Happy Blucher Year!

After an extended hiatus there will be a couple of posts to document what has been happening. Last year was my poorest year in nearly two decades for painting and modelling but, as usual, the Xmas hols have ushered in more gaming, painting and modelling.

The year of 2019 has started with a rush of Napoleonic enthusiasm. This was enabled by a greater desire within the club to play the 'Blucher' rules (by the much admired Sam Mustafa) which I rather enjoy. This has undergone a resurgence - but I must admit to tweaking the rules a little here and there to suit club tastes.

In any case the bulk of this post will deal with a game from the 22/1/19 which matched two historical forces (more on that later) against one another.

All players enjoyed the game and found it challenging. The French were attacking but that did not stop the Russians from advancing strongly on their right flank. While this seemed to be bearing fruit for much of the game it finally - perhaps - was one factor in their defeat.

As usual when playing Russians in Blucher - their artillery was a serious threat - but on this occasion it was devastating. The Tsar's commander - Mikael - was blessed by an entire host of angels and threw six after six decimating the French as they advanced. Not only this but when rolling command dice he was as cruel as the Russian winter itself by only doling out the minimum of pips to the French. This has a crippling effect of the French attacks but with some harsh decisions - the French corps commanders drove their main attack relentlessly until it finally achieved its appointed goal.

I modelled the battlefield on Borodino – just to the south of the Raevski redoubt (didn’t put the redoubt on) – but increased the amount of woodland and added a road through. This created an open section of the battlefield and a wooded area the French could drive an attack through (or a Russian counter attack just as easily.)

I had previously made up several pairs of army lists based on the actual divisions in the Borodino battle and who their opponents were on the day. Each army was 200 points and gave each side elements that they liked but not everything that they wanted. (I’ll attach the lists later if any are interested.) I also made cards that afternoon to use which you can see pictured as simple plain white squares. The cards showed which historical unit was present. 

The Russians – being the defender – deployed first. The French then decided to employ an attack using three divisions – the 10^th, 11^th and 25^th – through the roads in the wooded area of the board – hoping to shield themselves from the combined artillery of the Russians. The remaining division and cavalry reserve would guard the objective and look for ways of supporting the main attack.

The French attack on the right. 

As it was the Russians attacked. They came marching with one division across the table to flank the French and take the objective. This was supported by another division which marched up the middle of the table. Three Russian batteries would aid this attack and cause havoc among the French. This attack seemed to be working very well for much of the battle. It forced the French to funnel more and more men in to stem the attack. 

The Russian counter attack on the French left. 

 It caused one French division – the 10^th – to split it’s forces to support the centre which looked like being surrounded. These relieving troops has to struggle through a dense wood but arrived to pour fire into the Russian centre and halt it’s advance. This took pressure off the French force holding their objective but as these units had been badly damaged by cannon fire the cavalry reserve was also turned to ward off the flank assault. 

The Russian centre pressing the French objective. It has just begun to turn a unit to face the French troops approaching through the wood.

The French main attack on the right - looking toward one Russian objective and the dreadful heavy battery that would cause so much damage. (At this time the French have already lost a unit to its fire.)

On their way into position an elite French infantry unit was entirely destroyed by Russian heavy artillery. The same battery also drove off a French battery (who hadn’t fired a shot) and put another two hits onto yet another infantry unit. It seemed like this Russian heavy battery had laser guidance. 

The French cavalry movement was countered by the Russians. Their cavalry reserve rode around the flank – via a reserve move which took advantage of the hills and intervening friendly troops.

Now both cavalry forces stared at each other waiting for one to flinch. (This is just drama really ... it didn't take too long.)

 The presence of the French cavalry forced the Russian infantry into prepared formation thus halting or slowing their advance – further protecting the centre. The French cavalry were then the first to engage as they launched a series of charges into the outnumbered Russian cavalry and into the infantry that still struggled to move against the heavily damaged French centre. The result of these attacks drove the Russian cavalry back and destroyed a Russian unit. By this time the Russian guns were low on ammunition and the French guns – dragged into canister range – and musketry finally began to take a toll on their foes weakening and even destroying one jaeger unit. 

What pretty pink fellows!

The French flank was defended in force. 

Note that for some reason a mobile phone tower resembling a foam beer cooler was installed on Napoleon's order ... only to be quickly dismantled. (This is what we were using to keep the MO dice secret.) 

The cavalry clash ... 

The Russian infantry would here take terrible losses as the French had done for much of the battle as they stood guarding the objective being raked by accurate Russian artillery fire.

This was now late in the battle and events now turn to elsewhere …

The Russian centre was also in a precarious position. With infantry to their front and flank and a battery in canister range it had nowhere to turn. When a unit of Chasseur a Cheval from the 10^th division struggled free of the woods and began to move around their flank it seemed like disaster would follow. However, with all of the Russian units engaged (save one entire division which sat unrevealed throughout the entire battle) a free passage had opened onto the objective. The French horsemen simply rode toward the objective while the Russian batteries (very low of ammunition) breathed a sigh of relief that the cavalry did not decide to ride them down. 

Back on the French right ... the infantry collided ... the objective was open if they could just take those last couple of units. The French would take revenge from those horrid cannonades with the bayonet. 

French infantry units had marched through the woods into flanking positions or to enable multple units to charge Russian defenders. These now attacked the Russians – some of whom were weakened by French skirmishing (some of their units also had attached artillery batteries to make their fire more deadly.)

