Playtest Moor, the moment of crisis

After four turns, the moment of crisis has arrived. While the battle is far from over, all reserves have committed. From this point on it's pretty much dice rolling.

This is the center, and as predicted this bloody scrum looks like it will determine the fate of the battle. The French skirmish screen has melted away. The French Brigade column has driven away the battered Austrian battalion before it, but now it must face a regiment of hussars. If it cannot stand a cavalry charge, the French heavy artillery behind it is vulnerable. Meanwhile, the French brigade on the other side of the river may finally see some action, but it looks unlikely to bring its full strength into battle.


Here on the French left, things have not changed much. The Austrian squares are taking a pounding, but reducing them is taking a long time.


On the French right, the Austrians have crossed the river. Another regiment of hussars has charged the Bavarian battalion left to guard the flank. Despite a devastating volley, the charge hit home (no time to form square). However, the hussars pursued their hapless foes, and they will be along time recovering. The French artillery on this flank has been pretty much taken out by a screen of jaegers who seem immune to cannister fire. The lead Austrian battalion was cut up pretty bad by the defenders, but now both sides are in a position to launch their attack columns. It will be a good test of brigade columns vs multiple assault columns.


Some rules tweaks are definitely in order. Hits on dense formations are easier to obtain, but they need to do more damage. While I wrote rules for multiple combatants, I need to add something for units behind a charge. Can cavalry behind a screen of infantry countercharge, or do they need to wait until the next turn.

I'm finding the combat system to be a grindfest up to a point, but once units lose a stand and/or go shaken, things go downhill very rapidly. I think I'll need another game to decide whether I like that or not.

Playtest Moor, the early turns

The first two turns are complete. I'm happy with how quickly my rules play, and thus far, they seem to simulate Napoleonic battlefield conditions with the right "feel." I tend to subconsciously favor my own side when I play solo, but this has been anything but a walkover for the French. Depending on the next few turns, les Francais may have to slink off with their tails between their legs.

So on to the story of the battle. On the French left, things unfolded pretty much as expected. The forward Austrian battalions went into square at the first sight of the French cavalry. The French, with their advantage in artillery, proceeded to pound the Austrian squares. Progress is slow, however, and the French may have to risk a charge before the squares are thoroughly reduced. Then there is that second line of Austrian defense which will also have to be taken out. If one Austrian infantry brigade winds up holding off two brigades of French cavalry, it will be a major victory for the Austrians.


Hoo, man. This is where the battlefield gets messy. The French line is split by a river. One French Brigade is left on one bank of the river, facing a skeleton force of Austrian infantry, while the other brigade got hammered by a few fierce volleys from the Austrian jaegers. The Austrians, sensing weakness, launched their forward line in a charge. The French held on better than expected, bloodying some of those distinctive Hapsburg noses, but they are not likely to last another turn. The French are frantically trying to wheel their assault column into position for a counterattack, but if they do not win initiative next turn, they might get smacked in teh flank. Even if they do smash through the remnants of the Austrian charge, they will have to face off against an equal number of landwehr and a regiment of hussars.

Below is the lonely French brigade stranded across the river. Crossing will put them into disorder for an Austrian counter-attack, and maneuvering into road column in order to cross at the ford might make them too late to help their buddies.

The Bavarians threw two battalions into line to cover the rest of the brigade from moving up to the main central melee. The Austrians, sensing weakness, throw four line battalions and some hussars across the river. If those two line battalions do not put up a good showing, the entire French right is doomed!

(Man this is way more exciting than I thought)

The First Battle of Playtest Moor: Deployment

Now that I have a substantial number of 10mm Napoleonics painted, I'm ready to try out the rules I wrote in a preliminary playtest battle (not yet ready for human consumption).

On the French side, I have three infantry brigades in a strong division with supporting artillery. One of the brigades consists of Bavarians. I've always had a soft spot for Bavarians, so it is with regret that I rated them "inferior" for this battle. The French also have two brigades of cavalry, one of chevaux-legeres and one of dragoons.

The Austrians have three strong infantry brigades. Two of them have a high proportion of landwehr troops. All have supporting cavalry and artillery, making each a well-balanced force. The Austrians also have a small brigade of dragoons.

I assigned each brigade on each side a sequantial playing card, red for French and black for Austrians.

As always, click the photos to see the bits that Blogspot cropped off for your protection.

