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Two Out-of-the-Ordinary Napoleonic Games

Fusilier Roly Hermans reports on two games he played in one week recently. Each of these games had some rather odd features, which he describes in this article.

The first game was played at home against my oldest boy, Stefan, who was down from university in Auckland. We played General de Brigade rules, but incredibly simplified (e.g.: no orders). The game took place on my kitchen table, which meant we could only fit on a few units - four infantry battalions, one cavalry unit and one artillery unit each. We used my 28mm Napoleonic French and British.

The terrain was a river running through a long narrow valley. This stream had four crossing points only. Both armies were set out secretly, so it was a surprise when we saw each other's deployment.

The restrictive table size and terrain did not stop a very fluid game, with some interesting fights. Our cavalry were both in column of march as they came over their ridges, and were on the same road. The narrow width of the table meant that Stefan could declare a charge straight away, so the two columns met on the bridge over the river. I won, and routed him, but then couldn't stop a pursuit, and that was bye-bye to all the cavalry in the game in the first move!

The remainder of the game took the form of two separate mini-battles
around two of the crossing points. By the time midnight was drawing
near, we decided that despite some hard fighting each mini-battle had
come to a draw, so declared the whole game a draw.

Overall, an interesting game, slowed down somewhat by my unfamiliarity with the rules (despite playing against the author in the UK last month!). The narrow table made for an exciting game, as the fighting started in the very first move. We explained this as a meeting engagement in the narrow valley, with both armies suddenly coming across their ridge lines and confronting each other.

One of the British regiments that was engaged in this battle was the 4th King's Own. The figures are by Front Rank, the bridge, river and roads by Miniature World Makers, and the houses homebuilt. To make this photo look more impressive, I digitally added a few more buildings.		Stefan is a fan of the Sharpe novels, so jumped at the chance of commanding the British in this game. Despite never playing with the General de Brigade rules before, he still fought the battle to a draw, though there were a few nail-biting moments.
We could only fit one artillery battery each on the table. With the rather tight battlefield, they had very restricted fields of fire, so did not dominate the game.		One of Stefan's favourite units was the 42nd Black Watch, and they certainly fought well, clearing my French (the Imperial Guard, no less!) off the bridge.
Although resplendent in their ornate uniforms, my Dutch Lancers did not last more than one move of the game. They pursued a column of Stefan's cavalry off the table, and were never seen again!		The Imperial Guard look brave enough here, but I'm afraid they did not stand for long against the Black Watch.. In my defence, I hasten to add that we were playing with all our units evenly matched in status for simplicity's sake, so the Guard were not graded as elite.
The situation at the end of the game. In the foreground, two of Stefan's battalions have crossed the river, and are facing an equal number of French units. The artillery are both in strong positions on top of hills. In the background, my Germans have crossed the river, and again they are evenly matched against enemy other. Not visible in the foreground is the ford where the two cavalry units met at the start of the game. You can see here how small the playing area was, and how quickly units could come into action.

The second game was at Fusilier Greg's place yesterday. My 28mm Napoleonic British and Spanish against his Russians (don't ask about the alternative history that led to this match-up!). This time we used Command Piquet rules.

Again, a very interesting and rather unusual game. Unusual because, despite massing a large number of figures on the table, both our strategies relied on making a push-through on one flank, so that is where all the fighting took place throughout the whole game. It was kind of like having a small game, but in the midst of a large table of figures!

The non-disputed flank stayed very static. I was not going to march into the jaws of Greg's huge four-gun battery on a hill, and he was not going to lose his strong defensive position by attacking me.

On the disputed flank, however, lots was happening - my cavalry charging and eventually destroying two of Greg's guns, his cossacks doing the same to me and routing a couple of other of my units in the process, my 95th under the command of Sharpe showing that he (Sharpe) is only a TV pretty-boy because his Rifles had a terrible battle, Greg's dragoons getting badly shot up but nevertheless sneaking right in behind my lines then about-turning to charge an infantry battalion that was already running away from the Cossacks ....

In the end, my position on that flank had totally collapsed, so I had to surrender my sword to Greg. All in all, another interesting game, played in a friendly relaxed atmosphere.

Greg's initial setup. In the foreground you can see his big artillery battery. There was no way I desired to confront this, and therefore I never attacked on that flank. Most of Greg's units visible above the guns also never got to take part in the battle, as the fighting was confined to the left flank, which is only barely discernible at the top of the picture.		Again, I took a photo of the flank that was not involved in the fighting, but didn't get one of other flank where everything was going on. Perhaps a good thing, really, as I don't know how well those Spanish infantry and guerillas would have held. I moved the cavalry in the foreground only once in the whole game.
Greg's Russian infantry are exquisitely painted. The GMB Design flags set off his handiwork beautifully.		Another of Greg's battalions of Russians. He uses Front Rank and Foundry figures, but tends to convert them to add lots of variety into his units.
We have shown Greg's cavalry before on this site, but now he has been able to add the finishing touch, namely the flag.		You have to see Greg's terrific bases to believe them, especially his command figures. Click on the above picture to see the whole base, including a little pond.
Another of Greg's fantastic command bases. I like the dead Frenchman he has added. These command bases are all done on drink coasters.		In the rather odd battle, my British and Spanish faced Greg;s Russians. Here is my 33rd 1st Yorkshire (West Riding) battalion.
Whilst they took absolutely no part in the battle, this mule train was added as a purely decorative feature. Included in the train are a British soldier and two Spanish guerillas or teamsters. I am a fan of adding little vignettes like this to the game table, as they add to the visual effect.

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