Post of Honour - Simple SYW Rules

My good friend and gaming chum Keith Flint kindly offered to swing by for a game to kick things off in the New Year. As Keith has been developing some new simple Seven Years War rules of late, we decided to give these a go. Scenario wise we went with the following:
 

Scenario For All Ages by Grant & Asquith
Scenario 10: The Important Bridge

I had played this scenario before and enjoyed it, but Keith had been meaning to give it a try for quite some time. It had the advantage of varied terrain and deployment, which would be perfect to help test out the rules in development. Keith took charge of the Prussians (blue), with myself the Austrians (red).

I didn't take any notes, but the captioned pics should give some idea of how things played out.

 

The Prussian troops on the road had a random die roll for their arrival, which turend out to be Turn 4. As you can see, the Austrians had been able to push forward and broadly take controll of the bridge and surrounding area, which was the objective of the game.

The Prussians found it hard to deploy from their columns of march with the Austrian left wing threatening their flank. On the Austrian right, their cavalry attacked the Prussian cavalry at the ford, hoping to push on through and take the Prussians in the flank.

The Austrian left flank continues to press the Prussians by the road, whilst on the right their cavalry has gained the upper hand.

As the Austrian cavalry gains control of the ford, the Prussians push a unit into the town.

The Austrian troops shoot up the Prussian cavalry before their infantry can come to their aid.

The Prussians manage to form a line from the road and trade fire with the Austrians opposite them. The Austrian cavalry on the right is a spent force, but has done their job and disrupted the Prussian flank.

The beginning of the end for the Prussians, as the Austrians are in secure possession of the bridge.

Even though there as Prussian troops in the town, they are not sufficiently strong to threaten the Austrian flank. As such the Prussians withdrew to fight another day.

 

Post Game Thoughts

The scenario worked a treat, not only giving a good game, but also in terms of testing the rules on many levels. Not a bad way to start the new gaming year. 

• As mentioned earlier, I had played this scenario before, but using BKCII and setting it during the fictional ABCW period. To be honest this played much better as a 'Black Powder' period game, rather than a more modern setting. 
• It was fun to use my wooden blocks again and, when playtesting etc, I think they work much better than actual figures. You tend to focus on what the unit is, ie cavalry, rather than them being 3rd Dragoon guards etc. I think this level of abstraction really helps. Naturally gaming with figures is much better, but there are times when the wooden blocks just work.
• Playing at the smaller scale (nominally 10mm) allowed me to shrink a 7' x 5' table down to a 3 1/2' x 2 1/2' table, which fitted perfectly on our dining table. As Keith said, it was nice to be able to sit down for nearly all of the game, which with age and bad backs is very attractive.
• It was nice to be playing a SYW game again and it is something I must try again soon using my wooden blocks and Keith's Honours of War rules. I also want to try Black Powder again, but time has been against me of late.

 

I'm not sure what my next game will be. If I can get some WWII German Recc units finished, then it is likely to be a kick-off campaign game. Another option is the next game in my The Pikemen's Lament mini-campaign. As the weather is looking a bit iffy this weekend, I might just be able to get my butt in gear...