Seven Years War Austrians finally done and a club game of BP

I can finally say, "yay!".  I got the 4 units of SYW Austrians finished. These have been on the tray for a while, but too many other projects have interrupted my attempts to get them finished.  

Photos are not the best with a shaky hand, but here they are.  

And some pictures of a Napoleonic game we did last week, using Black Powder rules. British and Allies versus the French on a 'battle for the crossroads' type of scenario, loosely based on Quatre Bras.  All the figures and terrain were provided by one of the chaps. The figures are mostly Napoleon at War 'big' 15mm.

Here the French advance through crops to attack the British defending the crossroads. The French were repulsed.   

Here the French right advances on the Allied left on a hill. 

Now, I have to admit, the gamer tactic of using French columns in a kind of phalanx, kind of annoys me.  But at least Black Powder usually only allows one unit to attack one unit at a time, so it's not too bad. Still, I wish players would not try to mass everything in the front line so they can roll maximum number of dice every turn. 

And later in the game, the French still struggle to clear the crops and never make it near the crossroads or houses before nightfall.  

The game was a lot of fun, and in some respects showed what happens when players ignore the victory objective and want to win on their side of the table.  The French advanced on both flanks but ignored the centre. I could imagine the French general reporting to big boss afterwards.

General : "I captured the hill".  
Boss: "What about the crossroads?"
General: "I captured the hill, and nearly took the crop fields."
Boss: "And what about the crossroads?"
General: "Errr…."

Post game discussion brought up another interest ( a slight pet peeve), and that is that no Napoleonic rules set ever demands players deploy units or brigades by the seniority of the regiment. i.e. what I've seen repeatedly on tables is units massed together, or heading off in all directions in a kind of firework display, and where a column is just any old column and can form another formation in any direction.

Now, I may be a bit anorak (geekish) about this, but I am not aware of ANY set of Napoleonic rules that asks players to deploy battalions or brigades by seniority.  e.g. If a French column is being led by the senior grenadier company, who's place is the right of the line, then the following companies should form up to the left of the grenadiers. So, 

        Grenadiers
        1st Fusiliers
        2nd Fusiliers
        3rd Fusiliers
        4th Fusiliers
        Voltigeurs  

They would form in line as,
Voligeurs 4th Fusiliers 3rd Fusiliers 2nd Fusiliers 1st Fusiliers Grenadiers 

I am aware than units could form, "left" in front, or "right" in front, and in other combinations, but as far as I know, the battalion would not form up in any old order, to please the general (game player), as officers need to know where everything is. 

And this focus of seniority deployment can be seen in maps and descriptions of brigade level deployments.  e.g. British deployment tended to be senior regiment on the right, next senior on the left, junior in the centre.  French deployments were similar, though they tended to deploy by battalions within regiment. e.g. look at the deployment of D'Erlon's columns at Waterloo. If I remember correctly, the order of advance was; 

2nd battalion junior regiment 2nd brigade
1st battalion junior regiment 2nd brigade 
2nd battalion senior regiment 2nd brigade
1st battalion senior regiment 2nd brigade,
then repeat for 1st brigade, so that the senior battalion of the senior regiment is at the rear of the column or on the right of the line.

I also seem to recall an incident during the Nine years war or WSS, where French units got themselves in a muddle, because an Allied rear attack meant that the senior regiments 'les vieux', were not on the right, and they refused to co-operate until they were given their rightful place at the right of the line.  

Historical accounts contain these details, but I don't think I've ever seen or heard of any rules set or any games requiring forces deploy by seniority.  So while gamers focus on uniform details and weapon capabilities, no-one seems to focus on historical deployment.

Bah! Humbug! Charge and throw lots of dice! Who cares about history.  :) 

More later …