Scenario Design for Klutzes

There will be a game at the end of the month here. Since I have no sense at all, I have taken it upon myself to design a scenario. My methodology for this involves more of a pantomime than you might expect, but here you see some breathtaking shots of the stages in the development. The rule system is my Ramekin variant on Commands & Colors: Napoleonics.

How to fit the terrain features onto a hex-grid table (start off with 13 x 9 hexes)

Having plotted the terrain (which has now grown to 17 x 9), and having sorted out the OOB, I now work out the starting situation - you will see that both sides have lots of off-table reserves headed toward the guns at the start

And then I set it all out, with the units in place - Battle of Neumarkt-St Veit - not one of Jean-Baptiste Bessiere's best days, as it turned out...

More of this in a couple of weeks...

"I never wanted this stupid gig in the first place"

Quatre Bras - 16th June 1815

General view at commencement, from behind the French right flank. Quatre Bras itself is represented by the building in the distance, just below the purple cushion(!). No idea who that bloke by the fireplace is - he was there quite a lot

Very enjoyable game at Goya's estates yesterday. As always, we were sumptuously entertained and looked after. Thanks very much for everything, gentlemen!

The game was the Commands & Colors scenario #014, which is a standard-sized 13x9 hex set up. We used my Ramekin adaptation of the C&CN master game, with a few (inevitable) beta-test tweaks, of which I shall say a little more later (assuming I remember). I was Marshal Ney, in command of the French forces (most of which I brought with me across the bridge from sunny East Lothian), while Stryker was Wellington, in charge of the Allied army. Goya chose to umpire, which was a most generous thing to do, in the interests of keeping the sides balanced. Apart from my own troops, there were lots of lovely soldiers on view - I must apologise that my photographs may not do this justice - Stryker will undoubtedly produce something more satisfactory, so I look forward to that.

If a little French bias creeps into what follows, I trust you will believe that it is unconscious, and merely a result of my having spent a day looking at the game from a French viewpoint.

The scenario allows the French an extra Victory Point (VP) if they hold the actual crossroads at Quatre Bras - 9 VPs for a win.

The game started with most activity around the Bossu Wood, on my left. My intention was to use my light infantry battalions (I only had two) to try to flush out the Dutch-Belgian (henceforth D-B) and Hanoverian troops before the British got their terrifying (and large) Foot Guard units in there. We started well enough, eliminated a D-B foot battery which was set up on the edge of the wood, but thereafter things got bogged down - my light infantry did not do well - one unit managed to stray too far from Command and thus were unable to move into a promising-looking attack, and that whole flank got bogged down very quickly, which meant I was pretty slow getting my infantry and heavy cavalry over the (fordable) river and a little ridge and setting about the Allied centre. When we did get that going it went fairly well for a while, but a pattern emerged which was recognisable from what we saw at our Albuera game some weeks ago - the French managed to wear themselves out fighting the relatively "softer" non-British troops (who actually fought very well) so that by the time we got to confront the British reserve we were already running out of steam. One big lesson of the day was a reminder that heavy cavalry are badly handicapped without horse artillery - we didn't have any. The chances of breaking an infantry square with cavalry are not good (especially if the damned squares are on a hill), but using the cavalry to force the infantry into square and then having something else to hit them with (such as horse artillery!) would have been a much more useful strategy. Oh well.

The game was close. At one point, quite early on, I was 6-3 down on VPs, then I got it back to 6-6, then my attack in the Centre got it up to 7-6 in my favour, then it came back to 7-7, and the end, when it finally came, was quite sudden. One of my battalions was eliminated in melee, and General Bachelu was killed along with them, at which point the Allies won 9-7. It is a bit of a constant theme of these games to say that it could have gone either way, but it really could. Anyway, history won out, I guess, which is something of a compliment to the scenario designers.

