Battle Of Albuera 1811 - AAR

A big Napoleonic Game with bags of figures on an unfeasibly cramped table was the beginning of my gaming journey nearly 40 years ago and I am so glad to have that back in my locker.

A few months ago I posted a Scenario post for the battle, a combination of my holidays, shift work and illness meant that it took ages to finish, but with a permanent set up and a Yarkshire outlook, there's no need to rush lad.

https://yarkshiregamer.blogspot.com/2018/09/battle-of-albuera-1811-set-up.html

It was also the first real test of my Quarrie version of GdeB and it was a very positive experience, everyone got it straight away. After the game we all agreed they were the way forward and other than a couple of tweeks (some of which were rule based rather than National Characteristics (NC) based).

There were some anti NC comments on the previous post however I find them the most flexible way of representing troop types, for some reason some people can't get past the base stat line, it's a guide, if a particular regiment performed well increase the stats, if it's a Marie Louise battalion reduce them. A link to the original rules post is below.

https://yarkshiregamer.blogspot.com/2018/10/quarrie-to-general-de-brigade.html

Back to the battle itself, things started as you would expect with this battle with a French assault on the Alled right, specifically on the Spanish troops lining a number of hills. As per the scenario the French had 6 moves to "get on with it"

Vistula Legion Lancers make a hole in the Spanish Line

The French Cavalry didn't muck about and went straight at the Spanish Cavalry on the flank, it was no match and it wasn't long before the Spanish Brigade broke, first spoils to the French.

Godinots Brigade advance

In the meantime whilst the British and Portuguese were waiting for the signal to move out the French had redeployed Godinots Brigade to attack the Spanish above Albuera. The remaining French Infantry and Cavalry poured towards the hill line in one seemingly unstoppable wave.

Spanish Infantry open up on the approaching French

With the British troops only just waking up the first Infantry attack fell on the Spanish troops lining the hill. Ripples of musket fire went up and down the line as the French columns came on.

Recule

As you can see from the photo above and the abundance of Falter and Retreat markers the first blood fell to the Spanish who with a combination of steady fire power and poor French die rolling, saw off the initial assault of Godinots Brigade.

The troops of Gazan and Girand where coming into action whilst the French Cavalry continued to cause havoc on the allied right, The Vistula Legion Lancers tried to break the square of the Spanish Irlanda Regt, it was a close run thing but the square held.

After a brief lull the French renewed their attack on the Spanish, with the elite French Grenadier Battalion heading the charge the Spanish finally started to give way after a long hard fight. Brigades began to break and the resistance crumbled.

Coles Division had formed a defensive line with the Fusilier Battalions facing the oncoming French, this was fine whilst the Spanish held but as they left the field the flank of the Fusiliers was exposed. The Allied generals failed to deal with the position and left the flank exposed, leaving the British Cavalry unused on the hill at the rear of Albuera. This would prove their downfall.

Meanwhile the French and British Battalions clashed around the town, a couple of French units made gains but there wasn't enough support to push the advantage home.

The game ended when the French Grenadiers pushed home an attack on the flank of the Fusiliers, poor dice rolling saw the impacted battalion break and then a double 1 on the Brigade morale saw the flank collapse.

There were plenty of untouched British and Portuguese troops to allow an orderly withdrawal from the field but the day and the honours went to the French.

Below is a list of the casualties in our game, if a unit is not mentioned it suffered no losses, these casualties do not include routing troops.

