"Blog update: a Day of Maurice" Topic

picked up Maurice last week for use with our Imaginations. played a few games yesterday.

link

top looking table. Nice work

Love that tabletop! Teddy bear fur, painted over in places? Since I'm about to shift from terrain squares to cloth, I'd really appreciate if you could tell us how you made it.

The point about artillery being fairly ineffective in "Maurice" was one we also encountered in our trial games. Either we both did something wrong, or it really is… Other than that I liked the game, and your report confirms this.

Hi Orc
I'll agree Artillery isn't the war winner of later wars but I've found it play an important part in quite a few of my games.
There are a few AARs on my blog that you might find interesting:
trailape.blogspot.com.au/search/label/MAURICE
I find it's a useful supporting arm.
Cheers

I tend to mass my cannon into mass batteries and blaze away.
This seems to work as an effective tactic.

"The point about artillery being fairly ineffective in "Maurice" was one we also encountered in our trial games. Either we both did something wrong, or it really is… "

The game's base-line for artillery is the early 1700s, where it could be argued that artillery was in fact not very effective on the battlefield.

But the game also allows you to add rules and national advantages which can artillery progressively more deadly, and which advance you through the 18th century. For example: the Artillery Academy and Professional Train advantages, when taken together, are very effective. And the advanced rules for bombarding even when the guns aren't part of a single force, make them even more so.

Many thanks Sam – I expect those national advantages will make a difference at various levels if they're in play.

We were playing the Fontenoy scenario, where they don't apply. Several turns of concentrated bombardment by three Allied guns failed to make any impression on French field works – rien, nichts, nada, not even a twig out of place on the gabions. OK, the fact that my Well-Laid Guns were countered by Caissons Depleted didn't help – but you'd think that continued pounding by three dozen field guns would have some kind of effect…

The other phases of the gamed worked in a very plausible manner (meaning, without artillery preparation my infantry assault was suitably shredded). Maybe we need to try Kolin for a change, with no entrenchments.