To test the rules, I decided to conduct tests with experienced players and inexperienced players. A campaign was established to put the battles into context and to prevent "idiotic" play (somehow this never seems to workl). The basic situation was placed in 1815 after the Battle of Waterloo, which we assumed Napoleon won. We're simulating events that didn't happen with rules that hopefully will allow an accurate recreation of events. We found that, although GARDE DU CORPS accurately portrayed Napoleonic combat, it was difficult for our new players to grasp, especially those with no knowledge of the Napoleonic period. But that is not a great fault in and of itself. Most of the rules commercially available have this problem. The campaign we created for the test assumed the French won at Waterloo and went on to occupy Brussels. The defeated British Army had fallen back to the channel ports in total disarray. A small rear guard covered their withdrawal to the coast and remained north of Brussels. The Dutch and Belgian forces disintegrated completely; some units even joined the French. A number of German units also defected. The Prussians had been completely destroyed on the 18th of June when Grouchy, on hearing the guns, marched to them and fell on the Prussian rear. A large number of Prussians surrendered. Blucher was killed leading the Hussars. Wellington disappeared and was assumed killed at Waterloo, although there was a rumored suicide. Napoleon took a week to reorganize and revitalize his forces around Brussels. On the 26th of June he departed to the south in an effort to defeat the Austrian Army of the Rhine moving north against him. Kleist, in command of the Prussian corps to the south of Waterloo during the battle, detached two brigades to the north and fell back towards Prussia attempting to regroup what remained of the main Prussian force. Schwarzenburg detached two infantry brigades and a cavalry brigade, which were to rush to the north to delay the French and they were to make contact with the British and Prussians. Napoleon detached one corps to observe the Prussian and British remnants. One Prussian infantry brigade and one cavalry brigade minus their artillery were reported to the east of Brussels. The British force was Divisional in size and included some high quality units. There was also a British Light Cavlary brigade as well. The major allied force was the Austrian element marching north. The French corps started the campaign in Brussels and Hal. The Prussians were east of Brussels in Malines (see Map 1). The Austrians managed to reach Louvain south of Brussels and the British were milling about near Alost north of Brussels. The combined allied strength was more than 19,000 with 30 guns. The French corps number 15,840 with 38 guns. The French corps, as indicated before, was ordered to cover the rear of the "Armee du Nord" and if possible destroy the allied forces in the area. All the allied forces received the same orders; to pin as many French units as possible in the North to prevent them from supporting the main French Army, and, if possible, to destroy the French rear guard and attack the French main force's rear. The forces allowed each side are listed below along with the morale, melee and troop strengths. The units are a random mix of the types of unitsthat could turn up in a campaign so thatwe could testthe rules with a wide variety of units in as many situations as possible. FRENCH Corps Commander: Bob Jones (15,840 men and 38 guns) 1st Division: non-player commander 1st Bde Bavarian Lieb Regt. 1st bn. 12 fig. 5D 2nd bn. 12 fig. 5D 4th Regt. 1st bn. 8 fig. 5D 2nd bn. 8 fig. 5D Bav Arty co. 8 guns, 8 pdr. AEV, rated 6 2nd Bde 24th Lt. Regt. 1st bn. 8 fig. 6C 2nd bn. 8 fig. 6C 17th Line Regt. 1st bn. 12 fig. 6C 2nd bn. 12 fig. 6C 8th Fr. Arty co. 8 guns, 12 pdr. AEV, rated 7 2nd Division non-player commander 1st Bde 116th Line Reg. 1st bn. 12 fig. 5D 2nd bn. 12 fig. 5D 3rd bn. 12 fig. 5D Neapolitan Gd. 1st bn. 8 fig. 4F 2nd bn. 8 fig. 4F 16th Foot Arty co. 8 guns, 8 pdr. AEV, rate 7 2nd Bde 23rd Line Regt. 1st bn. 12 fig. 6C 2nd bn. 12 fig. 6C 65th Line Regt. 1st bn. 12 fig. 6C 2nd bn. 12 fig. 6C 20th Foot Arty co. 8 guns, 6 pdr. AEV, rated 6 Cavalry Division one bde attached to each div. 1st Bde (to 2nd div.) 16th Hussars, 8 fig. 8B 14th Hussars, 8 fig. 8B 2nd Bde (to 1st div.) 8th Dragoons, 8 fig. 6C 2nd Bavarian Dragoons, 8 fig. 6C Old Guard mixed Bde, non-player commander 5th Cuirassier, 12 fig. 9C Empress Dragoons, 10 fig. 10A Grenadier Cheval, 6 fig. 10A 2nd bn. Old Guard, 12 fig. 10A Old Guard Horse Arty co. 6 guns, 6 pdr. AEV, rated 7 PRUSSIANS Commander Jim Birdseye non-player (5,520 men) Inf Bde Postdamer Landwehr 1st bn. 12 fig. 3F 2nd bn. 12 fig. 3F 3rd bn. 12 fig. 3F 4th Jager Regt. 1st bn. 12 fig. 8A 2nd bn. 12 fig. 8A Cavalry Bde 2nd Hussars 8 fig. 8B 4th Uhlan, 8 fig. 6C 1st Cuirassier, 8 fig. 8B AUSTRIANS Commander John Ellis (8180 men and 18 guns) 1st Bde 6th Jager: bn. 9 fig. 8B Winde Landwehr Regt. 1st bn. 13 fig. 3G 2nd bn. 13 fig. 3G Converged Grenadiers 1st bn. 12 fig. 9A 2nd bn. 12 fig. 9A 3rd bn. 12 fig. 9A 4th Foot Arty co. 8 guns, 12 pdr. AEV, rated 7 2nd Bde 4th Line Regt. 1st bn. 18 fig. 5D 2nd bn. 18 fig. 5D 3rd bn. 18 fig. 5D 3rd Foot Arty co. 6 guns, 8 pdr. AEV, rate 6 Cavalry Bde Kaiser Franz Cuirassier, 12 fig 8B 6th Cheval Jager, 8 fig. 8C 16th Horse Arty co. 4 guns, 4 pdr. AEV, rated 4 BRITISH Commander Scott Juhnke (5280 men and 12 guns) Division Commander: non-player 1st Brigade 6/71st foot 9 fig. 6C 2/15th foot 9 fig. 6C 3/23rd foot 9 fig. 6C 2nd Bde 1/95th Rifles 10 fig. 7C 3/92nd Highlanders 18 fig. 9A 3/6th KGL 9 fig. 6D RHA 1st co. 6 guns, 6 pdr. AEV, rated 6 Cavalry Bde 20th