I have painted enough Napoleonic figures for a proper battle but don’t really have enough command figures at the moment. So to get them out on the battlefield we thought we would try a skirmish. As it happens Steve has a copy of Chosen Men by Osprey. I had originally thought it was from the same ‘stable’ as lion rampant and Rebel and patriots and so would be easy to pick up. This proved wrong and they are a completely different set of rules.
As we were testing/learning the rules as we went I didn’t take too many photos and we kept the forces fairly small and simple.
Some where in Spain of course π
The French deploy from the left, two regiments of line infantry and some Voltigeurs
95th Rifles !
Some British line infantry and a small company of 60th
Voltigeurs take up a position in the churchyard
Ranges are slightly longer for the rifles so they open up first ….ineffectively
After putting in a couple of volleys the french form up and attempt to charge down the riflemen
The british have formed up as well and open up
The 95th pull back into cover behind the wall
But the french are getting the better of it
The french column again forms up to charge but fails and they take a volley in the face !
But the British have now lost their line infantry and the french have capture the cross roads so the day is lost.
A fun try out with the figures, but we found the rules more complex than they needed to be, they didn’t create the flowing battle that we usually get with rebels and patriots and to be honest, whilst Chosen men has rules for a wide range of Napoleonic cavalry etc…I can’t see these being used much in a skirmish battle so they didn’t really seem to add anything extra for an infantry skirmish not cover in R&P. There are also some strange elements as we couldn’t really see the advantage of forming up into line which seems to actually reduce your firing capacity ? Nothing ventured nothing gained, but we are unlikely to be using them again.
Spring has sprung here in northern England so quite a few sessions out cycling today being particularly nice π
Yes this is the summer road bike back on show
Thanks for popping by enjoy your Easter eggs if you are having them……….
Matt
Matt, lovely to see the beginnings of your Peninsular force on the table. Even if the rules didn’t work out, we all get some nice pics :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks Norm I am hoping to get them into proper combat soonish π
DeleteYour recent Sicilian building project is seeing double duty in the Peninsula. Excellent! Seeing you out on your bike makes very, very envious. Rainy and still cool, here.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jon flexible terrain is my ideal π
DeleteGreat to see your Peninsular out in force in your splendid table, shame about the rules. It's a shame a fair few of the Osprey blue book rules seem to fail to deliver.
ReplyDeleteThanks Phil I really enjoy most of the other osprey rules so I guess they can’t all be winners
DeleteGreat looking game and lovely pictures at the end from your bike ride Matt. Pity the rules were a disappointment, have you tried Sharpe Practice for this type of skirmish game? We have used them a few times and always had a fun game with them.
ReplyDeleteThanks Keith I wasn’t really planning on Napoleonic skirmish, this was just an interim while I paint up the rest of the forces. But sharp,practise comes recommended ?
DeleteAnother lovely table Matt. Shame about the rules.
ReplyDeleteThanks George π
DeleteShame about the rules, but the battle looks good at least.
ReplyDeleteThanks for popping by π
DeleteIt's a lovely looking table, pity the Osprey rules weren't fit for service, but I have found that their blue book rules editions are terribly varied in quality. Don't get me started on Absolute Emperor. I second the worthy rross and recommend Sharp Practice for black powder skirmish games, these rules have a wide following, the core mechanics are easy enough to grasp, and the card mechanism suits well for solitaire play. Cheers, Michael
ReplyDeleteThanks Michael…..many have suggested sharp practise so if we do look to do some more skirmish this might be the way ahead ?
DeleteGreat looking game again!
ReplyDeleteThanks Michal π
DeleteA lovely looking game Matt…
ReplyDeleteIt’s a shame about the rules…but at least you got your toys on the table.
Cracking views as always.
All the best. Aly
Thanks Aly hopefully we can get them out again soon π
DeleteAlways a joy to see your collections in action on your splendid scenery. I'm not a fan of any of the Osprey rules to be honest, they should have stuck to what they know. The landscape pictures are always welcome so keep on peddling! (I hope the packet has arrived by the by.)
ReplyDeleteThanks David…..generally I have enjoyed most of the other osprey offerings but you can’t win them all π€
DeleteA shame the rules didn't work out. We have a set at the club but I'm yet to try them. The table looks superb as always
ReplyDeleteThanks Neil….who knows they might improve with knowledge ?
DeleteThe table looks great, your work on all the buildings paid off. The future games set in Spain or Sicily should all benefit from the look. I am sorry the rules are not meeting your needs. In our local group we did sort through some of the issues and our expectations;
ReplyDeletethe rules work OK for skirmishers on foot,
The rules work for all cavalry engagements,
The rules do not work well with mixed forces, i.e. mixing cavalry and foot units is tricky at best and often leads to odd gambes.
The scenarios provided are rather 'gamey' compared to a mission one might expect to have given a unit in the period....
Artillery firing is rather convoluted as a mechanism.
That said we prefer it to Sharp Practice and have dug up lists of Russian & Austrian forces in places on the web. Had a go at porting in the 'vegetable ' units from the Wars of Ozz range, but that was pushing it. Surely you will find a set that has more of what you are looking for to represent actions on the table.
Thanks Joe interesting to get the comments from somebody who has played the rules….it may be we need to give them more time, but Napoleonic skirmish wasn’t really what I was aiming for anyway just a short diversion π
DeleteYes, the rules would take more time to learn and if skirmishes were a side show we probably wouldn't have seen the reason to invest the time. We are moving on to Rebels and Patriots so I think you were coming to the same place as us.
DeleteLeads to odd games, not gambes.
ReplyDeleteOh, the touring photos are splendid, it is almost warm enough to go out here. Just not as impressive for views.
ReplyDeleteRaining again now π
DeleteA fine game there Matt and as always the terrain and figures look superb. Mediterranean buildings are very versatile across the region and periods too, which helps with the perennial storage issues.
ReplyDeleteR&P works fine for Nappies and the Michael Leck uses them for his games too, even though they were not meant for this. I've tried SPII but IMHO you need to play the rules a lot to get au fait with them compared to R&P.
Great to see the weather has allowed you out into the bike and you certainly have some stunning scenery to ride in. We have lovely scenery here too but sadly it tends to be rather traffic heavy most of the time. I'm hoping to get out tommorrow now that a lot of the garden related duties have been dealt with...
Thanks Steve familiarity makes a big difference in rules and for simplicity we will use Rand P if we skirmish naps again. We’ve been in the garden too π
DeleteLovely game as always. Had heard of CM but not played. I’m a fan of SP2 so that’ll do π
ReplyDeleteThanks Matt I may see if I can pick up a copy of SP if I can find a copy cheep although my plan was never to focus on skirmish battles for the Naps
Deletegreat pics! I played Chosen Men at a convention once and had a similar take away about the rules.
ReplyDeleteThanks Stew, clearly some people like it but I don’t think we’ll be trying it again
DeleteLovely terrain as always, we did plan on doing what you've done and use Chosen men as a stepping stone to larger games but in the end held out till we were able to use Blackpowder, although the new free Perry rules look interesting? Bike ride looked good back to torrential rain now!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Nearly at the stage of massed battles so I can put the skirmishes behind me for a while. Black powder has a lot to recommend it and yes I need to check through other rules, I do have about 5 Napoleonic rulesets though !
Delete