13 Vendemaire revisited

 Another trip to Table Battles this week, presented by Tim. This one covers the Royalist uprising on 13th Vendemaire (by the Revolutionary calendar), which was put down by a little known General Bonaparte with 'a whiff of grapeshot'. We've done this one before, but after Russells recent visit to Paris, it just had to be done again.

This is a pretty simple scenario. The Republicans have Bonaparte, 12th Chasseurs and artillery, while the Royalists have an unnamed military unit labelled 'Royalist forces', General Denikin and 'The Paris Mob'.

As ever the complexity comes in the interplay of the units between each other and the special chracteristics each one has as defined on its card. The Royalist oddities were that the Paris Mob inflicted hits on itself when it attacked (!), and Denikin could only support attacks or provide reinforcements. The Republicans special power was the artillery, which would cancel attacks and inflict quite heavy losses, but needed quite special dice (a triple straight) to prepare for action.

As I've often commented before, I can't imagine how to even start designing a scenario like this, so I'm very glad someone else has done the hard work. This scenario is off BGG.

Jerry, Russell and I were cast as Royalists. Our guys are on the left. The Mob has (lots) of green SP blocks, while the Royalist forces have 8 red SP and Denikin has 5 support SP which can reinforce the Royalist forces.

John and Mark were the wicked Republicans, both Bonaparte (yellow) and 12th Chasseurs (blue) have 5 SP. The guns are in reserve until turn 3. Initially the Chasseurs fight the Royalists and Bonaparte fights the mob, once those wings are defeated, they can attack the other units, a bit like Dominion of the Spear.

Our guys may be numerous but aren't that great. We are quite restricted where we can place our command dice, and the mob in particular is very hard to get moving. By turn 3 the Republicans have chipped away at us and now the guns have moved up but aren't activated yet.

By now the Mob are looking a bit threadbare as Napoleon keeps attacking them, and we used them to soak up artillery fire (!). Denikin has reinforced the Royalists and we've bult up a big four dice attack against 12th Chasseurs. 12th Chasseurs are down to two SP after heavy fighting.

And the Chasseurs are routed. That gives us a morale chip, so we are three to the Republicans one now. We've got another big attack lined up but annoyingly the Republican artillery is ready to receive us (that big red marker on the artillery card).

A few more turns fighting and the Mob are gone. Bonaparte is down to 2SP, while we have 4SP left. Morale is even again but if we can rout Bonaparte he is worth 2 morale chips. Sadly the Republicans have a fully loaded gun line (two blocks) which precludes us attacking. 

We do manage to get Bonaparte down to 1SP at the cost of all but 1SP to ourselves. There was a brief moment when we might have pulled it off, but the Republican artillery is up and running again, so Bonaparte attacks resulting in mutual annihilation, but as we are unable to attack in our turn, we lose.

It doesn't get much closer than that, 1SP each.... that was actually really tense and exciting, with lots of decisions each turn. Shame we lost, but it was glorious!

Rocoux 1743

 In the aftermath of COW we were all a bit gamed out, so Tim put on another mid eighteenth century Table Battles game. These generally involve battles I've never even heard of, and this one was no exception, being Rocoux, which took place in 1743. It does feature our old mate Charles of Austria, notable for never winning a battle and this one had a confusing set of participants. Apparently the Austrians were actually Dutch and the Prussians were French in this one, although there were some actual Austrians present under Charles, although they contributed nothing. All something to do with the Pragmatic Alliance I gather.

Anyway, Russell, Jim and I drew the Prussians/French while John and Mark were the Dutch/Austrians. The Dutch were pretty good, being able to mass up command dice and benefitting from 'linked formation' bonuses. The French however had a powerful Grand Battery, and were able to deploy in depth to absorb losses. Our units were also much bigger, typically 6SP vs 4SP.

The Dutch (left above) had two wings, the inert Austrians who acted as a reserve of SP and a rearguard, not yet in action. We also had two wings , our grand battery and the deep columns (which needed a double on them to activate).

The first couple of turns didn't go well, our guns lined up to bombard the enemy, but they kept attacked, forcing them to react and drive the Dutch off again. This quite put us on the back foot.

We started to build up dice on our wings to attack, although unlike the Dutch we could only put one dice per turn on a unit. You can see we've got a blue dice on two of the wing units and doubles on our deep columns.

Meanwhile the Dutch kept up relentless assaults, first using up our 'deep column' reserves (they are down to 1 SP above).

This is very bad, we only start with one morale chit, so we need to kill an enemy unit quickly as if they rout even one of ours, we lose at once.

Then the Dutch pummelled our Left Centre, which was rapidly reduced to 1SP. We just couldn't get the command dice out in sufficient quantity to either activate the guns (they needed a straight 4) or to allow for counterattacks from our own units (they need doubles).

Although we finally got one decent attack lined up on our Left, the Dutch attacked once more, routed our Centre Left and with that the game was over. Total wipeout. We obviously badly mis-played that one as usually these scenarios are much more balanced. In all the excitement we all completely forgot about the option to shift SP from one unit to another, although we were playing so badly I don't think it would have helped.

