C and C Napoleonics with 400 not out....

Apologies for the repeated picture above but it was the only one I had to hand and I do not have the time this evening to take anything more up to date. Last night at the club I had my first game of this variant of the Command and Colours system against the redoubtable Mr. Fox. The scenario we tackled was the Rolica (French Second Position) which in a nutshell had the British trying to catch up with the withdrawing French that had turned to fight a rearguard action along a line of hills. The only way the British could get to the Fench was along 4 very rugged gullys. Mr Fox was the French whilst yours truly was the Duke (and if anyone has ever seen my nose they will understand exactly why I am eminently suited for the part!). I will not describe the action on a turn by turn basis - suffice it to say the French won 5 - 3 - simply because I want to concentrate on the rules etc themselves. All credit though to Mr Fox who handled the defence in a masterly fashion and successfully made a meal in pieces of the British piecemeal attacks! Briefly, the British were only able to attack from the flanks due to the cards and although these attacks were able to force the heights it was always with insufficient strength to make it stick and so these isolated forays were easily overwhelmed. Mention should be made though, of the 'kamikaze' Portuguese cavalry unit that, had it been as historically effective as the unit in question in the game, could have given the Duke some interesting options....

The order cards for the game really capture the feel of the era and the use of a block based system for resolving combat rather than having units fight at full strength until they are destroyed works well but does take a little getting used to after Battle Cry and Memoir 44. The effect of stationary infantry being more effective than moving is nicely captured and the effectiveness of light troops is handled well although I suspect that this area of the rules will be subject to some debate. The rules for infantry squares seemed to work well - an infantry square parked on a hill with enemy cavalry hovering close by and under attack by two enemy foot units should really not expect to be around for long and this was indeed the case.

Inevitably after reading the rules after the game I have realised that a few things were not handled correctly but will obviously be taken under consideration for the next outing which I hope will not be too long in coming. I want to use the blocks on my Hexon terrain on a 3d basis and believe that this will look good - even to the extent of deploying the blocks in formations as the game board hexes are too small to be able to do this.

All in all it was very good first run out and my thanks once again to Mr Fox for the game and the object lesson in how not to attack an enemy parked on a hill line!

Today also sees my 400th post and as ever, I am truly thankful to everybody for their comments and observations, hints and ideas and continued support for my efforts. It is no exaggeration to say that without these contributions and unstinting support many of my projects would still be languishing on the back burner and so I thank you all for taking the time out to keep me ticking over!

Here's to the next 400!!