Saturday, March 5, 2016

Honours of War - St. Ulrich Solo Game - Part 7

Turn 7 (click pictures to enlarge)

1. Move commanding generals:  Both remain where they are.

Turn 7: Last Prussian Batallion standing ...

The hit status of the troops is as follows:
Prussians:  Dragoons 0, II/IR41 3, Composite Btl. Done For, 12pdr 0.
Austrians:  Cuirassiers 0, I/Kaiser 1, II/Kaiser Done For, Salm-Salm 1, 6pdr 1.

2. Movement Initiative:  Prussians win. Roll of 5 +1 = 6 versus Austrians 4 +1 = 5.

3. Movement:
The Prussians decide to move first. They want to move back the remaining infantry batallion, but they fear there is not much hope for survival.

3.1 Prussian Infantry: Dashing, roll of 4 results in 'Steady'. II/IR41 moves backwards 20cm.

3.2 Austrian Infantry: Dithering upgraded to Dependable due to the CiC nearby, roll of 3 results in 'Steady'. Both batallions advance. The gun manhandles forward.

The Prussians move backwards, the Austrians advance

3.3 Prussian Dragoons. Dependable, a roll of 5 results in 'Steady'.

Now what do do? The II/IR41 infantry is about to be shot to pieces. If they only retreat, the Austrians will capture the bridge and win.
They decide to CHARGE the enemy gun, meaning they will be countercharged by the cuirasiers. They will fight at a disadvantage (the cuirassiers are rated superior), but if they can rout the cuirassiers, it will result in a drawn game, even if they themself are routed.

3.4 Austrian Cuirassiers: Countercharge.  

4. Firing Initiative: Prussian roll of 3 +1 = 4 versus roll of 3. Prussians win.

5 Firing Phase:
5.1 The prussian Brummer, nearest target I/Kaiser. Standard artillery, -1 target classed as superior, roll of 3 -2 = 1 results in NO EFFECT.
Prussian II/IR41, standard, nearest target I/Kaiser,  -1 target classed as superior, -1 moved, - 1 Difficult Target (less than half of the btl. is within the firing zone), -1 long range, -1 unit has 3 hits, roll of 4 -5 = -1 results in NO EFFECT.

5.2 Austrian 6pdr is unable to fire. It is blocked by the cavalry melee !
I/Kaiser at II/IR41, superior, -1 moved, -1 long range, - 1 Difficult Target, roll of 2 -3 = -1 results in NO EFFECT.

Wow. II/IR41 held its ground! The gun was unable to fire (which made all the difference) and I/Kaiser missed.

6. Melee:
1st Round:
Austrian Cuirassier, superior, +1 for charging, roll of 4 +1 = 5 results in THREE HITS.
Prussian Dragoons, standard, +1 for charging, -1 target classed as superior, roll of 4 +1-1 = 4 results in TWO HITS.
2nd Round:
Austrian cuirassier, superior, roll of 5 (maximum damage!) results in THREE HITS.
Prussian Dragoons, standard, -1 target classed as superior, -1 unit has 3 hits, roll of 5 -2= 3 results in TWO HITS.
 
Game Over! The Prussian Dragoons are Done For. The Cuirassiers retreat
 
Army Points lost:  Prussians: 2  Austrians: 1. Austrian Victory


Turn Commentary
A frontal charge against cuirssiers, rated superior, is a BAD idea. Not only are they more difficult to hit (modifier -1 for target being rated superior), the cuirssiers themself also can inflict more damage as they have their own line on the Hit Table.

5 comments:

  1. An excellent review, and your observations about the rules coincide with mine. I think the rules author, Keith, has a winner here.
    Ivor

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  2. Many thanks, Ivor. I agree. Reading the rules back in October reinvigorated my painting because I was impressed by the rules and the St. Ulrich gave me an achievable short-term goal. Now I need to paint more troops and brigadiers with horses ...

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  3. "...the St. Ulrich scenario gave me an achievable short-term goal". This is good to hear, as that was one of the intentions of including a small scenario.

    Lovely series of posts - reminds me of reading the blow-by-blow accounts in Donald featherstone's 'Wargames'.

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  4. Thanks for the kind words, Keith. I had Featherstone somewhere in the back of my mind while writing them. He wrote a piece on battle reports, I think and he stated, that one should include some details about the rules applicable to a certain situatíon, the dice rolls etc. I do not know the exact source, though.

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  5. Great battle report on the Honours of War rules. I've had a few games with the rules and have been very impressed with the 'feel' of them.

    Cheers

    Delta Coy

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