Weighty matters have been considered and weighed at Neu Schloss von Peter.
For the less well informed informed of The dear readers the 28mm Napoleonic battalions raised by von Peter himself are based on six bases. Traditionally if skirmishers from those battalions are required to be deployed as a brigade skirmish screen then one of those six bases was extracted from the battalion to be used as those skirmishers. Such a strategy has advantages – mainly financial and effort related – as existing figures are used. But it also has disadvantages …
- those nice tidy battalion columns of infantry of two ranks of three bases are transformed into not so nice and tidy units of three bases in the front and two in the rear. Not such a great look when aesthetics matter and most of the battalions spend most of their time in columns
- the resultant skirmish screen is constructed of formed infantry bases which are not particularly skirmishy looking.
One popular solution to this conundrum is to create separate skirmish bases that are placed on the table as required without disturbing the parent battalions and removed when not. As a bonus these bases can be modelled to look like actual skirmishers skirmishing. The downside is that more figures are required and those figures probably(!) need to be pigmented. And this is the approach that von Peter himself has decided to move to. It’s not like von Peter himself has other outstanding modelling tasks to undertake or anything! 🤥
A skirmishing base is to be procured for each battalion. Said skirmishing base will be modelled with two – because skirmishers worked in pairs – suitably posed figures.
On the plus side an examination of the spare / over bought figure pile has revealed that the majority of the figures required for the currently deployed Austrian, Bavarian and Prussian battalions are available with just a few additions requiring the displacement of cash from von Peter himself to figure manufacturers and postal services. The French, Polish, Russians and Saxons require a more significant displacement of cash but with just two figures required per battalion this is considered sustainable … though input on this has not been sought from Fraulien von Peter herself! The French provide the biggest challenge as Calpe Miniatures have not yet released skirmishing / firing line figures for them and von Peter himself does not really want to shop elsewhere for them. This is not a show stopper and it’s not like von Peter himself has mustered many of these on to the gaming table as yet.
Note that this does not change the way that battalions – usually light battalions – are dissolved into skirmish order. In such circumstances the original battalion bases will be used as per current practise. These Light battalions will still however receive their new single two figure skirmish base so that they can contribute to the brigade skirmish screen if required. Confused? You probably should be! 🤓
Th current thinking is to work on the individual skirmisher bases in parallel to other “work” for those armies painted by von Peter himself. If nothing else they should provide a nice distraction. The skirmishers for the Austrian, Bavarian, Polish and Russian armies that have been painted by others will hopefully be painted by others.
And just like that the first skirmish base has been created. It is for the first battalion of the Prussian 4th Reserve Infantry Regiment. In the spirit of full disclosure the figures were painted many MANY years back at the time the battalion was painted. When basing the battalion it was discovered that the artistic figure placement of figures resulted in two not being required. Those two have finally completed their training and are presented for their skirmishing duties! 🙄
Calpe Miniatures figures in one of the uniforms originally made for the Portuguese but supplied to the Prussians. Helpful hint: look on the Calpe Veterans page for these figures.
The base has a 1.5 inch frontage and 2.5 inch depth which is the standard for firing figures for von Peter himself. The depth may seem excessive to some but von Peter himself has an abhorrence of figures overhanging the edge of their base. Such a situation is not conducive to the protection of the figures. Firing figures – and most firing bases have them if not this particular one – take up quite a bit of space with their long muskets and bayonets.
More GdA2
The author David C R Brown has given a briefing on General d’Armee 2 reproduced here for the convenience of The dear readers …
GENERAL D’ARMEE SECOND EDITION BRIEFING
The 2nd Edition of General d’Armee Napoleonic rules aims to focus the wargame more on the aspect of the senior divisional commander than the battalion commander. The player is now viewing the battle more from afar and spending less time down in the dirt leading and micro-managing his regiments on the frontline. Therefore he does what he can to ensure success and to achieve objectives, but nothing is guaranteed.
