First of all, I liked the rules system! Fast, bloody, and decisive with an historical feel. Hard to ask for more than that in a wargame, to my simple way of thinking. Bill set his troops out on the table much as I would - he attempted to cover all ground along the front and flanks and although he had a reserve force, his forces were probably spread too thin. However, I did give him every single French figure I had in my painted collection so he had to do something with them, didn't he! Len, on the other hand, played the part of a "skillful" Commanding Officer, not the dashing hell-bent Prussian Generals. He pinned the French along the French front with small forces which advanced slowly and worked his way around to the French right flank with the rest of his army and hit Bill hard at that point, thus breaking through the French lines rather easily and was well on his way to cutting off the French line of retreat although General Hal, who was commissioned on the field of battle to command the French Imperial Guard, was moving the Guard up to form a new right flank, hopefully allowing the majority of the French force to make their retreat (a move much practiced by the French during this conflict). In my mind, prior to the game, I envisioned furious Prussian attacks by any German units entering the tabletop and horrendous German casualties followed by a gradual French pull-back. Oh, well, it's not my fault that Len is a better wargamer than I gave him credit for, is it? I should have placed the figures on the table prior to the game instead of allowing Bill and Len to set them up by themselves where they saw fit (within the pregame conditions). This would have speeded things up as it took quite awhile to set up the troops. I also should have been more specific in my orders to Len as the German commander that he should advance enthusiastically without much concern for casualties. One of my intentions, while putting the scenario together, was that I would submit the write-ups by myself, Len, and Bill, as well as the scenario, map, and orders of battle, to Robert Burke, who would then critique the entire affair. This would have been very interesting, I think, and I would still like to do this at some point in the future. Robert had kindly consented to do so and served as a "consultant" while I was reading the rules and putting the game together. As a matter of fact, he is wholly responsible for my decision to increase the number of battalions per infantry regiment from two to three, as he encouraged me in this direction. Wonder how much more this cost me, Robert! Thanks for your help with everything, Robert; appreciate it! Fine rules effort! The game was enjoyable; Thanks to Bill and Len for taking part in the game and being gentlemen wargamers! 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