General de Brigade

[gBowen]

The Vittoria scenario on the blog seems to need a shed load of British, how long did it take to play? I can do a French army (even for Vittoria) but want to build up enough Peninsular British for a club game. That is usually 3 to 3 1/2 hours from laying terrain to packed up.

Let us assume 24 to 30 man British battalions, a few guns and attached cavalry. How many units would make for a nice evening game? Would these play better as fewer big brigades or smaller but more brigades? I have the rules on order but have yet to receive them so please do not refer to the rulebook. This post may also help other new players so keep the ideas generic. To what extent would throwing forward the battalion light companies as skirmishers speed up or slow the game? Assume that the Brigade has dedicated units of lights, rifles or carcadores who are skirmishing.

[Ordnanceboard]

We frequently play midweek evening games lasting about 3.5 to 4 hours.

Most of the games are points based (you'll see when you get the rules), and for my British that normally means a small division of 2 - 3 brigades made up of 6 -8 battalions of infantry (30 figure unless I'm fielding a guards or highland battalion at 40 figures), 1 - 1.5 regiments of cavalry (totalling 6 squadrons - 36 figures) and 2 - 3 batteries of guns (6-9 models).

For that force, my French opponent will typically field 9-11 battalions, approximately 48 cavalry figures organised into small 2 squadron 'regiments' and around 12 model guns in a mix of 4 gun and three gun batteries.

[baxterj]

we have been playing small games recently and find them very enjoyable. By small I mean 2 brigades per side, each brigade has 3 inf battalions and some have attached FABs. Then we add blinds cards which have options for unattcahed small detachments, maybe a company or two of skirmishers or a squadron of LC. So you can play small, but enjoyable games with say 6 battalions, 1 x FAB and a few extra skirmishers or LC per side.

I reckon three brigades per side is enough for two players over a 3-3.5 hour time frame. This assumes say three battalions per brigade. If you are new to the rules, dont do anything bigger than 6-8 battalions per side and I wouldnt use too much cavalry - say 1-2 smaller regts, even perhaps one regt split into two and attached to infantry brigades.

John

[baxterj]

we have been playing small games recently and find them very enjoyable. By small I mean 2 brigades per side, each brigade has 3 inf battalions and some have attached FABs. Then we add blinds cards which have options for unattcahed small detachments, maybe a company or two of skirmishers or a squadron of LC. So you can play small, but enjoyable games with say 6 battalions, 1 x FAB and a few extra skirmishers or LC per side.

I reckon three brigades per side is enough for two players over a 3-3.5 hour time frame. This assumes say three battalions per brigade. If you are new to the rules, dont do anything bigger than 6-8 battalions per side and I wouldnt use too much cavalry - say 1-2 smaller regts, even perhaps one regt split into two and attached to infantry brigades.

John

[Eugene1809]

Not to dissimilar to John for us as well at the club. Generally two infantry brigades of between 3-5 battalions, a foot artillery battery and a few squadrons of cavalry a piece for a game that should reach its conclusion in the space of an evening.

What we have been doing though is certainly trying to set viable, realistic and historical types of objectives for each side.

Cheers

Carlo

[radicalThinker]

If you're looking at a points based game, we generally find that between 1000 and 1500 points a side gives a good game with a decisive result in an evening.

1000 points will give you about 4/5 British battalions, 6/7 French battalions or 30 Prussian Landwehr battalions.