LES PYRAMIDES (Berg/Bey/Brandsma) - VV n°23 - Novembre/décembre 1998
No more than 17 years will be necessary to see the end of this series expected to simulate, with 200 years of delay, each year a battle from Napoleonic era. For 1798, the choice was short and, with a lot of exotism, Egypt was perfect. The game system have been designed by Richard Berg himself, from Glory and consorts, and used last year for Rivoli (VV 18).
For Pyramides, it has been hardly modified. It is at the same time easy, consistent, and rich in possibilities. On the LIM principle promoted by Berg (3DOG, Glory, A Famous Victory and so on...), each division or column owns two counters (Activation Markers: AM) which are dropped in a cup with all AM of the enemies. The gain of initiative gives one camp the choice of the first played AM, after that, all but one AM are randomly picked. The last one is discarded. Each time the AM of a formation is drawn, every unit of this formation can move and fight according to the orders given by the chief commander. Each chief commander can give orders to a few formations, so the others must try initiative or move half distance and fight rarely. The units can form square for infantry, charge for cavalry and reaction fire or barrage for artillery. Fires and melees are resolved quickly by a die and many DRM. Tactical factors are easy to understand: you need to be numerous and have a better efficiency than the enemy has!
The operational factors are less easy to master because friction is everywhere: with two AM by formation, the face of the battle will be different every time, and the gamer must sail coastal navigation.
If Rivoli 1797 was difficult to win for the foes of Napo, Pyramides is even worse! With the historical scenario, if you want to win, you have a better time playing the French. When you set up the game, the affair is clear: half of the Mameluk army is on the other side of the Nile river, and clearly does not want to cross. Next, all of the -very low value - infantry is entrenched in Imbaba, hopefully with big guns. Lastly, the manoeuvre part of the army is the Mameluk cavalry, totally inefficient against the French squares. To win, the Frenchies, just need to storm Imbaba with two divisions, during this time the rest of the army holds off the Mameluk cavalry, and lastly, the reserve of cavalry runs to take El Gizeh and le tour est joué and the automatic victory secured! For the Mameluk, it is possible to break one or two squares before he sees all the cavalry fleeing, and the four guns can shake some French guys moving too foolishly, but it hard to do better.
In summary, a very historical game and that shows perfectly the genius of Napo, who won battles before having to fight for them....
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© Copyright 1999 by Charles and Teresa Vasey.
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