FoG:R Renaissance in Britcon 2012
Thirty Years' War French, Dutch and German vs Imperial Spanish
Game 1 Thirty Years' War French, Dutch and German vs Thirty Year's War French
Game 2 Thirty Years' War French, Dutch and German vs Early TYW Swedish
Game 3 Thirty Years' War French, Dutch and German vs Later TYW German Catholic
Game 4 Thirty Years' War French, Dutch and German vs Later Swedish
Game 5 Thirty Years' War French, Dutch and German vs Early TYW Swedish
Game 5 Thirty Years' War French, Dutch and German vs Imperial Spanish
After a cracking victory in the morning, the French army was looking forward with some degree of confidence and eagerness to the final game of the weekend - and not just because after 5 games played in a stinking sweatbox, the prospect of spending 2 hours on the West Coast Mainline on Virgin Trains somehow seemed incredibly alluring.
The lists for the Thirty Years' War French, Dutch and German and Imperial Spanish from this game, as well as all the other lists from the games at Britcon can be seen here in the FoGR Wiki.
The army was starting to function like a relatively well-oiled machine, and some of the repeated incompetencies/mistakes of some of the earlier rounds appeared to have been massaged out of the playbook - another repeat performance might even see a rare and unlikely podium finish achieved by Les Bleus over the course of the weekend.
The final game drew a traditional and near obligatory opponent, Andy "I like Superior units of Standard Pike and Shotte" Kitchener and an Imperial Spanish army. Carefully gathered intelligence from a secret source in the form of other Central London players who had fought the Spanish before uncovered the fact that the army the French would be facing had a lot of Superior units of Standard Pike and Shotte, and not many horse. So, no surprise there then.
FoG:R hint - Andy Kitchener's armies generally have a lot of Superior units of Pike and Shotte in them
The terrain was a bit more typical as well, with just the one large enclosed field in a central zone, giving me an opportunity to deploy some newly-purchased DIY fences from <><> and also inspiring the French to choose their commanded out Shotte list - for if one were to conjure up a reason to take an 8-strong Impact Foote Shotte unit, there would be none better than a big enclosed field in the central sector. This obvious target for the Pike-less infantry was matched by shoving both the Dutch and the French Guards down the gap on the right, and using the Germans as a holding force on the left. This did split the Cuirassiers onto two separate flanks, but with little decent open terrain and few Horse in the Spanish army there was not that much potential to use the Cuirassiers independently anyway. The Spanish meanwhile had basically deployed a long line of Pike and Shotte across the table - possibly in homage to a tactic employed by the French in lots of previous battles…
The game started with a headlong French and Dutch rush forwards, as far too many units attempted to cram into the gap between two sets of enclosed fields. One of the Dutch Cuirassier units peeled off and moved into the middle, as the possibility of a combined Pike/Shotte and Cuirassier charge looked like it may be needed to crack the almost all Superior Spanish front line.
The Commanded out Shotte were delightfully happy having found a role to play, and even though the newly minted fences they were moving up to clearly would struggle to stop a shot in real life, they had a significant effect on game play … as well as smelling like they had been barbequed, which brought its own degree of surreal olfactory intrigue to the already quite whiffy environment of the gaming hall.
The Spanish were making an uncharacteristic attempt to push forward against the Germans, with three Pike and Shotte units moving up in echelon whilst their Horse lagged behind. They had also moved some light horse up into a bit of uneven ground on the left, which represented a good target of opportunity for the German Dragoons - who frankly were delighted not to be teeing themselves up for a right kicking at the hands of a four-strong unit of enemy Dragoons as they had done in virtually every previous game in the competition so far.
FoG:R hint - Dragoons get all their dice against LH, and LH only get half dice in combat. So Dragoons can bully LH something rotten
In the middle the (blue) French Guards were making untroubled progress towards the Spanish lines, shrugging off the incoming fore from Spanish artillery with gallic distain. The logjam behind meant the French and Dutch troops were now in a staggered formation but so far so good…
Things were looking so good that the detached Pikemen though they might even be able to play a useful role in the battle, and moved up out of their traditional role of "standing behind the guns" and began to make quite a decent fist of "providing rear support " as well. Even some French Dragoons risked coming out of the other enclosed field and started sniping at the enemy, confident that the onrushing Dutch and French Guards would help them out of things got a little sticky (as they had tended to with the French dragoons all weekend..)
In fact, proving this prophecy correct almost immediately, the second French Dragoon unit had suffered a FRAGGED result from a couple of rounds of firing, and was now in retreat, trying to get back deep into the middle of the enclosed field to make itself invisible to enemy artillery.
FoG:R hint -Dragoons who are more than 4MU inside an enclosed fields cannot be seen from outside.
