La Grande Batterie about to dish it out As figures are gently placed back into their boxes, bruised egos are tended by loving partners and useless dice are hurled savagely into garbage bins, it is now time to reflect on the events of the last Horse and Musket tournament of the year. Hardy souls once again made the pilgrimage to the hallowed halls of the Sylvania Youth Centre seeking to write their names in wargaming legend. The majority of commanders had many years of hard campaigning behind them and competition was expected to be close and hard. At the end of the first day our expectations had been realised, first and second places being separated by a mere 6 points. The Old Guard as mentioned above NOT getting their uniforms dirty while their Wurttemburg allies hold off hordes of Russians and Swedes. The highlight of the day was definitely the surrender of the 'Old Guard' closely followed by the brave efforts of a pike and matchlock armed Swedish force. Day two proved the old adage that 'it's never over till the last dice settles'. Adam Stone also proved that it is possible to overcome an 800 point deficit to win and that cuirassiers are worth every one of their 15 points and should never again be reduced for competitions. The final place winners for the competition were: 1st: Adam 'Lazarus' Stone 2nd: Andrew 'not-2 -again' Rouen 3rd: Ian 'it's-not my-own-trophy-this-time' Turton. In addition to the place winners, the following prizes were also awarded: Best Painted Unit Phillip Jones with superb French guard cavalry. Fair Play Andrew Friend for courage in fielding a Swedish army equipped with matchlocks and pikes. Most Casualties Peter Garden his final game had a distinct 'Borodino' look with all those Russian casualties. The view from those about to be pounded (the 'Grande Batterie' is in the upper left hand corner). Brave Brunswickers (Avante Guard?) typically skirmishing well forward. If you wanted to know just HOW brave the MIB (aka Brunswickers) are - just ask their proud General - Mark Hume! Most players enjoyed the weekend's activities and commented on the friendly nature of the event. Also appreciated by players was the ˝ hour break between games that provided an opportunity to cruise the trade stands, eat, drink and peruse the other competitions. However, not all were happy and some important issues were raised. First, that some of the terrain objectives were not allocated sufficient point values to be worthwhile [and there was too much terrain on many of the tables - DW]. Second, that the standard WRG scoring system is not effective in producing accurate results for 750 point games and is more appropriate for larger games. Finally, there was also the thought that some of the scenarios, although good ideas, needed further development. As a first time organiser I can only learn from both the comments and the experience and attempt to improve things next year. However, in response to the comments about scoring for the 750 point games, at the end of day 1 (3 x 750 point games) the competition leaders were both experienced players with proven records of success in competition. Furthermore, both these players performed well on day 2 (2 x 1500 point games) and were only overtaken by the extraordinary performance of Adam Stone, who is also an experienced Horse and Musket player. Certainly there may be a need for a simpler scoring system, but the 'cream' will still rise to the top regardless of the scoring system used. An issue I would like raise is the lack of numbers at this year's competition. My own thoughts on the matter are that 4 Horse and Musket competitions a year are too many, and as MOAB was the last event on the gaming calendar it's attendance suffered accordingly. Looking further ahead, how long can Sydney's premier Horse and Musket event survive when at least half the players and the organiser originate from either Canberra or Wollongong? Furthermore, the introduction of a Horse and Musket competition by the Western Suburbs Games Society would make MOAB possibly the 5th event on the calendar and as such may not be a viable proposition. [There may be a need to look at incorporating 15mm armies and splitting the comp between Nap, SYW & AWI. - DW] Returning to more pleasant topics, Monday gave Phillip Jones the chance to showcase the rule set Élan. Labelled as 'La Grande Battaile' the game certainly lived up to its name with 8 players, 120 units and a 12' x 6' table. In the end the courage of the brave Allied army, led by Earl Hume of Farmborough, held at bay the evil minions of the 'Gray-coated Lord of Chaos', commanded by Marshal Stone, Duc de Sylvania. Sturdy Wurttemburg troops gallantly defend while hordes of lazy French cav mess about on their horses well away from any danger. With the 'Gray -coated One' supervising their work from the back of hi s white glue-factory candidate, the French grand battery spewed forth destruction and chaos, as well as causing considerable damage to the Allied forces. This was an excellent example of what a massed battery of heavy guns can do to their opposition, personally I just thank God that they are too expensive to be employed in competition games. Only two disappointments arose from the game; first - that there was no result and second - the 'Old Guard' never got into action. In typical fashion they just sat in reserve smoking cigars and drinking cheap wine while the 'lesser lights' of the French army did all the dirty work. But then the 'Old Grumblers' never did like getting those pretty uniforms dirty! To the faithful few who took part in the weekend's festivities, thank you for making the event an enjoyable one. Also thanks go to Ian Turton for providing much of the terrain, rules advise on Saturday and running the g ames on Sunday. To Phillip Jones thanks go for running a great game on Monday and introducing us to the world of Élan. Finally our thanks to Brett Grey for the work he has done over the past number of years organising our competition at MOAB. Horse and Musket at MOAB would not have survived without his efforts. [DW is of course Doug Walsh of Kriegspieler who also fought at MOAB and has the scars (mental ones anyway) to prove it !] Back to Table of Contents -- Kriegspieler #7 To Kriegspieler List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1999 by Kriegspieler Publications. 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