Grande Bataille, Grande Victoire is a grand tactical rule system. It covers European Warfare in the late 19th century; Crimean War, Franco-Austrian War(1859), Austro-Prussian War(1866) and Franco-Prussian(1870-71). The maneuver elements are infantry battalions, cavalry regiments and artillery batteries. The troop scale is 60 troops per figure. The time scale is 15 minutes per turn.

The turn sequence consists of a command phase, two artillery phases, two player phases, and a rally phase. The player phases are made up of non-phasing player's fire step followed by the phasing player's move step followed by another non-phasing player's fire step. Each player phase concludes with combat(melee) resolution.

The basic mechanics of the game concern functions. All units are allotted a number of functions. These allotments range from 2 functions for infantry to 4 functions for horse artillery. The functions consist of action the units can perform. These can be Fire, Move, Formation changes, etc. They can cost 1 to 2 functions.

The Fire Combat is based on the number of figures firing multiplied by the troop type's fire rating. This number represents the percentage of enemy figures lost. For example, an Russian Infantry Battalion from the Crimean War has 16 figures. Russian Infantry has a fire rating of 4%. Therefore, the base damage inflicted by the Russians would be 0.64. This means that on a roll of 64 or less on percentage dice would inflict a single figure casualty. Ranges for infantry weapons can range from 4" for smoothbore muskets to 16" for French Chassepot breechloaders. Artillery can reach out to 48" for Krupp Breechloaders.

The Melee Combat is based on the Quality Points (QP) of the engaged units. Effectively, the side with the highest QP win. The QP are modified by tactically factors such as casualties received during turn, defending terrain, etc. The results from losing a Melee involve both figure and ground losses.

Movement and Formation are inter-related. An unit's formation dictates how many inches of movement are allowed by a single movement function.. An unit's formation also contributes to its ability and how vulnerable it is to fire. The formations are skirmisher, line, column, open column, and square. For example, a movement function for Crimean War British infantry allow 2" in line, 4" in column and 6" in skirmish order.

Command Rules

One of the more interesting parts of the rules are the command rules. In GBGV, units are given tactical orders. In essence, these are objectives. The basic orders range from Defend an objective, Attack an objective/unit and Counter battery. At beginning of game, the units are assigned their orders. If they need to be changed during the game, a time delay is imposed. The length of the delay depends on troop's nationality and the war. For example, French units require 4 turns to change orders in all the wars covered by the game.

Positive Points:

The rules give a very nice tactical feel for the period. With national troop types, the advantages and disadvantages of the various armies are illustrated. The four values associated with these troop type are fire rating, fire range, quality points(QP), and movement allowance. The command rules requires players to plan. The game mechanics are fairly straight forward and quick.

Less Than Positive Points:

The number of stands per battalion/regiment make large scale battles difficult to manage. The lack of command based on command structure leadership does not force higher level unit integrity. The emphasis on QP in Melee victory means a single point difference will preclude the lower side from winning the melee. The ratings of some forces in the rules War Modules could be argued. For example, in Franco-Prussian War, the conscripted Prussian Guard are rated at 7 QP while the professional long service French Guard are rated at 6.

Conclusion:

Grande Bataille, Grande Victoire allow for an enjoyable mid-level (corps) miniature battle. The number of formations available give scope for tactical decision. While the national troop type ratings show enough "chrome", to demonstrate how and possible why the various armies historically performed.

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