French vs Prussians - battle report (concluding thoughts)

So, victory for the Prussians and a fairly convincing one in the end. The 6-3 victory banner total doesn't quite convey the whole story though. The French were very close to gaining a handful more victory banners themselves. At the end of the battle there were no fewer than four Prussian infantry units with only one stand remaining. Of the other two Prussian infantry units still on the table, one had two stands left and the other three. What was key, I think, was the careful withdrawals made by the Prussians to take those vulnerable single-stand units out of harm's way. It's very tempting when playing Commands & Colors to attack with every move, but judicious retreats are equally important!

"Bring out your dead!" - the French losses for the battle

And the butcher's bill for the Prussians. Their price of victory was paid in blood by the infantry.

I mentioned before that this wasn't a carefully thought out scenario. It was very much a 'thrown 'em down and play' game. That said, I did give some consideration to the terrain layout and knew that the Prussians were going to have the best chance of victory because of their strong position. There was enough balance to keep the game enjoyable and interesting for most of the turns, but if I were to change anything for next time I'd probably award the French an extra command card and perhaps one or two more units.

I liked how the terrain was a feature of the way the battle played out. Most of the printed C&C scenarios don't have large areas of adjoining hills like I did, but in many respects my large hill area on one flank felt more realistic (in a smaller scale battle sort of way), rather than lots of smaller one- or two-hex hills dotted about the place. The French really struggled on this side of the board. The uphill advantage of the Prussians was difficult to overcome, and in the end the French simply didn't have enough numbers, despite having plenty of cards for this section.

What was also a problem for the French was that they had too many cards for the right flank. After their initial success on the left flank, they couldn't follow it up, and for the entire battle their two heavy cavalry units simply stood and watched. I was particularly sad to see my recently painted Empress' Dragoons with nothing to do for the entire game!

The Prussians were patient and dogged, and careful to bring forward troops or withdraw them at the right time. Only when victory was there for the taking did they commit their cavalry for the coup de grâce.

Of hexes and squares...

So, what did I think of playing Commands & Colors on a square grid (and a 10 by 8 grid at that!)? Well, in summary I'd say I was very pleased with how the game transported across. It certainly felt like a game of C&C. After all, I still had left, centre and flank sections. I still had the cards, the dice, the C&C units and stats, and all the other game features. The main difference - apart from shooting ranges - is with how the square grid affected movement.

I did find that units were less mobile, less able to nip across sections of the battlefield. Cavalry still had the advantage here, as should be the case, but even they didn't feel quite as free-ranging. I found that infantry units were sometimes unable to make sideways movements due to another unit already occupying the square next to them. In hindsight, this meant that initial deployments were crucial, and it was another reason, I think, why the French were at a disadvantage. A few of their line infantry units took too long to get moving forward because of artillery or other units being in the way. Some infantry never made it to the fight at all, whereas on the Prussian side every single infantry unit took part in the battle at some point or other.

I'm wondering if I might make some modifications to the game that would involve some sort of deployment phase of the game. At this stage, I have no idea what, but it would need to be something that is solitaire-friendly and would add to the narrative.

I might also modify the 'two square' diagonal hex range so that artillery can fire a bit further. Two diagonal squares in my game equates to a four-hex range in the original game, but it felt that the firing unit and the target weren't all that far apart. Perhaps the answer is to allow artillery to fire one diagonal at a cost of 1, but all successive diagonals cost 2. We'll see...

I final thought is that it will be interesting to see how extending the table width will make a difference. I have my next four tiles nearly finished, which will take the grid width from 10 to 12.

Speaking of narrative, I think the fact that I came away from the battle with what feels like a plausible story of how it all unfolded is a sign that the game was a success. That and, of course, the fact that I had great fun playing it!

I'll no doubt have more ideas and modifications to consider in the future, but I'm certainly encouraged by this first attempt and will look forward to setting up the board for another battle when I get the chance. Till next time!