Naps Back to the Table

 The 20mm Napoleonics made an appearance on the game table over the weekend, as I mentioned in the previous post. I reached out to Mark for a game and he suggested them since I'd done so much work on them recently. It was a pretty simple matter of "throw it all on the table and bash it out." Of course my French and Prussian armies aren't exactly paired perfectly so the French had one extra unit, but to compensate, the Prussians upgraded two infantry regiments to Veteran status. Seemed fair, right?

Rather than just traffic-jamming things up, we each deployed four units then everything else would join as reserves in turns 3,4 and 5 at pre-determined locations (right, left and center). 

I started with a basic three infantry regiments and a four-gun battery way off to the left on the hill. Mark mixed it up with Jagers, Veteran infantry and a 4-stand cavalry unit, as well as his guns in two two-gun batteries.

My line trundles forward. The Prussian cav hangs back, timidly.

The view from my "this is as Grand as it gets" battery.

Turn three. My first reinforcement arrives, more infantry, streaming forward in column. The Prussians are still hanging back.

But on turn 4 things heat up! Infantry on the left engage and more reinforcements arrive. For me, it's MORE INFANTRY! Queen of battle and all, I know where my bread gets buttered.

A better shot of the center. Not much for casualties yet. You can see I have my center arrayed in a "Eff-You" arrangement against the small cavalry unit.

Fighting is fierce on the left as my troops gain a slight lead on their foes, but neither side willing to budge.

A few minutes later and the battle is met along the center! The cavalry hit and there's an almighty scrum in the middle of the field. More reinforcements arrive; the French now have cavalry for Mark to worry about.

A little closer to the tabletop for "bonus eye-candy."

Tragedy as the French infantry on the left are run off! Looks like the reserve unit behind them will soon become battle-hardened vets.

It's a real shame that my big cavalry block was centered... they'd have enjoyed plowing into a weakened infantry regiment. I might have also been playing keep-away from the Prussian Uhlans. I didn't really want to piss my horses away in an even dice-rolling match.

But on the other side, the Prussian Life Guard succumb to stout French resistance. Glory!

Meanwhile, my own small cavalry unit, Dragoons, have snuck around the right flank and now threaten the Prussian guns and left side in general!

But as the battle ground on, Prussian units were overrun (red/pink stars). The Jagers did an admirable job holding up my Dragoons (upper right).

Although the battle had been decided, we smashed our remaining units into one another, giving the big cavalry units an opportunity to lace into eachother. My Dragoons also got to exact brutal punishment on the cannons on the hill. :)

A delightful three hours of pushing lead! We both had a good time and really, what's not to like? I was happy that the plan I concocted for my reserves worked out nicely. Cover the field with infantry then bring in the cavalry at the end to quickly exploit whatever they could. Their presence really created a dilemma for Mark who had to account for them. 

Ziggy's due back from Europe, defending Western civilization against the eastern hordes, this week. I'm sure I'll see him over the weekend. They deployed just before Putin invaded Ukraine so he's been kicking it in Germany for close to three months.