Lasalle; A Battle report: Part 3

ABOVE: The 33rd Foot Fires a volly at the hard charging 5th Hussars. It wont be enough to halt them and the Englishmen will soon be ridden down! Meanwhile the British 7th Dragoons try to hold back the 1st Hussars and the Lancers

CRUNCH TIME:

Following on after Turn 8 I’ll now run through quickly how the battle played out.

ABOVE: The 33rd's two HITS v the 5th Hussars 5 HITS! "Goodnight the 33rd"!

In the North the French 1^st Hussars and Lancers charged into the Brit’s 7^th Dragoons as the French 5^th Hussars charged the 33^rd Foot. The 33^rd failed to form square and were ridden down.

In the centre the French launched an assault on the town with Engineer Support. The Spanish Militia rolled very badly and were bundled out of the town with heavy losses. Their efforts for the day were at an end.

BELOW: The Spanish Militia try to hold back the keen French conscripts, but it's all to no avail.

ABOVE: The 69th fires a volly then charges the French.

BELOW: The 69th and 44th Foot attack the French! The French Dragoons test to counter-charge and pass. The cry of "Vive Le France"! is screamed as the Dragoons sweep forward,..

The 69th Foot suffer two in-conclusive results and are driven back!

In the south the Veteran French battalions, supported by the Dragoons, launched a co-ordinated attack on the 69^th and 44^th Foot. The 69^th Charged downhill at the French Battalion threatening them, only to be counter-charged by the Dragoons. They had an inconclusive result against the Dragoons, but were bested by the French Infantry and withdrew back to their start point, worse for wear. The 44^th didn’t succeed either, and were driven back. To make matter worse, the 44^th now had a Conscript Battalion threatening their right flank!

BELOW: The 44th Fire a Volley and then Charge the French Veterans!

BELOW: The RA Battery fires but roll only 1 "6"!


Back to the North sector, and the 7^th Dragoons finally broke under the combined weight of the 1^st Hussars and their Lancer comrades. The only good news was the success of the fresh and rested 2^nd Dragoons charging and routing the French 5^th Hussars, blown after destroying the 33^rd Foot; and the 1^st Foot Guards managed to drive back the Conscript Battalions. But now the Foot Guards had the Victorious French Battalion that had stormed the town pouring out behind them, and the French Chasseurs a Cheval were forming to charge the only British cavalry on the battlefield, the tired 2^nd Dragoons.

BELOW: The 1st Foot Guards score 5 HITS to the French 3 Hits

The British commander conceded defeat and ordered a withdrawal.

BELOW: The 2nd Dragoons and The Foot Guards are successful, but "the jig is up"!



FINAL THOUGHTS:

The rules are very easy to understand and they give what I consider a realistic result.
They are often described as "a clean set of rules", and by that I suspect people mean you don't get bogged down in piles of charts. I particularly like the way "Skirmishers" are tackled. You get the "eye candy" by using "Markers" to represent their presence, (that is if you want to use markers); but none of the hassle of having to "fiddle around" with companies of lights when all you want to do is drive your Bridage forward. They ARE there, and their effects are obvious, just none of the hassle game-wise.
Artillery is also well handled, with bounce through a consideration and Canister fire can be devastating!
The use of Engineers / Sappers to assist in clearing field works and other defences is also well simulated.

I do wish the index was more detailed, but this is a minor point because the rules a written in a way that make referencing a breeze,…

Getting use to the idea that in your turn you are the DEFENDER takes a bit of getting use to, but once accepted the game flows very easily.

This is a game that rewards a combined arms approach and the maintenance of a reserve.
I'm very impressed!

EXTRA NOTES:

I played the game over 3 days, (because I was in the process of moving my apartment to my house, had a ton of "end of year" functions to attend, and have a very demanding 14mth old).
It would have gone for about 4.5 to 5 hours I think.
Now that I'm across the rules, about 3 hours would have done it.

What I meant by (to para-phrase) "..the rules reward a player who maintains a reserve" is just that. If you (the player) can maintain troops in reserve and be the last player to commit them you'll probably be victorious. In my game the Brits had thrown everything in, and the French still had the Chasseurs a Cheval and about 2 fresh, uncommited Battalions to throw in. Even though the 2nd Dragoons and 1st Foot Guards were doing well, they would soon be countered by Fresh units, or Infantry in their rear, (thanks to the failures of the Spanish militia to hold the town and the final collapse of the 7th Dragoons). The Highlanders would have been better off as a central reserve, (behind the town), and the 33rd should have formed square earlier, (probably on the reverse slope of Northen Hill).

Thoughts on bases for 28mm:

I'll probably go with 40mm square bases with 4 figs (2 x 2).
45mm x 40mm with a frontage of 3 figs in 2 ranks would also look good.

Trailape OUT!

P.S. You can find a detailed review of "Lasalle" at the RULES DIRECTORY. (Highly Recommended)