When an attack goes in, he is viewing this through his telescope, muttering to himself; “Come on Maitland, keep pushing, keep going!” The result is not predetermined; as there are no guaranteed lists of positive and negative factors, only superior morale, supporting brigade units, good generalship and luck. These might go in your favour or they might not, but the better the plan, the better the situation and above all if the attack is supported, it should have a real chance of success.
The 2nd Edition concentrates less on the peripherals of the wargame, such as column or square musketry fire, which is minimal at best and concentrates far more on command decisions. The player’s time is taken up with C-in-C Commands and ADC taskings, prioritizing brigades for offensive action or stout defensive. He cannot spread his command focus across his entire front, therefore must concentrate on a few critical decision points each turn that will win him the battle.
Reserves are now vitally important. He who commits his reserve at the right place and at the right time is likely to gain a significant battlefield advantage. This all links into your previous command decisions and if your battalions have been able to dominate the battle, to force the opponent to react to your moves, then the committal of a reserve could prove decisive and break not only the opposing battalions but also your opponent’s will to fight.
What’s Changed?
1. Command & Control.
“The marshal, indignant at the hesitation of the general, sent me to tell him to carry the position at the charge!” ADC Levavasseur, Waterloo 1815. (Or perhaps a game of General d’Armee using a Brigade Attachment ADC tasking!)
The ADC system remains at the heart of the command and control system in General d’Armee; this has been updated and augmented with what are termed C-in-C commands.
These commands represent the C-in-C personally intervening in the battle to lead his troops or steady his men, and as such are limited to either two or just one opportunity per game, depending on the C-in-Cs ability. These include rallying a faltering brigade or leading a charge from the front rank akin to Marshal Ney! The player chooses when to use these vital interventions but as in the words of one film general, should “take careful timing” as to when he chooses to ride out and personally intervene, as these actions can have a significant impact upon the outcome of the battle.
ADCs remain very much as before but have been slightly expanded to provide greater command choices in the game, such as an opportunity to influence the initiative. Ammunition resupply is no longer a tasking and is replaced with actual model caissons that represent ammunition resupply.
Initiative now has an added twist. The winner of the Initiative may now remove one hesitant marker from any currently hesitant brigade but then must immediately pass the Initiative for this turn over to the opponent! This can provide quite a command dilemma as the player will gain a localised advantage on one side but be on the back foot for this turn across the division, on the other.
Finally there are expanded rules on Corps commands and how to play corps sized battles with multiple divisions.
Charges.
″Pakenham, you will carry that height where the enemy’s left is posted by storm and when you have gained it, go at them hard and fast with the bayonet!″ Wellington, Salamanca, 1812.
Charges in General d’Armee were straight forward however it is appreciated that they could be quite involved and take up valuable battle time when there were numerous charges launched in a single turn.
So, two significant changes have been applied to the charge procedure. The first change involves the actual charge rule mechanics and creates a faster, more intuitive and slicker charge process yet keeps all the nuances inherent in the first edition. This means the amount of text devoted to charge rules has been reduced considerably and the entire charge process is now much quicker.
The second and slightly more radical change in the 2nd Edition is that players are now limited to one charge per brigade. You can no longer launch multiple charges from one brigade, akin to a firework, shooting off charges in all directions. There are several reasons for this.
First I could not find a single historical example of a brigade launching multiple charges at different targets all at the same time. Yes, charges were supported by additional units, but I’ve yet to read of any account where a brigadier ordered multiple charges in different directions against different targets. It appears to have been beyond the command scope of the officers commanding a brigade and for good reasons.
One reason may well have been that infantry brigades regularly deployed with a regulating battalion, which meant all battalions took their direction and alignment from this one battalion. If this were so, how does one launch a charge when the regulating battalion is charging off in another direction?
