Refighting Quatre Bras

[crouching lictor]

I am currently in the planning stages to run this battle using 10mm figures and the BP rule set. I am looking for advice from anyone who might have run this battle before or any tips to manage a large game like this. Most likely, I will be the umpire for the battle and control the arrival of reinforcements, release of reserves and random events. I may introduce some elements of d'Erlon's Corps at some point.

As I am funding this project myself I am modifying the unit sizes to a base system rather than number of figures. Each base will be 20mm. Large: 6 bases, Standard: 4 bases, Small 2 bases, Tiny: 1 base.

I am also toying with some rules modifications developed by "The Contemptible Little Wargames Club".

I think my biggest hang up is the ground scale and how to recreate the battlefield on a 8x6 board.

Thanks in advance for your input.

[Comte Michel]

I use the Little Contemptible amendments for 6mm Napoleonic and so far I've found them really good.

As far as running large games - I haven't run Quatre Bras specifically but I have been involved in some multiple Corps battles, both playing and umpiring. The best advice I can give you is to have enough commanders to cover the forces involved. Ideally you want a commander per division but you need a minimum of one per Corps. In addition make sure you have one overall commander for each side whose sole responsibility is to issue orders to the generals on the ground, he should have no involvement in moving actual figures about.

As far as the ground scale is concerned you need to work out what your unit frontage is, and how many of those fit into your table. A rough guideline is that a unit takes up around 100 yards, whether it's an infantry battlaion, a cavalry regiment or an artillery battery. So if your units take up say 100mm each, then a 6 foot table is around a mile.

[crouching lictor]

Thanks for the advice. It has given me some food for thought. The general advice I have gathered so far indicates a division per player, which is fine and what I had originally intended. For the Corps commander I am nipping a neat little idea that I read in another battle report. The Corps commander model will not have a leadership role on the table, rather, he will provide a number of re-rolls to be used by any one of the division commanders. The re-rolls are only in a limited number so will need to be used wisely.

Having one player as the Corps commander sounds like a good idea but I would be concerned that the individuals playing those parts might grow frustrated at not having an actual ground role. I'll have to discuss this with my play group.

[Comte Michel]

Speaking for myself, and having taken the role of overall command a couple of times, I can only say that I vastly enjoyed it

It's also extremely difficult to maintain the necessary overview of the battle if you also have to focus on moving troops. Note that any commands you do get to issue in this role get taken via the umpire by ADCs - direct communication with Division commanders shouldn't be allowed unless you are 'with' them on the field.

[Eumerin]

Speaking for myself, and having taken the role of overall command a couple of times, I can only say that I vastly enjoyed it

It's also extremely difficult to maintain the necessary overview of the battle if you also have to focus on moving troops. Note that any commands you do get to issue in this role get taken via the umpire by ADCs - direct communication with Division commanders shouldn't be allowed unless you are 'with' them on the field.

Or an alternate option borrowed from "Napoleon's Battles" - when you wish to communicate with a friendly commander that your own commander is not in base to base contact with, put a "mounted messenger" figure on the table during your movement phase, write your communication with your fellow commander on a piece of paper, and stick it underneath the messenger figure. Then have the messenger gallop off to deliver the message (you'll need to pick a suitable movement rate for the messenger). When the messenger arrives, the other commander can read the message, but can't ask for clarification (hope you have decent handwriting...). When sending messages to the wing of a large army (or from the wing of a large army...), it's entirely possible that the messenger will be forced to spend more than one turn in transit... and yes, the enemy CAN intercept the messenger. If the messenger is intercepted by enemy troops, then he is lost and the message isn't delivered. Additionally, roll two dice - on a 9+ (or whatever number you want to use; NB uses a d10 for its game mechanic, and allows it on a 3 or less iirc), the commander of the troops who intercepted the message can read it!

[sandman36]

I really like that mechanic. I'll have to remember that if I'm ever involved in a big game.

[crouching lictor]

Those are some excellent ideas. I will probably incorporate some of those ideas into my game.

Thanks for the suggestions!

[MikeK]

The Army Commander might have no field role, but for a Corps commander his actual position upon the field was important , having a personal presence on the field can add a lot to the flavor if it has game significance (and the division commanders are represented by players).