Stryker made a very good job of moving his forces nimbly and effectively in the space available - the Prince of Orange and The Duke of Brunswick were especially successful at rallying their troops when they had suffered under fire. This is really an encounter battle - neither side has the mix of troops nor the starting positions they would ideally choose. The Brunswick artillery were effective, and there was a particularly troublesome RA battery which I chased off the ridge a couple of times, but each time they brushed themselves down and climbed back up to resume fire. Stand-out performances? Hard to say, really - the D-B boys did pretty well, the Foot Guards are unstoppable if they get going, the French artillery was unusually effective. As French commander, it felt from fairly early on that I was going to run very short of fresh troops eventually (since, historically, D'Erlon's boys were not present, spending their day marching around somewhere between Quatre Bras and Ligny) and, though the day swung backwards and forwards for a while, that is eventually what happened.

Good game - a fairly stodgy start by the French, but exciting stuff later on. Quatre Bras on Waterloo Day - that's not bad, is it?

Opening situation, from behind French left. Bossu Wood is most of the foreground - Perponcher's D-B boys are well established in there. In the middle distance the French cavalry await instructions, while Foy's infantry confront the Dutch-Belgians in the centre. At the far end, Bachelu's division glare across the river at the Brunswickers

The river was not an obstacle, though anyone trying to fight their way out of it might have been a little incommoded. Prince William's chaps on the ridge to the right of the river reconsidered their position when the French Grand Battery opposite opened up. Note the proper, Old School Bellona bridges...

Ah yes - the Bois de Bossu. Didn't go well for us. You see the Legere boys going in there to dispose of the Dutch-Belgians. Ha! We eliminated the battery on the edge of the wood, but that was as good as it got in this part of the field

Slender Billy (seen waving his hat in the distance) sensibly shifted his men behind the high ground to get them away from the Grand Battery in the foreground (he may have been studying the ridge, to see if it would be possible to dig it up later to create a monumental mound)

Wider view of the same stage of the battle. That battery on the end of the ridge was a very persistent nuisance

Back to the Bossu - 2/25e Leger manage to get themselves stuck too far from commanders, and thus, without orders, do not have the wit to fire on the exposed enemy unit opposing them - they do take heavy losses, though. Oh well

Still struggling, 2/25e Leger fall back. Top left you can see Coldstream Guards approaching. Hmmm. This is not going to plan at all. The Guards were supposed to arrive to find the woods packed with crack French marksmen...

In some disbelief, General Kellerman came to help out, ensuring there at least was a General Officer near enough for the French left flank to be able to think straight, but things went from bad to worse. Those Guards are getting nearer, and - yes - that is a very large unit

Since the battle was obviously not going to be won over in the woods, Foy made a belated attack in the centre - that's him with the white border. The Grand Battery now being masked, Prince William, still waving his hat like the hero he is, got his boys to pop back up onto their ridge. The blue discs with "Tesco" embossed on them are, of course, order counters. Wellington and his staff are somewhere behind the building in the background

Foy's Division actually did pretty well here, and the French started to level up the VP score. The French cavalry started to come forward, too

Things suddenly look more promising for the French Centre, but those reserves on the right are a bit worrying

Since Foy doesn't have any reserves, so as you would notice, Bachelu makes a very late attack on the French right flank

Very welcome break for rations - grateful appreciation to our host. We decided against any selfies of the generals eating. We may not fight with skill, but we have elegance in abundance

Suitably refreshed, Ney sends forward his cuirassiers - no horse artillery, precious little support of any kind

Here he is - a little out of focus, but enthusiastic

All on their own-io, the cuirassiers get up onto the ridge - WHAT IS HE DOING?? WHAT IS NEY DOING??

Whatever he's doing, there's an awful lot of empty space on the French side of the river now

Inevitably, the battered cuirassiers are pulled back, while Bachelu (unseen by the camera) has just been eliminated at this end of the table - that's about game over...