French Casualties

Godinots Brigade
1/16 Legere 13 out of 28 figures = 260 men or 46%
2/16 Legere 16 out of 28 figures = 320 men or 57%
3/16 Legere 6 out of 28 figures = 120 men or 21%
1/51 Ligne 12 out of 36 figures = 240 men or 33%
2/51 Ligne 17 out of 36 figures = 340 men or 47%
3/51 Ligne 5 out of 36 figures = 100 men or 14% Routed
Grenadier Battalion 10 out of 48 figures = 200 men or 21%

Briche Cavalry
10th Hussars 7 out of 20 figures = 140 men or 35% Routed
21st Chasseur 4 out of 20 figures = 80 men or 20%

Brons Cavalry - No Casualties

Bouvier des Èclaits Cavalry
14th Dragoons 1 out of 16 figures = 20 men or 6%
17th Dragoons 1 out of 16 figures = 20 men or 6%

Unattached Cavalry
Vistula Legion Lancers 6 out of 28 figures = 120 men or 21%
27th Chasseur 1 out of 22 figures = 20 men or 5%

Girards Division
2/34 Ligne 3 out of 24 figures = 60 men or 12%
3/34 Ligne 1 out of 24 figures = 20 men or 4%
1/40 Ligne 4 out of 20 figures = 80 men or 20%
2/40 Ligne 1 out of 20 figures = 20 men or 5%

Gazans Division
2/21 Legere 13 out of 20 figures = 260 men or 65%

Werles Division
2/12 Legere 8 figures out of 36 figures = 160 men or 22%
3/12 Legere 4 figures out of 36 figures = 80 men or 11%
3/55 Ligne 2 figures out of 30 figures = 40 men or 7%

Total Casualties 2,700

Allied Casualties 

Colbornes Brigade
2/31st Foot 7 figures out of 21 = 140 men or 33%
2/48th Foot 1 figure out of 23 = 20 men or 4%
2/66th Foot 6 figures out of 22 = 120 men or 27%

Houghtons Brigade
29th Foot 6 figures out of 25 = 120 men or 24%
1/57th Foot 1 figure out of 32 = 20 men or 3%

Abercrombie Brigade
2/28th Foot 4 figures out of 26 = 80 men or 15%

Myers Brigade Broken Brigade
1/7 Fus 14 figures out of 36 = 280 men or 39% Routed 
2/7 Fus 1 figure out of 28 = 20 men or 4%
1/23 Fus 5 figures out of 37 = 100 men or 13%

Harvey's Portuguese Brigade
1/11 Line 1 figure out of 29 = 20 men or 3%
1/23 Line 1 figure out of 28 = 20 men or 4%

Hamilton's Portuguese Brigade
1/2 Line 3 figures out of 30 = 60 men or 10%
1/14 Line 1 figure out of 30 = 20 men or 3%

Blake's Spanish

Lardizabal Brigade
Canaris Foot 1 figure out of 24 = 20 men or 4%
2nd Leon Foot 4 figures out of 24 = 80 men or 17%

Ballasteros Brigade Broken Brigade 
Catalonia Foot 8 figures out of 20 = 160men or 40% Routed 
Pavia Foot 4 figures out of 20 = 80 men or 20%
Lena Foot 7 figures out of 20 = 140 men or 35% Routed 
Castropol Foot 8 figures out of 20 = 160 men or 40 % Routed
Inifiesto Foot 4 figures out of 20 = 80 men or 20%

Zayas Brigade Broken Brigade 
Spanish Guard 12 figures out of 30 = 240 men or 40%
Irlanda Foot 13 figures out of 30 = 260 men or 43% Routed 
Patria Foot 3 figures out of 30 = 60 men or 10%
Toledo Foot 1 figure out of 30 = 20 men or 3%
Esteramdura Foot 3 figures out of 30 = 60 men or 10%
Spanish Artillery 12 figures out of 12 = 240 men or 100%

Loys Spanish Cavalry Brigade Broken Brigade 
Castillo Hussar 5 figures out of 20 = 100 men or 25% Routed 
Granaberos Horse 6 figures out of 20 = 120 men or 30% Routed 

Penne Villemuir Spanish Cavalry Brigade Broken Brigade 
Reina Horse 7 figures out of 20 = 140 men or 35% Routed 

Total Casualties 2980 men

An excellent game, closely balanced and a good challenge for both sides, highly recommended, I will be looking at getting another big Napoleonic Game in soon but this time trying out the rule mods in a 1813 situation.

