Lasalle 2 - French vs British 1811

Game of Lasalle 2 today with Stephen playing the third scenario with larger 300pt forces.

Stephen wanted to try out British circa 1811 so I used French.

We both had 18 units (5 Brigades each) in an encounter type match up with a fair amount of woods and a town area (we both forgot we could have added one terrain piece each)

We both thought Lasalle might struggle to reflect British 'style' but this proved to be unfounded.

Being a Linear Army the British General has an additional Linear Volley intervention by default which coupled with slightly better Skirmishing ability (we both put a unit into Sharpshooter mode so 39 Brit vs 36 French dice) and their unique Superior Shooting ability (8 dice in Line) made the British foot very potent especially their three Elite units.

This combo meant that against French foot in columns the British could deliver 2-3 devastating volleys and vs mounted two such volleys and still be able to change into square.

Since British won every skirmish phase they had optimal tactical flexibility in this regard (including on one turn generating six Voltigeur markers).

A French infantry Brigade of 4 veteran units in attack columns was shot to bits in this fashion, and then when I brought up Cavalry they too suffered hits and watched as British then formed square which of course can still shoot often with two dice.

My artillery (3 Batteries) was fairly decent with some lucky rolling destroying a British battery in short order.

But the tough British Infantry with their 'machine gun fire' was just too hard to deal with and I conceded despite having slight edge in Skirmishing with 4 British units adopting square as I had 1 foot Brigade done for and my 4 Cavalry (2 Dragoons and 2 Chasseurs) effectively blown as well.

British much better on table than they seemed at first blush.

Another quick playing game with Lasalle, what it lacks in period chrome it makes up for in playability in spades.

Armies at start (French on left)

British deployment (Portugese Brigade on right of image)

French centre with Cavalry supporting Infantry columns

Central clash after my Foot Brigade had been decimated (2 units disengaged to rear) and Cavalry advancing to fill gap.

French left in stand off with British right but with British Light Cavalry threatening

On French right a Brigade of Conscripts opposite the Portugese (neither Brigade used)

Remnants of central foot Brigade rallies behind guns (but with several permanent losses)

French guns continue to bombard as British infantry forms squares

French Cavalry taking some knocks after a couple of do or die charges and British shooting

Lots of damage inflicted on French center

Overview 

Chasseur Brigade battered as French General intervened (Valiant trait) to no avail

Dragoons to their left also battered

British Cavalry readying for a charge, note the British 'Voltigeur' stands hampering French foot

Lasalle 2 - French vs Russian 1812

Another game of Lasalle with Stephen today, using the second scenario with Russians (Stephen) in defence against my attacking French.

Scenario pits (in small version) 250pts of attackers vs 200pts of defenders with 2 objectives and no auto breaking of armies. 

Interesting set up and deployment areas makes for a varied scenario despite basic terrain.

Another enjoyable game that we managed to play to completion (8 turns) with 1 objective held each but Russians won by inflicting greater ‘Carnage’ on French.

Again we found game slick and quick but with overall decent period feel when Infantry forced into squares by mounted then shot to bits by enemy and run over by Cavalry.

Russian foot have Resilient trait which allows them to Rally better (French rallying was woeful) but French superiority (at least until squares and losses dwindle total) in Skirmishers means they will win Initiative and get some Voltigeur stands to place (4 was max) which are a real annoyance for units effected.

Stephen used Artillerist option for Generals Intervention which was pretty powerful as it allows re-rolls of all bombardment misses. I chose Charismatic which aids rallies but only used once as needed General to form squares or to boost Momentum.

System is very much Napoleonic-lite with lots of abstraction and really does pare unit interactions down to basic Column, Line and Square, but it most certainly works for a game you can play to completion in a few hours with reasonably balanced forces.

Only a couple of pics from early stages (before Cavalry reserves arrived) as phone died.

Lasalle 2 - Prussian vs French 1813

Game with Stephen today using new version of Lasalle.

