Along the Danube - Blucher AAR

Happy New Year, everyone!

Curt stopped by before Christmas while I had some time off from work, and I suggested we try out an introductory game of Blucher using the Along the Danube scenario. Curt's a big fan of the Total War series of games, and was intrigued by the idea of playing a game at a higher command level (most games I've played with him have been skirmish level or, at most, company level). So, Curt took the defending Austrians and I commanded the attacking French. 

Curt set the Austrian defenses in two long lines, with 1st and 2nd Corps in the center, and the Reserve Corps on the Austrian right.

The French were set up by Corps. The Reserve Cavalry covered the French left, 1st set up in the center, and 2nd set up on the right, with 3rd Corps behind.

I began the attack with 2nd Corps, who advanced towards the middle of the Austrian lines.

Rules Note: Technically, Curt's deployment wouldn't work, as he was firing his artillery over the heads of his infantry units, which isn't allowed. 

Meanwhile, the Reserve Cavalry began to move up on the left.

Rules Note: A mistake by me - I only moved the Horse Artillery up another 3" before firing out of the woods. The unit would need to have at least its front edge out of the woods in order to fire.

Most of the fighting would occur in these two locations, where Curt's Austrian lines were pummeled by my artilery, but managed to repulse attacks again and again, especially the 2nd Corps' Light Horse (seen retreating above).

The French Cavalry Reserve did chase off two units of Austrian Light horse, but they found themselves losing again and again to the Austrian Grenadiers.

3rd Corp moved up to assist 2nd Corp, going after the Austrian special objective.

Curt had plenty of Momentum Points during his turns, and used them to launch his own assault on the French 1st Corps, which never moved out of its starting position. The attack was beaten back, but not without French casualties.

In Blucher, Cavalry units must retreat after assaulting infantry (even if they won), which Curt used to good affect with his Grenadiers.

He would angle his Grenadiers into my Cavalry Reserve units, forcing them into retreating off the table edge in the Austrian deployment zone. If my reading of the rules is correct, then this meant the units were broken instead of retired.

We decided to call the game at the end of Turn 16. While neither of us had the required eight broken units to end the game in a complete victory, the French had seven units broken to the Austrian's six, so we called it a minor victory for the Austrians (even though they had three times as many retired units than the French).

Curt's definitely interested in the game, and I'm looking forward to getting the "War to the Death" card pack (which includes cards for Early and Late French, British, and Spanish forces, and all their allies).

If we are going to play again, however, I'm definitely going to have to go through the rulebook a few more times!

A Year in Gaming - 2015

As 2015 winds down to just a few more hours left, and 2016 looms on the horizon, I thought it appropriate to remember some the great games I've gotten a chance to play over the past year.

Games like...

Palasé Dungeon Crawl 2015

One Hour Wargames: Dark Ages (mod)

All Quiet on the Martian Front

 Beer & Pretzel Ironclads

 Empire of the Dead

 Frostgrave

 One Hour Wargames: WWII (mod)

 SAGA

 Sails of Glory

Guild Ball

Civil War Skirmish

G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T.

...among plenty of others.

Thanks to everyone that's stopped by to read my blog, as well. 

So, here's to a happy 2016, and another year full of games!

The Assault on Castle Klankk - Christmas G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T., Part 3

Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope you're enjoying the holidays.

Let's see how the attack on Castle Klankk ended...

The Prussians revealed a unit of Minions armed with electro-pistols and a rocket launcher.

Of course, emerging from the castle placed these new troops directly in front of the machine guns of the Russian tank. The Minions were quickly mowed down.

But further horrors were revealed when purple monstrosities burst forth from the bodies of the dead minions.

And more Minions came out of the castle's depths, firing their electro-pistols at the Russian tank and zapping it into stillness.

Meanwhile, the Prussian commanders threw some of the mechanical soldiers at the polar bear, hoping their metallic components would be more resilient than the tattered remnants of the flesh-and-blood infantry.

While victory seemed to be within grasp, infighting began between the allied nations, possibly fueled by old grudges from the previous year's battle. The Russians fired upon the French, knocking over and disabling one of their light tanks.

In retaliation, the British Ironclad fired on the stalled Russian tank, blowing it up and killing one of the two Russian commanders.

And the French had fired upon a unit of Penguins from the North Pole, possibly hoping to prevent them from gaining access to the castle to search for Santa.

