Now, with two villages!

Another WSS playtest, refining the approach to linear fighting and moving through difficult terrain. Main changes were to factors to encourage British type troops to close and fire at very short range, and for French to charge home "A Prest".  Jon and Richard were online, Tim provided in-Shed support.

The slightly stronger Anglo-Imperial force to the left must capture the two villages, and pin the Franco-Bavarians in place. I pushed plastic for Richard, and Tim partnered Jon.

Traditional opening move with the Austrians. The guns did hit a target. The infantry push quickly through the wooded hills, taking Disorder to move faster.

Richard moves the left hand cavalry brigade up to the marshy stream. I hold back a bit.

The French form up at the edge of the marsh, looking to fight us as we struggle out of it.

We respond by moving all our chaps up too. Over at the right hand end, I'm forced to mask one of my guns as my infantry advance.

My horse push across the stream. Tim holds steady, and greets me with a barrage of pistol shot, before breaking my men in hand to hand combat. That was unexpected. Pistol armed cavalry that don't charge are the future.

Richard moves his infantry into the marshy ground, then halts to start a firefight. His cavalry tentatively start to negotiate the marsh. 

A firefight breaks out on our right.

Despite losing a unit to rout, the rest of my cavalry push home the attack, and drive the Bavarians back from the stream/marsh.

My Austrians are trying to shoot their way across the marsh, but having started firing, I can't make them move now.

Jon orders his men to charge out of the marsh, and succeeds in pushing back our extreme left hand units. His other battalion won't move.

As the cavalry melees go on, one of my units is forced to fall back.

The fight on the left gets brutal, and stalls in place. Next to that, however, the ersatz grenadier battalion storms across the marshy stream, breaking their opponents.

It's a different matter with the Austrian cavalry, two units of which have been broken, whilst the others have been forced to fall back.

So...we have both made holes in the middle, and have captured the village on the left. The fighting in the wooded area on the right has bogged down into a messy firefight.

Tim charges in and we have a cuirassier v cuirassier clash. I lose.

That was about it for the evening. Hard fought and in the balance for the evening, it turns out as a draw. 

The game went well enough. Still things to think about. I need to find time to sit down and work through all the facing permutations that arise from using the squares, and decide what I want to see. Other than that, a really pleasant evening passed in good company.