Gamble at Gerasdorf
French v. Austrians in 1805

Introduction

by Chris Hahn

Being a Report of a Solo Play Test of PIQUET Rules and the Les Grognards Supplement

Some five years after PIQUET became available in the wargaming marketplace, I took the plunge and purchased the 2nd Edition Master Rules as well as two of the supplements: Les Grognards and Archon. These supplements catered to the Napoleonic period and Ancients; two eras of personal interest. My decision to take a "swim in the PIQUET pool" was based on several viewings of the introductory and instructional video tape, produced by Bob Jones, author of the rules. I had also read several reviews of the rules in hobby publications. The majority of the reviews were positive. Additionally, having finally secured access to the Internet (I guess I'm either slow or just very good at procrastinating), I did more research on the rules. What interested and appealed to me the most, was the concept of taking a lot of the command and control away from the wargamer. The unpredictable nature or course of the traditional wargame "turn", appealed very much as wen.

Some six months after the receipt of said purchase, I was finally able to sit down and put together a solo wargame so that I could test / familiarize myself with the rules. Being a student of Napoleon and his military genius, I decided to try the Les Grognards supplement first. If the experiment (or experiments) went well, then I might look into playing a couple of wargames utilizing the Ancients supplement. The following article is comprised of two parts. First, there is the narrative of the solo wargame. This is prefaced by a section on how the scenario and forces were developed. Inunediately following the narrative is a brief analysis of the game. Subsequent to this, there is a section dedicated to comments and considerations of the PIQUET rules. This section may be viewed by some as a critique of the rules, but my intention here is not to offer criticism of the PIQUET system / rules. Invariably, some readers will take exception to that claim. I think that's ultimately good, as any constructive discussion and debate would only help me further understand the concepts and nuances of this approach to wargaming.

More Gamble at Gerasdorf French v. Austrians in 1805

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© Copyright 2001 Hal Thinglum
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