The Napoleonic Wars, French Revolutionary War, General de Brigade, 28mm

This was the second little brigade-sized game we’ve played in two weeks, with the same set of rules. Both had a completely different feel though, and they were equally enjoyable in their own right. This one was based around the defence of the Ferme du Grand-Champ, a farm complex which was fought over during the Battle of Fleurus, on 26th June 1794. It was held by a French brigade, commanded by General de Brigade Legrand, and attacked by part of the Austrian column led by Prince Kaunitz. It lay in the centre of the French line, a few miles north of Charleroi. In the real battle the Austrians captured it, but their assault ran out of steam shortly afterwards. We fought it out on a 6×4 foot table.In our game it looked like it was going to be an east victory for the Austrians, as on Turn 1 their commander Bill Gilchrist rolled a “double 6”, prompting a “Risk to General test”. As a result poor General Legrand’s horse bolted towards the enemy lines, and he was captured by the Austrian freikorps! The meant that my force was without a commander for five  turns, until a replacement could be promoted from the ranks.The Austrian plan was to pound the farm defences with musketry and artillery fire, while advancing on both sides of the buildings, to drive back their French Revolutionary opponents. They plodded forward, and relied on musketry to break the French, taking advantage from their opponent’s inability to change orders, easily change formation, or react to threats. Then, amazingly, it all started to go wrong.The turning point of the game came when the Austrian hussars charged the French cavalry – a unit of chasseurs a cheval. The French countercharged, and in the melee that followed they defied the run of play and routed their Austrian counterparts. A unit of grenzers that was doing well up to that point also had to test, and was forced to retreat. Then the French found a replacement commander, and despite his rating of “poor” things started to turn around.It allowed them to change orders – they immediately went over to the attack – and more importantly it let them declare charges. A battalion of the 59th Demi-Brigade was hurled at the Austrian line in front of them, and the French column smashed its way through the Austrian infantry. This prompted a general collapse on the Austrian right flank, as the brigade there failed its brigade morale, and fled the field. Even the poor hussars, who had just managed to rally were swept away.After that it was clear that the French were in the ascendancy, and would be able to roll up the Austrian line, relieve the pressure on the defenders of the farm, and thereby save the day for the Republic. At that point the Austrian commander conceded defeat, and withdrew from the field. I must say, Bill had amazing luck during the first few turns, rolling excellent dice. It then turned around, and he consistently rolled badly in every important roll after that! The lovely French Revolutionary army was on loan from my pal Chris Henry, while the  Austrians were from my own collection.I really like the look of these French Revolutionary War games, and I’d even go so far as to say that I prefer it to later Napoleonic ones, mainly because of the more exotic uniforms, and the sheer flavour of the era. As before we used General de Brigade (the new Deluxe version), which continue to impress. They’re slicker than before, the rules are far better written and laid out, and the game zips along at an impressive pace.

Aft an impressive pace.

Tags: General de Brigade