Battles

The Battle of Grosse Alderwurst - the Postgame Discussion

This has to be one of the most exciting - yet frustrating - games I've played in.  The balance seesawed back and forth, before finally ending up in a bloody draw (by mutual consensus).  The set of rules we used (Piquet again) worked superbly to create this tense contest.  Yet it still flowed smoothly, with no headaches.  My admiration for this ruleset grows.

(If you know Piquet, then you'll understand the next section here)  After the French battalions had begun rolling up the Austrian line, the "infantry move" cards promptly disappeared, followly quickly by my impetus points.   (As per usual in Piquet!)  The Austrians naturally won the next two impetus rolls.   Agonizingly enough he could not find a "maneuver" card...until the very final pip!  So he could act on that card, if he could win the next roll.

He lost it.  So now the French desperately rip through the deck, not finding an "infantry move in open" card until - you guessed it - the final pip.

So now both players have the exact card they need to act upon, at the most crucial part of the battle.  The next impetus roll is absolutely critical!   We both develop sweaty palms.  My opponent rolls a "12".  A little above average.  I roll...and the die ends up under some trees of course, prolonging the agony.  We carefully remove the foliage to reveal...a 12!!.  The turn is over - both decks with their precious cards are reshuffled.   AAARGH!  Apparently our shouts were enough to wake my opponent's sleeping wife upstairs.

Eventually of course, the Austrians found their "maneuver" card and proceeded to crush my attack.  But he failed his cavalry pursuit roll later on, which meant there was no way he could exploit his cavalry victory and fall on my exposed rear.  Due to the attritional firefight in the centre, he'd already run out of morale chips.

You'll note that I didn't mention much of the artillery.  That was because neither of our batteries actually managed to hit anything.  I think the Austrian battery did manage to inflict one stand loss...when a French attack column fell back from the Austrian musket fire into point blank smooth bore range.  Yes, point blank, smooth bore, grape onto an attack column's rear.  Just one stand lost.  It would appear that both sides' gunners forgot to bring the powder to the battlefield.

One final note - I was completely fooled and lured into the attack on Vidal's Austrian horse.  Despite numerous opportunities to move his cavalry he didn't.  Which led me to believe that the unit was simply too awful to risk in a melee (we keep the values of our units secret from each other, until the first fire or melee).

Ooops.  I crashed into him and was stunned when he calmly rolled a D12+1.  My D8 didn't quite have the same impact, especially when a "one" turned up.  I was lucky enough that he failed his pursuit roll.  Otherwise his brilliant plan would have worked and given him victory.

But both armies ground to a halt, as our morale chips began running low and the "dress lines" began filling the deck.  Again, Piquet has an elegant way to simulate an army's exhaustion in a hard fought battle.  So, since "The Simpsons" was beginning on TV, we shook hands and agreed to a well deserved draw.

The aftermath of every wargame.  The cleanup!  (And yes, I'm quite aware that these figures are not exactly Napoleonic).

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