While the Russians had lost their tank and commander from the British, they were still going strong, and had opened the castle by destroying one of the walls.

The British also continued to advance. The Ironclad fired again, knocking down and destroying von Klankk's suit of armor. Though the Prussian commander did manage to scramble out of the suit, escaping death once again.

The French, harried by Russian fire, still had a few remaining Prussian units to worry about.

And the Workshop forces continued to blast away at the last of the Prussians outside the castle's main gates.

As the game ended, the British and Mrs. Claus' troops met at the castle's front gates.

And the French and Russian eyed each other warily as they entered through the devastated rear of the castle.

In the end, it was Mrs. Claus who found Santa, and the two thanked the British and the Russians (the French were put on the Naughty List, right next to the Prussians).

But Baron von Klankk escaped, and the Russians still controlled the North Pole after the previous year's battle. It may be that this war for Christmas isn't over yet.

The Assault on Castle Klankk - Christmas G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T., Part 2

And so we began the attack on Castle Klankk.

Of course, it wasn't all candy canes and sugar plums outside the castle. Abominable Snowmen lurked in the woods of Northern Prussia, and provided a challenge for anyone hoping to use the woods as cover.

The British decided against going into the woods, only to lose an infantry unit from Wilhelm's opening shots.

At the end of the first turn, the attacking forces had mostly moved forward. The Russians were hemmed in by a river, and their steam carriages were hemmed in by the woods.

The British, on the other hand, had not only lost a unit of infantry, but most of their vehicles either refused to start, or would begin to move and immediately grind to a halt. So much for Anglo-Saxon engineering!

The French, however, were on the move, with their heavy walker tank crushing its way through the woods (and the Snowman that tried to stop it). A few of the steamjet infantry even managed to land without killing themselves.

The North Pole's toy soldiers began to move forward, with the elves and a unit of penguins facing off against the Prussian armored cavalry.

The Prussians defenses were quickly compromised, however, when the armored polar bear smashed through one of the outer doors.

A round of firing from the toy soldiers and their accompanying cannon took out many of the Prussian cavalrymen. The remaining soldiers came to a sudden halt when the elves quickly assembled toy mines.

A round of shooting from the British Ironclad slammed into the Wilhelm, toppling the walker and then destroying it.

The Russians and British were advancing together on a wide front, and after two turns of the game, little Prussian resistance remained.

The forces of the North pole were steadily advancing, with only a few Prussian soldiers taking cover behind a stone wall. Baron von Klankk came out himself, in his suit of steam-powered armor, to direct the defenses against Mrs. Claus. And the bear in the castle continued to tie up precious Prussian units.

The French also continued their advance, with their light tanks fighting with Prussian units in close combat.

But the Prussians still had a few tricks hidden in the depths of Castle Klankk...

The battles concludes on Christmas Day!

The Assault on Castle Klankk - Christmas G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T., Part 1

Last year, Gary ran a game of Battles by G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T, in which the Prussians, led by the infamous Baron Manfred von Klankk launched an attack on the North Pole and kidnapped Santa, in the hopes of obtaining his flying reindeer technology. Luckily, Mrs. Claus was able to escape with a sleigh full of toys, saving Christmas.

With the children of the world happy once again, Mrs. Claus reached out to various world powers in the hope of finding her husband. Nearly a year later, it was discovered that Santa was being held at the remote Prussian fortress, Castle Klankk.

This year’s game would see an alliance between the French, Russians, British, and the North Pole launch an attack against the Prussian castle in an attempt to rescue Santa and, once again, save Christmas!

Gary went all out for this game, providing much of the scenery and all of the miniatures.

The Russians brought along some clockwork soldiers, two tanks (one a walker), and some Cossack infantry.

The French brought a number of walking tanks, some clockwork soldiers, regular infantry, and steamjet infantry.

The British had the most "regular" force, with regular infantry, two larger steam carriers, an armored car, and an ironclad.

Not to be outdone, the North Pole arrived with a number of toy soldiers, penguins, and a unit of toy-making elves. Most dangerous was the armored polar bear that lead the charge.

The Prussians might have been outnumbered, but their defenses were still formidable. Minion artillery lined the walls, alongside walkers of various sorts, clockwork soldiers, and armored cavalry. Most intimidating was the steam tank Wilhelm, which towered over the other miniatures on the table.

The battle will commence in part two.