"The Battle Of Oudernarde" Topic
6 Posts
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Kaptain Kobold | 17 Apr 2014 5:51 p.m. PST |
The Gong Garage Gamers Present: Another Malburian Scenario for 'Maurice'! link A 'Maurice' doubles game for your entertainment. |
Sparker | 17 Apr 2014 11:30 p.m. PST |
Thanks Kaptain, an entertaining account. Executive summary, the French Regiments marched and deployed with style and panache, only to be mown down systematically by the deadly English volleys, with some cavalry making a load of hoopla off on the flanks somewhere.
At times it felt like trying to blunt a buzz saw with a long plank – we ran out of Regiments before you ran out of ammunition, no matter how many 'Thick Smoke' cards Dave was able to conjure up! I'm sure there is a way for a French Army to beat an Anglo Allied army in the field in this period, but I'm blowed if I can think of a way
I followed up on your suggestion to see if the actual battlefield was as trappy and cut up as our table top, but it appears that if anything it was more densely packed with farms and gardens and hedgerows. I think once the French lose the race to get to the bridge head before the English Infantry are across, the best course of action is to retire to one's pavilion and consume unfeasibly large quantities of frogs legs washed down with some ice cold Sancerre
Still an all, a great game very well organised by Caesar and one I'd love to play again! |
Rapier Miniatures | 18 Apr 2014 3:53 a.m. PST |
If the French cannot beat the British under these rules then the rules are wrong. The Anglo British armies sucess was having an outstanding commander, not super troops. Look at the Spanish Battles, Eugenes mixed fortunes in Italy etc. Oudenarde as a battle is a race, can Cadogan get troops across the bridges and into linebefore the French outflank. In the real battle it was very neck and neck. |
Kaptain Kobold | 18 Apr 2014 4:34 a.m. PST |
"The Anglo British armies sucess was having an outstanding commander" They did. Me :) |
Sparker | 18 Apr 2014 4:09 p.m. PST |
Yes nothing wrong with rules as far as I can see, Allied Platoon firing was devastating at the time, and this is well represented by the National Advantage card of 'Deadly Volleys'
And yes, the Kaptain's adroit placement of his Commander figure, and the 'Great Captain' advantage, reflecting Eugene and Marlborough's effective partnership, contributed to their victory. And it was a historical outcome! :-( |
Kaptain Kobold | 18 Apr 2014 6:28 p.m. PST |
I can see the point about the scenario, though. From a quick read of a brief account of the battle, it was very much a race to get troops into position before the French got there. We pretty much started lined up against each other. In that situation the Lethal Volleys advantage is going to work in the Allied army's favour – it always will in a series of one-on-one firefights. The scenario could be a lot more challenging if the Allies have to avoid the French getting local superiority, and have their superior command being used to try and get troops into position the whole time. We should have been reacting to the French attack, not sitting and waiting for it. Combined with the French being split, with one aggressive and one slow commander, there's the makings of an interesting game – do the French hold back and organise their attack a little better, at the expense of the Allies getting into a proper position, or do they attack at once whilst the Allies are unprepared? And there have been discussions on the Honour forum about whether Lethal Volleys is *too* lethal. |
cae5ar | 22 Apr 2014 10:54 p.m. PST |
While it was fun to watch and turned out quite historically, I blame the imbalance against the French on the scenario design (mine) and not the game of Maurice itself. The core rules give you the ingredients, it's just a matter of using the correct recipe to get the scenario historically right. Then there is the problem of how much freedom you give players to depart from the actions of their historical counterparts. There has to be a certain degree of "what if" or every battle is a foregone conclusion. The French command at Oudenarde performed appallingly, when their army truly had the chance of victory that day. The original scenario forced the French to hold back too much in reserve, which is what the Duke of Burgundy actually did, but a commander of greater experience would not have done. Hence the French are always doomed if commanded in such a way. After much cogitation and scratching of head I have posted an updated scenario to the Honour forum. It should make for a challenging battle for both sides and keep Marlborough and Eugene under pressure despite their national advantages. I look forward to giving this battle another run. |
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