Friday, April 3, 2015

Another Minifigs Napoleonic Wargame

       Using my Napoleonic Minifigs, I was wondering if there was a better ruleset than BATTLCRY.  I found COMMAND & COLORS: NAPOLEON rules online and decided to give them a try.  I used the basic rules, without going into the more detailed rules.  For the battleground, ONE HOUR WARGAMES scenario # 26 was chosen: Triple Line. The French Army has invaded British territory. An ad hoc force has assembled to meet the threat.
The British Army is north of the bridge. A Brunswick Jager unit guards the bridge. The British also have three infantry units and 2 cavalry units (made up of Peter Laing figures). The French have 6 infantry, two artillery, and one cavalry units. 

The French forces swarm towards the bridge, and manage to kill one jager.

The jagers kill two French infantry

The French infantry, in their rush to move forward, found they path blocked by the artillery batteries. They then had to fall back to maneuver around the guns.

The French start deploying across the bridge. The French guns on the right force the Highlanders (upper right of picture) to retreat.

The British sends forward some hussars to attack one infantry unit. The infantry unit has no place to retreat to; between the one hit and retreat, it is eliminated. Meanwhile, the jagers fires on the unit on the bridge. They take two hits, and with the inability to retreat, loses another man.

Another view of the same play; I just wanted to show the nice unit of Peter Laing hussars (I bought them already painted.)

The French continue to press forward.

The jagers move out of the way in order to let the Scots Greys to attack.

The Greys destroy the infantry unit.

The French dragoons counterattack against the Scots Greys; they lose one man but holds fast. The artillery shelling the Highlanders push them farther back.

The British cavalry hits the dragoons in the front and flank. The dragoons lose two men; then have to retreat;  but the path is blocked; the dragoons are eliminated.

Meanwhile, the British general orders his infantry forward.

The British make a mistake. After eliminating the dragoons, the British cavalry doesn't advance. This gives the French infantry room to advance.

The leftmost artillery forces the jagers back,the infantry kill  one Scots Grey, and the right gun kills  a hussar.


The French infantry start fanning out. They force the Greys to retreat and eliminates the hussars.

The jagers kill one infantryman, and between the retreat rolls by the jagers and the infantry unit on the top left, the French have nowhere to retreat  and are eliminated.

The French finally finish off the pesky jagers.

The British infantry hits the French column. The Highlanders, looking for redemption after being forced to retreat (twice) hits the French grenadiers hard. The picture shows the results. And once again with no place to retreat, they are eliminated. The French have lost over 50% and must retreat.


The French flee over the bridge.

The last of the Scots Greys rides off into the sunset.

The scenario called for the British to stay in place until they were attacked.  I allowed them to start moving after the second move.  Perhaps the French didn't stand a chance.  I was happy with the landscape; I think I'm moving in the right direction as far as terrain goes.

4 comments:

  1. Yes, they key to this scenario is the fact that the defenders don't move until close to the enemy. The attackers can overwhelm each part of the defensive set-up because they can't support each other properly, but are hard-pressed to do it within the time limit. The defenders must choose between a series of ultimately doomed defensive actions, or falling back on the supports but giving ground to the attackers.

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    1. In the scenario description, it is stated that this was based on the battle of Bladensburg, which I have read several accounts of. I would have been well advised to have followed the scenario. Which, by the way, is actually a good scenario for a solo gamer like me. Perhaps it's worth another go.

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  2. A very interesting little battle ... and I think that your choice to use the C&C:N rules was a very sensible one.

    All the best,

    Bob

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  3. It did seem to be a better fit with Napoleonic figures. I will study the rules for future use. Of course using squares instead of hexes I think worked against the French, limiting the retreat possibilities.

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