We played the 1870 battle of Worth again using Martin Rapier's "Rifle and Kepi" rules. This time we used the rules as written, no changes except elite Zouave regiments were worth an extra point. I also plan on having Garde Mobiles be worth one less, making them rather dicey when we play Republican phase battles. I corrected the strength error made last week on the infantry divisions, which made them less sturdy. Tom took the French, Rick commanded the Germans and I umpired.
Tom started off digging in while Rick moved his divisions forward. One Prussian division immediately forded the Sauer river, entered Worth and assaulted the French division on the hills behind. a low roll for the French saw that division shaken. Tom abandoned his attempt to dig in with a nearby division and instead sent it into the fray at Worth. Both French divisions rolled well while the Prussian division rolled 2 (on an average die). The Prussians collapsed and ran for it. The other Prussian division in the corps came up and engaged one of the French divisions in a firefight, both suffering losses.
Meanwhile on the German right a division of Bavarian infantry slowly moved through the woods and then attacked the French left. The fight went on for turns. On the German right, a division of Prussian infantry crossed the bridge over the Sauer and attacked the French flank, backed up by two regiments of Corps artillery. The fight went on for some turns but the French became shaken. Then the survivors broke and ran.
Back in the center, the engaged Prussian division rolled a 2 while the French rolled high. The division also collapsed. The only part of the Corps that remained were the two artillery regiments. One of them limbered up and fell back. The French lunged forward with an infantry division and a cavalry division. I assumed the artillery was done for. But the French rolled so-so dice and the artillery rolled a 5. The artillery took a hit and became shaken, but rallied at the start of the next turn. Now came a turn-around. A second Bavarian infantry division came forward to engage the French infantry division. The left flank Prussian division which had just caved in the French flank made a heroic march (Rick rolled a 6) and hit the cavalry in the flank, also catching the French artillery limbered and falling back. Tom's plan had been to overrun the French artillery and then fall back to Froschwiller. The victory conditions called for him to be holding that town at the end of the 5 PM turn. But the guns and the cavalry routed. The French division facing the Bavarians became shaken.
On the German right, the French facing the first Bavarian division became shaken but rallied. On the 4 PM turn Tom threw his remaining cavalry division into the fray. The Bavarians rolled a measly 2 while the French had decent dice. The low roll was what mattered. The Bavarians would multiply their combat value times 2, except being shaken lowered that to 1 and being hit by cavalry through a hex-side other than their frontal one lowered it to zero. The bottom went out and the Bavarians routed.
Bavarians running away, French cavalry winning.
Back in the center, a Prussian division hit the center French division from the flank while the Bavarian second division pinned them from the front. It was hopeless and the French division disintegrated towards the west.
It was the end of the 4 PM turn and the Germans, while triumphant in the left and center, could not get close enough to mount an attack on Froschwiller in the remaining turn so Rick threw in the towel.
MacMahon before Froschwiller.
We'd played 7 turns in two hours. Rick hadn't played the game before so some explanation was in order. Two French divisions that had spent time digging in each rolled a 1 when it came time to see if their work had been fruitful. I guess the works were poorly sited.
French losses were some 16,000 troops with another 12,000 running away. German losses were 10,500 Prussians and Bavarians, with some 24,000 running away. Moltke would not be pleased.
The French had done better than MacMahon in the actual battle. The week before all I'd done was match MacMahon's performance. Of course, this would be a speed bump to the Prussian advance rather than something decisive. But playing for an actual French victory is really hard in this battle. The Prussians outnumber the French almost 2-1 and have 5-2 artillery, along with better guns.
The rules flow well and are fairly simple. I do have my doubts about the -1 for being attacked through a non-frontal hex-side. But the rules are sturdy enough to stand some house rules. I am planning on trying a version of the playing card activation on my own Napoleonic rules when next the Fencibles meet.
builds 
