Bruce hosted our usual "off-Tuesday" game and we again had a go at Maurice. This time Bruce hauled out a Scottish scenario (Falkirk?) with both sides being forced to deploy on the board. The masking tape point in the background is a ridge-line that is bad going. Scots are on the left, British from the top.
This was the first outing for Bruce's rebased highlanders. He allowed them to form mass and gave them a plus 1 on melee but they shot with only two dice in mass and hit only on a 5 and 6. This means these pretty much have to come to blows quickly or they will be shot to pieces.
I moved as quickly as I could, outrunning the one unit of regulars and the cavalry I had. My game plan was to catch Bruce during deployment and try to bottle him up. I managed to get there with lots of time and had a quick tussle with one of his units and bagged it. Then I withdrew to lick my wounds.
He mounted a cavalry charge which I managed to drive off, bagging three units. Melee in mass against rabble cavalry worked in my favour.
I then lined up for the Scottish charge and took quite the beating coming into contact. Sneaky Brits kept shooting and then backing away! Eventually I dropped a piece of terrain behind them and managed to bag two units, and a third (while losing a couple). I managed to "win" by playing a "sharpshooter" card that I have been hording all game. Bruce was a pretty good sport about that!
Overall, a great game. Deployment worked well, Bruce needed two lines because of the game mechanics so it looked like a "real" battle without any fiddly rules, there was a charge, a fall back, a rally and another charge. And the Scots played like Scots.
Up next: I have some 28mm renaissance under way and I'm planning my first Maurice game at the club next week, seeing if the rules will work for War of 1812.
This was the first outing for Bruce's rebased highlanders. He allowed them to form mass and gave them a plus 1 on melee but they shot with only two dice in mass and hit only on a 5 and 6. This means these pretty much have to come to blows quickly or they will be shot to pieces.
I moved as quickly as I could, outrunning the one unit of regulars and the cavalry I had. My game plan was to catch Bruce during deployment and try to bottle him up. I managed to get there with lots of time and had a quick tussle with one of his units and bagged it. Then I withdrew to lick my wounds.
He mounted a cavalry charge which I managed to drive off, bagging three units. Melee in mass against rabble cavalry worked in my favour. 
I then lined up for the Scottish charge and took quite the beating coming into contact. Sneaky Brits kept shooting and then backing away! Eventually I dropped a piece of terrain behind them and managed to bag two units, and a third (while losing a couple). I managed to "win" by playing a "sharpshooter" card that I have been hording all game. Bruce was a pretty good sport about that!
Overall, a great game. Deployment worked well, Bruce needed two lines because of the game mechanics so it looked like a "real" battle without any fiddly rules, there was a charge, a fall back, a rally and another charge. And the Scots played like Scots.
Up next: I have some 28mm renaissance under way and I'm planning my first Maurice game at the club next week, seeing if the rules will work for War of 1812.
Hoots! Great battle report Bob.
ReplyDeleteThanks Phil. A dramatic game with a fair bit of tension (because of the situation, not the company!) that rewarded historical tactics without any special rules. I think Sam really has something here.
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