Apologies

Apologies for not posting very regularly over the holidays due to a lot of IRL issues. I should get back into the swing of things hopefully soon. Thanks for understanding!

The How of Happiness Review

COSMOLOGY OF KYOTO

Can games be art? Anyone who has followed this site will know that I consider the answer to be a resounding and obvious 'yes'. Yet, prominent critics of other mediums still ponder this question. Famed film expert Roger Ebert was one of these naysayers but there was one game that did impress him - Cosmology of Kyoto.

Read more »

The Navel Brigade

I haven't updated in awhile as I've been renovating our downstairs bathroom. As that's been wrapping up I've been getting some more time to paint 6mm stuff again. I've completed the cockpit glass, weapons and engines on the Falcon hulls. Now comes the long slog through the orange.

One hull got the first highlight. I edge highlight most of the tank, then go back and to the outside/higher edges with a lighter orange. After that I do the sharper corners lighter and finally put a dot of my lightest color right at the corner.

Time For Every Other Purpose

There is nothing like deciding to do some particular hobby thing to make free time shrink. However, some progress has been made and tomorrow (knock knock)  looks like a day off for me.

Furbishing and refurbishing in progress.

Of course, finding time and light and quiet for painting is harder some days than time for thinking about rules etc. For example I can do the latter, but not the former, when having couch time with a couple of hounds.

This means I've had another read through the rules and have realized that I had missed a few things and need to rethink one or two things.

The first is that I was imagining more rules about the "riflemen" unit type than actually exist. For example, I was imagining a fire benefit beyond range, melee penalties beyond reduced SP and better ability to move and shoot in woods. So, in order for my musket armed light infantry to be of much use, I am going to have to treat them as Riflemen straight up. Luckily, officially there were no US rifle units present at Crysler's Farm so I don't need to represent their superior accuracy or their reduced melee ability for this game. I find it odd that my Mohawk warriors and Voltigeurs don't move through woods better than line infantry but I can live with it.

I'm not quite sure what to make about the rules for shooting in and out of woods except to be sure that I am misunderstanding something. As written, a unit must be on the edge of a wood to fire out which is fine. However, a unit not in the woods can fire at a unit which is not on the edge, a unit which cannot shoot back!  Well, maybe in woods elsewhere but not the kind of woods we have, you can't see 10 feet into the woods around here from a position outside of the woods. Visibility does open up a little once you get past the thick underbrush on the edges so the 2 square range inside woods is fine, especially since it means there is an option for  a firefight in woods.  I think I'm just going to add a house rule that says troops outside a wood may only fire at a unit on the edge. Tit for tat.

The artillery effectiveness seems a bit too severe for fighting in America, far too easy to get to a point of automatic hits for my taste. For now I'm going to play them as is but the British will have to consolidate their guns and all fire from the gunboats will treated as more than 2 squares.

Lastly there are the Commanders, the rules allow them to make a very significant contribution to shooting and melee and there are situations where this would be appropriate. At Crysler's Farm though, the British were very ably commanded by the Colonel of the 89th but he seems to have been too busy commanding to engage in any heroics. On the other side the US Brigadiers seem to have been fairly active but the acting commander also seems to have had his hands full just trying to get through the day. So, for this battle only, I am not going to represent the Brigade commanders and will prohibit the "army" commanders from joining any units.

Right! First priority for Saturday is get the table cleared and reset and finish getting the small armies table ready. I'm hoping to play in the afternoon but if not I'll at least get set up for a Sunday game.
 

Oceanhorn On Nintendo Switch - OUT NOW!

Today, Oceanhorn is being released on Nintendo Switch!