Finally by imposing a one charge one target rule we neatly avoid that old wargame bugbear of numerous columns ganging up in melee against a single line. So under the 2nd Edition it’s now one charge against one target but of course this charge can be supported by the usual flank and rear supports. The balance to this change is that defending supporting units may either fire or support when defending a charge, not both as before. So the defending player needs to think carefully about firing with supports as this will denude his support rerolls in the actual charge.
Movement.
Few changes have been applied to the movement and terrain rules. The main highlight is that the charge bonus is now only gained via ADC taskings, which includes using the full Forwards movement bonus for charges as well as normal movement.
Skirmishers.
“The tirailleurs of the 17th Legere, dispersed among the trees and bushes, undulating terrain and garden walls…slipped along the brook and suddenly opened fire.” Capt. Bressonnet, 1806.
The main skirmishing rules have been overhauled. The size of a brigade skirmish screen is now based on the general size of a brigade and not linked to every battalion.
Skirmishers are now permitted to move even if a brigade is hesitant.
Skirmishers now fire with Skirmishers Casualty Dice, which hit on scores of 4 or more, bringing their firing in line with all casualty dice, the down side being that skirmishers require two “hits” to cause one casualty, as opposed to the standard one hit equals one casualty rule. Thus heavy casualties from skirmishers is unlikely unless a tasking is in play, while merely wearing down an opponent more likely.
Infantry & Artillery Firing.
“It was the first time the noise of an English fusillade had reached our ears….never had we heard a rolling fire as well fed as that.” Lt. Girod, 9th Legere, Talavera, 1809.
There are now no lists of positive and negative modifiers. This has been replaced with a slicker system where fire benefits, such as Elite and Veteran volleys or firing at a column or square target receive extra Casualty Dice; while fire negatives, such as unformed or firing at skirmishers moves your volley down the volley chart. So, if a battalion in line has no negatives this means you fire on the Standard Volley line, one negative modifier such as firing unformed moves the unit down to the Inferior Volley line. Two or more modifiers sees the unit fire with just 1 casualty dice, this is the lowest a volleying unit can go.
Columns and squares fire with just one casualty dice to reflect the fact they are manoeuvre or defensive formations and not firing formations.
Artillery has undergone similar treatment.
This means that firing is far quicker but produces similar results to the first edition.
The 2nd Edition retains the “casualty chart” as opposed to introducing a “handful of dice” fire mechanism, as the chart conveys four pieces of vital information to the player. These are; casualties, fire discipline, discipline tests and Destiny results. Also add a fifth, Low on Ammunition for artillery. Presenting all this information in a logical and consistent manner cannot be done when rolling handfuls of dice.
Combat.
This system is essentially the same, but we now have greater chance of prolonged cavalry melees, allowing supporting regiments to be fed into the melee. This makes cavalry melee more interesting and cavalry supports more important. And, as Hesitant regiments cannot reinforce this means that ensuring that your cavalry brigades are obeying orders becomes an important command element for the player.
Morale.
“Retire general? If we take one more pace to the rear, we are done for.” Col. Pouzet, Austerlitz, 1805.
Discipline Tests have moved to a simple system of troop grade promotions and demotions as opposed to lists of positive and negative modifiers, producing quicker results. For instance an unformed Line unit testing would be demoted to Recruits and so on.
Brigade Morale has been improved, so Faltering brigades are no longer as prone to sudden withdrawals but nonetheless continue to produce a significant drain upon the divisional commander and his ability to control his formations.
To conclude the 2nd Edition, which will hopefully be released this spring/summer, continues to provide a Napoleonic game with all its tactical nuances, although rules changes are significant the game still very firmly remains General d’Armee, creating skirmisher fire fights, infantry volleys and sweeping cavalry melees. However victory now relies slightly less on these tactical combats and slightly more on the player’s ability to command his division successfully, to identify his tactical objective and to concentrate his command effort in the right place at the right time.
DCRB
Enough.
Until we meet again …
Salute
von Peter himself
von Peter himself 