Those French chappies appear to run a boardgame as part of their annual Championnat de France. Rather than use an American game they produce their own, showing a level of inventiveness usually only found in the figure hobby. Délires reside at 4 rue de Sergeant Hoff, 75017 Paris, but do not bother writing as they never reply. Their games can be found in good shops (I picked up mine at Esdevium). [Sergeant Hoff was, I believe, a top sniper in the siege of Paris in 1870-71]. The games are of good quality with very smart professionally mounted and die cut counters. The subject usually has a French element (although one I have not yet played covers Arsouf, which is French only if Coeur-de-lion is French, which of course he is).
Hohenlinden was a victory for Moreau and his Rhine Army men (including Grouchy and Ney amongst others) against the Archduke Johann. It makes an interesting change from the Army of Italy and Napoleone Buonaparte. The French army, strung out in a cordon finds itself, confronting five columns of Austrian/Bavarian foot and cavalry. The Austrians must seek to damage the weaker French formations and capture vital terrain, the French must do the reverse using the division of Decaen moving on from the right flank.
The map and counters are really very good. The illustrations have a strong blocky appearance, although limited in types in a way which modern games would not be. One could moan about the French infantry being dressed in a shako (in fact that's just what I will do, moan moan moan) but the standard of illustration is excellent. Each unit is a multi-battalion regiment (or grouping of battalions) with a wide range of strength. Units come in five varieties: horse and foot artillery, infantry, and heavy and light cavalry. There are enough historical designations to keep us all happy but not too much to get in the way of play. It is easy to see which units each counter belongs and command is accordingly easy.
Hohenlinden 1800 has a basic traditional chassis with a couple of good innovative ideas, so it is admirably suited to strong game play while still avoiding Blue & Gray-itis (a horrid condition). Counters have combat, morale and movement factors, leaders have combat, bonuses, and movement. Combat is odds based, movement is standard hex-to-hex fare. Combat results are SPs lost, morale tests and retreats. There are rules for cavalry avoiding combat, fight-and-march, advance after combat etc. etc. of the type we all know, understand and can play. Aside from the rules being in French there is nothing about Hohenlinden 1800 that will get between you and the game. Nor is there anything to unreasonably prolong play.
Let us move swiftly from the columns of helmeted Austrians as they approach the French outposts and get over to the interesting bits of the rules. Firstly, movement and combat all costs Initiative Points and these are in limited supply. If I have read the rules correctly you open play with 55 PI and each turn you move a "PI Restants" marker (and not the "PI Disponibles" marker) down the chart as you use up PI marching and fighting. The effect is of command limitations as the entire force cannot fight and move in the same turn. You must pick your areas of activity. At the end of each turn the "PI Restants" marker heads back to the "PI Disponibles" position. However, as each unit is eliminated (all SPs killed) the "PI Disponibles" total reduces by two points (three for the death of a commander). Significant losses will therefore sap the ability to act on the part of the army. However, capturing villages will have the opposite effect, building up the activity levels against the flow of losses. Whatever you do, do not lose a lot of men and fail to capture the village.
Losses have other effects, all losses are noted as "Pertes Générales" and as they increase they break through three levels. These occur at 25, 45 and 60 points lost (both armies are well over 150 points so these are not slaughters and historically this is correct). As each level is hit morale retires one point per level. After the first level is hit all retreats are two rather than one hex; and special attacks (see below) gets a +1 benefit. After the second level all retreats are three hexes, no advance after combat may occur and attacks by your opponent are improved further. At the third level defeat occurs. These demoralisation levels are vital stuff. One must seek out weak enemy forces to defeat at low cost driving them inexorably over the limits in advance of yourself. However, you will still suffer losses yourself and must make maximum advantage of the opportunities to get dice advantages before you, too, slip down another level. If losses are pretty even then combat will begin to drift down to the bloody inconclusivity of much Napoleonic combat. The model is a strong one, and agrees with the analysis in Muir's book reviewed elsewhere. Victory is otherwise handled by terrain captured and losses.
The possibilities for inter-arm co-ordination are neatly handled. Two types of unit do not get you a modifier but they do get you a second roll of the dice if you do not like the first (this could be worse of course!). All three types will get you two shots and a dice modifier. These are improved greatly where your opponent's morale is wobbly.
There is not much else to say. The field of Hohenlinden is wooded with many villages. Units fight to-and-fro in the finest traditions of the period. Combat is seldom overwhelming, but as losses mount positions will have to be abandoned to shorten lines. Sudden retreats or morale collapses (2d6 against morale ratings of 7-9) can accelerate the problems. Similarly heroic regiments can turn the tide - "Close up, close up"!
There are some neat rally rules that allow losses to be recovered on the board but not on the Pertes chart. There also weather rules, but I cannot spot when they are applied, their effects are to bring snow-showers fogs and the like across the battlefield.
So one has a good three-hour game of losses and combat using simple but well-prepared systems - a veritable cuisine bourgeoise of gaming. The units with their numbers and names (we have Grenzers, Polish Legions, and much Bavarian exotica) provide a good flavour. Indeed, the only problem is that we ignorant Brits lack a good source on the battle so I cannot really comment on the historical atmosphere. What I can note is that this is not a Victorious French Arms game, instead both sides are evenly balanced (six strength points divide them) and have a hard fight on their hands. There are no sudden advantages conferred by a mysterious French Column Tactic, or a ridiculous Austrian linear approach, as some of our more credulous American cousins believe. No, Monsieur Garbe knows that the Revolutionary Wars were a great deal more complex than that (John Lynn's Bayonets of the Republic provides much evidence for the neighbouring Army of the Sambre et Meuse). Should one really mass the Austrians to overwhelm the Right Wing of Grenier, leaving Moreau's Centre to hammer into Kollowrath? The game is more traditional in its system that Richard Berg's Victory system, represented under Lend Lease by Rivoli 1797 it is Igo Hugo rather than LIM activated, but its combat is slightly better in feel (in my view). There is not much between them., and that denigrates neither.
An excellent competitive game, perhaps a little mechanistic for my tastes but bearable. Now to find a book on the topic.....
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© Copyright 1998 by Charles and Teresa Vasey.
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