Lasalle 2 ... Game 2

 These images are out of sync ... as this game occurred before the last post. 

It was a French victory of the highest order. A quick thrust on the right started to roll up the Austrian line and the cavalry poured through the middle causing significant pain. The cavalry eventually pierced the line and began attacking flanks ... it was all over. The Austrians never got their attack going in time. 

Lasalle 2 seems to be much about claiming the initiative and not letting go. Having lots of MO helps too! 

I played the 'On to Brussels' song a lot ... an annoying amount really. It was great. 

Lasalle 2 ... The Learning Curve Continues

Today was my third game of Lasalle 2 with my good friend Austrian Ian. The French had a emphatic victory in the last game ... and I promised myself that I wouldn't use the same tactic of running the cav down the middle again. What a shame - it was the tactic to use and the French tasted defeat. 

Simple rule ... play the game that is in front of you. 

We played 250 points and both of us changed our armies. I was keen to put my Young Guard brigade on the table and hope the two batteries it could take would help me. Ian chose more cavalry and maxed out his good skirmishing troops in the avant guard - Jaeger and Grenz. This would aid in addressing the skirmish imbalance. 

Above my two chasseur (yep, one is dragoons preteneding to be chasseurs. I rushed these to the right flank to stop the large Austrian cavalry advance. They achieved nothing - not even a charge. 

In the centre the French stretched a brigade a little too thinly - I think in retrospect. I'm not sure Lasalle 2 has managed to adequately respond to the criticism laid against the original - that lines are not strong enough when confronted by attack columns. 

I tried to put my infantry in line and use the firepower this gave me to put disruption on the enemy. In Lasalle 2 the enemy closes to 4 BW away then slow down drastically. If timed well, the defenders can release a volley into the advancing troops (hopefully) weakening them. At the moment this is largely theory as - from what we have seen - attack columns that press straight on and charge can break the enemy. The advantage is with the attacker. 

My other mistake was spreading my Young Guard too thin. I allowed one battalion and a battery to pass beyond the 4 BW needed to retain coherency of the force. This meant a drain on my MO - the points generated at the beginning of each turn and spent to move, shoot, charge ... everything. 

Above the Austrian fell back before the YG advance leading to an outflanking opportunity I had to respond to. 

In the centre a unit of Jaeger performed well against the combined guns and volleys. 

A trouble spot for the French. Above, two battalions of Austrians press through the wheat field against a line. My shooting proved poor and I failed to break the Austrian Grenz in the centre. These rallied then participated in a 2-on-1 combat breaking the French line. 

Successful Austrian combats decided the day. A plentiful supply of sixes saw 3 French battalions broken while a failed artillery withdrawal roll consigned a battery to the broken box. This handed the game to the Austrians in quite quick time. 

Above the chevau-leger, left, had broken the guns then stood there until game end. This right was a stalemate but drew in significant French forces. I saw four cavalry regiments descending on my wing and reinforced it. Was this right? Probably not but it seemed logical at the time. In reflection, I think my army was too spread out leaving 7 French battalion to take on 9-10 Austrian. With this advantage (and several rounds of poor French shooting and constant good Austrian combat dice) the Austrians could press home several charges with the outnumber advantage. 

In all I really like Lasalle 2 and want to like it even more. One thing has worried me since game 1 ... combat is very 'swingy.' The D6 roll added to the unit strength is a VERY significant random factor. This is emphasised by an attacker who beats a defender by 3 or more - breaks the defender. The advantage is with the attacker. (The huzzah rule would increase this by giving the attacker bonuses for breaking a defender AFTER it has happened.) Roll well in combat and your unit strength doesn't matter too much. Even a full strength defender breaks if they roll a 2 and a attackers (on the same strength) rolled a 5. Also, is the line formation worth it? Not sure yet - but it doesn't look good. 

We still got some rules wrong - parts of the skirmish rule and we forgot shaken altogether. Maybe we forgot shaken as we aren't using unit cards - just two types of dice for temp and perm disruptions. The Elite guard troops were very tough but didn't shoot or fight any better than anyone else - they were just harder to injure. My next experiment will feature some conscript in larger numbers to press home the massed attack column advantage. 

But ... I really want lines to work as a realistic choice. I'm going to try Ordre Mixte and keep battalion with flanks in contact to reduce an attackers ability to gain the outnumber bonus. Lots of things yet to figure out about this tactically demanding rules set which gives the players lots of choices. 

Will it replace Blucher as my favourite rules for Napoleonics ... atm I don't think so ... but it is a clear 2nd thus far. Then again, I think VERY highly of Sam Mustafa rules. 

 

Lasalle 2 A First Look

Last evening Ian and I ran through our first game of Lasalle 2. We decided to use the introductory scenario the Battle of Eselbach - this especially suited us with our French and Austrian armies. We played very slowly to get to grips with the rules as - being a standard Mustafa rules set - there are many novelties which are easy to understand but take a little getting used to. To this point our 'go to' rules have been Blucher - also by Mr Mustafa. 

We only used the basic rules and both very much enjoyed the game. The MO system is excellent and we found the skirmishing system, while abstract, produced a very logical and historical effect. (I still would like to use all those skirmish bases I painted up for Lasalle 1 and General de Brigade!) The French grabbed the initiative in most turns due to their superior skirmish values and usually had a few more MO to change formation or rally in the later stages of the turn. 

