This is a replay of the battle of Ligny from the DG edition of Napoleon's Last Battles, using my new set of variant rules. I've long been interested in the Waterloo campaign, don't have time for the big games, and I simply and plainly did not want the NLB system and its siblings - the last time I tried it, the pointless to-and-fro-pushing engendered by the archaic combat system actually made me physically queasy. Napoleonic combat was an attritional issue - if you sent a unit in to assault, chances were that you would not get it back unscratched. In addition, Napoleonic combat was *not* primarily odds-based, neither at the battle level nor below. So I decided to go to a fire-based combat system. Second, I've always liked order-based command systems. First, they reduce telescoping - they help slowing down battles to a more historical tempo, and require players to plan ahead just like the historical commanders did. Second, they permit adding significant fog of war to the game (by using them to have marches occur hidden, a fantastic rule pioneered by Dave Powell in Operations magazine). The main disadvantage of order rules is that they should work particularly well if a game covers more than a day, but most games that have explicit orders are so big and slow that one rarely reaches that stage. Yet there is no reason to use orders only with big and slow games. Arguably, a faster game that covers the grand tactical aspects is a more fertile ground than one that looks at tactical detail. The tactical chaos is best handled by other methods - as I mentioned here a couple of weeks ago, I think orders are best for the long term stuff, while chitpulls are best for the short term stuff. So, third (and finally), I've added a chitpull sequence of play. (The chitpull system is much simpler than the - to me - befuddling multiplicity of effects the chitpulls have in some recent Richard Berg games such as Triumph & Glory, because here they only have to deal with the chaos of the moment. The chaos in the long run is separated cleanly by being produced by the players' own orders. :-) A beneficial effect (as I found out when I played the Avalanche Eylau) of an interactive sequence is that it can actually recapture the swift sequences of attacks and counterattacks that sometimes characterized Napoleonic warfare, especially where attacks on towns were concerned. The resulting rules are not really longer in text than the NLB campaign rules (which also had a special "command" system and a number of other features) although I would agree they are somewhat more complex as far as the orders are concerned. They keep, I think, the game flowing just as well as the original and I like the flow much better at the point of contact. It should be noted that to minimize the effects of luck in what was basically a testing game, I played the game below without combat dierolls - I always used the center column on my new CRT, which helps the defender somewhat because of the way retreats work. I did still use dierolls for the order system. I'll put the variant rules on my webpage after I've tested them a bit more; but the replay should be fun to read just the same. Currently I'm trying the rules on the standard NLB scenarios but they should work as well with Napoleon at Leipzig and that is in fact my next target. (Another game and situation I always longed to play but didn't want to because of the pointless to-and-fro-pushing. And given that it covers multiple days it should again be amenable to the orders system. Ahhhh...) So here we go, the Ligny scenario. --------------------------------------------------------------------- It is 1400. The (historical) initial orders for the French side are: III Corps will attack St Amand and Wagnelee, continuing on towards Brye. The other French formations are in Reserve. The Prussians are defending. The initial turns are little more than mutual sparring. The Prussians move the Lehmann's battery out into the open to the east of Ligny and win the artillery duel against the artillery of IV Corps, while III Corps slowly whittles down the Prussian right wing in a series of attacks on St Amand and Wagnelee. The Prussians hold their own, but still take higher losses overall. As the 1600 turn comes around, Napoleon decides to get moving with IV Corps ordering it to attack Ligny (and after that, Brye) and to move the Guard closer to Ligny by giving it a March order there. Both get a "T1" result, one turn delay result (on rolls of 6 and 4, respectively). With hindsight (given that a T1 is pretty probable even though outright acceptance is more likely) this was probably too late and such an order should be given on the 1500 turn or even on the 1400 turn. Alternately, Napoleon could move to stack with Gerard (IV Corps commander) as early as possible, but this doesn't really provide more flexibility than keeping him in a central position. Meanwhile, the sparring on the French left continues, with III