Played the first scenario with small forces (250pts each) and I fielded 1813 Prussians against French.

We decided to use all the advanced rule options which were pretty easy to implement and still leaves the game system as slick and fast playing.

The use of 'Voltigeur' stands for the skirmishing aspect we found better overall than the basic game Momentum boost.

Most turns the French, who also deployed a unit as 'Sharpshooters' had a couple of stands for use but one turn generated a whopping 7 !!

The Voltigeurs are really annoying for enemy as they stop Rallying, effect Shooting and can get a shot at moving units, they can be ignored but only if unit remains inactive.

I used an ADC which is nice bonus of 1 MO especially useful when MO is at premium.

We both took 1 additional Commander trait with mine being Valiant and French choosing Charismatic but only actually used once between us as we mostly used our Commanders to boost MO.

Couple of Huzzah markers were generated in game and nice to have option to recover a disorder or get a second move.

As before we found the Momentum system to be excellent as it leads to lots of key decisions each turn especially once units get close in.

The shooting is easy and melee combat is pretty decisive especially fresh against weakened units.

Failed to finish the game due to lots of discussion and wanting to see the England - German Euro match but Prussians were getting the worst of things being 1 unit from auto defeat,

Overall a good set of rules which whilst it has fairly generic units is fun due to the MO and slick play and suits an afternoons play.

Initial Prussian Infantry advance

French get to stream first as Prussians march onto ridge line and take a village

Prussian Dragoon Brigade arrive and move behind hills on left wing

Village invested but not Garrisoned

French Dragoons occupy central posistion

Prussian Uhlans have crossed the stream as infantry face off in centre

Prussian take disorders from French volleys

 

At last a ‘proper’ game out of lockdown ! - Lasalle 2 French vs Austrians

First face to face game since lockdown restrictions eased here in N.Ireland allowing such activities indoors. 

Last such game was back in early October which seems an eon ago!

Played a 15mm game of Lasalle 2 with John (as normal opponent his brother Stephen recovering from a nasty infection which had him hospitalised for a period) and we decided to try Lasalle 2 as John looking to see them in action.

John choose Avant Garde scenario (first I think) from rules with an Austrian 1809 force facing my French (both smaller 250pt option).

Lasalle 2 is so very slick and easy to teach (at least using basic rules) and we both got into swing quickly.

We did however only complete 5 of scheduled 8 turns due to lots of catching up and associated waffle before we got going. 

The Momentum system is excellent being easy to use and yet leading to lots of decisions to make best use thereof, and this coupled with free flowing movement and very playable shooting and combat systems, means this rule set has a lot going for it.

Not much in the way of ‘chrome’ compared to several sets (and openly designed that way) but the game is just plain fun whilst retaining a core Napoleonic ‘flavour’ and certainly high on playability/ease of understanding factor which is an aspect I find increasingly attractive (and likely why I enjoy Piquet sets so much).

John also enjoyed the rules liking the fast playing style and easy assimilation of the basic systems.

Hope to get more play with these (and try some advanced rule options) and hopefully with Stephen when recovered sufficiently.

Lasalle 2 - online game completed

Another session with Stephen of our remote Lasalle 2 game which we managed to bring to a completion (despite much waffling about these rules and newly arrived O Group !)

Once again we found Lasalle to be a very slick and playable experience.

Russians suffered terribly in several combats but did manage to narrowly hang on for a win in the scenario.

This was partly because we had not realised that the village was worth 2 victory points not just 1 as we had thought and would more likely have seen a French assault had we known.

The third VP was in the other objective which French just failed to capture on the final (8th) game turn, they did however gain 1VP for greater 'Carnage' inflicted on Russians and the Russian Baggage was also in danger had there been another 1-2 turns to play. 

The carnage inflicted on Russians

We thoroughly enjoyed this game with Lasalle 2 both loving the MO system.