Is the choice of re-roll recipients affected by proximity - since it represents command focus as well as the benefits of the commander's presence. Carried by messenger, for example.

Does the commander allocate re-rolls permanently to a division (which can use it when it pleases) or may they be withdrawn in a later turn if unused? Some divisional generals will use the gift more wisely than others.

You might consider adding to the re-roll pool per turn or upon events. That makes for an ongoing budget/reward/motivate relationship between Corps and Division.

Does Corps have corps assets in reserve that he does not move himself but can release to division? (Or to a new player who drops in?)

[Alan Charlesworth]

I have been involved in two refights of Quatre Bras.

The first was in 28mm and was organised by Adie who you will know as a contributor to this forum. It was an excellent game and involved four players per side. Each player comtrolled a number of brigades and one on each side doubled as overall commander. The game took around four hours to play and lasted twelve turns.

Having enjoyed that game so much I ran another version myself in 15mm with a diferent set of players.

In both games there were victory points for objectives and penalties for loss of units/brigades etc.

Both games were very successful and gave quite historical outcomes. In both instances D'Erlon was not included and most of the Guard cavalry did not participate as per the historical situation. The funnelling effect of the terrain is the biggest enemy for the French.

In neither game were any restrictions imposed on players communications. In large games I have never found this to be a problem as Wargamers tend to ignore the instructions given to them by their commander and do their own thing. In fact perversely they usually do the opposite of what they have been told

There a some pictures of the first refight on Scrivs blog and of the second in my pictures folder on the BP Yahoo group.

[crouching lictor]

I'm still spit-balling ideas for the victory conditions and special rules in play.

For the Corps commander, his model will just be on the table and the controlling side can figure out where he moves during a given turn. His re-roll bonus would be given a range of 36cm to reflect his ADCs running back and forth and so forth. For Reille, the Corps artillery would also fall under his control as would the 11e Cavalry Division when it arrives. The Prince of Orange would direct the allocation of the various divisions as they arrive on the field of battle. I am assigning victory points to specific locations and control of these would generate additional re-rolls as well as victory points.

Grand-Pierrepoint: 25 points
Gemioncourt: 50 points
Pireaumont: 25 points
Bossu North: 25 points
Bossu South: 25 points
Quatre Bras: 125 points
Broken Brigade: 15 points per brigade
Last Turn Objectives:
French in Brigade strength blocking the eastern exit road to Ligny: 10 points
British hold French to south side of Gemioncourt brook: 20 points
British in division strength on road to Ligny in column of march with no French units within long range cannon fire range(60cm): 20 points

Gemioncourt brook is impassable to artillery except at the two bridges. Infantry can pass in colum/attack column treating it as difficult terrain. Bossu Wood is difficult terrain. The rye fields are difficult terrain and provide +1 morale save.

The re-roll bonus would only be granted once per objective per side. So if the British control Gemioncourt initially they would get one additional re-roll in addition to what the Prince of Orange starts the game with. If/when they are pushed back by the French and manage to retake Gemioncourt, they would not gain any additional re-rolls.

I am planning to fight the battle on a 8x6 board with the units fighting/moving long edge to long edge. I have proxied the approximate unit frontages and I think it will be sufficient. The British will deploy first and allowed free reign to deploy to their choosing with the caveat that no battalion or battery may be placed south of Gemioncourt. The French will deploy second 12" in from the southern table edge and that will place both armies within cannon range at the start. I envision that the British will deploy the 2nd Netherland division in force along the Gemioncourt Brook and strongpoint the three farms. The 3rd Dutch Cavalry will probably be used as a delaying force in the east to prevent any French units from marching up the road towards Thyle to block the road to Ligny and get behind their lines. The follow on reserves will be used to launch counter attacks and plug any gaps in the line.

The French will probably form a grand battery with the corps artillery to pound Gemioncourt before a massed divisional assault. The key to the French will be not allowing the terrain to slow them down too much and minimizing casualties as they push through the Dutch-Belgians. The British will start receiving reinforcements as early as turn 2.

Thoughts?