The French right flank suddenly looked rather exposed, as Spanish Dragoons flooded forwards and some of their rather underutilized horse also felt emboldened to move forwards too
On the left however the German Dragoons had with the aid of a short powerpoint presentation and some laminated printouts explained the combat dice rules to some rather shocked Spanish light horse, who had through they were getting one over on the Germans by hitting them whilst they were still in the open. The Spaniards were now locked in combat, and the Dragoons were ready to out dice them to eventual victory…
Right on schedule, a unit of French Dragoons decided to break and rout. The thinly defended right flank of the French army was now down to two Dragoons - a recipe which in previous games had regularly failed to satisfy..
The German Dragoons were now threatened by proper Spanish Horsemen - they needed to record a quick victory against the Spanish LH, break them and then rush headlong into the protective terrain… DISR and only one base from breaking, the Spanish Light Horse were only seconds from destruction… would it pan out in time …?
The terrain-hugging Commanded-out Shotte unit had come rushing out of the terrain and launched a fearsome Impact Foot Capability style attack on two Spanish units. Impact Foot was good, but being outnumbered and being only MF against opponents who included HF was bad. Losing 2 bases to shooting on the way in was even worse…
FoG:R hint MF losing to enemy with HF in their unit (ie Shotte-only units losing to Pike and Shotte) suffer a -1 in Cohesion tests
The battle was shaping up for a decisive clash. At the top the German infantry have gone DISR in response to Spanish shooting, and just below them the Commanded Out Shotte are struggling against two enemy units. IN the middle two units of French Guards are teeing themselves up for a charge on the Spanish lines, whilst the Dutch move up to support their Dragoons who are under threat from Spanish Horse right at the bottom of the shot
The Spanish suffer an uncharacteristic rush of blood to the head, and rather than waiting for the Dutch infantry to move into place and start shooting them, launch a rather unexpected attack into French Dragoons in a field with their Cuirassiers. This is an intriguing battle, as the Dragoons count as Protected Shotte and so are advantaged against the Cuirassiers. If the Spanish get stuck, they will expose their flanks to the oncoming Dutchmen…
On the other flank, the German Dragoons have failed in their bid to quickly despatch the rather disheartened Spanish LH, allowing the Spanish Reiters to wade in as well - that is a rather different proposition for the Dragoons, and one unit loses cohesion as the Spaniards crash their tightly packed formation of horsemen into the German mounted infantry
The Spanish Cuirassiers get stuck into the French Dragoons, and the initial clashes are excellent for the French, as the comprehensively fail to lose, thus establishing a new record of competence for these particular units over the course of all 6 games fought in the weekend so far. The Dutch Pike and Shotte lick their lips in anticipation of windmilling into the flank of the trapped Cuirassiers!
The two units of French Guards are both now at spitting distance of the Spanish infantry and despite being the target of basically everything the Spanish had to throw at them have survived their long march under fire almost entirely unscathed. This is all teed up for a spectacular French charge and destructive Impact phase in the next round of French movement, after which the Spanish army should unfold itself like a Seville Orange hit by a mallet!
The French commanded out Petits Vieux infantry have not fared anywhere near as well, and lose bases rapidly to find themselves broken and fleeing the rather unperturbed Spanish almost immediately. That leaves a hole in the middle of the French line to match the one at the right hand end created by the loss of the Dragoons - but the Spanish army is all Foote and so their ability to capitalise on the strategic opportunity this loss creates is somewhat limited, especially with the French Guards ready to wade into decisive action in mere moments
Doh! Fulfilling an almost obligatory obligation, the French Dragoons roll a rubbish deathroll and lose a base, breaking immediately as a result. The master plan of hanging on whilst the Dutch did their business for them has evaporated on the basis of a solitary "1" at just the wrong time, allowing the Spanish Cuirassiers to escape Scott-free with their rather risky initiative of going into the Dragoon World that is an enclosed field. The French army now has no right flank at all.
The Germans have recovered cohesion, and copying the unsuccessful and ultimately disastrous tactic of the French Commanded Out Shotte, find themselves taking on two enemy units at the same time, at least one of which is better quality than they are. The newly bought fencing however is brought into shot, giving a faint whiff of burnt cedar woodchips to the process
The Guards are in!! Here is where the game turns around, as the French can now mark down their 3 units of losses so far as mere preparation as the decisive elements of their army have been committed to combat in an entirely coherent and coordinated manner.
The combats start well - the Blue Guards have DISR'ed their opponents and killed a base, whilst the Red Guards opponents prove more steadfast and hang on in there. Everyone has a general committed so this is as fair as a battle can be…
With four generals in combat, the chances of one dying are enhanced, and this time around the unlucky winner is the French General leading the Red Guards. The conniving Spanish pull him from his horse, and his loss sends a reverberation of shock around the French army - felt nowhere greater than by the Rubbish French Horse, who immediately see the writing on the wall and do a double-drop to FRAGGED !
