevenrolls have more benefits thanunevenrolls, including routs, rallies, movement 'bonuses' etc.
The Army Morale counts down to exhaustion
The only other rules I have seen which replicate exhaustion really well are V&B, with division exhaustion. In FoB it's at the army level, and you give morale chips, to their advantage, to your opponent once you are worn down, and subject to a poor army morale roll - you will quit the field - so you always finish a game in 2-4 hours. Nope - there are no brigade morale checks and effects; to be fair this has never been a problem for me, though I know it has created issues for some.
To the game. This was played with Steiner's 15mm 7YW Russian and Prussian collection.
Prussian cavalry on the right flank, which would see its sneaky beaky move through the woods stymied by the Russians
Prussian assault in the centre
Prussian Grenadiers, hopeful of early gains, are pushed back
'I do not think zat zis is going to voork...'
Although the Prussians are forced back on the left, and take a lot of casualties, they do not rout
The Prussians start to make real gains on the right despite the cavalry debacle, with infantry hoping to turn a Russian flank. Thankfully, Russian musketry is ...erm...somewhat less than stellar
Steiner points at the problem...
...and then...just in the nick of time...Prussian Cuirassiers are unleashed, and flood across the river ready to support the right flank...huh? but instead make a speedy move toward the weakening Russian centre
The Prussian right
Impulsive Prussian horse gallop forward with intentions of raiding the Russian camp.
I'd love to say that the cavalry action on the right was simply a plan whereby the Russian horse would find itself compromised by having to check the movements of enemy horse...but no...it was a simple cock-up
By game end, the Russians had survived one army morale roll, and another one pending (based on less cards and probability). It's a different mechanic and way of playing the mainstay of these excellent rules, but still very entertaining. It's hard to play other Horse & Musket rules while FoB/BC are in place, simply due to the fact that they are unconventional, lend themselves to simulating command decisions and simply work...
