Last Wednesday B had the table set up
for a Napoleonics minis game, which is always a treat. B is an artist when it
comes to miniatures, and it’s his 28mm Napoleonic-era minis that are the heart
and soul of his (must be several hundredweight of lead) collection. For this session we used B's recently acquired copy of the Lasalle 2nd Edition rules (Sam A. Mustafa, 2021).
The scenario was a defensive
situation, with a brigade of reasonably good Spanish troops and a regiment and
attached heavy cavalry squadron of Portuguese allies – K and me respectively –
holding a defensive line anchored by two towns (the Portuguese held the hill on
the right flank) against an onslaught of two reinforced brigades of French line – under the command of D
and H – and their attached heavy cavalry (deftly handled by B, hanging back, waiting
for an opening).
We managed to complete three rounds
during the evening’s play. Where we left it, things were looking perilous for
the Allies, with a cavalry breakthrough on the Portuguese flank, while the Spanish
had given as good as they got. The game was completed the following night by B
and K, and, as expected saw a French victory.
The Lasalle rules were written by Sam Mustafa, the designer responsible for Blücher (2015) another Napoleonic rules-set that offers the option of using cards to represent
forces instead of minis. Of course, most people seem to choose to play Blücher
with their miniatures, but nonetheless, the option is there. Sam is a prolific
wargame designer whose interests stretch from the Roman Empire (Aurelian,
another card-option tabletop game), to the Age of Reason (Might & Reason, Maurice,
and a card game Your Majesty), the American Civil War (Longstreet), to the
Second World War (Rommel, and recent addition, Nimitz). If you like pushing tin, you’re probably already
familiar with Mustafa’s oeuvre; if not, check out his work.
No comments:
Post a Comment