Having finished in 25 minutes, we set it up and tried again.

This time we tried to be a bit more canny, and largely discounted the artillery. Instead I wanted to work up some local superiority through spoiling attacks so we could get a three SP advantage locally, which in turn would trigger the mighty 'oblique attack' bonus.

Honours a bit more even here, although the Dutch kept attacking furiously. We've got a decent spread of dice, our reserves activated and we are able to keep chipping away at the Dutch right.

When we've taken losses, we've used actions or reaction to shift SP around. Waldecks Centre Left is still at maximum strength about to attack the weakened Dutch Right.

We finally managed to achieve the magic 3SP superiority, and the extra hit bonus routs one of the Dutch units! One morale chip to us, and one off them. 

And its pal soon follows suit! Two morale chips to us. Now the Dutch only have one left. That is more like it!

We have an awful lot of dice on the left, but the Dutch Rearguard is not in action so we can't attack it. It transpired that we had read this wrong, and the Rearguard should have been committed if any of the Dutch right wing units routed. This is slightly frustrating as we have lots of combat dice and nowhere to go. Meanwhile the Dutch keep pounding our right and we are running out of SP to move across.

The Dutch Rearguard is finally in action so we have something tonattack, but our units are all quite weak now.

We give the Rearguard a right kicking and reduce it it 1SP. But then, curses, our Right Wing collapses and the morale advantage swings back to the Dutch (3 vs 1). 

We are so close to wiping out the Rearguard, but it is not to be, and one more devastating Dutch attack takes out our Left and with it our morale collapses.

That was a much better game, and we played the French far more effectively. The Dutch are more straightforward but the French take a certain amount if finesse. We nearly had them there, and I certainly don't mind losing in those circumstances.

These bigger TB games can be a bit hard to manage as there is quite a lot going on. My second monitor has broken, so I can't really see the cards on my small laptop screen, so that is something I need to address fairly quickly and buy a new monitor. 

Soor, 1745

 Charles of Lorraine has another dust up with Frederick of Prussia. This time the Austrians have parked themselves on a great big hill right on the Prussian supply lines. Another mid eighteent century Table Battles game put on by Tim.

Unlike the previous game, this is a stand up fight. Again, tons of stuff lined up and big (6-8SP) units and using the eighteenth century specific additions around linked units, oblique attack and the ability to shift SP between similar unit types.

The tactical wrinkle in this is that the Austrians have possession of the great big hill, faced off by Prussian Genadiers, with Frederick in reserve behind them. The Austrian left is covered by a massed battery and Cuirassiers, in turn faced by some scary Prussian Cuirassiers trying a wide outflanking manouvre. This side of the battlefield is almost independant of the rest. 

The Austrian right is more conventional - both sides have a thick infantry line with cavalry on the flank, although the Austrian Dragoons are singularly useless. The Austrians have a second line in reserve.

I took Charles for this one. The Prussians start with a morale advantage (4 MPs vs 2 MP for the Austrians), so I need to kill some stuff, fast. Fortunately this is easy as both my guns and the guys on the hill can tear huge holes in the Prussians.

John and Pete took the Prussians.

Hard pounding gentlemen! One thing I like in this variant is that there are few limits on how many command dice you can pile onto one unit, so you can mount devastating attacks. I left it a bit too late too withdraw my cavalry on the left though, and they are routed so I lose another morale point. Ouch! That was stupid. Meanwhile my guns are ripping huge bits out of the Prussian Grenadiers. I stupidly tied up two command dice (out of six) on the useless Dragoons, although I did get to play them eventually.

After a few turns, the field is littered with dead. Both sides discovered the use of the 'shift' option, and we frantically shuffled SP along the line to beef up shattered units. By this point I've lost my cavalry AND guns on the left, but have succeeded in routing both the Prussian Grenadiers and Frederick, which is a big morale boost. Most remaining units are down to a couple of SP, apart from the Prussian left wing cavalry. Oh dear.

The Prussians mass for one last huge effort. Along with breaking the enemy morale, the Austrians can win by killing 24 Prussian SP. At this point I've managed to kill 23 Prussian SP, and the Prussian suddenly realised that if they attack, the losses sustained will finish them off.

All I then have to do is make a single attack, which costs me an SP, but more important, tips the Prussians over their 24 SP break point. Another 'win' for Charles! I have precisely 5SP left...

Blimey, that was close, a real nail biter. I completely mismanaged my cavalry, but pulled it back later but moving reinforcements along the line to keep things shored up and prevent a total rout. The Prussians were a bit late to the 'shift' game and I finally managed to kill enough stuff to win.

We swapped sides the following evening and did it again. So this time I was Frederick, and Pete and John played Charles.

I decided to burn my right flank units early on. The Prussian Grenadiers are really good, but the Austrian hill has 8SP so will take repeated assaults to capture. The Austrians responded in kind as their left flank units are also really good.

Well that could have gone better. Although I've routed the Austrian Cuirassiers, I withdrew the Grenadiers before they routed but then the Austrians blew Frederick away in no time. The Austrians have also piled reinforcements into their front line, negating my attacks.

