I haven't yet played Et Sans Resultats ("ESR") and so this is not a review, per se. Instead, it's an overview after a reading of the rules.
ESR is a very unconventional game. I thought it would be helpful for those wondering what it's all about to have a summary.
ESR is for big engagements. There are other rules aimed at this scale (e.g. Volley & Bayonet, Shako, Age of Eagles, Blucher) but the others mix tactical and grand tactical factors. So, for instance, in Shako individual infantry units can be in column, line, or square and you adjudicate musketry fire separate from melee. ESR strips all that away. While individual units on the table represent battalions, they don't really operate individually. Instead, they operate as part of a larger formation.
On table units are one base each. Each Unit is a battalion, squadron group, or artillery battery. There are no Unit formations (i.e. line, column, square). That's below the scale of the game.
Each Unit is part of a Formation. A Formation is the equivalent of a brigade or a division. Formations are part of a Force. A Force is the equivalent of a corps or a division.
The turn sequence is 1) Command; 2) Movement; 3) Artillery and Skirmish; 3) Combat.
A Force operates under Objective Orders. An Objective Order is a geographical objective—e.g. take that hill.
Formations operate under Objective Orders and Directive Orders. A Directive Order (e.g. attack, defend, move, support, reserve) is how the Formation will attempt achieve the Objective Order. The Directive Order dictates how the Formation can or must move and whether it can initiate Combat, etc.
In the Command Phase the players attempt to activate pending orders (orders issued in a previous turn) and issue new orders. There is a modified die roll to activate a pending order. Force Leaders and Formation Leaders can also take certain actions in this phase, such as a Force Commander taking personal command of Formation; creating a grand battery, etc. Many of these actions require a modified die roll test.
Formations may also have an opportunity to change their Directive Order in the Movement Phase and Combat Phase, depending on the Formation type (e.g. Cavalry Formations are good at changing to Attack Orders) and the Directive Order the Formation is currently operating under.
In the Movement Phase Formations move according to their Directive Order. While there are no Unit formations in the game, a Formation is either Ployed or Deployed. When Ployed a Formation is marching and not ready to fight. When Deployed it's shaken out of march column and is ready to fight. In order to change from Ployed to Deployed, or vice versa, the Formation has to take a test. This can result in some Units of the Formation being Ployed/Deployed while others are still in the current status. This has an effect on Formation "morale" and fighting. (See below).
When a Formation is Ployed all the units are in base to base contact in a column. When Deployed the Formation's units can split up and go anywhere they please. There is no "command radius" Units need to stay in. While the Units could scatter, the author says the way combat works makes that impractical. I'm not sure whether other advantages could be gained by scattering the Units. I think it's the author's intent that Units in a Formation stick together, although again there is no rule enforcing that.
Interestingly, Units can move in any direction. A Unit's facing matters only for Units "shooting" in the Artillery & Skirmishing Phase and Combat since a Unit attacked in the rear suffers penalties to combat resolution. A Formation does have a rear area, however, that needs to be protected. If enemy Units get into a Formation's rear area there are significant penalties for the Formation.
The only distant firing in the game comes from Artillery and Skirmishers. Formations shoot at Formations, not individual Units. And the effect of Artillery and Skirmishing on a target is applied to the target Formation, not individual Units in the target Formation.
A Formation generates an Artillery & Skirmishing Score. The Score counts the number of artillery units and infantry battalions in the Formation. Different types of batteries and infantry Units produce different numbers of points (e.g. 12 pounder gun batteries add 4 points while 6 pounders add 1 point each). A 2D6 die roll is added to the points generated by the Formation's units. If the Score is 10 or more an "Assessment" is made against the target Formations. An Assessment is a modified die roll.
An Assessment can result in Fatigue being applied to the Formation, the Formation, or certain arms (i.e. cavalry, artillery) may be required to retreat, or the Formation may break. Again, the effect is on the Formation, not individual Units in the Formation (although for Combat resolution purposes allocation of Fatigue to a particular arm in the Formation –i.e. infantry, cavalry, artillery – matters).
If Fatigue on the Formation equals the number of Deployed Units, the Formation Retreats. If Fatigue equals 1 ˝ times the number of Deployed Units, the Formation Breaks. Note that this means that a Formation that's assessed fatigue with no Units Deployed automatically Breaks. It also illustrates why it matters how many Units a Formation is able to Deploy in a turn.
The final phase of the turn is the Combat Phase. Enemy Units in base to base contact engage in Combat resolution. This is resolved via a modified, opposed die roll. The Unit with the higher modified die roll wins. Winner and loser suffer the results on a results table. These can include Units retiring, advancing to follow up a retiring enemy, routing, being removed, etc. Combat resolution can also result in Fatigue. Again, the Fatigue applies to the Formation, not the individual Unit.
Also, any Formation that has any Unit engage in Combat takes an Assessment, as described above.
There are many other features and nuances that I haven't mentioned. But this gives you a sense of the game. I'm really eager to give it a try.
returns to Flintloque to paint an Ogre.