Nintendo Switch is an amazing video game console and when I first got my hands on it, I immediately fell in love with it. The ability to go from portable mode to TV works flawlessly, and it all comes down to the genius design of the console. Nintendo has nailed the screen size of the device, to diminish the disparity between the modes – making sure the same game works perfectly on both modes. We investigated a lot of this when we ported a portable game (iPhone, iPad) to the big screen for PC and consoles and it is not as simple as it sounds. People have different expectations when it comes to big screen titles.

Oceanhorn on Switch is probably the most definite version of the game. The game is based on the remastered PC version of Oceanhorn and you can play it in both portable and TV mode. The game runs beautifully 60 fps / 1080p in docked mode and equally impressively 60 fps / 720p in portable mode. The game includes an amazing soundtrack from the industry legends Nobuo Uematsu and Kenji Ito, and our own brilliant composer Kalle Ylitalo. Voice talents range from Ray Chase (Final Fantasy XV, Noctis) and Kevan Brighting (Stanley Parable, Narrator) to Fryda Wolf (Mass Effect Andromeda, Sara Ryder). We could not be more excited to give Nintendo fans a chance to enter the world of Oceanhorn.

Oceanhorn on Switch is probably the most definite version of the game.

From the personal perspective of a small indie developer, this moment feels historical. Like many others, I grew up with Nintendo consoles and games, and this Kyoto-based company will always have a special place in my heart. Nintendo has played a crucial part in the history of video games ever since the dawn of home consoles, and they keep setting the standard for video game entertainment from one decade to another.

From this love and admiration, comes my driving force to cherish the experiences I had in my childhood. I got into making video games, because of the ever-inspiring experiences such as Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, and Zelda.

Oceanhorn is a game for the Nintendo fans, because it was made by a bunch of them. We are well aware that it is a smaller title and a different title from many of the console experiences that inspired it – but I truly believe that we were able to capture some of the essence of the classics in this game, as well as establish Oceanhorn as a franchise of its own.

Have a great adventure, Switch owners!

Heikki Repo
The creator of Oceanhorn

Storium Theory: Don't Count Yourself Out

Today, I'd like to spend a bit of time on something that I've seen here and there on Storium - cases where a person perhaps goes a bit too Weak with a Weakness play...and takes themselves out of a scene.

It feels right - it feels better than right, doesn't it? Isn't it a great expression of a Weakness to not just suffer a setback, not just suffer some kind of injury, but actually get knocked out or otherwise removed from play for a bit?

Well...it is, and it isn't.

Let's start off with the good: This is, undoubtedly, an example of a player being very willing to show his character suffering for his Weakness. That's great, and that's an attitude that I hope people learn on Storium.

But actually taking yourself out...getting knocked out, getting poisoned to the extent that you can't move, draining yourself so much of energy that you're too exhausted to go on...there are times these things are appropriate, but they need to be used with restraint.

Otherwise, they can mess with the flow of a story.

I've seen it happen: A battle happens, one part of a longer sequence of events all taking place in a short period of time. One player plays a Weakness card and portrays themselves as exhausted, or poisoned, or just plain knocked out cold. Then the battle ends.

Now a few things can happen:

• Somehow, the player character recovers very quickly, and keeps on going, so the story can keep moving. That's unsatisfying, as it feels like a major moment is just brushed over and somewhat ignored.
• The narrator puts in a point where the group can rest for a while to make it seem more realistic that the player character takes time to recover from his state...but now the story loses momentum.
• The story goes on, and the player character is put someplace safe to recover in the meantime, which means:
• The player misses out on part of the story, or...
• The narrator has to come up with things that happen around wherever the player character was left that they can work with in their current state.

I'm not particularly fond of any of these options. If you address a Weakness play that severe, you're going to find your story either feeling like it doesn't address the weakness properly, losing its momentum, or going on temporarily without a player (which can be harmful both to that player's experience with the story, and to the game as a whole, given how Storium tends to work).