At this late stage French infantry in this part of the battlefield charged repeatedly. Over 2-3 turns the Russians lost 2 more units to almost reach their break point. Equally decisive was that the French had units in positions to take both objectives. The Russian division that was in reserve could have entered the battle to contest one but not both. As it was around 11 pm the Russians decided to call off their attack and relinquish the objectives before further damage was done. 

For most of the battle the outlook for the French seemed very bleak but the commanders adhered to their plan and finally gained the position they had long strived to obtain. This battlefield position enabled them to threaten Russian flanks, place multiple units against single attackers and pierce gaps in the Russian line. The French army was bloody - very bloody in places - and with 2 units lost but it had obtained a very hard fought victory. Vive L'Empereur! 

Grafted Dark Age Rules Bear Fruit

This week I finally sat down and put my thoughts to paper. These particular thoughts were about Dux Britanniarum. I like the rules and love the period but I have almost wanted to simplify the rules somewhat. Likewise I really enjoy Lion Rampant but have wanted to complicate the rules somewhat to give more command decisions and control.

So ... I did it and managed to hoodwink 3 gentlemen into sharing a game with me.

To my surprise everyone had fun and would play the rules again. A couple of parts to sand smooth but I have a working set of Dark Age rules that work.

Each unit had eight figures or skirmishers with six. In my mind this isn't eight or six people but represents a unit of maybe 50 or 100? I haven't a firm figure in mind.

The game we played was back to my old tricks ... Eric Bloodaxe and his northern warriors battling the men from Wessex under Athelstan. It was the men from Wessex who drove the invaders back to Jorvik with many fewer warriors than they marched south with.

Above, the battlefield while below monks hard at work consecrating a pagan monument. 

The Viking King advances down the flank. 

The shieldwall of the Wessex men. 

The above shows the entire battle from the perspective of Eric Bloodaxe on the Viking far left flank. 

Both armies had selected a flanking attack. The Danes rushed forward while the Saxons held back using the spaces between woods and marshes as defensible areas. 

Above shows the Saxon king rounding the wood and readying his men to charge the Danes flank. 

The Danes advanced toward the Saxons but a marsh cut the field in two. A small amount of shock began to accumulate due to slings and javelins launched from the wood. 

And then the grass miraculously changed colour ... then changed back. 

Above and below the forces of the Saxon king begin to appear around the wood. On their way they chased off the skirmishers who tried to slow their approach. 

The above also shows a possible problem. The Viking unit charged and caught the skirmishers. I ruled that this would halt their movement as they killed the skirmishers. This meant the Vikings were halted but inches from a shieldwall. In the subsequent phase this charged and inflicted many points of shock. I should have let the Viking unit come on straight into the Saxons and just rule the skirmishers had run off. 

On the other side of the battlefield the Viking king urged his warriors to charge the shieldwall. It was only manned by levy fyrdsmen. 

In the centre elite troops from both sides did battle. Shock mounted on the Viking. 

And then the Saxons charged the Viking flank. 

Athelstan's men smashed another Viking unit then began to advance again. 

Morale is lost in my rules for every reverse ... a defeat in combat, more shock than men, nobles wounded or killed and units routed. Makes for a quicker game. 

These couple of images show the hammer swinging onto the anvil. The Saxon flank attack is in position. Also positioned well to cause damage are some skirmishers in the woods and the below images show the shock building on the depleted huscarl unit. It valiantly charged a shieldwall but lost out in the end. 

The enormous hand is pointing to the Viking attack on their left. Finally into position they charged the Saxon fyrd in shieldwall. These held out well but over two turns of combat shock mounted. 

What can men do against such turns of fortune?

The battle nearing the end above. The Vikings were caught and pressured. Warriors started to slip away despite the cries from their jarls. Perhaps only the gods could help but even these stayed silent. 

The Saxon king Athelstan's command resplendent with banners of their victorious god. 

This vicious struggle continued to the end. 

In the final moments the Vikings gained a victory on the left as a fyrd unit broke. However, the other fell back and formed a new shieldwall with the reserve warrior unit. 

As started in the intro, the game had been a success attained through a simple system with lots of flavour from the Dux cards. We started with five cards per side and each noble could purchase a card and/or discard and draw at the end of his activation. This worked well. I added the Bibamus and Portent cards (2 or each) to the deck as well. These supply additional period flavour - I added the rule if you forced an enemy unit to charge then this would count as a Ferocious Charge to offset being able to break up someone's shieldwall. This forced charge may prove to be too powerful but more playtesting is needed. Another thing I need to make clearer is when to allow rallying of shock - especially in a prolonged combat over two turns. 

But any tweaks appear small at the moment although only one game has been played and this was not a scenario but a straight up fight. More will be needed. Overall, the rules are essentially Dux with changes to formation and movement - I removed the dice for movement and instead went with a 4" move per action - slower for shieldwall. I left that a player could roll 3d6 under certain circumstances but the unit was bound to move the full roll of the dice whether beneficial or not. Also I changed the shieldwall rules to raise the cover level by one - so warriors and levy in shieldwall defend as if in light cover - while elites always count as light cover but rise to heavy cover if in shieldwall. Will need to divide combat dice between different quality units before rolling to hit. 

Command choices make for the best games - or at least that's what our little group currently concurs upon - and this is what I tried to supply.