Lasalle 2nd Battle Report

After a long break, Lasalle 2nd was back on the menu. My friend, Ian, loves these rules as they focus line, square or column - traditional of an old rule set like WRG. I very much like Lasalle especially the command system and the interrupt-able order sequence. It only represents a division scale 'battle' with some higher reserve support as chosen by the player. 

We played Scenario 6: The Battle of Noordkerk. It was Austrians vs French at 300 points - the larger size for a Lasalle battle. We normally play the smaller size. A central line of hills - with a ridgeline (we don't normally use ridge rules in any game) - dominated the battlefield. Both players placed a forest cutting down on flanking movements. 

The French deployed 3 of 4 brigades while the Austrians - for reasons best known to themselves - left 2 of 4 brigades off table. Off had to be a reserve as it was a cuirassier brigade and counted as a reserve formation not under divisional command (as represented by this scale of rules.) 

The French started by moving their light cavalry brigade off to the right. I would have liked to continue this attack but Scenario 6 uses the double time rule which hastens the arrival of reserves. With this in mind I didn't want to be caught by any Austrian cuirassiers. At best, I hoped to draw away some Austrians from the centre giving me better odds in the middle. 

Both sides approached the ridgeline at top speed. Then the delay occurred when each player was tentative in actually coming over the ridge. This was due to the interrupt-able nature of the rules. When moving close (4BW) of the enemy - or carrying out just about any order with troops at this range - the opponent may interrupt. 

Each player was a little cagey in coming over the ridge to open themselves to an interrupt which would mean facing a volley or a charge. I was forgetting that musketry in Lasalle doesn't seem too effective with most troops needing a 4+ then another 4+ to lead to an enemy disruption. 

It didn't take too long - due to the 'At the Double' rule - for the reserves to start arriving. 

 

The French were the first over the ridge with a light cavalry charge into a square and also infantry. In the background the cuirassiers were here but - due to the forest at each end of the line - the actual combat zone was limited in size as the heavy cavalry had to just look threatening from behind. 

(Although, I did get a rule wrong and they could have charged a French unit whose front was just beyond a town terrain base. Cavalry cannot enter towns but could hit parts of units extending beyond terrain. Bad me ... then again ...  I can't get it right everytime!) 

On the other side, goaded by the French attack, the Austrians surged over the ridge. This lead to some inconclusive French fire (frustrating - especially as I had retained one battalion in line to increase its rate of fire.) The Austrian charge was also inconclusive but what followed was a glorious French charge. 

Well ... not really. 

In Lasalle 2nd the advantage is ALL with the attacker. Very little damage can be suffered when attacking - a single disruption I believe - but the defender may break entirely if their combat score is bettered by 3 or more. This means a entirely fresh unit may simply vanish if they roll a two and the attacker rolls a five (assuming unit strength scores are even - which they often are.) One of my French light cavalry regiments totally 'popped' earlier in the game. 

This time two Austrian battalions (or was it three?) also 'popped'! These battalions - all except one - were basically fresh. This 'glorious' (translate to 'lucky' attack - although I had done some musketry damage and a disruption or two in defence the combination of which gave me a slight edge) lead to this flank looking very good for the French. An Austrian reserve infantry brigade had just arrived on this side but if I could mop up another Austrian battalion or two, before the reserves were in position, victory would be French!

By this time it was 10:30 and time to pack away. Lasalle had not given us a clear victor but it looked likely the French might win. They held the objective (the town of Noordkerk) and were ahead on unit loses by 2 or 3 units. However, another series of charges could see just about anything happen. This is my only concern with the rules. I like more incremental losses as Mustafa recreates extremely well in Blucher. That game represents the attritional losses of huge formations grinding each other down - a concept which suits very well my understanding of large scale Napoleonic warfare. It would be an easy change to bring something like this into Lasalle 2nd - but it might make the game a bit long for our normal worknight gaming evenings. I'm not sure. I don't think I'll be using the Huzzah special rule anytime soon as combat already appears devastating enough. I would like to introduce the advanced rules for skirmishing but again, I worry about time added. 

Finally, would I play it again (I've already played Lasalle 2nd about 10 times) ... absolutely. Would I change the rules yet. No. I'd like a few more games in successive weekly games before I'd move to house rule anything. You must give the rules a chance under varied circumstances before springing to any judgement. 

The Gauls Return

With the advent of ADLG - as the dominant ancient rules - armies do not demand the same number of miniatures they once did. With this in mind. I decided to get my Gauls back on the table. This was the first army I collected for ancients. I never used it very often and, when I did, it never performed very well. As it would cost me nothing (almost nothing I purchased new bases), I retouched the paint and rebased by Gauls. 

This is certainly not my best work with the brush, but I'm pleased with the mass effect and will only use the army on occasion. So, it works for me!

Most miniatures are Old Glory 15s with a smattering of Museum and Irregular thrown in. Some were truly horrible sculpts and many of these were thrown away - but I did keep one or two and sneak them in across the army. 

I've six bases of cavalry, two of light cavalry, seven light foot (jav and slingers) and - the meat and potatoes - fourteen bases of heavy foot. So far, I've done 2 generals in chariots with one more on the painting desk. 

I do like the irregular, surging effect created by the mixed poses. It portrays a seething mass of humanity ready to charge forward. 

Above is the shot from my drone. 

The big cock at the back is my camp. In most ancients games, a camp is required and with the symbol of France being a rooster ... what better than a giant cock to waggle at your foes! 

My thanks to my friend, Mick B, who gave me this miniature some years ago. It is Corvus Belli's Boudicca. She'll be my 2nd in command. 

I only have 8 bases of medium infantry Gaesati to paint - that's only 24 miniatures. This will give me the earlier option of medium elite infantry for ADLG. I believe this is the better option. My current version is the later solduri option with two bases of heavy elite swordsmen with armour. ATM, I intend to use my cavalry to support the main line almost from the back - plugging gaps and looking for a flank to exploit. As the heavy foot are all impetuous, I view this as the only part of the force I can actually control with any certainty.