 Now...you can make this work. You can. A good narrator who is used to letting the players have heavy story control, especially, can make this work out great. Maybe the group has to stop to allow the player character to recover, but in the process, the problem they're trying to address worsens. Or maybe that's the next challenge: Can they find things to help the player quickly enough that the next challenges don't worsen in the meantime?

But the thing is, even though you can make this work...it just oftentimes ends up more trouble than it is worth to put in this strong of a Weakness play. You can get some great, great character moments and a strong feeling of struggle and danger and fading hope from injury or tiredness that still leaves the character able to go on to new fights.

Sometimes, that can be even stronger. If a character is knocked out, the group might stop to deal with that and then go on once he's recovered. If that happens, the knockout doesn't add as much tension to the story. If a character is injured or tired but still goes on, though, we see that in everything they do for the next few scenes - they're in a bad way, one arm too hurt to hold up their shield, or dragging themselves forward in the battle. It's powerful.

Stopping the story's progress can add some tension if managed properly, but continuing despite your wounds always adds tension.

I'm not saying that you should absolutely avoid major consequences as part of Weakness plays, mind! There are times when it is appropriate, entirely appropriate. Particularly late in the story, particularly when the narrator has told you this is the final battle, you might pull out these powerful Weakness plays. Because there - there - it won't make the story pause or lose momentum. It'll emphasize just how bad things are currently, just how much of a struggle it is for the characters...but there's nothing ahead that the players need to address.

Keep yourselves within the bounds of the challenge, but that is when you should be safer using some of these powerful Weakness concepts.

Before that? Before that, earlier in the story, don't go that far! Go lighter with what goes wrong...but use what goes wrong more. Pick up some kind of injury and carry it with you for the next few scenes, showing your character struggling with it. Show the tiredness that you're feeling, even as you struggle to move on.

Or almost encounter one of those points...and leave things open. Let someone else save you from them. Those can be amazing moments in a tale too.

Weakness plays don't have to be about solid, absolute consequences for your character. They can be about the threat of those consequences. They can be about what might happen if the battle isn't turned around. If you knock your character out, he's knocked out. That's certain. It's done. But if you put in the possibility, you're giving someone else the chance to write. And that's what Storium is all about - working with each other to write interesting or fun stories.

So I suggest pulling back from the solid a bit - work with possibilities. Get hurt and need help. Or, need help to avoid getting hurt. Get tired and struggle. Need someone's shoulder to lean on. Need someone to fight by your side. But unless the story really, truly demands it, don't get taken out entirely. That cuts off possibilities - like bluntly leaving in the middle of a conversation.

And if you're going to take yourself out at all, try not to do it while you still have card plays left for the scene! Hopefully narrators are taking my advice to not use up all their points, but still, it's useful if players keep open the option to play all their cards if needed.

Now, one more note here: I've already said that late in the story you might be fine pulling out heavier, solid consequences as part of a Weakness play if that's your thing. There are points earlier in the story where you might do that too. The narrator might even set them up specifically. If he does...go with it, obviously! If the Weak outcome is "you're all knocked out," well, that's what the outcome is, so do the normal thing with a Weak outcome if you get it and write your spin on that outcome! You get knocked out.

The narrator, obviously, will have planned for that possibility since he put it in the outcomes, right?

Similarly, you might find a situation where it feels like the consequences should be higher - where the outcomes suggest this battle or event is more dangerous than normal, or where you're already portraying your character in a bad way and it just feels like they should have something more solid happen to them on your next Weakness play. And that's fine...I just suggest that you consider talking to the narrator first. Remember, you're writing collaboratively: Check, when you're thinking about having something this major happen to your character, and work with the narrator to figure out how it can happen but still keep the story moving (and not exclude you as a player).

This isn't a solid "don't ever do this." I want to be clear on that. What it is is a caution: Be careful of how and when you do this. When a hero is solidly defeated in battle or exhausts herself in the service of a cause, that can be a great story moment. It's just important to make sure that it's the right time - and that it doesn't derail the story's momentum or leave it short of players in the process.