Most of you have probably heard of Column, Line & Square, a set of Napoleonic rules first written in the late 50's and modified and massaged continuously virtually until the death of their author, Fred Vietmeyer in May 1997. (See The Courier #73). The rules introduced 20:1 man to figure ratio and national differences. They were the first miniature rules that organized the troops along national lines.- so that regiments/battalions had a different number of figures, stands and troop types depending on nationality. Fred and his group in the area around Fort Wayne Indiana, proceeded to organize large armies in 30mm and replay all the battles of the Napoleonic Wars - reports of some of these battles appeared in The early Courier of the 60's. Column, Line and Square was instrumental in getting the gamers beginning in the 60's and early 70's into the hobby. It was the only set of rules my club played for about 2 years! Since Fred had passed away and there were many CLS gamers who remembered the game with nostalgia (many have commented to me that after 20+ years of gaming in just about every know game system, the best "War Stories" are still told about C, L, & S games); I thought it would be of interest to hold a memorial Fred Vietmeyer C, L, & S game at Historicon '98. The game was held using one of Fred's original scenarios (Fuentes De Onoro) that was played back in 1966. The 30mm troops were brought out from Indiana by Bob Baldwin and Bob Pieperbrink , Dana Homo and Hap J ordanalso provided troops. These were figures that had seen action with the late Baron (Fred's nom de guerre to his friends). The piece de resistance was the rocket battery provided by Ted Haskell - it was originally designed for use in the scenario back in 1966 and was the reason that rocket battery rules were developed in the original rulebook. Those of you who have the original from Fred will remember the cartoon characters throughout the book - they are the work of Ted Haskell. The task of building the terrain so as to be portable was alleviated by several people. Bob Beattie (who introduced me to the hobby through C, L, & S) made the hills, Scenic Effects (PO Box 70332, Point Richmond CA 94807 provided literally $100's worth of road and rivers; TCS (545 Newport Ave., Suite #155, Pawtucket RI 02861) provided bridges, Tom Milmore (see advt. elsewhere in this issue) provided buildings and Tom Desmond built the town and many of the buildings. Thank you all. The game would have about 6 players per side. I realized that there were maany former C,L,& S players who might like to participate so I arranged to have the commands transfer to a new player after turns 4 and 6, thus providing spots for 36 players if need be. I found it difficult to keep count but we did transisiont some 18-20 people through the game. Many more onlookers would have participated, I found out later but were unaware that it was open in that way. I'll advertise better next time. THE SCENARIO THE BATTLE OF FUENTES DE ONORO - MAY 3-6, 1811 Wellington has beseiged Almeida and Messana is marching to relieve the seige, the two armies met at Fuentes De Onoro. After two days of hard fighting, the French Army under Massena has massed for a major attack. Outflanking the British Army on the left will strategically cut off Wellington from his main supply road; outflanking the ridge on the french right will break through Alemeida to relieve the siege, but would expose and endanger the French left to Wellington's veteran forces. Under the cover of early morning darkness and fog French forces are advancing to their assault positions. The objective of the day is for the French either to capture and hold four out of seven houses (or the rubble thereof of the town of Fuentes De Onoron (historically attacked seven times) or to retain a foothold on the top contour of the ridge in battalion strength (30 castings minimum). These 30 castings can be of any organized units of infantry or cavalry which are not falling back due to morale or compact effectiveness and which are still standing on the top contour at the end of turn nine. An organized unit is defined as any unit or units which can be moved forward and take offensive action - if another turn were played. Either of these conditions is a win for the French for the day as these are considered key terrain features to launch the final attack from, on the fourth day. GAME CONDITIONS The game will last nine turns. The first two turns are considered fog and visibility is only 6 inches. No artillery fire is allowed during these turns. The British forces are initially allowed within grid coordinates A-B-C-D and in the town of Fuentes de Onoro. The major French forces are located in the grid area E-F-G-H, but 400 points of French with artillery support are allowed to enter EITHER I-J or K-L on turn one. All British forces must be on table at the start of the game and all French by the end of turn 1. the British receive 1000 points of troops and 18 pounds of artillery plus one rocket troop. The French receive 1333 points of troops and 18 pounds or artillery. No works are allowed - Wellington entrenched on the night of May 6-7.(Oman, History of the Penninsular Wars, page 342, Massena refused to attack. (Battle day portrayed is May 5). The streams impede movement by 3". No firing allowed while in stream; walls in town impede movement 2". Each contour equals two contours of the rules in height. Only light infantry are allowed in the rocks. The three houses adjacent to the stream are stucco; remaining four buildings are stone. The woods equivalent to type III. THE TROOPS The forces were chosen by the two side commanders and are as follows: Unit Points Figures THE FRENCH Left Flank I-J 1 Rgt Guard Drag. (includes sappers) 159.5 45 Rgt Lancers (-) 102 51 3 Sqd Hussars 45 18 Horse Gun - 4 Left 1 Sqd Fr. Hussars 25 10 1 Rgt Line 72 72 1 Btn Grenadiers 48 24 1 Btn Light Guard 96 32 1 Rgt Fr. Line 111 111 1 Btn Fr. Light Inf 72 36 Center 1 Rgt Fr. Line 111 111 1 Btn. Fr. Light Inf 72 36 1 Btn. Fusilier Gds. 72 24 2 Btn. Grenadiers 96 48 Foot Gun - 4 Sappers 12 4 Right Flank 1 Fr. Line 111 111 Rhinebund rgt. 114 114 Line Gun - 4 Sappers 15 5 TOTAL 1333.5 864 Non-French troops were Confederation of the Rhine Unit Points Figures THE BRITISH Right 4 Btn Portugese Line 120 120 1 Btn Cacadore 56 28 1 Rgt KGL Dragoons 54 27 Foot gun - 4 Sappers 12 4 In Fuentes 4 Btns British Line 132 132 1 Btn. Highlanders 33 33 1 Btn. Fusiliers 66 33 4 Coys Rifles 24 12 Foot Gun - 4 Sappers 12 3 Right Rocket battery - 4 Foot gun - 4 2 British Lt. Btns 176 88 1 Btn KGL Light Inf 60 30 4 Btn British Line 132 132 4 Coys Rifles 24 12 Sappers 12 4 2 Rgts Hussars 90 36 TOTAL 1003 770 Fuentes at Historicon: Battle Report Back to Table of Contents -- Courier #75 To Courier List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1998 by The Courier Publishing Company. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com