Advance the Colors 1999 is the only HMGS Convention I've been able to attend this year so I wanted to put on a good game. Earlier this year I put together a bath tub version of the Battle of Leipsig - that uses practically every 25mm Napoleonic like figure I own. I say Napoleonic like because I actually only own a bout eight figures that are actually Napoleonic. My interest primarily lay in the pre and post Napoleonic period world so my blue coated shakoed fellows are for Crimea as are my green coated guys. My red coated and white coated guys are really Mexicans and my blue coated guys in cloth forage caps are 1846 Americans. Still they all have shakos or landwehr hats and are armed the same as their earlier counterparts. So to me it's all the same. (Of course the historical gamers who played immediately spotted my deceit and called me down for it!) ORDER OF BATTLE French 3 line infantry battalions (8 figures each) 1 guard infantry battalion (8 figures) 1 heavy cavalry squadron (8 figures) 1 light cavalry squadron (8 figures) 1 mamluke squadron (4 figures) 3 cannons 3 command figures Austrians 3 line infantry battalions (8 figures each) 1 light cavalry squadron (4 figures) 2 command figures Russians 4 line infantry battalions (8 figures each) 1 light cannon 1 command figure Prussians 4 landwehr battalions (8 figures each) 1 mob of untrained unarmed recruits (32 figures) 1 mob of landwehr cavalry (24 figures) 4 command figures 2 cannons Sorry I have no Swedes so Bernadotte is not present THE TERRAIN The essence of the Battle of the Nations is that Napoleons retreating army is backed up against a river with everyone in Europe closing in on them. The French are massively out numbered and out flanked. They can retreat across the river (and in fact must if they are to survive) but this is difficult to do. In a sentence - the French are going to lose this battle! I trotted out my sculpted terrain boards for the game. Six boards in all. The back two boards are a river (sorry no Leipsig). The middle two boards are a long ridge line with a commanding peak on one end that looks amazingly like Little Round Top (gee I wonder why?). The last two boards largely flat ground with a hill on the two rear outside corners. The corner hills are covered in trees and a few trees are spread out on the ridge. The rest of the terrain consists of little bits of kitty litter, lichens and woodland scenics green bits randomly broadcast onto the table. The French set up first. They are placed anywhere on the ridge. They know that both of their flanks have been turned and that they are out numbered. The Prussians set up on the third set of boards directly opposite the French. The Austrians set up six inches onto the middle boards behind the ridge (so they are not in visual contact of the Prussians). The Russians set up opposite the Austrians on the other side of the battlefield, also behind the ridge and out of contact with the Prussians. The French advantage is the high ground, the middle position and three enemies who can not easily coordinate actions. The river to their rear means their moral will be good - win or die! The allies have numbers and the flanks. The Prussians are special in this game. All the Prussians are considered to be civilians. The men in uniforms with guns were just like the unarmed mob (of Call of Cthulhu angry Bavarian peasants) just a week before. The Prussian cavalry are riding the worst of horses and the Prussian cannon are manned by men who do not know what they are doing. Mind you, I am not anti-Prussian. This army looks a lot like the one France fielded in 1793-94. A citizens army! POLITICS BY OTHER MEANS I used my Battle Matrix Game rules (Politics by other means which by the way I have published in a small press book for $5 - send to Chris Engle 313 Hickory Drive Ellettsville, IN 47429). As I have said before these are extremely simple rules. Each turn all the players get to move and shoot. Roll one six-side die to see how many inches you move (minus one for civilians and cannon, plus one for cavalry). There are not terrain rules to slow you down. You can move in any direction and end up set in any formation you wish. Figures can fire in a 360 degree arch. Any figure in range can shoot. Muskets 6" Cannon 24". Roll one six-side die per figure firing. If a six is rolled it hits. A hit stand dies unless saved. When a stand is hit, the owner makes an argument why his man is not dead. A referee or enemy player rules on how strong the argument is. Very strong 2,3,4,5,6 - Strong 3,4,5,6 - Average 4,5,6 - Weak 5,6 Very weak 6 - Stupid 7! If the argument succeeds then the figure lives. Long range shots and defenders hiding behind good cover are hard to kill. Also the referee can jump in to moderate extremely lucky rolls by ruling survival arguments strong or very strong. The end result is that the players do not know for certain exactly what will save them. "Should I form square or stay