Well, the day had finally come. Bill Widrick had made his painful (back problems) journey through what were then "the friendly skies" from Arizona, and Len Brewer drove his pickup truck (minus the gunrack and buck roped across the hood) from Decatur the weekend before LITTLE WARS 2001 to my house and were on opposite sides of my wargames table. I had painstakingly laid out my prized 20mm Franco-Prussian War collection of B&B figures (see map) and terrain on an "L" shaped table measuring 6' X 11' on the long end of the "L" and 6' X 10 1/2' on the short end. I made sure that I did not put every piece of terrain I owned on the tabletop, though I was sorely tempted! I did, however, manage to find a place in the game for every single painted FPW unit! We were there to play a game using THEY DIED FOR GLORY (the first time I'd used them) by MWANer Bob Burke and Dave Waxtel. I'd liked what I'd read of the rules, as well as several reviews in the wargames press, and was anxious to try them out. Len was assigned as the German Commander while Bill commanded the French. Now I will be the very first to say that I greatly admire people who can write a narrative of a wargame - I can't! I also can't locate my pregame orders, thus, I will have to depend upon that most fragile of instruments, my memory. The French were, as usual, on the defensive. They were failing back following yet another defeat inflicted upon them by the Germans and they represented the far right flank of the French Army and had not, as of yet, seen action in the conflict. They were instructed to act as a rear guard to delay the advancing German Army long enough to allow the rest of the French Army to reorganize on the south side of river (located at the bottom of the map. They could occupy ground anywhere east of the road entering the table on the bottom of the far left side of the map and south of the road crossing the center of the length of the table east to the town toward the center of the table and the hill to the right of that town. Their orders were to hold as long as possible and then withdraw across the bridge on the south side of the table. The French cavalry, with the exception of one regiment, was out scouting and unavailable to General Bill. The Imperial Guard, General Bill was told, was to the south of the bridge and making it's way to join him. The Germans, on the other hand, were advancing with typical German enthusiasm! Colonels and Generals, as well as every other German officer, especially the Prussians, saw their careers sky-rocketing and prayed that their unit would be the first to encounter the French. Unfortunately, I did not quite get this point across to my dear friend, Len Brewer and I accept the responsibility. We shall see more about this later in this account. The Orders of Battle were as such: FRENCH 1st Corps 1st Division 1st Brigade 1st Chasseurs (24) 1st Regt: 1st Bn (16), 2nd Bn (16), 3 rd Bn (16) 2nd 2nd Regt: 1st Bn (16), 2nd Bn (16), 3" Bn (16) 2nd Brigade 2nd Chasseurs (24) 3rd Regt: 1st Bn (16), 2nd Bn (16), 3rd Bn (16) 4th Regt: 1st Bn (16), 2nd Bn (16), 3rd Bn (16) Divisional Artillery 1st Foot Bty (1 gun/5 crew) 2nd Foot Bty (1 gun/5 crew) 1st Mitrailleuse Bty (1 gun/5 crew) 2nd Division 1st Brigade 3rd Chasseurs (24) 5th Regt: 1st Bn (16), 2nd Bn (16), 3rd Bn (16) 6th Regt: 1st Bn (16), 2nd Bn (16), 3rd Bn (16) 2nd Brigade 7th Reg't: Vt Bn (16), 2nd Bn (16), 3rd Bn (16) 6th Regt: 1st Bn (16), 2nd Bn (16), 3rd Bn (16) Divisional Cavalry: 1st Line Lancers (12) Divisional Artillery 3d Foot Bty (1 gun/5 crew) 4th Foot Bty (1 gun/5 crew) 2nd Mitrailleuse (1 gun/5 crew) Reserve Artillery 5th Foot Bty (1 gun/5 crew) 6th Foot Bty (1 gun/5 crew) 1st Horse Bty (1 gun/6 crew) French Imperial Guard 1st Brigade Chasseurs (24) 1st Regt: 1st Bn (16), 2nd Bn (16), 3rd Bn (16) 2nd Regt: 1st Bn (16) Guard Artillery 1st Foot Bty (1 gun/5 crew) Ist Mitrailleuse (1 gun/5 crew) The French totaled 546 infantry, 12 cavalry, and 11 guns/55 crew. The German Army I Corps 1st Division 1st Brigade 1st Regt: 1st Bn (20), 2nd Bn (20), 3 d Bn (20) 2nd Regt: Ist Bn (20), 2nd Bn (20), 3 rd Bn (20) 2nd Brigade 3rd Regt: 1st Bn (20), 2nd Bn (206), 3 rd Bn (20) 4th Regt: 1st Bn (20), 2nd Bn (20), 3 rd Bn (20) 1st Jagers (20) Divisional Artillery 1st Foot Bty (1 gun/5 crew) 2nd Foot Bty (1 gun/5 crew) 3rd Foot Bty (1 gun/5 crew) 4th Foot Bty (1 gun/5 crew) 2nd Division 1st Brigade 5th Regt: 1st Bn (20), 2nd Bn (20), 3rd Bn (20) 6th Regt: 1st Bn (20), 2nd Bn (20), 3rd Bn (20) 2nd Brigade 7th Regt: 1st Bn (20), 2nd Bn (206), 3 d Bn (20) 8th Regt: 1st Bn (20), 2nd Bn (20), 3 d Bn (20) 2nd Jagers (20) Divisional Artillery 5th Foot Bty (1 gun/5 crew) 6th Foot Bty (1 gun/5 crew) 7th Foot Bty (1 gun/5 crew) 8th Foot Bty (1 gun/5 crew Corps Artillery 6th Foot Bty (1 gun/5 crew) 1st Horse Bty (1 gun/6 crew) 2nd Horse Bty (1 gun/6 crew) 3rd Horse Bty (1 gun/6 crew The Germans totaled 520 infantry and 12 guns/63 crew. I now turn the narrative responsibilities over to my cohorts, General Bill first of all, and secondly, General Len. Map 1870 Franco-Prussian Wargame Introduction They Died for Glory [or so they thought] The Prussians Speak Final Comments: The Last Word Back to MWAN #115 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2002 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