Spanish troops advancing.
Last
week the stars aligned, and B and I both had a clear day to put in a game. B was
hosting a minis game that evening and asked if I’d mind doing a test run. Lately we've been playing in the era of the Italian Wars using the Never Mind the Billhooks (Wargames Illustrated, 2022) rules. When
I learned it was to be a Napoleonics game using Sam Mustafa’s Lasalle, Second Edition (Sam Mustafa Publishing, 2021) rules, how could I refuse?
My host
had set up two forces of roughly equal point values – B hosts our Wednesday
night game which takes in wargames and RPGs, but his first love is miniatures,
with a particular emphasis on 28mm Napoleonic minis. These are always stunning
on the table and a joy to push around.
Through
what in the courtroom would be referred to as an “illegal lottery” - in this
case the roll of a die rather than a coin flip – we established that B would
play the French (with a brigade of Italian conscripts and Irish volunteers),
and I would play the Anglo-Spanish Alliance forces. The set-up was a simple
“capture the flag” affair, with two locations – a village and a hill – roughly on
the centre-line of the play area, worth a victory point each, and in the event
of a tie, the first side to reach breaking point would see the other
victorious.
The field of battle (typically, the British have to fight with the sun in their eyes).
I
really like playing with the Lasalle rules. They quite straight-forward, play
very smoothly and have some neat contrasts to other Napoleonic minis systems. Lasalle
adheres closely to its own internal logic. Commands fall into two categories,
Global and Force. Force commands apply to a single unit, where Global orders
apply to everything applicable; a Bombard order, for example, allows you to
fire all your cannons, regardless of their Force affiliations.
Each
side has a base number of Momentum Points – in this case, six for the French
commander and five for the Alliance, and at the beginning of each turn each
rolls a d3 for extra impulses that turn, if their Commander is located at their
headquarters. The commander can also be attached to a force to perform specific
tasks or add a bonus to a decisive dice-roll (like Wellington seemingly being
everywhere at once, and just when he was needed most), but that’s probably not
something you need to do in the first round or two.
British headquarters.
You
spend one or two Momentum Points for each activation; a straight command – for
example, Movement (Force) will cost 1MP, but if there’s a complication involved
(moving through terrain or into a town), that adds another MP to the order
cost. When you may only have six or seven MPs for the round, you have to
consider everything you hope to achieve in that turn, which forces you to look
ahead to the next turn or two. The constraints of MP spending are offset a
little by the allocation of “global” orders for Bombard and Change Formation;
for the cost of a single MP, the player can reconfigure some or all of their Forces
from one attitude to another (e.g., changing an Infantry unit from March to
Line), or command all their unlimbered cannon to fire in unison, even at disparate
targets.
We took
turns placing out units before the engagement began. B placed first, setting
his misfit force (the Italians and Irish regiments) to make for the village (to
the Anglo-Spanish left). I was already of a mind to try to get the Spanish to
the village first and give them an anchor. I’ve played the Spanish before in
multi-player games. Historically they were quite variable in quality on any given
day, and because the Spanish, Like the British tended to draw their commanders
from the ruling class rather than promoting from the ranks, their leadership
tended to run from questionable to abysmal. In instances in the Peninsula
campaign, the Spanish showed extraordinary bravery and ferocity in combat, but
they tended to be unreliable, and that is reflected in the way they present in
Lasalle. The main contest was always going to be between the French and British
infantry, and this would take place at the hill, to the British right. This left
each side’s Cavalry, which was generally placed in the centre, taunting each
other.
Devastating fire from the French Grand Battery.
The
Spanish had one battery of cannon which I’d placed covering the road running
passed the town to discourage the French cavalry from advancing too hastily,
while the British corps had its own artillery, which I set limbered and able to
move up with the Foot. B had the advantage in cannon, with a French battery
attached to the French Foot and another of horse attached to his Cavalry - these
he formed into a Grand Battery, at the other end of the road – and a third battery
supporting the Italians. Still, if my Spanish could make it to the town before
B’s Italians, I may have a chance of holding it.
