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Monday 17 August 2020

A Demonstration Game

Last week I was paid a visit by the ABC Wargamers, well B and C (Bob and Alan).  We set out to play a long promised wargame, using a set of heavily adapted Command & Colors rules, that essentially dispensed with the cards and were reduced to one side of A4. The aim was to provide Bob and Alan an introduction to the mechanisms and to provide a quick game.

The scenario was a Peninsula War Napoleonic action which saw a French advance guard attempting to seize a river crossing held by a Spanish force. Reinforcements in the shape of a British Brigade were en route to join the action.  I took on the French, Bob the Spanish and Alan the British.

This is the layout of the action There are more French units off camera to the left:

The French, who were attacking, planned to push hard on the right flank to capture the ford in an attempt to draw off troops from the Spanish centre and left, and hopefully draw in any reinforcements. Once committed the French would switch their attack to the left flank.

Things went well for the French to start with. An artillery bombardment, with infantry and horse artillery moving on the right flank saw off a Spanish regiment and did considerable damage, but a irritating Spanish battery did some damage to the French:





The French plan, however, was working and the British reinforcements arrived and beefed up the Spanish who by now were now under pressure:




With the British committed and the Spanish left fixed, the French attack switched to the other side of the field.  There, a desperate action took place, with both sides committing cavalry to the fray:

The French mounted several attacks but each time they were thrown back by a very spirited Spanish resistance.  Eventually the French were worn down by artillery and musket fire.  It was clear to the French commander that he lacked the forces to breakthrough in sufficient strength and so he broke of his attack upon reaching the exhaustion point.

The battle was a closely fought affair that swung back and forth. At one point it did seem that the French would break through and the battle hung in the balance. But it was not to be. All of the figures used were 25mm Warrior Miniatures.

The victorious allies:
Apart from a few adjustments that will be needed, the game worked well. The whole action was completed in less than two hours; plenty of time for a post match debrief over lunch!





12 comments:

  1. Hello there Bob,

    Lovely looking game! Those Warrior figures certainly have a swagger about them! I would be interested to see what your one page take on the C and C system looks like.

    All the best,

    DC

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  2. Hi Bob- Very nicely sized battle - I do like your 25mm Armies. Cheers. KEV.

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    Replies
    1. Those old Warrior figures do look the part in an old school type game.

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  3. A very successful venture. Nothing like a victory to enhance one's opinion of a new game!

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    1. Victories are good! What really made this game work was that it moved along very quickly and did not get bogged down at any point.

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  4. C&C is certainly a good basis for a game that can be played to a conclusion in a decent time frame. I like the look of your troops and terrain, very nice!

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    1. I agree very much, nothing worse than having to pack up a game before there is any form of conclusion.

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  5. Very nice and I think C&C based, but without the cards sounds very interesting and much more my cup of tea!

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  6. I like to use the cards for solo games, but I don't like the way that one player cannot react to the other if he has no cards covering that sector of the board. Using a dice to determine action points works very well - especially when the opposition rolls a one!

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