The Blue Guards however are much more effective, and quickly break their opponents. In the pursuit they have the opportunity to instantly attack the rear echelons of Ordinary units in the Spanish army, ideally taking the Spanish artillery park and battering an Average Pike and Shotte Unit at the same time. Well, they would do… but the laggardly Spanish decide that now they have been beaten there is no real point in rushing anywhere, and roll two consecutive "1's" for their initial (melee phase) and subsequent (JAP phase) routs, leaving them unfeasibly short of the Spanish artillery and rather relieved unit defending it. Pants!
The German Cuirassiers are having similar luck - charging in to support their Pike and Shotte unit they suffer some fairly catastrophic round of combat against a somewhat thinned out Spanish Foote unit and quickly find themselves FRAGGED - the French army has now accumulated a rather embarrassing level of losses and near losses, and is fast running out of combat-capable units to throw at the increasingly relaxed and confident looking Spanish
As the Dutch move up the find themselves no longer cast just as the reserves, but that they are now are being promoted to onlookers as the cutting edge and potential game salvaging elements of the French army - rather a lot of pressure to put on some fairly average shoulders. Their confidence in their erstwhile employers and masters is not helped when the 4-strong commanded out French Pikemen suffer a couple of hits from Spanish artillery and promptly decide to lose a base and drop to DISR, thus rendering themselves useless as rear support. With the only French General on table stuck chasing the worlds slowest routers with the Blue Guards, there is little prospect of the Pikemen getting back to normal anytime soon
FoG:R hint to provide rear support units have to be STEADY
The Spanish infantry move up through the gap in the centre and unleash a volley at the Rubbish French Horse - who promptly break and flee, thus fulfilling their most common battle field roll of "routers who should not really have gotten as close to the enemy as they did"
This debacle is closely followed by another disaster, as losing 3 bases to 0 in a straight fight the Red Guards also break and rout - partly prompted nu doubt by the lack of rear support they experienced from the now routing Rubbish French Horse.
The German Cuirassiers then decide that they do not wish the German allied command to miss out on this opportunity to execute a highly efficient, rapid and effective total collapse and themselves break and flee. That's 2 Dragoons, 1 Cuirassier, 1 Guard, 1 Horse, 1 Petits Vieux and some small change elsewhere all lost for only one unit in return, and the game is now over. The Result is a dissapointing 22-3 defeat
Read on for the post match summaries from the Generals involved, as well as another episode of legendary expert analysis from Hannibal
Post Match Summary from the Thirty Years' War French, Dutch and German Commander
Oh well, never mind and no use crying over spilt milk eh, especilally when you can mop it all up with some lovely cake.
Strategically this defeat was very useful as it allowed us to return to Paris on an earlier train, however having booked a super saver return I then found out that this was not an option - perhaps if I had realised this we would have tried harder to be a bit more lucky
The enemy forces were pretty damned tough, and they also had the definite rub of the green throughout the game I felt, with the commanded out shotte being unfortunate, as well as innumerable amounts of Dragooons
It would have been nice to pick up a couple of additional units along the way but it was not to be especially after those routers rolled short. But all in all I am pleased with the interesting fiist of things this double allied army actually made, and in several games I even had the definite feeling I knew what I was doing. Onwards and Upwards!
Hannibal's Post Match Analysis
Oh ye ghastly apology for a half witted organ-grinders monkey you! How could you not notice that this defeat was all sourced from your own fair hand..?
Against an opponent who has a history of sitting back, why did you gift him with terrain in which a whole Corps could be safely hidden? And commanding out the shotte... when exactly has that worked out well for you pray tell? The commanded shotte were an 8-base unit fighting two 6-base units, who included in their ranks Superiors and Heavy Foote. Qhite what planet were you on to think that was a battle you should be embracing with alacrity and gusto?
And even the most basic division of your army around the central field was weak in the extreme. One flank was so busy some of your men never even smelled the enemy - which after a long day in the field in Manchester would mean standing very far away indeed. The traffic jam you created merely stacked up targets for the 4 gunnes of the enemy, as well as ensuring your men arrived at the front lines piecemeal.
And finally, please, I beseech the, NO MORE DRAGOONS IN TWO's!!!
That's the end - so why not go back to the Match Reports Index and read some more reports?
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Game 1 Thirty Years' War French, Dutch and German vs Thirty Years' War French
Game 2 Thirty Years' War French, Dutch and German vs Early TYW Swedish
Game 3 Thirty Years' War French, Dutch and German vs Later TYW German Catholic
Game 4 Thirty Years' War French, Dutch and German vs Imperial Spanish
Game 5 Thirty Years' War French, Dutch and German vs Early TYW Swedish
Game 6 Thirty Years' War French, Dutch and German vs Imperial Spanish
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