So for the February edition of Trumpeter, I played in a game of General D'Armee. It was a refight of Quatre Bras with an Anglo-Dutch force trying to prevent the French from capturing the crossroads.
I took the Dutch brigade on the right consisting of 2 regular battalions, 2 green battalions, a battery, and 3 stands of skirmishers. My right was anchored on woods and to my left was a British brigade. Facing me was a brigade with another one pointed at the junction between me and the British brigade.
We got the initiative and immediately I sacrificed one of the green battalions to reinforce the skirmish screen. If I hadn't, I think I would have been overwhelmed quickly. The opening cannonades played havoc with the packed French deployment (lots of high die rolls) and the skirmishers also did quite well.
As the game progressed I gave ground slowly and the French artillery began to take its toll on my line troops. Additionally, my artillery eventually succumbed to skirmisher fire. Fortunately, they had taken quite a toll on the French before they quit the field.
(I had a picture to insert here but it has disappeared. I may have accidentally deleted it)
Meanwhile, on my left, the British brigade had been doing reasonably well holding up the French but they were being threatened by a small cavalry brigade to their left rear. At this point, our reserve brigade made a timely arrival after marching rapidly across from right to left. Using a forward tasking, they launched a long distance charge with the two attached cavalry regiments. We had a slight disadvantage going in but rolled sufficiently well to get into combat. At this point, the Dice Gods deserted us. Throwing 10D6 with a 4-6 meaning a hit, we could only cause two casualties. Coming back was 6D6 that caused 5 (I think). Our cavalry returned from whence it came.
Meanwhile, an elite British battalion charged a hesitant French column. The French player rolled a 12 and caused 3 casualties and morale test, which the British battalion promptly failed. At least both brigades passed their faltering check (as I did too when I lost my battery).
At this point, the game was called with a marginal French victory because they had the crossroads. A fair enough result because, short of a drastic change in luck, the French were grinding the Allies down anyway.
I really like these rules. They move deceptively quickly (in that while movement rates aren't that high, there's definitely the ability to close rapidly and get stuck in), there's a lot of command choice, and losing even a single unit can really hurt. I have the similar Pickett's Charge but I haven't fully read them yet. I can't wait to try them out, once I have figures for them.
