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vtsaogamesParticipantFrom “With Crook at the Rosebud”, J.W. Vaughn, 1956. Pretty close to what you have, no scouts. Totals include officers and enlisted men.
9th Infantry
Co C 48
Co G 36
Co H 36
4th Infantry
Co D 41
Co F 40
3rd Cavalry
Co A 57
Co B 65
Co C 59
Co D 46
Co E 62
Co F 51
Co G 56
Co I 50
Co L 50
Co M 54
2nd Cavalry
Co A 58
Co B 61
Co D 66
Co E 55
Co I 43
It's never too late to have a happy childhood
vtsaogamesParticipantI didn’t even know Maverick had cloth flags. Is that a special order? I don’t see the option when looking at their web page, but then I have been know to miss stuff.
It's never too late to have a happy childhood
vtsaogamesParticipantA lot has to do with how long each turn represents. 15 or 30 minute turns give Ney quite a lot of time to bash the outnumbered Dutch-Belgians before help arrives. Short turns allow the French to wield tighter control than was possible in the real thing and I believe is why so many wargames set in this short campaign yield French victories.
I’ve played QB with Volley and Bayonet and later a home-brewed set of rules that both used hourly turns. It gives you a whole lot more respect for Ney. Picton and Brunswick show up during the second hour. If the French move first (IGO-UGO) that gives them two turns to paste the Dutch-Belgians. Then the numbers are nearly equal. True, the French still have the better force but the situation has changed drastically and yet more reinforcements are on the way. Guiton’s 800 cuirassiers are no match for the 12,000+ troops of Alten’s and Cooke’s divisions. Within a few hours the Anglo-Dutch outnumber the French by 50%. That’s a tough situation in any rules set. If your game expects to represent the whole fight, not just the opening rounds, the French have a hard time later on.
As for the One Hour Wargames scenario, the total defending force (after all reinforcements have arrived) is equal in numbers to the attacking force.
So I’d say give the French some points for being at the crossroads any time during the game, to prod the French player into attacking. Also points for either side being able to send units in good shape off the road to Ligny. There is also the strange event: Wellington appears from the road to Ligny after the battle starts, fresh from his meeting with Blucher. That always led to a mad scramble in our games as the Duke avoided French cavalry.
It's never too late to have a happy childhood
vtsaogamesParticipantWhile working on a 4X6 mat for Castiglione 1796, listened to the first lecture. Marvelous stuff, especially his take on geo-strategy. Thanks for posting, will be coming back here for the other lectures.
Further, listened to Dr. Stoker’s lecture about ACW grand strategy and policy, quite interesting. He’s not as polished a speaker as Lieven.
I differ with him on two issues. While Little Mac was certainly better as general-in-chief than Halleck, I can’t imagine him letting someone else run the Army of the Potomac while he sat in D.C. Add in how incredibly insubordinate he was. Lincoln would put up with considerable rudeness and insult in the pursuit of results, but when McClellan deigned to make policy he dug his own grave. But yes, Halleck was a bust as field commander and as general-in-chief. Also, who would have led the Army of the Potomac? Franklin? Sumner? It took until Meade before they found someone who would not be bamboozled by Lee, and Grant before they found someone who would keep Lee’s feet to the fire.
And Vicksburg: while I don’t think the loss of Vicksburg was in itself the death knell of the Confederacy, it allowed the produce of the Old Northwest to flow down the river and be exported from the Union-held port of New Orleans, taking a lot of the economic pressure off an important Union region and tamping down the impact of copperhead sentiment, which was strong enough there.
It's never too late to have a happy childhood
vtsaogamesParticipantOoh! Nice!
It's never too late to have a happy childhood
vtsaogamesParticipantHere’s the mat for the next round of Bonaparte in Italy, Lodi, May 5 – 10, 1796. We’ll play it next week if all goes well.
It's never too late to have a happy childhood
vtsaogamesParticipantBack to the original topic, Wellington has to be considered one of the great British commanders. The question is: was he better than Marlborough? Certainly luckier, since he didn’t end up in exile. But a general who wins or ties all of his numerous battles must be considered fairly good at his chosen vocation. Perhaps not a demi-god like some believe. There are also those convinced of Bonaparte’s divinity.
