Today I got the chance to play test Napoleon Bonaparte meets Chain of Command courtesy of a great guy, John. You can soon see more pictures and more about the game on his fantastic blog http://fuentesdeonoro.blogspot.com/?m=1 (wargaming in 28mm and sometimes smaller).It was a a fun game to say the least with some minor questions, and some minor recommendations.This is just what I think after playing a small game. I'm knowhere near an expert but here are my thoughts on the pros and cons.
CONS:First, was attack colums. What were the advantages (if any)?Second, there was no opportunity fire by the defender when closing into combat. I think there should definatly be a fire opportunity for defending infantry before they close into hand to hand.
Third, the size of the table was too small for the size of the bases and the amount of troops. This might have been a problem of the troops available and how they were mounted, the rules calling for a 30x30mm sized stand rather than the 40x40mm stand used(900 sq mm vs. 1600 sq mm - an almost 50% disparity. I would recommend that is 40 x40 mm are sued then the battle field should be a minimum of 8' x 5' - rather than the 6' x 4' used). Comment by Dick Bryant, also in the playtest.
PROS:The patrol phase was excellent and helps get troops into combat quickly. This makes for a better game, not taking up time moving onto the table and into action.The command structure was good as well. With a similar feel to regular Chain of Command, with commanders having multiple activations, there was never a shortage of what you could accomplish with good and bad command dice.
The game mechanisms worked well except as mentioned and John's troops were superbly painted and mounted - a joy to play with.
Overall it was a fun game and I'm looking foward to playing more in depth games.
Here's some pictures of the action
The patrol phase
After we got to see the rules for movement and maneuver we decided to remove the trees and get right into the action, so we could see how combat would be resolved.
great job Ricky, I enjoyed the game as well and look forward to taking command myself.
ReplyDeleteJohn
For opportunity fire, it seems as if overwatch would fulfill this role. Just allow regiments to go on overwatch on their own initiative instead of requiring a leader to do so.
ReplyDeleteLovely looking game. These rules have a lot of potential in my view.
ReplyDeleteDefensive fire is effectively included in the defenders close combat rolls and an indecisive combat can result in both sides becoming locked into a "Firefight" at very close range.
Given the way shock works in these rules allowing some kind of "opportunity fire" could be very detrimental to the attacker. Instead it's all resolved in a single combat round
Assault Columns are more manoeuvrable than line and if French you can use a bonus dice to inflict shock on the enemy unit before combat is resolved, costing them a combat dice.