The Latest in a Never-Ending Series of "Hey, I'm Still Here!" Posts

 So, 2024 is here, another year begun and none of my projects finished.

But what's the answer to that? New projects!

I've been playing a lot of Triumph with local folks; fortunately for me, the Washington Grand Company doesn't refer to Washington State. Most of the Triumph authors live in the area, and I get to play with them from time to time, which means lots of good games and also lots of good insights into the rules. I'll have another post on Triumph later, but just to say it's one of the two prongs of my gaming strategy for the new year.

I've mentioned Rally The Troops in the past as well, and that's been another good prong. I haven't diversified much on RTT yet, but I do have one (disastrous) game of Wilderness War under my belt there, two of Nevsky, and eight (8) games of Pax Pamir, played in the league organized through the RTT server. A ninth game is underway e'en now.

A third string is weekly Euro gaming with friends on Sunday nights. I have been less successful in getting to the Wednesday Night Wargaming group in Virginia or to any of the DC Conscripts ASL meet-ups, but hope springs eternal.

I have not gotten many games in with my friends the Kensington Palace Guard. Eric, the moving force in that group, has been working severe hours for a long time now, and it's hard to winkle some of the other members out of their shells if both he and I aren't there. We had some games of Cover Your Six and a Black Powder game in late December, and a game of Black Powder with Marc and Matt before that, but gaming has been a bit thin on the ground with my usual comrades.

I've also been getting less and less interested in modern (20th and 21st century) wargaming of late and more interested in the early modern period (17th, 18th, and early 19th centuries), especially in Europe.

So I've decided to start exploring on my own. And I've picked a series that I've toyed with a number of times but never fully committed to, the La Bataille series of tactical Napoleonic games. It's had titles published by many different publishers over the years, including quite a lot of web-published modules made just for the love of the game. Currently, Marshal Enterprises are publishing new titles, as is Against All Odds, while Clash of Arms has for the last few years been publishing new editions of older titles. There's an active group discussing the series on both Facebook and Consim World Forum, so I think I can count on experienced advice.

I'm starting off with an opening scenario from the battle of Ligny, "Girard's Assault," in which a French infantry division ties up parts of three Prussian infantry brigades (division-sized units). The scenario lasts for thirteen turns. By the end of the scenario, the French must have captured five of the eight hexes of the town of St Amand La Haye if they are to win. They don't want to hurry too fast, though; most of one of the Prussian brigades is lurking on the east side of the map, and they are released to pile into the French only *when* Baron Girard has secured his five hexes. Below, you'll see an overview of the scenario map.

The French (circled in red) are down in the bottom left corner. Four different blocks of Prussian troops are vaguely marked in yellow on the right, holding the three villages of St Amand Le Hameau, St Amand La Haye (the French objective), and St Amand Le Chateau (presumably the high-rent district). All of them are currently stacked, waiting for setup. So my first decision will be where to spread them out, within the parameters allowed. 

Most of the Prussians must be in the villages or the "cultivated" hexes directly adjoining them, and most are under strict instructions to hold their positions. 

The French must set up no closer than six hexes and no more than ten from St Amand Le Hameau. So they can conceivably be knocking on the doors of La Haye within an hour of less of the scenario's commencing. But they have three hours before their deadline, and sprinting forward from the start may just bring Pirch and the Second Brigade in sooner. 

Stay tuned to see what happens!