On the Allied side of the field, it is evident that some of their units are just about hanging in there, but it doesn't matter now. You can see Wellington and his entourage just this side of Quatre Bras itself (complete with his trademark Travelling Tree), and you can also see the requisite nine Victory Banners. Job done

Game end, Allies on the left. It could, as I say, have gone either way, but a French win would have been a bit of a surprise - overall, I think we were beaten fairly thoroughly. Very enjoyable defeat, I have to say, and - as ever - educational! Sincere congratulations to that bloke by the fireplace

Rules? Not much to say - Ramekin system worked well enough - we had a rule tweak to allow units which had suffered loss to rally - this was a bit generous as drafted, but is worth refining - and we also re-introduced the Tactician Cards from C&CN Expansion #5, which put some surprises and a bit of welcome colour back into the game. We'll keep that as a useful option for the future. The revised balance between ranged combat and melee combat in Ramekin continues to work well - we did some tinkering with the abilities of various troop categories. All worked nicely enough.

Albuera #2 - Game Report

Quite so - Ian Fletcher's book was available - we had the cheap, ex car-boot sale version, without pictures or maps...

Well, the game was duly played yesterday, and it was a belter. A lot of the fun, of course, comes from the excellent company, but a lot of things worked out really well. I was much happier with the amended rules, the game was very exciting and really could have gone either way - there was a lot of counter-attacking and a determined late attempt by the Allies to lose when it seemed certain they would win.

We considered a couple of alternative line-ups, but eventually decided to do without an umpire, and Goya and I jointly commanded the Allies (who won, in case I omit to mention it, though the committee approach to leadership is something I may come back to in the afterthoughts); Stryker played the part of Marshal Soult, with characteristic flair though, it has to be said, possibly with less than his usual streaky good fortune with the combat dice.

We used the latest update to my Ramekin modified version of C&CN. All worked well - we fought a battle involving something like 60 units to completion in about 4 hours - again, a large part of this is due to the enthusiasm and good humour of my guests (for which thanks, gentlemen).

As in the previous attempt at this battle in November, the armies were not far off the historical strength, though I'd set it up so that the number of actual units was understated - i.e. we fought the game with a slightly reduced number of overstrength units, which works better with the rules and the space available on the table.

We decided that 12 Victory Points would win the game. The scenario is not the official commandsandcolors.net one - it is similar, but is changed quite a bit to try to get closer to the original battle. There were bonus VPs available for possession of each of the two hexes of the town of Albuera itself - since the opening position has Karl Alten's KGL light brigade firmly installed in the town, that gets the Allies off to a flying start - 2-nil just for turning up!

The French have rather outsmarted Beresford at the start - Beresford has set his army up (mostly the day before) to defend the town and the river crossing. Many of his Spanish troops are elsewhere (as are most of his Portuguese - it's very complicated...), but he has Zayas' Spanish infantry stuck out on the right flank. Soult duly turns up and attacks the town with Godinot's independent brigade, as expected, but the bulk of the army crosses the river some distance from the town and swings left to attack the Spanish infantry. The game starts as Beresford has started to shift Stewart's and Cole's British Divisions to his right to support Zayas.

I hope that some sort of narrative can be pieced together from the captions to the photos. A quick summary (spoiler?) to start off? All right then.

Soult began with an attack on the Spanish line, using Girard's Division, supported by Gazan's - both of these divisions were smaller than the independent brigades of Godinot and Werle, which were on the right and in the centre respectively.  The Spaniards fought well enough, but as casualties mounted the inevitable came about, and the double-retreat rule for Spanish regulars did a lot of damage. The Allied line was pushed back, but the British infantry plugged the gaps, and eventually Girard ran out of steam.

Later in the day, Soult directed Godinot to attack the town, and it was partly taken - it was a struggle, and the KGL boys did not have a particularly good day. This became particularly tense - as the portion of the town next to the bridge changed hands, the VP tally swung back and forward. At one point the Allies were leading 8-4, then it came back to 10-9, then 10 all and eventually the Allies won 13-10, but it really could have gone either way.

