At club game night I played in a most excellent Franco Prussian war game. Kevin put on a great game with his beautifully painted 25mm figures and terrain. The French Corp was dug in by a cross road and had a naval detachment with a couple large guns to anchor their right flank. The Prussian had to advance and capture the cross roads. Rules used were "Noch Paris " and figures were 25mm.
The French dug in along the cross roads, taking advantage of every inch of cover.
The Prussian army had A tough nut to crack. First, they massed their artillery on the left (5 batteries), in the center (3 batteries) and on the right (3 batteries). These guns concentrated on the French guns in counter battery fire. By the fourth game turn they had silenced all but two guns.
At thus point the Prussian started to advance.
After artillery forced the defenders to abandon this building the Prussian infantry moved into it. There was little the French could do to retake it as each time a battalion moved up it was forced back by artillery fire.
One bright spot for the French was a massed charge by their cavalry! they managed to hit A Prussian battalion before it could deploy, and forced the batteries on the Prussian left to retire. But it was a fleeting moment and the decimated cavalry was soon fleeing the field. Followed by this the Prussian left flank moved his infantry forward into the open. But before they reached the enemy they were cut down by rifle and artillery fire.
By the end of the game the Prussian left flank was recovering. But in the center and French left the Prussian infantry was slowly pushing back the French and taking key positions.
It was a very good game that certainly captured the feeling of the war. The Prussian artillery was deadly and certainly the key to the battle. It think,in future games it is perhaps not as numerous as in this one. That said its a fascinating period and very colorful and I hope this is the first of many games.
