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| General view from behind the French left, near the beginning. The replay of Eugène's echeloned attack, starting with the cavalry on the far flank, is already beginning to fall apart. The river is fordable throughout, and in theory should have been a manageable obstacle, but it was heavy going... |
I shall perform an elegant cop-out here and point you to Stryker's blog, where he has published pictures and a report which are so good that I really have very little to add - apart from my compliments and my thanks to Stryker and Goya for their enthusiasm and tireless courage, and for their excellent company, and especially to Count Goya and his family for their kind hospitality.
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| ...from behind the French right, where the cavalry attack has already been repulsed... |
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| Late in the day the French did much better - even managed to get some troops across the river on the left - the only area where they really had any sustained success. |
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| In theory, there were bonus Victory Points available for capture of the village, but there was never any likelihood of this happening. These lovely Austrian infantry were securely established there. |
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| Higginses - the infantry in the French centre wait for Eugène's master plan for how to defeat the Austrian centre - this bit did not go well. |
It was damn near run thing, er... actually it wasn't! Great game and great company...
ReplyDeleteTo add insult to injury, by boots are ruined with all that paddling in the river. I admit it - we were thumped.
DeleteMagnificent game, may I ask you a question about CCN expansion 1 Spanish army that is what your opinion is on the guerrilla rules?.
ReplyDeletePaul.
Paul - I'm actually the wrong guy to ask. I never bought the Spanish expansion - I'd already developed my own Spanish army variant before Expansion #1 appeared - I've seen the guerrilla rule but have never considered using it. For my taste, it's too much of a game mechanism, which may seem an odd comment considering it's just a game, but to me it doesn't seem to do anything you couldn't build into the rules for a scenario anyway. I have actual guerrillero units, which can (and do) appear on the tabletop explicitly - I have special rules for them - they can move through woods and towns without stopping, they can climb rugged hills, they can move 2 xes and battle in most kinds of terrain, but any retreat flag at all which they cannot ignore eliminates a unit (so keep them supplied with supporting friends and leaders!) - 2 blocks per unit, crossed sabres don't count for them in melees.
DeleteI reckon you are THE guy to ask, you answered my question perfectly. I too thought the mechanism sounded too gamey and hard to play solo.
DeleteI like the idea of having guerrilla units, I saw yours when I was reading through your blog looking for an answer to my question. As I am looking to buy the expansion I would ditch the guerrilla rule and maybe make some suitable blocks somehow and use your rules.
Thanks very much for your very helpful reply.
Regards,
Paul.
Lovely to see your magnificent troops in action again, Foy, as always. I wish you'd put up more pictures, though. Stryker's blog is beyond excellent in all respects except one, which is that one is forced to click through the pictures individually!
ReplyDeleteThank you WM - my French chaps were more than happy to be upstaged by the splendid Austrians on this occasion. I am so taken with the Austrians that I am (sort of) considering developing a small Bavarian army so that it may be invited to fight against them...
DeleteMy photography skills (such as they ever were) seem to have faded a bit - in anything less than bright overhead light my camera chooses an extended exposure time which I can't hold still without a tripod. If I use flash I get weird pictures where there is bright light within 3 feet of the camera and deep gloom beyond that. Stryker's photos of the occasion were so much better than mine that I was embarrassed even without anyone else seeing them. I'm working on it. I don't expect the pictures will improve, but the wine makes me feel better about it.
Ahh but your pictures allow me to look at the over all pattern of the battle without getting caught by the details. A place for everything.
ReplyDeleteWhat a marvelous pleasure for we viewers!
Thanks Ross - the look of the thing is good enough, but I'm getting too many blurry pics - maybe the pocket tripod is the way to go, but it is clunky and maybe liable to damage the soldiers. Oooh - there, now - I've said it. I'll have to lie down for a moment to recover my composure.
DeleteThat is a fine looking table, Tony! The look of your hex table with terrain and troops is clean and elegant.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jon - because of the logistical arrangements in my home (wargaming sharing the household's premier dining table) I am kind of stuck with having everything capable of being stored away in small pieces and in neat(ish) boxes - oh, yes - and flock-free - in fact this makes the transport thing easier, as I now realise, but over the years I have come to accept the limitations of what I can do, and work to make the most of that. I learn mostly by trying things that don't work, and then fixing them - if you work at it, limitations help you to refine a style and optimise what you've got. (If someone had ever written that on a motivational poster in my old office, I'd have chased him with a hammer...)
Delete...the arrangements also mean that visiting gamers have to have their meal breaks in the kitchen or the garden!
Delete"Constrained Optimization"...I know it well in both a mathematical sense and a recognition of my own inabilities.
ReplyDeleteI like it as a theme for motivation poster!