David, who played in the Battle of Montereau summer game came by for an all day affair and wanting to get a big playtest I came up with a rather expedient scenario in order to put all I had on the table while not having enough Allies to do a big battle .
Thus: We all know that Napoleon arrives back in France about a year after his exile. Roi Louis the Fat buggers off again and Napoleon "picks up the crown from the gutter" Waterloo et al. However it has been suggested that if he had waited but another year or less perhaps, the Congress of Vienna may have broken down into war and the Royalists even more despised by the French people.
So thus we would have the French army more entrenched now with the royalists so half remained loyal with the king and half ( half my elements uniformed with overcoats matching the Imperial Guardsmen) supported Naps. For game purposes all the royalist artillery were Prussian as was one large corps of infantry and all the cavalry in green uniforms. All else was on the Napoleonic side. We kept it straight anyways.
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| David's Royalists/Allies to the right with a dedication to the right flank awaiting Napoleon's arrival with the Guard. Which doesn't. |
The scenario based very, very roughly on the historic battle of Bautzen had David defending with 38 elements vs my attack of only 31 across a disrupting river. Napoleon with the Imperial Guard of 8 elite infantry elements with artillery and horse support was to take him on his right flank. He was warned of this and two redoubts were available to him should he want to use. He did and kept his Prussian corps intact for the most part awaiting the Guard onslaught. Unfortunately with 2d6 I secretly, and uncharacteristically, rolled a high 10 which as we went 9.5 turns (10 hours of game time, 6 hours of real time including discussion and breaks) meant Napoleon was late!
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| The French "Grand Battery" struggled all day to move and find space to deploy |
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| early-day action |
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| Action in the middle. The heavy cavalry clash near the bridge. |
By that time my attacks had petered out and half my elements eliminated.... Obviously should this have be a campaign game, I would have ceased my attacks well before but as this was a playtest...
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| What the heck? Prussians in white?! Yes, my newly painted 29th Regiment apparently wore their old white tunics with Prussian equipment. I put the officer and a ranker in the rear in the usual Prussian dark blue coat as they transitioned to the Prussian uniform proper |
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| The French National Guard in rather various attire. |
The rules went well, Version 1.7 now I think, but the "feel" is still there and right I believe. With more and experienced players the game would have moved much more quickly.
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| The heavy cavalry clash |
