The day was grey and humid. It had rained on and off during the night. Our positions had been prepared as we had been here for the last twelve hours. We were waiting for the arrival of the Prussian force that had so badly mauled our army. My orders were to hold the Germans long enough for the remainder of the army to regroup. About twentyfour hours. The French army had been dealt a crushing defeat and retreated about five miles to our rear. We were ready for the Germans. The men were in high spirits and ready to do their duty. Ready to "DIE FOR GLORY". With this, the background of our game is set. I had been invited, along with fellow MWANer Len Brewer, to participate in a Franco-Prussian wargame. Our host, the illustrious, world renowned, Mr. Hal Thinglum had set up the game and would perform the gamemaster duties. This was to be a treat for me as 99.9% of my gaming is solo. So to game against an opponent other than myself would bee a welcome change. In my 20+ years ofwargaming I had never ventured outside of two periods. These being WWII and 1809 Napoleonic. The excursion into a new period would be a welcome change. Though I have heard a lot about the Franco-Prussian war I did not know a lot about it. A considerable amount of information was found on the world wide web, and through this source I gave myself a crash course on this interesting conflict. Hal sent along a copy of the rules that were to be used, "THEY DIED FOR GLORY". An abbreviated version of the rules can be found in "The Courier", volume VII, number 1. As someone that has a very difficult time learning new rules, I was not looking forward to this. When the rule set arrived I immediately started to go through them. I must say that they were easy to understand. They are laid out in a way that makes them easy to learn. The charts are easy to use, and key points are well covered with illustrated examples. Not having learned a new rule system in over 15 years I was thankfull for this. In my 20+ years of wargaming I have taken pride in the fact that, 1] I have managed to keep my interest to the two periods stated earlier, and 2] I have always kept my accumulation of unpainted figures and vehicles to less than 100. This rule set challenged both those areas of self restraint. I definately started considering a project in this period. There are considerable offerings in my chosen scale, 10mm, from Perrin Miniatures and Pendraken. Should you be interested check out ww-w.perinminis.com. For the Pendraken line I highly recommend "The Wargames Figure Company", located in Scottland, at www.wargamesfigures.com. Both sites offer secure online ordering and outstanding service. Both lines should be compatible as their WWII offerings go well together. The Pendraken line also offers 1860's Austrians, Saxons, Bavarians, Danish, and Italians. Now to the game. As the French commander/defender, I set up first. My set up included a considerable line of hasty works. I was allowed to set up anywhere South of the main East/West road, but could also occupy the small farm complex to the North of the road and East of the main village, and the two buildings North of the main road in the village. I was also given the option to place one regiment and one battery anywhere North of the main East/West road. I chose not to take advantage of this option. My 1st Corps had been held in reserve during the prvious battle so my command was in good shape. My Cavalry, save one regiment of Lancers,along with my reserve Artillary, had been detatched to cover the retreat of the main body. I could expect them to return to my command, but was unaware of how soon they would rejoin. I had also been told that a detatchment of the Imperial Guard would be moving to provide added support. But again, I was not sure when I could expect their arrival. With this my preparations were made and my troops deployed as shown on the map. The Germans entered the table at point A and point B on the map, in approximately divisional strength at each entry point. These forces both made their initial movements toward the French center. As the westernmost force moved across the small stream, into a slight depression, my artillery opened up on them. The artillery fire caused enough casualties to require a moral check for one regiment, which was failed and caused the unit to involuntarily fall back 12 inches. All units within 4 inches of the units path of retreat had to check moral, which they did. No fire was directed at the eastern force due to no line of sight, and there was no return fire. The second game turn saw no significant movement on the French side. The Germans moved on another divisional sized unit at point C. The eastern 2 German forces then moved into the line of sight of the French artillery on the east hill and came under fire, which caused minimal casualties. The western most division continued its movement toward the French center, taking more casualties from artillery fire in the process. All three German units continued to close and a fierce firefight developed in the small farm complex to the east of the main village, at the "Y" junction in the road. To this point things were well in hand for the French. A couple French regiments had taken considerable casualties but had held strong on their moral checks. The fighting around the small farm complex became very heated and though outnumbered considerably, the French unit fought with distinction. Fortunately the German units assaulting this area were not as lucky in their moral rolls. One regiment forced to fallback caused two other regiments to check moral. Failing their checks, these units were also forced to fallback. But even this good fortune for the French was not enough as there were still two regiments of Germans assaulting, and 2 batteries of artillary preparing to give the hard pressed defenders heck. It was at this point in the game, about game turn 6, that the French found themselves in a very difficult position. A large German formation, at least division in strength, appeared on the French right at point D. This force headed straight for the French right flank. The Lancers, which had been held in reserve, immediately made a move to bolster the threatened flank. Other French units made moves designed to try to take pressure off the right flank. But it was obvious to all involved that things had just gotten very serious for the French. The regiment in the small farm complex had fought bravely, exacting a toll on the attackers that proved the value of the unit. Unfortunately it had fought itself almost to oblivion and was finally forced to fall back. Two French regiments had found themselves in enfilade fire after forming into road column moving to support the right. Both units took heavy casualties, one failing the required moral check, having to take the requisite pullback. In so doing they routed past the French Marines, the unit that had fought so valiantly in the farm. This forced the Marines to check moral. I held my breath as I made the roll, needing a 2 or less on 1d6. They rolled a 1! With this my excursion into gaming the Franco-Prussian War ended, at least for that day. Len had to leave in order to get ready for his evening job. We sat for a bit discussing the battle. I discovered from Len that he still had another division to move on, and would be bringing them up behind the force that had so thouroughly crushed my right. I greatly enjoyed this gentleman's company and look forward to a chance at revenge on him in another game. It is my understanding that the French Generalship of this period was severely incompetent, I think I followed suit. Standing and surveying the damage of the days entertainment, I could see that my problem started with the initial setup. Although each division had at hand a good sized reserve, they should have been positioned together in a position where the whole group could react to a threat. Perhaps in the area directly behind the main village at the crossroads. After all this was the area that the French needed to hold. I had thought, incorrectly, that the main battle would be fought in the open ground in front of the village. When the large German formation appeared suddenly on my right flank, I was taken totally by surprise. I knew immediately that I was in major trouble. I also knew early in the game that the German force in front of my left was a pinning attack. I allowed it to do just that. At that time I should have immediately started to move troops to the right, leaving just a covering force on my left. I also should have run my forces on the left flank beyond the hill to the dense wooded area, anchoring my flank on what was very difficult terrain to move through. I do think that had these adjustments been made, the French would have had a much better chance at winning the game. My thanks go out to Hal for providing the place, forces, scenario, a table full of beautiful scenery and wonderfully painted buildings. The 20mm figures were very nice, and painted very well. Much appreciation to Len Brewer, a fine gentleman to game against, and very capable commander. Not to mention that he has a great sense of humor. Once again Len, I would love another chance to beat you, thanks for a great game. The rules," They Died for Glory", provided a quick moving and easy to play game. This was the first time I had seen them, as I believe it was Lens also. After the first couple game turns they were only consulted for the charts and a couple Special circumstances that came up during the game. My thanks to developers Robert Burke and David Waxtel for a comprehensive, yet very user friendly, set of rules. 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