Misc., The War of the Grand Alliance, Beneath the Lilly Banners, 28mm 

This was another game designed to try out a set of rules. We used Beneath the Lilly Banner for this little scrap – the first time I’d used the rules in anger. The idea was, a village was held by the French – a strong foraging party consisting of foot and dragoons.A large Allied force appeared to drive them out, or at least, that was the plan. In the end, a combination of bad “initiative” rolls, and the successful aggressive charges of the French dragoons combined to thwart the Allies, pinning them until French reinforcements appeared. In fact, we barely got moving off our start lines!One of the problems with the rules is that you have to roll each turn to see how many units can move. The result is, it takes ages for the game to pick up speed, and you end up activating a handful of units, reacting to events rather than follow historic orders. It didn’t work – at least not into he game we played, on the level we were fighting at.I also found it hard to figure out how to manoeuvre, what with the large charge ranges, the limited movement options, the poor musket ability and all the rest of it. That said,  BTLB produced a reasonably enjoyable game. In fact, when the bullets started flying the combat system (both firing and melee) was quick and efficient. I just wish it had been a little faster…

Tags: Beneath the Lilly Banners