I set up a game covering Battle of Paltzig (or Kay) taken from a Might & Reason scenario which I had last played back in the good old days of yore back in March at the Belfast Club with FOB2.
It had worked well so decided to give it another outing as OOBs and notes still to hand.
Couple of scenario specific rules only with the marshy/stream area (the Eichrnuhlen Fliess) counting as Class II terrain for foot and Class III for mounted, with artillery unable to cross.
Also Prussians win first Initiative and have a Move Card included with Russians unable to advance until at least one Prussian unit crosses the 'Fliess' obstacle.
Units represent Brigades but used standard ranges (as it speeds up game) and standard unit stats.
Prussians had a Poor deck under Wedel (D10) with Russians having an Average deck under Saltykov (also D10).
However Prussians had 6 Brigades (5 x D12 & 1 x D10) with Russians having 5 Brigades (3 x D10 2 x D8), but larger number of units overall.
Prussians had 25 Morale and Russians 35.
Russians deployed first and then Prussians behind the 'Fliess'.
We got into gameplay very quickly (as it is still FOB despite changes) and had a real hum dinger of a game.
Stephens Prussians managed to get 2 additional Move cards in first initiative (which was a hefty 7 cards) so got across the 'Fliess' pretty quickly with only his central Foot Command straggling due to couple of failed Moves.
Russians guns inflicted some licks but not enough to Rout any units.
Prussians then concentrated on both Russian flanks where the respective Mounted Brigades clashed.
On Russian right things where initially even despite Prussian Cuirassier being superior to Russian namesakes (C12 D8 vs C12 D6) and a unit of Horse Grenadiers (C10 D8).
On my left however the Prussian Dragoons and Hussars made mincemeat of my lowly Cossacks and Hussars as Stephen rolled 12 on a D12 five times here !!
He had a good combo of Move and Melee cards which left my wing unable to recover.
I did manage to get an Infantry unit into a position to the rear of a Hussar unit but they failed to inflict any damage (beyond a couple of 1" Fall Backs) !!
Later a heroic Russian gun battery managed to recoil a Prussian Musketeer unit that had charged it in flank (I rolled 4 on a D4 whilst Prussians rolled 1 on a D12 !!)
On my right I managed to get two Infantry units shooting a a Cuirassier and a good roll saw it Routed (eventually off-table)
As we later discovered we were both teetering on the edge of defeat at this juncture with both sides at under 6 Morale Points but.........................
I had a horrendous Leadership Card phase wherein I used the new 'Daring Deeds' rules to enhance Rallying with 3 Leaders and each of them failed by Rolling a 1 so 3 out my 5 Brigades were leaderless and Disordered.
This was the real turning point of the battle.
Prussians then managed on a Leadership card to Rally several units including restoring several hits.
I did win the next Initiative with a full 9 cards, but did not get another Leadership Card until the 8th card.
I managed to replace all 3 'fallen' leaders (2 improved from D8 to D10) but failed to Rally more than half my Disordered units and not much UI.
This led to Prussians using their 9 card Initiative and manage to put a lot of hurt on the Russians, so much so that my Morale dropped to zero and I started 'gifting' Morale to enemy.
The Prussians then got the next Initiative of 7 cards and it was curtains for Russian cause.
I surrendered on the inevitable Army Morale card that appeared in my turn.
As ever FOB gives such a fun game that plays fast and generates a great narrative, such a nice balance of playability, excitement, drama, intuitive systems and plain old fun.
FOB3 played just as well as FOB2 and we both liked the new UI system and the various changes that all add up to even slicker game play.
We found that whilst Rallying Routers is easier there are far less Routing units as UI changes mean that units are Destroyed on table more often leading to a more decisive game and a good deal less Rallying rolls.
The 'Daring Deeds' is an exciting addition which I used quite a lot as I had poorer Leaders overall but it can be a very risky proposition especially with my luck !!
About the only rule change we both voiced dislike for is the new Optional Cavalry Pursuit rules (not used in our game) although occurrence of Pursuit is lessened overall as less Routing units in FOB3
We both felt that it could lead to high value units being targeted by tat (eg Guard by Cossacks) in the hope that they pursue to their doom.
Jury kind of out on this but likely we will stick with FOB2 version,
So all in all a great game with new version and great to get another 'live' game in.
Russian centre
Disaster strikes the Russian Army as Leaders fall and units go into Disorder (I preferred to use the old 'Out of Command' nomenclature for this)
Despite getting onto flank and rear of this Prussian Hussar unit it survived my pathetic musket volleys.
Maybe in your case "Daring Deeds" should be renamed "Deadly Deeds"!
ReplyDeleteI put it down to a bad batch of 18th Century Vodka !
DeleteDice have always hated me and continue to do so :-)
I tired a Daring Dead with my Austrians late in Caldiero - you'll see how that worked out eventually.
ReplyDeleteI've never been a fan of pursuit rules, and didn't use them with Caldiero.
I will, however, use them when I do a test ECW game, as that was a potential game changer in so many battles of that era!
I liked FOB2 Pursuit rule very easy to remember with 1 Hit on Odd Roll
ReplyDelete