That is more like it, I finally overrun the Austrian artillery, but my centre is looking very shaky.

Bloody Hell! Where have all the Prussians gone? My strongest unit is now my left wing cavalry, who are beating up the Austrian Dragoons.

We both mass for one big final effort, but the Austrians beat me to it and manage to kill 24 SP, just as I'm about to take their last morale point. Another (narrow) win for Charles.

That was also a great game, and I think we are all becoming more familiar with this variant. We even nearly had an oblique attack, but other sectors of the battlefront were more pressing. I'm looking forward to playing more of these, although on current form in future centuries we will be talking about Charles the Great, not Frederick.

 

Hohenfriedburg 1745, and 800th blog post!

 Tim put on another Table Battles game recently, this time covering Hohenfriedburg, which took place in 1745 during the War of Austrian Succession in Silesia. Frederick faced off against Charles of Lorraine, someone with the dubious distinction of never having won a battle. 

There really is a lot going on in this battle, with loads of cards. They cover the various infantry and cavalry wings, as well as the commanders and the advance guards of both armies. 

The main period wrinkle is that units get a defensive benefit if they are 'in line' with appropriate units on each side, there are little markers on the cards showing who they can line up with. Generally this encourages an infantry centre with cavalry wings. There is also an option to conduct an Oblique Attack, but the circumstances didn't arise. 

A major wrinkle is that there is a river between the opposing armies! The action starts with just the cavalry Advanced Guards engaged, and both sides néed to deploy their main forces. Frederick also has to get his guys over the bridge, but fortunately the Austrians are very ponderous. 

Austrians on the right. Hmm, they seem to be winning the deployment battle. The Austrian cavalry (green) is down to 2SP though. These are all big units with five to six SP each, so this is a very bloody battle. 

The Prussians have got three units in line now. They also manage to rout one of the Austrian cavalry wings. Three Prussian morale points to one Austrian. 

The final Austrian units move into line. Mmm, some of the Prussians look a bit ragged. Lets hope they have enough combat power left, they just need to rout one more Austrian unit.

Hard pounding all along the line. We just aren't killing Austrians fast enough.

Disaster! The Austrians put in a series of powerful attacks, sending the Prussians reeling. Prussian morale collapses and the Austrians win!

Looks like Frederick will have to wait a while before being crowned 'The Great'. I'm not sure how we messed that up so badly, didn't pay enough attention to the rates of attrition on various units I think.

Another very clever scenario and the first from the eighteenth century expansion pack we've played. I still couldn't begin to design one of these scenarios, although I've played plenty. 

Ive just realised that this my 800th blog post! Regular readers will have noted something of a pattern emerging. I tend to blog games I've played with other people on Saturday, solo games or modellibg/gaming projects on Tuesday and pictures of toys on Thursday. I've got a huge backlog of modelling posts thanks to my WW2 desert project, and I hope they don't become tedious. I have been doing other things apart from painting sand coloured tanks! 

Edington 878 AD

 Off to the Dark Ages with the Table Battles system. Tim had come across this user created scenario on BGG, covering the climatic encounter between Alfred the Great and Guthrum, the Danish ruler of East Anglia (and Uhtred Ragnusson, for followers of the Last Kingdom novels and TV series!).

This is a really interesting scenario, each side only has three units, two wings of troops and their commander. The commanders can rally their wings  a (very) limited number of times, and allow the allocation of command dice to both wings simultaneously.

The Saxons can form a shield wall, and the Vikings can attack without loss unless the Saxons counterattack. All the actions are controlled by various combinations of command dice, it is much easier to activate Aelfred than Guthrum for example.

It really is a minimal setup, but both sides wings have masses of SP. The leaders are behind. They need the special command blocks on them to do their command magic. Saxons on the left, Danes/Vikings on the right.

Pleasingly, there aren't any restrictions on how many command dice per turn you can place on the combat cards either (apart from the usual ones relating to dice numbers and total number of dice available) - so you can quickly build up strong attacks. The Saxons need dice on both wings  to be able to claim their 'Shield Wall' defensive bonus.

A big effort from the Saxons! Alfred seems to have burnt all his command points though.

Mmm, that could have gone better. We've both lost a wing, but this disadvantages the Saxons as they can't form Shield Wall now.

Everyones front lines have broken, but Alfreds ran first, so Guthrum wins! I guess he won't be converting to Christianity this time then.

We set it up and went again the next evening with sides swapped.

So far much the same.

Hard pounding Gentlemen! The Saxons seem to be doing better in the battle of attrition though, however once again Alfred has committed all his reserves early.

The Danes are fading faster, just.

One Danish wing goes.

And then a Saxon wing.

But Alfred breaks the last of the Danes with SP to spare. Aelfred wins!

That was very quick, so we did it again.

And Aelfred wins again!

That is more in line with the historical result where Guthrum was just outclassed. 

That worked really well and felt very much like a Dark Ages battle, even though it didn't have many moving parts. It reminded me a bit of the board/minis game 'Battle Ravens', which covers similar ground.