Light Dragoons, 4 fig. 7B 6th Light Dragoons, 8 fig. 7B 4th RHA 6 guns, 6 pdr. AEV, rated 6 The opening moves of both sides lacked a good deal of finesse. The French divided their forces in the face of a superior enemy, one division in Ha an one division, with Old Guard elements attached, in Brussels. The Allied forces were ordered to converge on Brussels. From Louvain the lead Austrian force slammed into the larger French force marching south from Brussels. The other French division headed south through Waterloo. The Prussians and British headed into Brussels and occupied it with no difficulty. The same could not be said for the Austrians. Both Austrian and French commanders were playing their first Napoleonic battle. Because this was a meeting engagement the umpire set up the terrain (see Map 2). The French had detached two Dragoon regiments to cover their rear where the British and Prussians were occupying Brussels. The cavalry on both sides made initial contact and the French Old Guard horse artillery quickly established control of the critical location on the battlefield, near the Operational Objective area commonly referred to as a Village. The Austrian commander chose to occupy the objective but the French player chose to ingore it. At this point one of the best cavalry units in the French Army charged a Cheval-Leger Regiment of the Austrians. This small encounter was the only thing that did not gowell for the French player. The Empress Dragoons were assigned a morale grade of A and a Melee rating of "10" while the Cheval-Leger were rated 6C. The French had a base 85% chance to win and received +10 for being heavier cavalry. Both were in column and both on level ground. The French won the melee but only rolled an 05 on the Melee results table and were left engaged; both sides also suffered two castings lost. The next turn the French won again and this time rolled in the 90's and the Austrians surrendered. While this action was in progress the French managed to deploy artillery and pound the Austrians who had formed square because of the French Cavalry charge. Later in the battle the French cavalry charged into the flank of an Austrian line battalion which failed to form square because of the closeness of the French; the rules allow a battalion to attempt to form square based on its distance from the charging unit. In this case, because the Austrians were less than 300 yards (six inches) from the French, they had to roll a base 70 or better. But, a minus 30 on the die roll for the flank and a plus 10 for a morale grade "C" gave them, for a final chance of forming a square, a 91-100. The line unit failed and disintegrated. The Austrian Cuirassiers were defeated by their French counterparts and with that victory the French cleared the Austrian right. in desperation the Austrian commander committed his three grenadier battalions in a do or die attack on the French right. The rules require a guard unit committed to the attack to advance three straight turns. One battalion overran a Bavarian line battalion, another battalion crushed a French artillery company and the third engaged another Bavarian battalion in line which just managed to win the melee because of its Final Protective Fire (FPF). This Austrian battalion won on the second turn while the others continued on to the bridge which one battalion managed to cross while the other surrendered to the French after the reserve cavalry caught it in the flank. The Austrians then cut and ran with the French cavalry in pursuit. The umpire concluded the battle with the Austrian force divided into three parts. The major element was the force intact, withdrawing to the east, which included one artillery company, one line battalion, one landwehr battalion and the remains of Jager battalion and the Grenadier battalion. The other force was the Grenadier battalion the broke through the French to the British. The last Austrian element was made up of the routed units that were headed south pursued by the French. In all, the Austrians lost 3,620 men and 8 guns while the French lost 1,100. The next battle pitted the French against the English a few miles south of the battle described above and a day later. The British were commanded by a more experienced Napoleonics player; this experience worked against him as he overrated his forces and underestimated the French. The umpire again established a battlefield terrain bisected by a stream that was unfordable (see Map 3). The battle took place in limited visibility in the wee hours of the morning. The French quickly took the initiative, turned the British right flank, and pinned the British left with the threat of cavalry and effective artillery. The British had two Prussian cavalry regiments attached and these were pounded by French artillery while the British commander concentrated on his left. In our experience, though new players can understand the basic rules in a few turns, they still get caught by the occasional "White Rabbit"; new players can easily handle a brigade of infantry but should be exposed to cavalry handling as well. By the time the Prussians charged they were unorganized by losses and the French easily defeated them. On the right, the French used a well placed Dragoon regiment to force the English into three Battalion Squares which were neatly mauled by French artillery and infantry fire. The French Dragoons were freed from their normal duties when the British Light Dragoons charged the French artillery and due to their small size (4 castings), they were effectively destroyed before making contact. After three turns of direct fire the French Dragoons attacked the remaining two squares, one of which broke. The British commander quickly withdrew. The