Back to the table top with FP2B for what is hopefully the start of the final push to publication. More streamlining has been going on, and more differentiation between unit types (both is possible). Players are currently playing a game where the action stops to discuss whether they are happy with the outcomes and the proposed solutions. In the middle of the current heatwave it is good to go at a slow, measured, pace.
Chris and I had the French, and Phil & Tim the Imperialists for a general encounter battle. One of the big things I wanted to thrash out in this game was passage of lines and cavalry rallying back. The major change from "Tricorn and Bonnet" in this respect is to increase square occupancy to two, subject to certain restrictions.
We opened with a mass cavalry action in the centre, which is always satisfying. Superior French tactics (we were using a supporting rank) meant we drove back the Hanoverian cavalry in some disarray.
The close proximity of their supporting infantry meant they could fall back and shelter behind them. The French cavalry wisely decided not to pursue into the face of their muskets.
We moved up our line to bring on the engagement. We were French. We have elan. Another rule change is that movement in terrain requires a die roll to leave it, rather than faffing about with half squares. Normally its a 50:50 roll to advance. If you fail you can press on but take a disorder marker. Open order troops like light cavalry hussars and open order foot move freely.
Tim charges my dragoons in the woods, which was handy as this was something I wanted to try out. My musketry was ineffective and I got routed.
This is an "after" shot without the "before". The infantry in the foreground have smoke as they've just fired and meleed a cavalry unit which is now in the distance, festooned with hit rings.
An attempt to break the Imperialist centre with a cavalry charge nearly succeeds, but Chris' general falls in the combat.
As they fail to break the infantry, the cavalry rally back behind their supports. The infantry then close and open fire.
Our attempt to break through with our infantry in the centre is frustrated by a counter attack from Tim, which drives us back.
Tim has another go with some fresh cavalry at our end of the table. He is held, but the infantry are in a bad way.
Alongside that melee our infantry advance, pressing the Imperialist centre hard.
It looks like we have a breakthrough as we break the red-coated Hanoverians, seen fleeing top centre, but Tim holds us up with a volley from his infantry.
I perform a passage of lines to get my shaky infantry out of the way and insert afresh battalion into the conflict. Alas the troops repay me by rolling four 1s. That's a 1 in 1,296 chance. Luckily despite losing the melee because of this roll they hold on by passing the morale test and "bounce" the cavalry.
End state, and it hangs in the balance. Most of the changes worked well, and I identified some more things I need to do. Some tidying up will happen when I write things down fully, rather than rely upon the QRS.
I hope to get another game in with these later in the week, so good progress being made.
You are fortunate to have players who throw out situations such that the rules can be exercised fully. Good progress, indeed!
ReplyDeleteYou could say that. Sometimes I think they just want to irritate me.
DeleteSeems I missed the earlier posts on the FP2B game system (though I recall enjoying your earlier WSS accounts). I see that you have made the same modification to the Airfix French cuirassiers that I have - tricorn hats - and they do look good! The look of your battles makes me rather wish I had gone down that track with my own WSS figures. Mind you, I did design my 36-figure infantry to be splittable into 18-figure battalions...
ReplyDeleteThe Allied attacks on the flanking villages of Blenheim and Oberglau I have always understood were intended to write down their garrisons, freeing up the decisive blow to be dealt without any fear of incoming from the flanks. To achieve that, such attacks would have had to be - at least to look - meaningful. It must have worked at Blenheim village, to have induced the local commander to pack more troops into the place...
Cheers,
Ion
There is a "From Pike to Bayonet" label you can select on the right hand side. It'll bring up most, but possibly not all, of the posts on the subject. It has been on and off for over a decade I'd guess, if you include the "Va t'en guerre" earlier games. I've never been able to scope the project correctly, which is why "Tricorn and Bonnet" got published as a standalone. Now the imponderable is whether it includes the Ottomans.
DeleteThose cuirassiers are so delightfully bland as figures that they can be what you want them to be with not a lot of work. My WSS units are what they are because I was talked into playing WRG 1685+ rules in my first term at Uni and needed an army. That's over 40 years ago and they keep coming back to the table. Probably the best value army I own. I would point at that 36 figures is 3 x 12 if you're not too fussy about flags and stuff, so you are well on the way. In practice the bases are rarely removed from play, just marked as hit. What that means is the infantry units effectively have 3 strength points, and as long as you know how many SPs a unit has it doesn't matter how many figures it has or the basing as long as it fits in the square size you are using.
The Blenheim village fighting is something that I need to look at again as I don't know I've ever got it completely right. There should probably be a rule that as soon as a French unit moves into a village it catches fire.