We also enjoyed the appearance and gaming choices of the having a full range of formations to choose from - march, mass, line and square. I still need to figure out when line would be most useful. Above I decided to put two battalions into line. This worked but only due to good defence rolls when the Austrians charged. I did find the combat quite variable with the D6 roll being a very large factor which decides the combat. The attacker has a safety margin but leaves themselves in danger of volley fire afterwards or a counter charge once the opponent interrupts. My French were able to stand up to the charges and pour murderous fire onto the Austrian columns in reply. Further on that right flank the two Austrian charges broke two fresh units with disparate dice rolls - high Austrian and low French. We were both shocked by the instant evaporation of two units. 

Disruptions also takes a little while to figure out. Disruptions are suffered by are only permanent if not rallied. We needed to have two types of markers on each affected unit to mark these different types of hits. At the moment, both Ian and I are resisting moving to unit cards - suggested by the rules. 

Artillery is also quite surprising. The shot just keeps on going - up to 96 cm - meaning a bit of time was spent trying to determine the path of the bouncing cannon ball - especially those fired at an angle across the table. Rallying can take care of early hits but any not rallied at the first attempt become permanent deductions from the elan (hit points) of a unit. Of course, a commander also needs to MO to rally hits from forces too. Early cannon fire might be a way to soak up some of your opponents MO. 

I did find myself constantly checking what were global or force orders and which orders gave the opponent the opportunity to interrupt. I might make a little list of page references or book marks to help me find this quickly. I do like that Lasalle 2 has made garrisoning a little harder than other rules as nearby enemy can prevent a garrison move taking place. This was prevented in our game as can be seen above. Four Austrian battalions were not able to enter the fight - which may well have been costly as the game was taken by the French - 2 units to 4. 

I eagerly await my next Lasalle 2 game - possibly increasing to 4 brigades and making those MO a little move precious (which I look forward to as I love a wargame that presents simple but challenging command choices.) 

 

New Year Wizard, Zombies and an Idol

Amid two beach/pool holidays, the Xmas break has seen ‘some’ painting – just not very much. 

I dusted off some more old GW zombies and repainted these. I wanted to paint people who had died from various causes, like a virulent disease that discoloured the skin. Hence, I did olive, grey and yellow zombies.

Next came a Reaper Bones wizard. The result was very pleasing using shades of blue. I wanted to create a weather wizard and think it turned out well. I have no idea what game he will appear in … probably Mord.

Finally, another Reaper Bones model … the Fertility Idol. This will be used in Congo or IHMN games even though she is clearly based off European Neolithic figurines rather than African ones. Oh well, who worries about this sort of thing except me. She’ll be a great basis for a game … I’m sure some muzungu will end up being captured and potentially sacrificed before her.

 

A Return to 'In Her Majesties Name" (1st ed)

 Our first game of the year was ... IHMN. I really couldn't think of anything else to play as I was quite distracted and needed something light, fun and with little reading (to remind me of the rules.) 

My good friend Michael and I fumbled our way through a scenario. Usually we play with 4-6 players with IHMN so having a 1v1 game was a novelty. I chose a scenario from the book which involved killing the opposing leader. 

My company was the cult of Akhenaton and Mick chose 'Abdullah's Slaving Bastard's' - a company of my own concoction. 

The cult ran across the table shouting obsequies to their God and master. They braved the hail of bullets sent by the slavers trying to use the temple pillars for cover. Several fell but it was not the slavers night as dice deserted them and the cultists faith was rewarded. Abdullah fell to the poisoned blades of Sairah - the femme fatale assassin. 

Above Al-Hurun wields his wickedly sharp tulwar slashing at Akhenaton. 

Even the frenzied efforts of Al-Hurun (swordsman extraordinary) could not defeat the risen Pharaoh. Above shows Nectanebo the mummy trying to strangle a Baluchistan warrior with help from cultist Bedlam Bob.

Mongo ... derranged jungle horror!

 From the depths of the jungle comes a force feared by even the cannibals of the M'Bopo river ... Mongo!

A brute reared by malign ju-ju, incest and feasting upon living flesh, Mongo ravages all who comes within his path and sight ... a primeval missile to be aligned and launched to whatever enemy. 

Fed by sucking the marrow from bones or enviscerating a freshly supplied corpse ... Mongo always hungers after new flesh. But if his fearful hunger is not met ... 

... woe to those who awoke this savage. 

Weird Expansion

 My reading has remained fixed on the subject of weird fiction. I find the genre very enjoyable - although a little hit and miss - perhaps due to the nature of the writing (ie: to fit into a regular magazine with a fixed audience.) 

Of all, Lovecraft and Smith I enjoy the most with Howard producing some fine tales ... many of which almost leave the horror genre and become action stories. Howard did revisit stories several times, this includes ideas or themes, but these did get better (I'm thinking about the development of the degenerate underground race best illustrated in 'Worms of the Earth.) I can detect Machen's view of fairy creatures here. 

I'm looking forward to reading the critical analysis of Joshi and the horror fiction of Bloch (I would like to read more of his stories later - I've listen to a few and very much enjoy his style and humour.) I have also found Blackwood to be excellent - but due to his writing in an earlier period style, a modern reader needs to persevere.