Another sub-plot emerged towards the end, when the French (in a desperate attempt to sneak a few VP's!) brought up their cavalry on their left flank. They quickly disposed of the Spanish light cavalry (I apologise to any Spanish sympathists for this evident theme of the day - just the way the game worked out) but then were very badly handled by the British horse. I still don't understand this - the French should have won the cavalry action very easily - they had more units (5 vs the Allies' 4) and they were stronger (each unit 4 bases cf the Allies' 3). I guess the dice decided the day. Standout performance in this area came from the British 5th Dragoon Guards, who distinguished themselves, with support from the 11th Lt Dgns, who were (very surprisingly) temporarily led into action by the Spanish General Zayas, who, having run out of infantry of his own, had to fall back on friends, and obviously decided that this was the day he was going to get his wish to command some cavalry. Quite what the British light dragoons made of this foreign chap getting involved is not recorded.

View from the Allies' left, at the start, with the town in the foreground - Karl Alten's KGL lights are in the town, with the Portuguese of Harvey in support. You can see Zayas' boys in line in the centre of the table, some distance away, facing the main French attack

Harvey sends some of his infantry off to help oppose Werle, in the centre - Arriaga's battery seem to be armed with howitzers, but they were classified as plain Foot Artillery for the day

British infantry moving up to relieve the hard-pressed Spaniards

Hoorah! Just about the oldest man in both armies - the chef de bataillon of the 2/27eme is the last of my original Airfix soldiers from 1971 - I keep him as a reminder of those ecstatic, fevered days, and as an inspiration to his metal men - I always try to capture his rare appearances! 

Godinot's chaps standing by, just in case anyone really wants them to take the town - they were very busy later on! Note that Godinot, who is only a General de Brigade, has the regulation brown border to his base, appropriate to his rank

Zayas' boys taking some heavy punishment from Girard's men - Zayas (of whom more later) is in the foreground with white border, trying to encourage the Guardias Espanolas

The Spanish line is rapidly disappearing - eventually they were left with the remains of two light battalions - those of Campo Mayor and Barbastro - and they were in poor shape. The Brits are coming up behind.

The French have now advanced to the original position of Zayas' line - note that Zayas himself is now in the foreground, having been forced to take shelter with the British 11th Lt Dgns...

View from the Allied right flank at this stage shows that Girard's attack has pushed back the Allied line, but he is running out of men

...and that's another unit gone...

Just an instant captured for posterity - photographing dice rolls is up there with sending someone a selfie of your breakfast, but this is a goodie - this was a volley that one of Girard's fresh infantry battalions received from Stewart's lads - no-one was hurt, but they got a REALLY big fright - enough to send them back 800 paces... 

Not a great picture (bad nervous tremor), but here is a view of the French light cavalry on their left, having just chased away the Spanish light horse. General Latour-Maubourg, with the white border, was the only senior officer casualty by the end of the battle

Zayas (remarkably) brings up the 11th LD to oppose Latour-Maubourg and one of his chasseur regiments...

..on this occasion, the French cavalry had the better of the exchange - the 11LD have withdrawn to get their breath back, while the chasseurs are joined by the Vistula Lancers - the situation of the RHA battery on the hill looks desperate, but miraculously they were rescued, and survived!

Meanwhile, on the other flank, Godinot's boys have broken into the town - more Poles - 4eme Vistule - have taken part of it - the VP scoreboard is starting to swing about!

Back to the horses - with a lot of help from the impressive (and fortunate) 5th Dragoon Guards, Zayas and his chums are now wiping the floor with the remains of the French cavalry - this is where Latour-Maubourg was wounded

Significant moment - with the KGL chaps driven out, a Portuguese battalion hold part of Albuera. At this point, at the start of a turn, the Portuguese only have to march to the far end of the town, leaving behind a "Garrison" marker to claim the 12th VP and win the day - euphoria time...! However, Soult promptly wins the activation roll, and marches his own light infantry back in, which puts paid to the immediate VP objective, and - also - light infantry can fight as soon as they arrive in a town (which line troops can't), and - also - the Portuguese battalion was so battered that it was incapable of doing much about the new arrivals!

