The Napoleonic Wars, General de Brigade, 28mm

Edinburgh is still gripped by snow, so rather than spend hours in a freezing hall we played a short brigade-sized game, before repairing to the warmth of the local pub. This one was set during the Retreat from Moscow, one of the clashes fought between the retreating Grande Armée and General Miloradovich’s blocking forces between Smolensk and Orsha. The inspiration was Adam Zamoyski’s atmospheric book 1812, which “set the scene” beautifully.Anyway, a small understrength French force had to fight its way past one such blocking force, which began the game as a small force of cavalry, backed up by horse artillery. The French 2nd Hussars let the way, charging the guns, only to be counter-charged by my own Mariupol Hussars. In the resulting melee Dougie rolled a “10”, and I rolled a “2”. Rout! I’m starting to despair of this colourful unit – they haven’t won a melee yet! What saved both the Russian hussars and the guns was the French having to retire to reform – a breathing space. They were also suffering a bit from artillery fire. Strangely enough, the Russian hussars also rallied, and were soon ready to rejoin the fray.By this time the French infantry had shaken itself out into attack formation, and they rolled forward towards the Russian guns, who pulled back a little, trading space for time. Russian reinforcements were on the way – more Cossacks and guns, and a couple of units of Jaegers.  This time the Russian canister stopped the leading French battalion in its tracks. Failing to charge home, it milled around, and consequently it was shredded.The Russian Jaegers formed into attack columns and drove back the battalion protecting the French left flank, while the reformed Mariupol Hussars kept the remaining French infantry at bay. The only success the French enjoyed was on their right, where the Hussars drove off the lurking cossacks. Of course, the French could still have rallied, reformed and tried to force their way through again, especially as the Hussars were still in full form. However, that would have taken several more turns to fight out, and the warm glow of The Cumberland was beckoning. Therefore Dougie conceded, and victory was awarded to my Russians.One of the nice things about General de Brigade is that it works well for games of any size, from large encounters down to a little clash like this. As the Russian I was hampered by my “defend” orders and by poor leadership, while the French had to commit themselves to the attack, but their cavalry couldn’t whizz around the table, having to reform occasionally. I like the way this works – and it doesn’t resort to lengthy rules or bean-counting “pips” to make it happen.Then, on through the snows to the Cumberland. There are few things as inviting as a warm, brightly-lit pub on a cold snowy evening, a roaring fire, and beer and whisky to hand as you talk nonsense about the next big wargaming “thing”. While Dougie currently favours Napoleonics and I’m veering into the Renaissance, we suspect that the planned revamp of our Seven Years War rules may well put that period firmly back in centre stage…  Of course, last orders means throwing out time, then there’s the long trudge home through the snow, clutching your bag of lead! Still, it was a nice way to end the wargaming year.

Tags: General de Brigade