My friend Dave introduced me to Bloody Big Battles, the wargame rule system covering the vast conflicts in what I've always thought of as the Age of Rifles, 1840-1900. I've talked about it before, but basically it's for the really massive battles of history, the kind that you just can't play in a single day, if every battalion or regiment is it's own unit, and you have to deal with all the minutiae. Each unit is a brigade or division, depending on the scenario, each 1"x 1" base represents between 500-1500 men, 24-48 guns, etc. etc., again depending on the exact scenario.
Dave was lured away by the dark side, he's spent months focusing on fantasy miniatures, and I finally got him to come back into the fold and play a Real Man's Wargame. So we pitted Prussians and Bavarians, under Feldmarschall Ernst, against ... Dave's french. I can't think of a french-ified version of Dave, sue me.
On the left, four divisions of Prussian veterans, making up for the shortcomings of their needleguns with sheer nerve and tenacity. Behind them, 5 bases of veteran Cavalry, two divions worth, and four bases of Breach-loading artillery, my true edge against the French enemy.
On the right, three large divisions of Bavarians. Not as experienced as their Prussian allies, but armed with the superior M1858/67 Podewil rifle, they are still outgunned by the French, but are well supported by three more bases of Breach-loading artillery.
Opposing me, the French. About half veteran and half trained, all armed with the deadly Chassepot rifle, easily twice as effective as the needlegun, but with muzzle-loading artillery.
The five villages were our objectives. With three of them close to the French table edge, it was going to be an uphill battle for the Germans arrayed against them.
Unfortunately for me, Dave's entire army arrives in good order on turn one, advancing swiftly to take the nearest villages.
Luckily, my own army arrived on turn one as well, save for a single division of Prussian infantry, who would arrive next turn.
In true French fashion, Dave advances his cavalry unsupported, and the bold cuirassiers find themselves facing the brunt of the Prussian left flank. The lead cavalry division is cut to pieces by massed rifle fire, and, threatened by my own advancing cavalry, rapidly falls back.
In the center of the field, our massed columns shake out into line and prepare to fight over the central village. My plan for the battle was to hold with my right flank, ceding the far village, and pushing strongly with my left to seize 3 of the 5 objective sites.
My artillery blows great, bloody swathes in the French troops protecting the central village, destroying two bases in a single roll. However, working the guns that hard comes with a price, and all four artillery groups run short of ammo (marked with red tokens), right as my infantry assaults move in on their target villages.
On my far left, French defensive fire proves stronger than expected, disordering my combined infantry and cavalry attack, right as it begins it's charge.
Prussians fight Frenchmen, who are cleverly disguised as Italians (we didn't have enough painted french, so...close enough)
In the end, Dave manages to cause too many casualties amongst my Bavarian corps, while stymieing my Prussian assault, preventing me from taking a third village, and thus costing me the game.
Bloody Big Battles is truly one of my favorite rulesets, and I can't bloody wait for my Pendraken order to come in. I've been waiting months to receive some more miniatures through my local shop, and if my poor judgement gets the better of me, I might just have to order some Austrians online, to oppose my Prussians.
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