HAVOC 2026, Part 4: Napoleonic action with Square Eagles rules

 

Sunday morning I ran my Napoleonic game with Square Eagles, a which is derived from Neil Thomas' One Hour Wargames. I had two scenarios ready to go; one was Scenario 6, Flank Attack, supposedly inspired by the Battle of Salamanca, but I had that one with the Bavarians being the Flank attack, and Austrians being the defender, and Scenario 19, Blow from the Rear, supposedly inspired by the Battle of Krefeld 1758 (Hanoverians against French). 

I had one player, Andy, so gave him the choice of scenario and army. He chose Scenario 19, and the British (Red) player, so I took Blue (French). . We rolled for the armies randomly as per the OHW rules, adding 2 Infantry units for a total of 8 units per side. The scenario has 4 British units arriving anywhere along the Northern table edge, and 4 more that will come on from behind the river line and to the Left of the French on Turn 6. The French have 5 units South of the River but within 3 boxes of it, and 3 units that will come on as a Reserve along the road on Turn 7. There is a Ford to the left and a bridge to the Right. The French deploy first and thus must defend both crossings. I deployed 2 Infantry units behind each crossing, with my Artillery in between.

Andy concentrated his arriving forcers all approaching the Bridge, so half of my forces had to do the shuffle off to Buffalo back to the Bridge. We each had 6 units of Infantry and 1 Artillery unit, with Andy having a Cavalry unit, and I a Light Infantry unit as our 8th unit. . 

Hark, methinks I hear Bagpipes - 4 Highland infantry, accompanied by the Scots Greys, eneter from behind the French lines on Turn 6.

Andy's cavalry made themselves a General Nuisance!

The Flank attack develops, while I had the upper hand in the fighting at the Bridge. 

Blue (French) has to have one unit within 1.5 boxes of the Bridge or the Ford at the end of the game (Turn 15) to "win". 

Situation at the end of Turn 15 - a British victory; it literally came down to the last die roll of the last turn to decide the game. I had a great time playing with Andy (who was handicapped by a recent fracture of his leg). Andy stated he had been interested in Napoleonics for a while but was put off by the complexity of the rules he had seen. He wasn't sure about the grid at first, but I think he came away a believer in the way it can speed up play and eliminate arguments about angles of fire, measuring, etc.