Corps, now fully engaged, finally taking possession of Wagnelee and, after some attacks back and forth, getting a lodgement in St Amand (although the eastern parts of the town are still held by the Prussians). At 1700, III Corps continues to push the Prussian right behind the Ligny brook, with Gengoult's and de Villier's brigades forcing a retreat by the 6th Line along the road towards Marbais. The reduced 29th Line regiment unit still holds out in a corner of St Amand. In the center, IV Corps launches its first attack and gains a foothold in Ligny. The Guard starts to move towards Ligny. At 1800, the French renew the attacks with vehemence, and as Drouot rides past him, Napoleon hands him an order that tells him to attack Ligny as well. Drouot will need an hour to align his troops there but that will be two hours left before it gets dark. With Ziethen's Corps now significantly weakened, the French attacks get wilder as they realize the Prussians cannot accept much in terms of further losses. The remains of the 29th Ligne are cut down in another assault and the French now control all of St Amand. In Ligny, the French troops holding part of the town are reinforced and in a great push, Desprez' brigade manages to rush over the bridge towards the northern part of town and drive the 9th Line and the 1st Elbe Landwehr (which is scattered in the process) out onto the hills behind it. Unfortunately, an immediate and decisive counterattack virtually eliminates the brigade and retakes the northern bank of the stream. The climax of the battle approaches. Around 1900, the Prussians hastily withdraw their horse artillery that has been guarding the bend of the brook between Ligny and St Amand, to prevent its being submitted to withering fire by the Guard artillery which has drawn up on the opposite bank. A bit to the west, III Corps continues its assault, with two more Prussian regiments being eliminated at the cost of the remains of Corsin and Billiard's brigades being lost. Piat's brigade has almost reached the outskirts of Brye. Ziethen's Corps is demoralized, and the French push forward has exposed Lehmann's artillery position on the hill northeast of St Amand which would have discouraged any movement in that direction as long as it was suitably protected by infantry (bad, bad move on the Prussian part - this unit, a monster in bombardment and worth as much as any two infantry units for demoralization, should have been pulled back a hex or two immediately upon the fall of St Amand). And although the Guard cannot enter Ligny itself since IV Corps is milling about in front of it preparing another assault, its troops start crossing the brook west of Ligny and, spotting the battery, advance against it and overrun it. Its loss is a huge blow to the Prussians. At this time, with 15 Prussian morale points deducted for the capture of St Amand and the south half of Ligny, that is just sufficient to demoralize them, resulting in a French victory unless the Prussians retake part of Ligny or St Amand without losing more units (not likely). At 2000, if this were the campaign, Bluecher would call for a General Retreat, but it's only a battle. :-) On the positive side, with 15 losses at the end of the 1900 turn, Vandamme's III Corps is demoralized and its attacks peter out, a mere kilometer from Bluecher's HQ. Its troops withdraw to regroup around St Amand. Unfortunately, the same is not true of IV Corps or the Guard. The Guard overruns another battery on the hill before Brye in front of Ziethen's eyes, Ziethen is trying to keep a defensive line before Bluecher's headquarters and is not yet fully aware that Vandamme is letting go for the moment and he could pull his Corps back. In the center, taking some losses, the Old Guard takes the westernmost hex of Ligny. The Young Guard meanwhile tries to cross the brook into the woods east of Ligny, and although seriously hurting the 2nd Elbe Landwehr Regiment, suffer some losses themselves and cannot get a foothold before reinforcements arrive to reestablish the defense. In the final action of the day, Rome and Hulot's brigades attempt again to gain the northern end of the bridge for IV Corps, but become so disorganized in the street fighting that they withdraw back into the open to regroup. Fortunately, Pirch's troops are not in a position to counterattack. Ultimately, the battle ends with Prussian demoralization in a clear although not crushing French victory. Prussian losses by turn (eliminated unit strengths): 3,5,2,-,6(2+4),25(4+4+9+4+4),3=44, plus 5 units with step losses French losses by turn (eliminated unit strengths): -,-,-,5,9(5+4),14(5+5+4),-=28, plus 4 units with step losses Markus Last games played: Prussia's Glory, Panzer Grenadier, Napoleon's Last Campaign ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Was it not bully the way the Japs begun the fight?" -- Elihu Root, US Secretary of State, commenting on the Japanese surprise attack on Port Arthur