Well, you learn something every day. I didn't know about the battle of Isted until Mark ran it as a scenario for us yesterday. Apparently it was quite a big and bloody affair, about 30,000 men a side, Danes vs Schleswig-Holsteiners. I'm sure there are plenty of TMPers who are thoroughly familiar with it and have gamed it repeatedly, but it was news to me.
Mark's scenario was excellent. It did a good job of capturing the fog of war that prevailed, with some formations being slow and unresponsive. On the S-H side, we followed what I am told was quite a historically accurate aggressive plan, trying to drive back the lead Danish units before their main body could join in. As both sides had to manoeuvre a lot, there were plenty of decisions to make and the game changed every turn. There were attacks and counter-attacks all along the front. One objective changed hands three times. Our S-H forces finally virtually evaporated in the centre, but our flanks held. And crucially, the small force holding our line of retreat was saved by the Danish 3rd Brigade getting von Krogh's message to retreat and retracing the steps of its flank march.
This was one of the most fun games I've played in a long time. The scenario is in the files of the BBB Yahoo group. It's also on Flickr, along with a couple of photos of the game.
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Chris
Bloody Big BATTLES!
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bloodybigbattles.blogspot.co.uk
looks at the new U.S.S. Constitution for Black Seas.