"Battle of Froeschwiller, BBB rules and other rules..." Topic

Forgive me if this is a silly question, questions actually, but I'm new to wargaming.

After reading this most interesting AAR: TMP link , I was wondering…

The three excellent regiments of Algerian Tirailleus (aka Turcos) and three excellent regiments of Zouaves were not brigaded together during the Battle of Froeschwiller in 1870. However, I read about and saw a entire brigade of Zouaves and another brigade entirely composed of Algerian Tirailleurs fighting against the Prussians and Bavarians in vtsaogames'AAR. How so?

1- I imagine it has to do with the scale of the game/miniatures, right?

2- Can you choose a unit to represent the entire brigade in the game, even if in reality the brigade was composed of three or four different regiments or battalions (one regiment of Zouaves, one of French line infantry and a battalion of Chassers a Pied)?

3- Big Bloody Batles' rules specify that or can you do as you please? Of course, no one is holding a gun to your face… ;-)

4- Is this a fairly common thing in other rules, I mean, to select a single regiment or battalion to represent the whole brigade on the table?

Thanks in advance.

If you are using the brigade as the maneuver element, it will pretty hard to represent every regiment or battalion in it on one base. Ergo at the Grand Tactical Level you choose the units that made the brigade unique to represent it. Its the case with Polemos, Altar of Freedom ,Volley and Bayonet and most Grand Tactical games (IMHO).

Obviously going for larger bases or smaller scales can permit more granularity at the cost of other things. Its all about what you sacrifice to get what in game design.

If brigades or divisions are your lowest level units, some compromises must be made in the order of battle. You can't represent individual battalions with different morale or training from the rest of the brigade.

The choice is to go with rules based on battalions and play part of the battle or use grand tactical rules and play the whole battle. Unless you have lots of space and time.

I did Froeschwiller with division sized units.

So yes, a fair degree of fudging was required, particularly for the Bavarians.

Some of the French divisions may have had Zouave figures in them. Whatever. They are only pretty 3D counters.

Hi Cuirassier, thanks for the sensible question, and here is a hopefully sensible answer.

In the BBB Froeschwiller scenario, a number of brigades are noted as having either Zouaves or Turcos. Not all of these units were entirely comprised of these special troops, but they were present in sufficient numbers that the units got particular ratings associated with them: A = "Aggressive" for the Zouaves, and S = "Skirmisher" for both.

Using Zouave or Turco figures for those units that included them therefore serves both function and aesthetics. Most FPW wargamers want to have these exotic figures on the table. Doing so makes it easy to recognize instantly that a unit has A or S rating, without any need for on-table labels or off-table rosters.

I took a similar but different approach with the later FPW battles of the republican phase. Most French brigades then comprised one regular line regiment and one of garde mobile. By making alternate brigades line or garde mobile you get the right effect in game terms, giving the players tactical choices about which units to use where and how, and you get to use the different figures.

Hope this helps!

Chris
Bloody Big BATTLES!
link
bloodybigbattles.blogspot.co.uk

This is the reason I am reluctant to play brigade level games. You cannot represent all the neat units. It gets amalgamated into a generic brigade.

That is why I use "TDFG" for FPW. I also use "MLW" or "JR" for the ACW. "F&F" Zouave brigades drives me nuts.

The worse case are British Napoleonic units. There can be so many different unit types with different uniforms in the same brigade.

I've seen and played lots of battalion level games where battles are "bath tubbed ". Same thing.

I don't let the scale keep me from painting up favorite units.

I use modified Fire and Fury for my Franco Prussian battles and the regiment is the basic unit. Zouaves and Turcos can then take the field in all their glory. Just use smaller number of stands to represent Chasseur/Jager Battalions and it works just fine. I have refought Froeschwiller over twenty times and it never gets old for me. Sometimes French reinforcements actually show up!!!

I generally play brigade level games. I just paint up the regiments that I prefer (usually the gaudiest) and they do for representing each brigade (so a brigade with zouaves is always going to be represented by a zouave unit). Personally, I think that that approach looks better on the table than trying to have troops from different regiments representing a brigade. If you are doing the FPW, then it should be the overall impression that you are interested in, rather than the details of each brigade. Chris's advice also makes sense. Do whatever you want and don't worry about stuff like this.