The Battle of Bagatelle

A minor but memorable fight.

Mid game, the French skirmishers have been having a hard time but the 3rd Battalion is moving forward with plans to demonstrate the effectiveness of a column charge against a unit that has already taken 50% casualties.

Unfortunately for the 3rd, the Erbprinz Regiment instead demonstrated the effectiveness of artillery close support, a tight formation that allows a player to complete a cycle quickly (and thus getting in more shots), lucky card draws, and steady troops (ie ones that roll high for morale tests and in melee). 

On the far flank, the combined operations plan appeared to work better. Skirmishers and artillery fire had worn down the Highlanders and British artillery. The French Hussars sacrificed themselves to distract and tie up the British Dragoons while the French Infantry columns struck hard (ie had decent movement and combat rolls.) The colour party was all that was left of the Black Watch and it was forced to retreat to safety.  

The newly formed, white coated 40th Infantry was hit in flank by the Greys but calmly formed square, saw them off and resumed their advance.   A handful of the Hessians were all that barred their way but these soldiers fought to the last man in a fierce fight that saw both commanders fall in the melee. (They both rolled a 1!) 

It was enough, as the day drew to a close, the Emigres, Jaegers and Greys were all still disputing the crossing while the French had run out of men and daylight, not to mention card cycles.  A victory for the Duke of York. (Not that he was anywhere near the battlefield).

The game was played using A Gentleman's War and homecast 40mm French Revolution figures. (all conversions from SYW castings) using a scenario from One Hour Wargames. The scenario calls for certain units to become active on a particular turn and also has a time limit. Since AGW doesn't have set turns, I have struggled with meshing the two approaches but this time I counted cycles for each side and that worked like a charm. I'll try the same approach with a CS Grant or Stuart Asquith scenario next time.