Smaller Scale Gaming

Nothing pleases me more than the sight of a wargames table dressed up with an attractive terrain and groaning under the weight of hundreds, if not thousands, of metal miniatures...well maybe a nice piece of eye fillet, cooked medium-rare with honey glazed carrots, roasted potatoes and a red wine jus, washed down with a nice Pinot Noir or Grenache might please me more...and even more if there was a cheeseboard...but the meal would be but a fleeting pleasure whereas the vision of a table laden with toys is a joy for the soul that never fades.

A Prussian company with its
skirmish platoon deployed forward

Recently I have been thinking about some smaller scale games. I want something that could be used in our weekday games that would last a couple of hours. Now I have to say that I am not a fan of skirmish gaming. If someone in the group puts on a skirmish game I will play it, but I struggle in games where I am in control of a bunch of individually based figures that I have to move around then decide where a Bob has been hit and whether he can accurately aim his rifle with half his right ear missing...it's just not my thing. But the idea of each player commanding a battalion is of interest me.

The same company in company line

I wanted to create something for the Franco-Prussian War that captured the low level tactical differences between the armies. Both German and French armies frequently fought with their battalions broken down into companies and platoons, but they did it in different ways and I wanted to represent that difference. 

A French company with skirmishers

One of the great tactical innovations that the Germans introduced in the 1860s was the ability of battalions to divide and sub-divide and reunite as the tactical situation required. This allowed the German infantry, armed with an inferior rifle, to be more effective than their French counterparts at the lower levels. 

A French company in line

So my idea was to make the platoon the smallest component and it would consist of one of my existing stands. In the German armies three platoons would form a company and four companies the battalion. The French would have companies of two platoons and a battalion of six companies. Platoons could fight in companies, independently in formed lines or could be broken in to three of my skirmish stands. 

To add variety to a game a cavalry squadron of two platoons or an artillery section of two guns might support. I also wanted to represent the command structure of the battalion. Platoon commanders are assumed to be intrinsic, but captains, majors and the battalion colour party will be treated as separate units.

With the basic idea established I began to piece together some rules. It was relatively easy to adapt the combat mechanisms of my existing rules to do what I needed, but I wanted something quite different for the way in which orders were issued and obeyed. I quite like the way that Bolt Action handles this, but it was not a simple taking their idea as is - it needed adaption. The Bolt Action orders apply equally to all unit types because everything operates in a single mode, but formed infantry will act differently to skirmishers and cavalry. 

I also needed to make allowance for formed units to become disordered and shaken.

It only took a couple of days to pull some workable rules together then I set up a quick test game on 5x5 table, in which four companies of French infantry and two guns are facing off against a Prussian battalion (four companies) and two guns. The Prussian objective is to secure the bridge. The French are deployed around the bridge and the ford and the surrounding woods. The Prussians enter the table from the edge. The stream is fordable at all points, but artillery must cross at the bridge or the ford. It might seem a tall order for four companies attacking four companies especially since the French are armed with a much better rifle and in position, but French companies have only two platoons whereas the Prussian companies have three platoons, so the Prussians count twelve platoons to the French eight.

The battlefield

The French have deployed the Third Company in the woods with Fourth Company in support to the rear, and on the opposite side of the table First Company is opposite the ford with one platoon forward as skirmishers and Second Company is in reserve. The section of artillery is between the two infantry wings with a clear view of the bridge.

The Prussians have deployed in two half battalions with Third and Fourth Companies on the right (with the skirmish platoon of Third Company thrown forward). The artillery section is to the left

On the left First Company (with its skirmish platoon forward) leads the Second. The major and the battalion colours are with this half battalion. 

The French skirmishers were the first to draw an activation and chose to fire at extreme range on the Prussian skirmishers from 1st Company.

First Blood to the French

From the woods the French 4th Company opened on the skirmishers of  Prussian 3rd Company, causing 3 casualties. Even at extreme range the Chassepot is doing severe damage

The French 4th Company moved towards the bridge

The French artillery dropped a shell right on their point of aim, between the Prussian 3rd and 4th Companies, causing casualties to both companies and killing one of the platoon leaders

Losses in the 1st Platoon 3rd Company are mounting rapidly

The Prussian 1st and 2nd Companies have formed and are ready to take on the French

The skirmish platoon on the left is holding its own

1st and 2nd Companies are taking losses, but the major is there to calm them.

The French too are beginning to suffer (above and below)

In front of the French 3rd Company the Prussian losses are mounting

Here I paused the game. On the whole I like the way that the game sequence worked, but I need to give a bit more thought to the way companies act when subunits have been damaged. I really liked the way that the Chassepot was doing damage at ranges that the Prussians couldn't respond atand the way that the Prussian artillery cut onto the French infantry, although in all fairness that was more a matter of luck than anything else.

The game was a successful enough exercise to encourage me to keep working on the concept. In fact I am sufficiently pleased that I may apply the idea to other 19th Century periods.