Battle at Marengo

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Final demise of the Autrians

 

I played a game a Marengo last night.  It is really much better to jump around and play different battles.  It makes it feel fresh.  More like you are there for the first time.  –because I haven’t seen it for awhile I forget all the nuances of that field. 

This is a really fun and unique fight.  The French actually outnumber the Austrians in points but the Austrians attack because they have more pieces.  The French keep getting flanked and forced back, -Until Desaix shows up! 

That gives them the extra couple of blocks they need to solidify their lines and punch back.  Very cool. 

I used the Murat to screen the flanks.  Later he ran down the Austrian skirmishers.  I didn’t get a chance to actually charge spent infantry.    

I didn’t make a Column attack either but I did think that it would be a good way to attack up hill.  You are going to be suffering a -1 anyways.  If you can survive until the 2nd round that could make up for the hill advantage! 

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Final positions of both armies, at least before Murat was unleashed to run down the remaining Austrians.

 


I’m really liking this system as I see it in more battles.  The chit movement system really shines here.  In a big open field with little terrain, the battle becomes very fluid.  It mostly comes down to maneuver.  The elegance and intricacies of the chit pull movement system really stand out then.  There are many subtle and tricky things we often lose sight of in the other battles. 

I can just imagine how this mirrors real command.  I wanted to attack with Desaix but Lannes came up to move first.  I rolled to jump Desaix first but failed.  I rolled again with Bonaparte but he failed too.  Alright, so I have ordered both Corps to attack but can’t coordinate them like I want.  Lannes jumps the gun, moves first and then blocks the route of advance by Desaix.  Sigh.  That is command. 

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Now what does Desaix do?  Sit out a turn and do nothing?  Or attack somewhere else in less than optimal conditions?  That is the type of thing that comes up all the time.  That is war. 

I think the technical military term for it is Charlie Foxtrot.   

 

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Final Score: French Major Victory

 

 

 

 

 

7 thoughts on “Battle at Marengo”

  1. I must have this. Napoleonics is ideal for this system, and Marengo is one of my favorite battles. Will this be for sale anytime soon?

    Seriously, I really want this one! 🙂

    • This might be coming up quicker than we thought.

      We have the map, pieces and OB. We just had a big breakthrough in the rules last night. That was the last big thing holding us up. Very exciting stuff but I think I’ll go into details in another post.

      We just need a little time now to refine, polish and tighten up the OB. I think Marengo might be ready to go by March.

      I don’t think we’ll do a Kickstarter. I think we’ll just make it available here.

  2. Yes, I will definitely get Marengo if you make it available, and after Marengo, you may want to consider creating Borodino. I want my green Russian pieces! 😉

    • We are cranking out Little Bighorn and Antietam this month. We are a little uncertain with the Napoleonic rules for combined arms. We have several different suggestions now from play testing. We are trying to decide what fits best. It is real easy to want to load it up with all kinds of detail and complexity. The trick is getting most of the key parts of this in the game but still keeping it fast and simple.

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