It's never too late to have a happy childhood
vtsaogamesParticipantI can cause immense fuss by asking and then answering two questions:
Who lost Waterloo? Napoleon.
Who lost Gettysburg? Lee.
It's never too late to have a happy childhood
vtsaogamesParticipantOur Mr. Brooks.
It's never too late to have a happy childhood
vtsaogamesParticipantI’m not an anglophile and don’t see Wellington as the Second Coming, but he was definitely one of the best British army commanders. One doesn’t acquire his record of battlefield victories by being indifferent. He was caught wrong-footed sometimes and had a couple tough retreats back to Portugal, but he was never beaten in battle. I can’t see any of the other available commanders matching him, and that includes Moore if he had survived.
It's never too late to have a happy childhood
vtsaogamesParticipantBack when Junta was being game-tested, one player’s wife was so good at it we nick-named her “Evita”.
It's never too late to have a happy childhood
vtsaogamesParticipantDunno about the swingletrees/whatever, but that Osprey book convinced me to paint all the rammers and such the same as the carriages. I suppose I could hit them with an extra coat of dark wash to show the black powder…
It's never too late to have a happy childhood
vtsaogamesParticipantHuh. Well, from now on I will try to represent this on any new guns I procure.
It's never too late to have a happy childhood
vtsaogamesParticipantOoh, nice!
It's never too late to have a happy childhood
vtsaogamesParticipantRight, John. Only deep formations are used and maximum range is 6″. There are 4 other scenarios for 1796 in Italy, ending with Castiglione. I think we’ll try at least one more.
I have to draw some more maps.
It's never too late to have a happy childhood
vtsaogamesParticipantI really like those Blue Moon figures. How easily did they paint up?
I find Blue Moon easy to paint. I block paint and then use a dark wash, highlight a little after the wash dries.
What’s that you said about geezers, Irv? I can’t hear you.
My wife has suggested I take everything out of my closet and then think about what should go back in. Gasp.
It's never too late to have a happy childhood
vtsaogamesParticipantThey do indeed.
It's never too late to have a happy childhood
vtsaogamesParticipantYes I did. I recall being a Spanish corps commander when a French corps was captured, to my complete surprise. I also commanded a Prussian corps and was roundly thumped. I do recall several players sending their orders to the open group, reminding me of Lee’s special orders wrapped in cigars in 1862. I have thought of trying my own version of Paul’s system but the amount of work involved always puts me off. I’m sure I was in a third campaign but can’t recall any of it.
As for the Chickamauga game, it was a real surprise that at the end both sides ended up using mounted cavalry. The situation was so chaotic that most didn’t get a chance to dismount, which is how we usually use them.
It's never too late to have a happy childhood
vtsaogamesParticipantWe finished the game tonight https://corlearshookfencibles.blogspot.com/
It's never too late to have a happy childhood
vtsaogamesParticipantPerhaps you can call the town Potemkinville.
It's never too late to have a happy childhood
vtsaogamesParticipantVery nice report and tempting. I fear my lot will be after me with pitchforks and torches if I try another set of rules on them.
It's never too late to have a happy childhood
vtsaogamesParticipantLovely.
It's never too late to have a happy childhood
vtsaogamesParticipant“Wot’s deebacle in Mexican!!!???”
Strangely enough, the word in Spanish is debacle, pronounced day-BAH-clay. So says the online English-Spanish dictionary.
It's never too late to have a happy childhood
vtsaogamesParticipant“I am contemplating rebasing and/or label schemes to aid”
My two cents: a labeling scheme will be a lot less headache in the end.
It's never too late to have a happy childhood
vtsaogamesParticipantI’m really enjoying this and fighting the urge to jump into Blue Moon’s Boxer range as this looks so good.
I looked at Blue Moon – don’t see Boxer Rebellion. Are you thinking of the Old Glory 15 range for the Boxer Rebellion? If you have a link for Blue Moon Boxers, please share it.
It's never too late to have a happy childhood
vtsaogamesParticipantHere are some metal 20mm SYW figures – not sure how they compare to the 1/72 stuff
http://www.outlandgames.net/20mm%20SYW%20page.htm
And a review of same figures
http://www.deepfriedhappymice.com/html/figrev_sy_syw_bnflr.html
It's never too late to have a happy childhood
vtsaogamesParticipantHere’s a short blog post about the making and correction of paper mats:
https://corlearshookfencibles.blogspot.com/
It's never too late to have a happy childhood
vtsaogamesParticipantThank you gents. Rhys, the gaming surface is some green paper my wife gave me a roll of. I draw the field on it with colored markers.
