All is Lost Save Honour

I'm in an Italian Wars mood. I'm working on learning the rules for All is Lost Save Honour, an operational/campaign treatment of the period. The system is based on OSG's Campaigns of Napoleon, but heavily modified.

The rules are very wordy. Still, it seems interesting and the map is to die for. Looking forward to giving it a try tomorrow during regular Thursday night gaming.

Campaigns on the Danube - 1809

Rain will slow down my offensive. The last thing the Austrians need is to be slower!

In honor of "Spring in Munich," our 1809 campaign Kriegsspiel getting underway today, I've been playing the same campaign in the nearest thing to a computerized Napoleonic operational Kriegsspiel currently available.

Waterloo 20 with My Wife

Night, June 16th. Through heavy fighting, the Allies have been forced out of Quatre Bras and the Prussians from Ligny.

I've persuaded my wife to do some reading on Waterloo. She's chiefly reading Bernard Corwell's Waterloo: The History of Four Days, Three Armies, and Three Battles and may progress on to some other works, including a volume of personal accounts of the battle. To help her understand the situation and choices facing Wellington and Napoleon during those four days, we're playing through Waterloo 20 from the GMT Fading Glory set.

The 1705 Moselle Campaign - Part I

Marlborough poised on the Moselle for an attack on Saarlouis, waiting on Allied reinforcements

A few weeks ago I responded to a question on Facebook concerning artillery organization during the 1705 Moselle Campaign during the War of Spanish Succession. After doing a little research from my ever-growing library of books on 18th Century war, I was intrigued enough to want to game out the campaign itself.

Turenne's 1645 Campaign - March 1645

I didn't get to it last week, but this week I am playing Won by the Sword, a game simulating operations during the Thirty Years War.

The Campaign of 1645

Turenne's army preparing to leave Phillipsburg and begin the campaign of 1645. Won by the Sword. I'm planning to start this in the coming week, assuming I finish my game of Nine Years.

Rossbach: The Battle

11:30 and Frederick is on the move

I hinted that the Prussians had made a subtle, but serious error in my previous post. In this entry we'll see what they did, and how that combined with another unfortunate happening led to a surprising outcome at the Battle of Rossbach.

The League of Augsburg

The map for Nine Years, a strategic/operation simulation of the war

After I wrap up Rossbach, I'm going to take a break from the Seven Years War and return to an ealier time. Namely, the Nine Years War, fought from 1688 to 1697.

Waiting for the Guns

Waiting for my artillery to unlimber before advancing at Aughrim

As wargamers, we are often guilty of taking actions with our pixeltruppen that no real general in his right mind would ever do. Casualties in wargames often exceed even the worst defeats real armies suffered, even when you win the game!

Action at Dego: JTS Campaign Marengo

French approach to Dego, initial positions

Not much boardgaming this weekend, as I've been consumed with PBEM turns and solo computer gaming. Much of the latter has been due to this game, the newly released Campaign Marengo from John Tiller Software.

OSG's The Last Success: Eckmuhl - 3:00 to 4:00 PM

Dig the fancy new counter sleds!

I didn't have time for a ton of gaming this week aside from my ongoing PBEM games, but I think I've made up for that this weekend. While mostly I've been playing PBEM turns and a solo campaign of AGEOD's Thirty Years War I did manage to get some time for board gaming as well.

For a change of pace, here we are looking at things from the Austrian side of the map. The line of yellow bordered counters you can see to the right center are Rosenberg's corps, occupying the Vorberg above Eckmuhl and the Laichlings. The blue stack just their left are Vandamme's troops in Eckmuhl itself. During the fighting at 3PM Vandamme's troops manage to destroy Bieber's brigade of the III Corps, that had attacked them in the town.

OSG's The Last Success: Eckmuhl - Video 2

Halfway through 3PM. Discussing some key game systems.

OSG's The Last Success: Eckmuhl - 2:00 to 3:00 PM

As the afternoon progresses, things are definitely heating up, despite the pouring rain.

2:00 PM - Vandamme attacks at Unter Deggenbach, routing M. Lichtenstein's Grenzers and lt. cavalry. Clement's HC attacks south of Lindach, pushing back Pfanzelter's piquets.  Lannes advances to vicinity of Lindach.

OSG's The Last Success: Eckmuhl - Early Afternoon

Lefebvre's corps attacks Unter Laiching

Things are happening much earlier in this game than happened historically. During the actual battle, the Allied forces waited through the morning for Napoleon and Lannes to arrive from Landshut, while the Austrians waited until early afternoon to give Kolowrat's II Corps time ti recuperate from a night march. That could have happened here - the Austrians drew a "Late Start" mode card at the beginning of turn 1, which should have kept all of the Austrian commanders in bed until they rolled a "1" on a D6 or until an enemy unit engaged an Austrian unit within 10 hexes of the commander. Interestingly, they also drew the "Early Arrival" mode card, which, having a higher number than "Late Start", and which puts all units on the map in command on turn 1, immediately cancelled the "Late Start" Effect.

Scourge of War Waterloo - Sandbox Play

Marching my division across the Belgian countryside toward our objective, a small town

After playing The Last Success  much of yesterday, I finished the evening with a session of Scourge of War: Waterloo to have a slightly different Napoleonic experience.

OSG's The Last Success: Eckmuhl - 1

First video of my Eckmuhl play. End of the 11AM turn.

OSG's The Last Success: Eckmuhl - Opening Moves

Vandamme's Corps moving on Buchausen at 10AM

It turned out to be a busy week and so I wasn't able to actually start this game as I'd planned. I have managed to get started today, however. It's been slow going getting started as I finished setting everything up and the had to get reacquainted with the rules.

Playing This Week: OSG's The Last Success: Eckmuhl

Looking north toward Eckmuhl

Usually, I don't manage to play too many boardgames during the week. However, I'm realizing that if I'm ever going to play most of the games I have I'm going to need to play more frequently! So, this week I'm going to get serious about tackling OSG's operational Napoleonic games, namely their game about the 1809 campaign: The Last Success.

Battle of Kolin: Prussia's Glory II - 5

Finishing up the game. The Prussian attack fails and the Austrians manage a marginal victory.

Battle of Kolin: Prussia's Glory II - 4

The Prussian attack is finally underway. Cavalry from both sides battle it out on the east side of the map while the Prussian infantry begins its assault.