Critcal Mass.

Last Thursday saw another game of A Gentleman's War. This time Howard brought a full contingent of French as well as some British. We had three players for this game so split the Blue force between two of us. Blue was tasked with assaulting Red who was defending a building complex.

Blue had seven Infantry units, two Skirmishers, two Cavalry and four guns.

Red had four Infantry, two Skirmishers, two Cavalry, three guns and a Gatling gun.

A run of red cards allowed Red to consolidate his position while Blue took some long range shot with their guns. Turn two saw a more balanced run of cards giving Blue the chance to move some troops up and contact Red

The battle went back and forth for awhile and Blue started a flank assault first on the right with the Cavalry Brigade and then on the left with some Infantry.

The battle hung in a balance and the hour was getting late.

Then Red decided to charge with his Cavalry. The ensuing melee tore a hole in Blue's center.

This and the fact that it was past our bedtime ended the game.

Another great game with good people. We played on a four foot square table and with the number of troops we had it was a little tight. Another foot or two on the flanks and one more in depth would have been better I think. As for the number of units things worked well. It seems seven to ten units will give about a two hour game. Twelve to sixteen units would take just under three hours.

The French have landed

My friend Howard has finally given it to the temptation of 40mm toy soldiers and ordered a few from Irregular. An accomplished painter he's gone with some shading on the figures as opposed to the straight up paint job I've used. His technique compliments the sculpting of these figures and really pops on the table.

I also like the pill shaped bases and will be rebasing my cavalry and using this for future units. 

Eager to get his troops in action we played an Attack/Defense scenario which saw me attacking with a mostly Western Hemisphere force (Blue) against Howard's European Unification force(Red). I was interested to see how this played out as our previous games were meeting engagements with equal forces.

The cards favored red from the start and the chasseurs a pied harassed my troops and the EU artillery wreaked havoc on my Gatling gun.

Fortunately for the Blue the turn ended quickly but the next turn did start off with a run on Red cards. Soon enough Blues cards started to turn up and the advance started.

With opportunities alternating between the two forces casualties built on both sides. Still Reds force remained steady in the center.

Blues forces in the center were taking heavy losses but passed their morale checks and stayed in the fight. 

An inspired but ill advised frontal charge by the French cavalry on the Spanish line eliminated the cavalry freeing The RCMP to threaten the flank of Reds line. With the turn ending, Red having lost several units and a strong Blue force on the left, Red fell back and conceded the field. 

Another great night of gaming! Howard has refined the rules for formation changes and the morale rules. Both worked well and stayed within the spirit of the game. He's also added some rules for abilities to the units so not every unit is the same. These also worked well and give a little more color to the game. 

If you haven't already check out the Yahoo group that's been set up for these rules. A Gentleman's War