tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170582445870210697.post5051124497467159712..comments2024-03-28T21:06:50.048-04:00Comments on Blunders on the Danube: Maloyaroslavets, 1812 (Historicon 2012, pt 5)Gonsalvohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16531623280789478092noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170582445870210697.post-73842695318812149572012-08-18T10:44:21.124-04:002012-08-18T10:44:21.124-04:00Thanks Thomas; I'll look forward to when you&#...Thanks Thomas; I'll look forward to when you're able to go again!Gonsalvohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16531623280789478092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170582445870210697.post-31533358920835270522012-08-18T00:37:50.431-04:002012-08-18T00:37:50.431-04:00Peter, very nice reports and great pictures. You H...Peter, very nice reports and great pictures. You H-Rats did it again! Congratulations! 6000 figures on a table is very impressive.<br />Looks like you guys had a great time. Very, very nice.<br />Thomasinfdiv197https://www.blogger.com/profile/04995495677239561961noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170582445870210697.post-14466097230070894962012-08-11T08:14:47.565-04:002012-08-11T08:14:47.565-04:00Thanks for the "eyewitness account"; alw...Thanks for the "eyewitness account"; always best to refer to the "primary sources"! :-)<br /><br />Thanks also for the insightful comments!<br /><br />I mis typed; the French didn't start in Maloyaroslavets, but were closer to the village proper; all the MOVE cards you guys pulled just made it seem like you started there.<br /><br />The Class III terrain plateau in the center of the table was frustrating for both sides; I toyed making it class II for Melee and fire as well, but I felt that would both slow the game down even more, and historically it was more noted as being very difficult to move on rather than being of defensive value. I alos considered reducing it to class II, but that really has very limited effects, and while it would have sped up the game, it wouldn't adequately model the difficulty both sides had, especially the French, in bringing up troops. That's one thing about gaming a historical scenario; you can tweak it a bit in the interest of a better game (and I did!), but if you deviate too much from the actual action, it doesn't teach you much about the battle. This scenario really shows how difficult a job the French had if they were to defeat the Russians and push them back so that the rest of the Army could proceed on down the road. Note that the Italians largely missed Borodino, so there were (allegedly) fairly eager to "prove" themselves to the rest of the Army.<br /><br />I had forgotten that the wily FRench had concealed their Morale points effectively (recommended). Evidently that is what Napoleon must be holding in the hand that is always depicted in his jacket! After all, we know that he liked to produce fresh troops "out of the hat" at the crisis of a battle; he was also known to cheat outrageously at cards!<br /><br />The scenario I adopted this one from had holding Maolyarslavets for X period of time as a key victory condition; Because of the nature of the sequence decks in FoB, and the fluid nature of time in the game, I didn't think that would work, although I attempted something a bit like it in the playtest (where the Russians got the jump), and changed it for the actual game to the way we played it.<br /><br />Thanks again, EWalt for playing and the thoughtful observations. Hope to see you again in 20131<br /><br />PeterGonsalvohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16531623280789478092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170582445870210697.post-24962808762106818562012-08-10T16:18:32.471-04:002012-08-10T16:18:32.471-04:00I was just reviewing the scenario description and ...I was just reviewing the scenario description and had forgotten about the Morale benefit of taking the town. The French commanders felt that we should have gotten credit for holding the town each turn, mostly because we are French and we think we are better than everyone else. ;)<br /><br />I noticed that your play test didn't start with the French holding the town.<br /><br />I don't think this rule materially affected the outcome of the Historicon game, but it certainly didn't incent the Russians to do more than sit back and pound us with their artillery!<br /><br />Tim did an excellent job of making due with the limited Russian movement to threaten the town.<br /><br />WaltAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16433582052057502690noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170582445870210697.post-54090781854639385342012-08-10T15:52:52.895-04:002012-08-10T15:52:52.895-04:00Great writeup Peter. You certainly nailed all of t...Great writeup Peter. You certainly nailed all of the key moments of the battle. This definitely wasn't one of those ebb and flow affairs more like march into firing range and die where you stand.<br /><br />I don't begrudge the Russians the extra artillery, they needed it! The French had the most experienced generals in the game and playing the game. Mistakes were made but not so many as on the Russian side.<br /><br />The intense terrain made for a frustrating game in a fun way. I think it made for a better reflection of the state of the French troops on the retreat. After months of marching on short rations and the bitter cold, even a nice flat meadow could feel like trudging up the Alps. No fresh troops marching out of their bivouacs on full bellys and the yet to be eaten horses couldn't have been very capable battle mounts.<br /><br />I do concede victory to the Russians based upon the number of fresh troops still arriving but actually the French were NOT out of morale when time was up. We were hiding it under some terrain to keep the Russkies from knowing just how bad off we were. I believe we were somewhere in the 8-11 range at the end of time.<br /><br />Congrats to Tim, Dave, Michelle, the Professor and Maryann on a battle well fought.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16433582052057502690noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170582445870210697.post-31194080831912745002012-08-09T09:34:51.679-04:002012-08-09T09:34:51.679-04:00Thanks, Guys; glad you enjoyed it. I enjoyed runni...Thanks, Guys; glad you enjoyed it. I enjoyed running it. And yes, FoB does handle large numbers of units well, as well as large numbers of players.Gonsalvohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16531623280789478092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170582445870210697.post-36370277670106586542012-08-09T00:53:13.755-04:002012-08-09T00:53:13.755-04:00Enjoyable Batrep Gonsalvo!Enjoyable Batrep Gonsalvo!David Cookehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17148983897942472092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170582445870210697.post-5538667554274245062012-08-08T21:04:03.937-04:002012-08-08T21:04:03.937-04:00An excellent batrep!!!!!!An excellent batrep!!!!!!Ray Rousellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07352596392520905197noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9170582445870210697.post-64590861316644073462012-08-08T18:13:04.235-04:002012-08-08T18:13:04.235-04:00Another great AAR and I think it shows just how we...Another great AAR and I think it shows just how well Field Of Battle can handle big games with lots of units Great stuffSgt Steinerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17805201299484374889noreply@blogger.com