A long time since I have submitted an article and I am very sorry. I have tried to explain some of the situation to our kind editor and hope for forgiveness.

It is hard to write battle reports if you don't fight any battles (hard for me anyway, no, gifted novelist, I)

Some years ago, I wrote battle reports from the American Revolution: Cowpens and Guilford Courthouse. The games were most satisfactory, the rules I had developed from an article in Wally Simon's PW Review. Wally did not describe his rules in great detail, but explained different techniques in the course of his battle report.

The rules were based on rules of Stephen Simpson that appeared in one of the English "glossy" magazines, (that is, Wally had altered the original rules, just as I have altered the rules he used). In response to an article in MWAN, Abbot Kominers sent me a copy of the Simpson rules They were quite intersting inmany ways, not the least of which being his philosophy behind the rules. As a gamer with few figures and little time, I was impressed by his arguments in favor of small unit sizes (speed in preparing units) and small numbers of units (room to maneuver).

The rules are similar to Donald Featherstone's "new" rules, in that exact count is inconsequential--rather a unit is combat effective or is removed (after a certain number of "hits" which might he considered morale failures rather than the actual number of men hit). Don's rules require the keeping of a roster, which means that a unit's staying power can be concealed. Simpsons involve removing a unit after a certain number of stands are removed (varying with the status of the troop type). My own version states simply that an infantry or cavalry unit reduced to less than three stands is removed from play--elite units simple starting with an extra stand and militia units starting with one fewer (thus the status of the units is easily recognized by all).

There is no real concern about scale--the ranges are higher than realistic. but they assure that a unit of infantry will have a chance to shoot at anyone who is in range to melee them and enemy artillery needs to be treated with respect. Command control is emphasized and decision making which is, I think, appropriate to being in command. The mechanics are kept to a minimum to maintain a rapid flow in the game.

Kolin

An earlier version of the nules here presented was used (over a year ago) to refight Kolin. Tod Kershner came to the monastery for an evening and decided to assume the role of Frederic the Great, leaving me to command the Austrians under Daun. I had the larger army, but the Prussians were just all around better in almost every category. I had a devil of a time just getting reserves to respond to the Prussian oblique attack.

For some time the battle could have one either way, but eventually attrition got the better of the Prussian army. I didn't get around to writing a battle report of the game, in part because it was so much like the actual battle! I had thought to work on the nules a bit and get some more figures ready to do a whole series of Frederick's battles, but haven't yet gotten to it.

I asked Tod about doing something with the rules at the local convention. He decided against it. I had tried to design the nules so that one person could manage an army. Part of the advantage of a convention is to have a large number of players on both sides. We with these rules, there wonld simply not be enough for the players to do. Thus my success in my design goals made the rules unsuited for convention play. Instead I offered the battle of Grenada (18th century sailing ships, not 20th century amphibious assault--but that will do for another article).

Occasionally I become fascinated with Wellington and his campaign in the Iberian peninsula. There are advantages in this, since I actually have an army for the period. I like to use the simple early battles (Rolica & Vimeiro) to test out new rules and ideas. Thus it was that it was another battle of Vimeiro (rather than of Frederick's battles), that I set up on the occasion of the visit of my friend, Francis Lynch.

The rules here preseoted are somewhat developed from the version used in the game for which the map is provided. One of the advantages of playing a simple battle with new rules using new concepts is that it allows for development and refinement.

This table top set-up was based on the best map of the battle I could find and the relationship between the size of the table and the armies allowed the French flanking attack to be on the table. Likewise, the command control rules meant that the attack was beyond the control of the army commander.

Observant readers will note that the rules have a maximum brigade size of 5 units, whereas Nightingale's & Hill's brigade each have 6 and Chalot's brigade totals an impressive 11 units! In the course of the game, neither of us was willing to risk using a brigade commander to alter a morale test--they were just too thin on the ground! Thus we decided that brigades should be of a more manageable size.

Nevertheless, the command divisions were reasonable, given the tasks of the forces involved. Francis took the French (appropriately enough, since "Francis" means "the Frenchman") and was happy to go with the plans of Junot (he was largely forced to by the fact that the armies had already been deployed by us months earlierat the end of his previous visit). The plan was pretty straightforward and very much in accord with the general tactical plans of the French during the Napoleonic era. Chalot's skirmishers would screen the approach of the infantry to attack Vimeiro (pinning the garrison) while the guns prepared thal attack as well as softening up the brigade under Hill for possible exploitation by the cavalry.

Solignac would hit Ventosa to pin that garrison and allow Brennier's brigade to proceed with its ranking movement unmolested. each brigade was expected to take advantage of oppornunities that developed.

The plan almost worked--in fact, I think one could fairly say that the plan worked, but luck was not with the French (hence Napoleon's question about a proposed commander, "Is he lucky?"). Chalot's cavalry took a pounding, but eventually did manage to force the Maciera River and clamber up the hill occupied by Hill. I was faced by a difficult decision about whether to get a really devastating volley at the French (resolving the situation on that flank with considerable finality) or to play it safe and form square (which would almost certainly keep my infantry alive, but keep them pinned by the two remaining French units).

The units in Vimeiro village certainly looked to be needing help from the reserves under Wellesley (the struggle here lasted the entire battle and the reserves did have to be fed in). I decided to take the big risk. Volley fire (from all three of my infantry units) was ineffective and I was roughly handled by the French. Eventually I prevailed on this flank, but had only one weak unit to send to where the decisive battle was raging--the hill initially occupied by Nightingale and Crawford.

The battle got to that hill by two routes- obviously one was the outflanking column. Had Brennier been all that Nightingale and Crawford had to worry about, there would have been no problem, but he was still in (though much worn down) when Solignac's virtually undamaged brigade burst through (having taken Ventosa with minimal loss). Wellesley was busy on the hill pushing units every which way, and finally outlasted the French, but it was a dearly bought win more in the style of Albuerra rather than Wellington's Peninsular victories.

Readers will note that units of all types seem to have forded rivers and crossed rough ground with ease. It was not always so easy at the time, but no terrain was impassable. As you can see from the rules. units either passed their obstacle toss (and moved over or through obstacles without penalty) or failed and didn't move at all.

I was pleased by the way the rules worked, even though I had some very bad moments. Not only was there the ineffective massive volley mentioned above, but I felt badly let down by the Highland Light Infantry and the Worcestershire Regiment (simple bad luck, though if a brigadier had been present that might have held better--their real problem seemed to be their inability to get a hit on the French). Then there was the refusal of the 20th Light Dragoons to charge the disordered 2nd Provisional Cuirasiers (admittedly, they had heen roughly handled. but I couldn't get them to reform).

Glidden's Napoleonic Rules and and Vimeiro Scenario