combined allied force lost come 1,200 men and 8 guns. The guns were lost when their crews disappeared in the square that collapsed. The French lost 450 men. The final battle committed the full forces of both sides. The allies had their entire force resurrected for the battle. This was not a meeting engagement so terrain was established per the rules (see Map 4). Both sides started 30 inches apart while two key locations appeared to dominate the ground. Both of these were Class B Operational Objectives and both were closer to the French base line. The French player was the author and Scott Juhnke handled the Allies. Both sides were corps size and both players easily handled their forces. The French commander decided to sieze the two Objectives as soon as possible and did so with what I felt were lower quality troops. The open ground between the two objectives was divided between the two divisions with each anchoring its flank on the objective areas. The French cavalry was sent on an end run on both flanks. Despite warnings and reminders, Scott elected to overlook this threat. Scott's plan was simple; attack everywhere and win. The French managed to gain a superiority of artillery fire power in two key locations. The British infantry advanced into a French/Bavarian force of cavalry, infantry and artillery. The British were without cavalry support and were quickly forced into square due to the threat of French cavalry. The French gunners ignored counter battery fire to pound the British squares. And although the French gunners were eventually forced from the field by the Royal Horse Artillery, the French infantry and artillery fire crushed three British battalions in their tight packed squares. By the time the British cavalry came up from reserve, the French flank maneuver arrived and drovethern from the field; the French alsocaughta British battalion in the flank and destroyed it. The last hope forthe British, the Scots, were unable to retrieve the situation, being surrounded by infantry, artillery and cavalry. In the center, an effective French cavalry charge by the Empress Dragoons broke the Prussian Hussars who were forced through a line of Prussian landwehr who failed morale and broke as well. The French Dragoons pressed the charge and then routed the two Prussian units which were removed from the table. The French returned on another route to the French lines. On the allied right, the Austrians developed an excellent flank attack which unfortunately was too weak. The troops that should have supported this flank attack were ordered to the center where they had no real impact on thebattle. The two objective areas were also attacked; one by the 95th Rifles and the other by the Austrian Landwehr. Both attacks were costly and neither carried the objective. The left flank French cavalry move was countered well by Austrian cavalry in the center of the field, but on the French left flank just as the Austrian attack reached its critical stage the French hussars arrived. The Austrian attack collapsed and the remnant headed for their lines. Scott decided that theallies would most likely retreat atthis point and we concluded the battle. The estimated allied losses were 3,500 men and 12 guns; the French 1,200 men. The allies still had two cavalry regiments and one infantry regiment uncommitted. The French had two battalions of infantry and one cavalry regiment in reserve. The evaluation of the rules was positive by all the players and were generally felt to reflect the flavor and conditions of Napoleonic warfare. The objective area and operational objective area melee and command rules were nice innovations. The melee rules are less radical than others, the results being less drastic than some would like. Morale checks occur frequently but good units have little chance to fail; a "B" morale grade has a 10% base chance. The chit based simultaneous movement system in GARDE DU CORPS works fairly well. Most of the players had used card systems before and liked the simultaneous movement better. Once players got into the rhythm of play, turns lasted about 20 minutes including combat, though some took longer. Most of our battles lasted 2.5 to 4 hours and we played 12-15 turns simulating three to four hours of combat. There are a number of items that could be improved in the rules. More diagrams and illustrations are required before a novice could pick up the rule book and play. The chart cards are set up by type of activity, but do not include a complete set of instructions for the activities which requires the players to keep the rule book handy. This is not that much of a problem because after a quick review, the players can handle the situation with just the tables the next time it comes up. If Ruclyclecidesto reprint a revised set of the rules it may be worthwhile to consider typesetting and professional graphics. But that will certainly add to the cost. These rules provided four evenings of gaming pleasure and interesting discussion. The rules are generally well written and well designed. The newplayershad no trouble understanding the concepts and details of the rules. I was introduced to miniatures gaming with Napoleonics and EMPIRE II, but when EMPIRE III came out, although I tried to like the rules and to play them, the fun of Napoleonics was gone. I thank Rudy for reintroducing fun into Napoleonics after a long dry spell. I've started to reorganize and dust off my French and Allied armies and break out the tables of organization and the maps. Guard Du Corps: The Review Back to Table of Contents -- Courier Vol. VIII No. 1 To Courier List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1987 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