"Solo Wargaming Day 1/1/11 - Napoleonics Battle Report" Topic
10 Posts
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WarDepotDavid | 03 Jan 2011 2:37 a.m. PST |
(I apologise in advance for the pics – I am currently rebuilding all my terrain and scenics and some of my army formations are incomplete and not painted yet) For International Solo Wargaming Day this year (1/1/11) I thought I would have a game of Empire V with about a corps of French on 1 side and a corps of Prussians on the other. I would play the French and with instructions to "attack the enemy to your front holding the area just south of the road to Berlin". No worries I thought. Under my command was III Corps made up of 3 Infantry Divisions and a Division of Cavalry. Unfortunately, 1 of the Cavalry Brigades from the Cavalry Division was out scouting for the main army which left me with a single Brigade of Light Cavalry. I took my escort and scouted the area to my front. Over a few hours I had gethered some good intel on the force I was to attack as my formations marched to the assembly areas I had assigned for them. Ahead of me I had an open area of flat grassland broken up with a number of farmed fields and 2 main farms. This is where I spotted the enemy. 2 x Division strength groups defending the 2 farms and the area around them. I would need to push through these formations if I was follow my orders and attack north to the road to Berlin. 2 x Brigades of Prussian Infantry should be easy to cast aside. What worried me was what lay behind them, if anything at all. link picture see the full report here: link |
Joe5mc | 03 Jan 2011 3:09 a.m. PST |
Looks like a fun little game! Stop tempting me with 6mm! |
14Bore | 03 Jan 2011 7:39 a.m. PST |
I'm proud the Prussians held, Huzza!Skip |
CATenWolde | 03 Jan 2011 7:52 a.m. PST |
Nice basing – I was thinking of trying 4 figures in a single rank on a 20x10mm base, to get that nice linear look and allow more proper-looking columns and squares. You don't find the small and narrow bases too fiddly to move or position in terrain? I'm tempted to double-rank them, but I'm not sure I'll like the bulkier look for battalion formations even though units for "brigade" rules (i.e. Age of Eagles) would probably look better. Cheers, Christopher |
Broglie | 03 Jan 2011 8:26 a.m. PST |
I did the northern flank at Austerlitz. It was not easy for the French but Bagration was eventually destroyed together with Lichtenstein's cavalry column and the Russian Imperial Guard was driven back over the Pratzen in confusion. The French Imperial Guard cavalry and horse artillery drove back the Russian Guard cavalry after a lot of effort. Murat excelled himself and both Lannes and Bernadotte put up a good show Most of the battle was witnessed by Napoleon himself from a grassy knoll. 10' x 6' table, 15mm AB figures, own rules. No photographs unfortunately |
WarDepotDavid | 03 Jan 2011 3:26 p.m. PST |
=> CATenWolde I went through the same dilema as you a while back. Here is a post on my blog with pics of all the ideas I tried out. When you compare bases from rules you play with actual historical dimensions, I returned to single rank easily. link Hope this helps. David wardepot.blogspot.com |
CATenWolde | 04 Jan 2011 8:32 a.m. PST |
Hi David, Yes, what you describe on your blog is exactly my dilemma (a probably not too uncommon one). Overall, I'm of the opinion that "mass" equates to numbers of figures on the table in a concentrated space, and so more units of fewer figures can in fact give the same or better effect than fewer units of many figures. I actually won awards for a couple of 15mm games that used a 1:120 figure ratio (so 6 figure French battalions) on the table and rosters for 1:60 hits; it sounds anemic at first glance, but when you have multiple corps maneuvering across the table all that is lost. Ground scale is so important (I love lots of room to maneuver and free flanks) that I always come back to that. At a 1" = 100 yards ground scale a battalion would have a frontage of only about 40mm (8 figures), but you can game most battles at 1" = 75 yards for a 60mm frontage (12 figures). You really have to go to 1" = 50 yards scale or lower to make double-ranking balance with the increased frontage. My problem is that I'm going to be doing the pre-1805 period, and the lower ground scale would actually work with the smaller armies
so the dilemma returns. However, it's great to see the single-ranked game. It reminded me that it can look good if done properly. Cheers, Christopher |
Stern Rake Studio | 04 Jan 2011 11:22 a.m. PST |
I enjoyed reading your report! Ted |
thedrake | 04 Jan 2011 1:00 p.m. PST |
David, Nice pics and battle report! Remember reading where a guy did Napoleonics solo (French vs Prussian) and had mechanics for playing one side solo.Wish I had the old URL to look up in the Wayback Machine for you. |
14Bore | 07 Jan 2011 12:31 p.m. PST |
Just finished 1-1-(18)11 game. Butcher bill Prussian 77 K@W 44 routed, Russian 92 K@W 73 Routed, Shout out to Sil Nat Hussar Regt who hit the Polish Uhans in flank, took Position btry in flank (behind Gabion wall), came behind village hittting a musk bat from behind and was starting into Heavy (see empire dumbest things)woods behind musk regt. Does anyone bump up a morale levels after a battle for a well deserved unit? |
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