Napoleonic & ECW wargaming, with a load of old Hooptedoodle on this & that


Friday 22 February 2019

C&CN "Garrison" Markers - the Miniatures Version


One of the additional rules which came out of the Generals, Marshals & Tacticians Expansion #5 to the GMT base game of Commands & Colors: Napoleonics was the concept of "Garrison" markers.

I've started using these fairly recently - for battles here we call them "Detachments" which is maybe a more logical name for them, but for the purposes of this note I shall call them Garrisons, to conform to the original rules.


The original rules section from Expansion #5 - there were some extra rules and afterthoughts added later by Richard Borg, and I've added some house clarifications of my own
It's a useful idea - to restate the key features, an infantry unit which has at least 2 blocks/bases remaining can leave behind one of these markers when it is ordered to move out of a BUA hex. The unit does not have to reduce its strength to do so - the detachments left behind are very small, so a unit can in theory leave behind a series of these. The marker can be ordered to fire or melee (though it may not move to do so), it can defend itself if attacked in melee - it has an allocation of 1 battle die. The Garrison does not have any of the characteristics of the unit which generated it, so it can't be classified as Old Guard, and it will always have muskets. It cannot move, cannot be joined by a Leader, does not count as support for friendly units. Since it cannot move, a retreat eliminates it, as does a single hit in combat. It cannot ignore a retreat flag for any reason. If it is joined by a friendly unit, or dislodged/defeated by the enemy it is removed from the table - no Victory Banners are associated with a Garrison or its demise. In melee, in addition to infantry and flag symbols, a Garrison is eliminated by a crossed-sabres symbol, even if it is fighting some unit type which normally does not get to count sabres (British Rifles being an example, or militia).

It goes without saying that a Garrison cannot form square, does not exist outside BUAs or similar hexes, cannot be rallied, cannot take ground if it manages to win a melee - there is almost no limit to the things a Garrison cannot do, since it is a marker and not a proper unit, but it is a useful little chap. It is a good way of avoiding that situation which happens in a lot of games where one side has vacated a village (say) but the enemy has not entered it or captured it yet - if a Garrison marker is left behind then there is no doubt who owns the village, if only until the next thing happens, and it does have some combat capability. If a Garrison is left in a BUA, the enemy can't just walk into it unopposed. The markers can be re-used indefinitely, but to keep the game sensible I am restricting supply to 3 such counters for each nation, so you can only have a maximum of 3 in play at one time - I am going to produce miniatures versions of these for France, Britain, Portugal, Spain, Austria, Prussia, Russia and Bavaria, but scheduling will probably be driven by upcoming battles. The current plan here is to refight Albuera the first weekend in March. This action involves BUAs (the village of Albuera) and those BUAs can change hands during the conflict, so it would be nice to have the French and British marker sets available - if the Spaniards or Portuguese need to leave a marker on that day, they can borrow the British ones.

The new French markers: ex-Eric Knowles voltigeurs on their special grey (BUA-coloured!) bases
I haven't been doing any painting for a couple of weeks, but I've now produced the French Garrison set. The British one should follow next week sometime. The figures in the picture may be of some interest - especially to older wargamers; these are Hinton Hunt French Elite Voltigeurs, in 3 different poses, and they were among some of the odds and ends from the collection of the late Eric Knowles. I only have a few of these, so it was pleasing to be able to give them a useful job. Eric had them rather nicely painted, so out of respect I've pretty much left them alone - a little touch-up on the worn bits and some fresh varnish and that's it. They may have quite a stressful future, but they look to be up for it!

You will not be surprised to learn that I have fitted the MDF bases with discs of magnetic sheet, so they can be stored and transported as necessary in the French artillery boxes. OCD never sleeps. I would worry about them if they were free to rattle about loose somewhere...

9 comments:

  1. Hi MSFoy,

    That is a neat idea for using up odd figures and I had not come across the Garrison idea before but it certainly makes a lot of sense.

    I will be interested to see the others in due course.

    All the best,

    DC

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  2. “OCD never sleeps.” I like that! Ever vigilant. Your voltiguers look fab.

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  3. Great idea Tony, I'm going to copy you for sure.

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  4. Thank you gentlemen - I'll get the British ones done this coming week. If I find I have some odd Spaniards they might get done too (at last a use for those painted figures with broken bayonets from the spares box). I shall resist the temptation to use spare riflemen (and I have a few) for the British markers in case someone (me?) tries to claim that the single combat dice can shoot the extra hex for rifle range.

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  5. Got some additional comments on extra C&CN rules by email - there are a number of useful add-ons in the Expansion #5 booklet. Grand Batteries is a good rule (though I only let certain nations use it - specifically not the British, whose command structure would make it impossible to agree who was in charge of a Grand Battery), and the British Rockets rule is good - also I think there are some additional terrain types in there - churches, walled gardens. I'm a believer in adding selected items for a specific scenario, rather than simply making the rule-book bigger and bigger.

    If you haven't got Expansion #5 (and are interested!), I'm sure these rules are all on the user site somewhere.

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  6. The Garrison idea is something we also developed in the figures aspect of the game. I have uploaded a picture on my blog - ttps://waterloosimon1815.blogspot.com with a picture.

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    1. Simon - excellent - your garrison markers are much nicer than mine. Very pleasing.

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  7. Thank you. They are quite enjoyable to do, few figures, a little bit of terrain, often a broken cart/ barricade etc. Makes painting more bearable than swathes of line infantry! If you ever get down to Partizan or Salute we are doing Vimeiro using C&C. Pictures will appear on my blog at some point.

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