From De nerdibus

Then I placed five sequential red cards (the Ace through five of diamonds) face up on the French edge of the board (I'm playing for the French side). Then placed six sequential black cards (the Ace through six of clubs) face down on the board on the Austrian edge. In other words, two of the Austrian 'brigades' were dummies which I would not find until they came within 12" of one of my cards.

From De nerdibus

Each side alternated moving cards. There were no terrain limits, and a player could elect to move the same card on consecutive turns. When cards came within 12" of each other, both were revealed. The moving player deployed the brigade in question first, followed by the other player. If the Austrians revealed a dummy, the French still had to deploy.

Here is the situation after the first four brigades have been revealed. The Austrian Dragoons wound up in the center, facing some French infantry on the far bank of a shallow river. Two other infantry brigades face each other across an important crossroads.

From De nerdibus

Here is the situation at the end of deployment. The French right looks particularly weak, as the Bavarians were revealed far from the action, so they were strung out in a road column. However, since the Austrians had more cards to move into deployment, they were able to maneuver into a flanking position. If they can get across the river quickly, the Bavarians are in deep doo-doo.

On the French left, the two cavalry brigades faces a single Austrian infantry brigade. The French have placed their heavy artillery in support, however, so if the Austrians respond by going into square, their own flank may end up being vulnerable.

From De nerdibus

From De nerdibus

From De nerdibus

10mm Napoleonic Austrians 95% finished!

OK, I'm not 100% finished, but I have enough of my 10mm Old Glory Napoleonic Austrians done to lay them out on the table in a pretty impressive diorama. This scene amounts to 30 battalions of infantry (18 line, 6 landwehr, 3 grenadier, and 3 jaeger), 8 regiments of cavalry (4 hussars, 2 dragoons, and 2 cuirassiers), and 12 batteries of artillery (6 heavy and 6 light). All done in under 10 weeks, and I did an equal number of French and allies in that time as well (still need to flock the bases on one French brigade. They should be up later this week).

Then it's time to test the rules I wrote for the first time.

The troops below are set up on a 3' x 4' board I made to re-enact the Battle of Germantown for my senior elective class (that's Germantown Pike in the foreground and the Wissahickon gorge in the background). Who knew the Danube campaign of 1809 spilled over into Pennsylvania?

NOTE: OK, you have to click the photos to see them in their entirety. Seems like blogger.com feels like my pictures need radical cropping.


Here is an infantry brigade. Jaegers in the front, with a line of infantry behind. Several assault columns provide support in the rear.


Another infantry brigade in pretty much the same formation. There is some artillery and a regiment of hussars attached.



The cavalry reserve, Cuirassiers in the foreground, with dragoons on the left in the distance. A regiment of hussars is ready to respond to any emergency.


I love this shot. Austrian heavy guns prepare to pound a distant enemy over the heads of their friends.

10mm Austrians

Well, I sold my entire collection of 15mm Napoleonics in order to buy...10mm Napoleonics. Here's why:

1) I was tired of the amateurish paint job on most of the old figs. No shading, no wash. Just sloppy primary colors.
2) They had been based and rebased so often that it looked like the dog had gotten to them.
3) I liked the idea that I could create true swarms of figures in 10mm, and still have them look pretty good on the table. I was not thrilled with the 6mms I painted up, and while I think Polemos is a great game, I kinda want to see tactical formations on the table.

So I sold the old troops on eBay, joined the Old Glory Army (great deal! 40% off!), and bought a mess of Napoleonic French and Austrians. With the home brew rules I plan to use, I have enough for a large corps on each side, with a corps consisting of 500+ infantry, 80+ cavalry, and 12 guns.

The Austrians painted up quickly. I'm still learning the technique, but I think they look pretty good. I completed this batch--consisting of 6 line infantry battalions, 1 jaeger battalion, 2 dragoon regiments, 3 heavy guns, 2 brigade commanders, and a division commander--in just about a week.

The Austrian Artillery.
My primary reference work claims that the Austrian gunners wore wolf grey. However, every miniature painter online depicts them in brown. I like the brown better, so I went with it.

From Drop Box

Hungarian Line Infantry.
The 'Magic wash' treatment really brings out fine details, even at this scale.

From Drop Box

The Dragoons, with generals and jaegers in the background. As you can see, I still need to texture the bases.

From Drop Box

Here's the whole batch--roughly a division of troops completed in just over a week. I'm well into their French counterparts now. If I keep up this pace, I should have my two corps ready to rumble by April.

From Drop Box