Now there's a gap between the armies in the centre - the British line looks firm enough, but the French are very depleted

More expansive view of the same thing

They also serve who only stand around and get wet. After waiting all day for a little action, the Portuguese 11th cavalry (centre foreground) eventually get an order, which is to get out of the way while some manoeuvring goes on to get fresh infantry up to fight for the town. In fact, just to keep them humble, they are required to go and stand in the river, as you see. The struggle for the town was still going on when word came from the cavalry action on the other flank that the Allies had gained a 12th VP, and the game was over.

General Stewart, who is a very old Minifigs chap, gives an inspirational word to some even older Lamming British infantry

And the RHA troop, after a miraculous escape, are still in action at the end

Afterthoughts

My compliments and sincere thanks, once again, go to Messrs Stryker and Goya for making the trip and contributing so generously to such a splendid day. This was certainly the most entertaining and exciting game I've had here for a while, and there have been some good ones. In passing, there was a noteworthy moment when Goya struck terror into the French commander at lunch, by nonchalantly pouring himself a glass of onion gravy - some kind of warrior tradition, apparently. Scary.

The game went well - very well. I am happy that the revised combat rules now provide a much better balance between the effect of ranged musketry and of melees. I believe that we still need some very minor tweaks to the properties of various unit types and "national characteristics" - in particular, French legere battalions have extra advantages and abilities which are almost certainly not justified for the Peninsular War. I'll have another look at that.

During the game I had occasional concerns that the 2-v-1 line up sometimes meant that Stryker placed his order counters and moved his troops in a businesslike manner, and then had to wait through an extended debate while the Allied command scrabbled for ideas. He was very brave and cheerful about it, and it really isn't a problem, but we should maybe give some gentle thought to re-introducing the timer to put a limit on turn time - we can discuss it, anyway (maybe). Stryker was badly let down by his cavalry - a brave effort to turn the day on both flanks might well have succeeded otherwise. Crap dice will out.

Thanks yet again, chaps!

Albuera #2 - Set Up, with a Light Interlude

I've now set up the table for tomorrow's Albuera game. Since the last time I played this (in November) was mostly intended as a test for the rules revisions, I seem to have managed to lose most of the notes I made at the time. As I recall, I produced my own C&CN style scenario, since I had a few issues with the one on the user site. I've now laid out the table by dint of much study of the photos from my blog post in November - plenty of zooming-in and "aha...!". That's a strange thing to do, with hindsight - it's like forensics, with added OCD. I took a lot of trouble to use the same generals and units, but - presumably to keep out the Evil Eye - this time I set out the table rotated 180 degrees. No reason, really.

With everything set up ready, we should get off to a flying start around 11:00 tomorrow, assuming my guests have no adventures with the trains.

These are either Osram bulbs, rated at 2135 lumens, or else they are Phillips bulbs, rated at 1800 or so. Roll the dice, place your bets.

I recently invested in some rather hotter light-bulbs for the overhead lamps for the battlefield [= dining table - Ed]. These are rated at 2135 lumens each, which is about 18% better than our usual bulbs, so two of these about 80cm above the table have helped improve the light levels for photos. As part of the battlefield set-up, I carefully swapped the bulbs, putting in the brighter ones, but when I came to take a picture, I was rather disappointed with the results. Hmmm - could this be simply because there was fairly bright sunlight outside the window, which was confusing the camera? - could it be that these bulbs really aren't as bright as I had thought? - are my eyes getting worse more quickly than I'd hoped? - it couldn't be, I suppose, that bulbs somehow get tired when they've been used a few times?

You will be ahead of me, I'm sure...

I had a sudden thought, and checked the lamps I had removed during the set-up - yes, you're correct. It seems that last time I had a wargame on this table I forgot to change the bulbs back to the standard issue, so when I carefully swapped them yesterday I was putting the dimmer ones in. Fortunately they have the manufacturers' names stencilled on them, so it is an easy thing to check. Idiot.

I am delighted to have another excuse to consult Mike Oliver and Richard Partridge's fine little book about Albuera. A nice piece of work - probably underrated. I got to know Mike a bit when he was bravely trying to be the UK distributor for Falcata Miniaturas, with no help at all from the manufacturers. Nice man - one of the hobby's gentlemen.