in line? ARRRR! I don't know!" Once a turn (a turn being everyone moving and shooting once) each player may make an argument to cause something unexpected to happen in the game. Terrain effects can be brought in, moral effects or even changes to the rules! Players can interrupt other players turn so order of play is opened up wide. Wise players hold their unexpected arguments off till the end of the turn. In that way they hold a threat over the enemy that a hammer can fall if they do something really stupid or super human. In other words trying to walk on water is a good way to get yourself drowned! Not to mention flying off buildings. HOW THE GAME WENT The French set up with their men strung out along the ridge. Line infantry cavalry in the middle, cannon up on the round top, One line infantry unit faced the Russians and the Old Guard facing the Austrians (coming up behind the round top). The Russians came in in columns but quickly deployed into line. The Austrians also came in in column then switching to line. The Prussians put their civilian mob opposite the round top. Their landwehr infantry in the center with their guns and the garbage cavalry in the woods opposite the Russian Flank. The French facing the Austrians were in a line and with the help of cannon fire from the hill shattered the Austrian advance. The French cavalry in the center split in two. The heavies attacked the Prussian cavalry and stopped them cold. The lights attacked the Russians and along with the one French line infantry and held it (taking some casualties due to amazing Russian dice rolling but on the whole saving their men). So the Flanks were secured for the moment. In the center, the Prussians slowly advanced. The landwehr did not seem very interested in out pacing their artillery which kept moving and firing with them. The civilian mob on the other hand surged forward. They ~ad a lot of ground to cover but as they closed in it became clear that the few remaining French infantry units covering the center could not stop them. The Prussian mob washed up over the round top, collapsing the French facing the Austrian. In the center, Prussian landwehr outnumbered French defenders two to on. The French started to pull back. It was a well ordered withdraw. So the French were able to get most of their forces away. Just like in real life. The French lost all their guns but at least they inflicted significant casualties on the Austrians and Russians. HOW THE GAME EVOLVED AS IT WAS PLAYED The basic rules on "Politics by other means..." are needless to say not tailored to the Napoleonic Wars. In fact they could be used for any game from ancient Summeria to Buck Rogers. As the game is played though, that changes. Players add in rules that make the game do things that fit their idea of what Napoleonics should be like. I this game, players added several rules. 1. Cannon firing grape shot should hit two figures per hit rather than one (within twelve inches). 2. Cannon balls bounce so they have a chance to hit each rank they go though. In the case of an enfilade shot this could be devastating! 3. Units in column and square are easier to hit - on a five or six. And 4. Once units start running away other units need to make arguments why they don't run away as well! By the end of the game the players had in effect written a pretty standard horse and musket game. People had to watch their flanks and formations. Square was helpful against cavalry (since it influenced the referee to rule saving arguments for cavalry attacks very strong) and columns were useful in maneuvering in crowded locations but were not useful i n combat. The fact that a civilian mob proved decisive in the game was merely due to their being ignored by the French. Had they faced stiff resistance I doubt they would have stood. What I found interesting about the exercise is that it put the players in the role of game designer. Since game design is no more than the author enacting his own ideas (however right or wrong) into a set of procedures. The difference being that not rules in this game are written in stone. Later circumstances can end them or alter them. War becomes a place of fear and uncertainty. But it is always logical and reasonable. Which can not always be said for rigid sets of rules. One other thing emerged during the game. Players made up rules and at first expected me to remember them! I quickly dissuaded them from this notion. The rules author was responsible for enforcing it. It he forgot the rule, then the rule lapsed. This in effect made everyone a referee and I think increased the players commitment to the game. It also saved me from a massive headache. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT MATRIX GAMES CHECK OUT MY WEB PAGE. http:.//www.io.com/~hamster or email me hamster@io.com Back to MWAN #104 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2000 Hal Thinglum 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