B had
one more advantage at the table. My reputation for rolling badly in minis games
is the stuff of legends, and this game would prove to be exceptional in this
regard.
I moved
first, and tried to get my Spanish to the town, but fell short by some inches.
B was able to make the town and set one regiment of Italians inside its precinct,
with another lined up beside. One point down.
Having occupied the town, the Italians rain hellfire down on the hapless Spanish.
The
British made it to the hill with their guns in tow. A global order set them and
the Spanish into line. A barrage from the French cannon began the process of
thinning out my Cavalry and Spanish foot before a shot had been fired. The
French were slower getting to the hill as they maintained a column formation
(in view of charging the British). The redcoats mounted the hill in two ranks,
which was a gamble; If stretched out to three, they would be able to bring mor
fire to bear on the enemy, but their left most regiment would have been a ripe
target for the French cannon.
Having secured the hill, the British troops prepare to see off the Frenchies.
One
thing that sets Lasalle apart is the way hits are handled. Hits taken by a unit
are called disruption points. There are nifty generic cards available via the downloads
page on Sam Mustafa's website (Sam sells all his own games here as well) which you can fill in for each unit and keep
track of their status off-board, but B uses a white die to record the current
level. As an activation, you can attempt to rally off the disruption taken by a
Force by rolling one die for each point accrued, usually rolling fours or higher
for success. The danger is that each unsuccessful save-roll becomes a permanent
disruption point. These will downgrade the unit’s effectiveness in combat and
make them more likely to break on a check.
I also like
how fire-orders are handled in Lasalle. Generally, a unit can fire once in a
turn. When the turn is over, the smoke comes off (cotton-wool indicating that
unit has fired), and the unit is assumed reloaded and ready for the next round.
Generally, a Force will be comprised of four or so Regiments (each comprised of
four bases of four figures each, with one base holding the Regimental Colours).
In line formation, in most cases, the two outer bases will roll one dice each
for musketry, while the two inner blocks will roll two each, for a total of six
rolls, with potential hits for fours up. Each hit is than rerolled for confirmation.
If these are also fours or higher, the target unit takes a disruption point.
The advancing French cavalry spells the end of the Spanish adventure.
Each
unit has a unique characteristic or two to add historical colour while adhering
to the overall simplicity of the game. The French line troops are best at
getting in close and charging the enemy. The British line infantry’s fire
discipline was superior to any other European army, while the French were
better in close-quarters action. A charge by a French foot division would be
devastating, but they would have to pass through withering musket fire first.
Having taken the hill, it was the British troops’ job to hold it. The superior British
shooting (drilled into the troops through sharp practice) is reflected in their
rolling eight dice instead of six in a volley.
With
the approach of the French, I forewent the extra MP roll and placed my
commander with the British line. This allowed me to give them a special order to
get off a volley at the incoming assailants before the round began, putting a
little more hurt on the French line. This, and the subsequent show of musketry
by my brave boys (in spite of my less than stellar dice-rolling) saw the French
off to regroup. This they subsequently did, shaking off nearly all the disruption
I’d saddled them with. Now they were angry and ready for revenge.
Not all can be blamed on bad dice rolls.
Meanwhile,
on the other side of the battlefield, things were not going so well. The French
cavalry had made its move, splitting into two squadrons. One attacked first the
ineffectual Spanish canon, driving them off in short order, then cut through
the right-most regiment of the Spanish Foot like a hot knife through butter. I’d
already lost the left-most Spanish regiment to hot action from the Irish and
their supporting cannon. My pummelled cavalry attacked the second French
squadron, only to be decimated for their trouble. My position overall had become untenable.
In the
end, we called the game before the inevitable conclusion. With half my cavalry
gone and the Spanish on the verge of a rout, my British infantry – having preserved
the regimental honour by holding the hill under a pressing attack by French
regulars – withdrew from the field in good order, their retreat screened by my surviving
hussars (those remaining Spaniards could take care of themselves; frankly I’m
surprised they didn’t just turn around at the beginning of the battle and loot
our own baggage train). The day rightfully belonged to the French. There would, of course, be other days.