It's never too late to have a happy childhood
vtsaogamesParticipantMost interesting!
It's never too late to have a happy childhood
04/12/2017 at 15:52 in reply to: 2mm Infantry blocks. How many armies can one color represent? (Heresy warning) #77809vtsaogamesParticipantThat’s so shrewd it might get me to go that route… no, no, must finish current projects.
It's never too late to have a happy childhood
vtsaogamesParticipantBy the end of the war, Union cavalry had become quite formidable, primarily as well-armed mounted infantry but also capable of squadron, regimental and the odd brigade sized mounted charge. Saylor’s Creek saw a sizable part of Lee’s army broken, with many prisoners taken. Wilson’s raid into Alabama was also impressive, though Grant opined in his memoirs that it was unnecessary since the South was going under. Wilson’s troopers captured Jefferson Davis in Georgia.
It's never too late to have a happy childhood
vtsaogamesParticipantI find a few flowers brighten up the bases, also notice that lighter bases tend to make the figures show up better. So flower power is the path for me. My newer troops fight in spring time.
It's never too late to have a happy childhood
vtsaogamesParticipantThe subsequent post-Revolutionary French militarization of the various ‘train’ organisations seems to have been more driven by functional military imperatives (e.g., to improve battlefield ‘outcomes’) than by economics.
Military imperatives come before economics more easily when the nation is ruled by a general…
It's never too late to have a happy childhood
vtsaogamesParticipantWhile the Prince of Orange was out of his league tactically, he did OK the decision of his chief of staff Constant de Rebeque to ignore Wellington’s orders on June 16. Had Orange concentrated on Nivelles as ordered, Ney would just have walked through Quatre Bras and easily scattered the few scouts on hand. Instead we had the battle, which covered Blucher’s right rear and gave us dandy paintings by Lady Butler and plenty of games. He was brave and did lead several charges.
Quality of allies can range from rather decent Nassau troops, line Hanoverians and line Dutch-Belgians to the green and shaky Hanoverian landwehr, raw Brunswick troops and Dutch-Belgian militia. Allied cavalry varied from less than steady troopers to the fleet-footed deserters of the Hanoverian Hussars. The Waterloo Companion says these worthies did take 12% losses to fire before setting land speed records back to Brussels.
Hanoverians were the ones brigaded with the British. All the rest served in their own divisions. I suppose you can consider the veteran, excellent KGL troops as allies.
It's never too late to have a happy childhood
vtsaogamesParticipantI believe the gun crew was divided into specialists and those who mainly provided muscle to move the guns back into firing position after recoils. And that’s not counting the train personnel. Only 5 were needed to fire the gun, but full strength units had 15 or 20 per gun.
It's never too late to have a happy childhood
vtsaogamesParticipantAnd we played a 400 point game last night, with all 5 current Fencibles present. I channeled Magua.
It's never too late to have a happy childhood
vtsaogamesParticipantWhere can one purchase these books? I don’t see them at On Military Matters.
It's never too late to have a happy childhood
vtsaogamesParticipantVery nice. I presume you’ve read Flanagan’s Year of the French?
It's never too late to have a happy childhood
vtsaogamesParticipantLooks great! Looking forward to after-action reports.
It's never too late to have a happy childhood
vtsaogamesParticipantYeah, agreed. I’m much less interested in the minutia of body tissue damage caused than I am of the toll of extreme stress, fear, exhaustion and excitement on human organizations – and the breakdown of those organizations. Top-down games for me, please. Add lots of friction and as much fog of war as can be done without making the game slow.
Our group is fairly small, 1 or 2 per side, once in a while 3 on one side vs. 2 on the other. So we need CC rules. With larger groups you don’t because the plan breaks up as people do their own thing. But in games, the static part of the front will often attack. folks didn’t come to watch others play, they want to roll dice and cause mayhem themselves. Whereas in actual battles the usual problem is local commanders finding excuses not to go forward and risk their units/selves/reputations/careers. Once in a blue moon you get Cardigan or Custer, but the norm is cautious commanders not being aggressive.
It's never too late to have a happy childhood
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