We discussed a lot about the various abstractions in the rules and its overall lack of chrome/granularity (certainly compared to many other sets) but in the end we felt it generated a fast playing and fun game.

Its Napoleonic feel might be down to the very bare bones (essentially Column, Line and Square),  and is essentially a Command oriented game with the somewhat generic troop types and grades along with very straightforward systems subsumed to the use of MO as the core.

But this very broad brush style certainly allows for a fast and slick game with plenty of decisions and ultimately rolls of dice to decide things, and to be honest none the worse for that.

Yes we would like to see (or at least we thought we would) more grades of troops, more formations (eg Close  Columns, Open Order, Skirmish) and some more tactical interactions (eg Assault Column vs Line expanded) and sometimes things like Opportunity Charges but and it is a big BUT that is not the design intent (clearly stated by Sam throughout) of this set which pares most of this stuff down to a fairly simple set of parameters with low numbers of modifiers or exceptions always leaning toward playabilty over any hint of complexity. 

And this is what gives the set its fluency and very easy to remember systems. We were both playing with just the QRS only having to refer to rules for one or two minor queries.

Probably my only real gripe is that the included lists (really only broad guidelines) are very generic and it seems one could load your OOB with large amounts of Artillery units (whether that is a good idea or not is open to question). We agreed our own limits.

We will definitely be giving these more outings in the future especially as a 'pick and play' option.

Lasalle 2 - face to face game - online that is

Decided to try playing an online live game with Stephen today using my iPad (via Messenger) and Lasalle 2.

And whilst a bit awkward at first and lighting not greatest, it worked fine overall and certainly more enjoyable than solo play.

I moved units and marked hits at Stephens behest and he rolled his own dice, I certainly got a decent workout walking to and fro around the table !

I selected scenario 4 'Making an Omelette' as it allowed me to set up in defence using my Russians and then Stephen commanding French to set up.

We played with Small forces (180 vs 250pts) which worked fine with 4 French attacking Brigades against 3 Russian defending Brigades.

The lists allow a very large amount of possible Artillery so we both reduced to 1 per 2 Brigades (or part thereof).

Lasalle 2 plays really smoothly and Stephen was able (like I was) to assimilate and play the rules quickly despite the limitations of my video skills. We were both using the QRS with very little reference to rules after a couple of turns. We stuck with Basic rules for first try out but think use of advanced rules would not be too onerous.

We played 5 full turns (stopping only because my iPad ran out of juice) out of the 8 scheduled and intend to complete game next week.

The Momentum system is really the heart of the game and works so very slickly and generates an enjoyable level of decision making each turn.

French (using the basic Skirmishing rules) were rolling 27 dice against my 12 so usually got extra 1-2 MO per turn.

Bombardments seemed quite powerful today especially the ability of artillery to select any available target. This saw French 'gang up' on a Russian Grenadier unit inflicting 4 Disruptions in short order and it was later destroyed by a French musket volley as I failed to Rally hits off.

Artillery is however quite brittle as destroyed after a mere 2 hits despite being harder to inflict hit upon. I lost both my batteries as deployed further forward than maybe they needed to be.

French have lost 2 units of Infantry one to a couple of devastating volleys from a unit in Line and the other a Square also volleyed to destruction.

Whilst we both felt the lists are very generic and the variety of troop grading is limited compared to other rules we did find it a fairly satisfying overall. 

Whilst rules certainly do lack a level of 'chrome' they do feel somewhat Napoleonic in terms of Maneuvering (very fast and loose away from enemy) and the interactions of the traditional Column, Line and Square.

Their low complexity certainly aided use in this video-conferencing style game.

Russians deployed 

Overview of battlefield

Russian guns to the fore and town garrisoned

The French force

View of Russian lines from French edge

French attacking Russian left wing

A unit of Russian Grenadiers has been destroyed so Hussars plugging gap.

French right refusing as their guns pound enemy 

Russian HUssars and French Dragoons 'bounce' of each other as French foot form square

French start to pressure center of Russian lines