A first game is about learning how the rules play so this
post won’t be a blow by blow account of the action. Instead there will be a cameo of each phase
of how a turn of the game plays out. As I'm playing in 15mm all BLB distances have been halved.
Command
Young James Fitz James (Duke of Berwick and Jacobite
Commander) and old Major General Von Tettau (Williamite Commander) both throw a D10 to see how
many orders they can issue. Movement is
simultaneous so no one goes first.
Von Tettau needs to get his men across the bridge as quickly as
possible. He orders his artillery to
deploy on the near side to cover the crossing, his dismounted Dragoons are to
rush across the bridge followed by two squadrons of Horse and his Danish Foot Brigade. The rest can follow once a bridge head has been
made. Let’s see how he gets on.
Von Tettau is a 'Competent Commander' (so no pluses or minus) he
rolls a 7 on a D10 which means he can move three quarters (lets round up to 8) of his 10 units. He places his order tokens by the units he wishes to
move. Normally these would be placed
face down, for a simultaneous reveal, but as it’s obvious he needs to get
across the bridge he doesn’t bother.
The Dragoons get to the far end of the bridge with the first
squadrons of cavalry close behind them.
The gun deploys, it is a 'Light' gun and still limbered it
moves out of the column and to the river edge to its position for the game.
The rest of the Williamite column save the rear two units
moves up.
Artillery
Fire
The Jacobites also have a 'Light' gun. It is deployed and sighted on
the bridge the Williamites must cross. The Crew are ‘Drilled’ and well
supported by infantry. The gun commander decides it is worth a shot
at the Williamite dragoons. The range is 10 inches which is extreme range (no pre-measuring in BLB).
Here’s how
it works:
The gun is a 'Light' and so starts off with a throw of
two D8. Heavier guns get more dice.
The Dragoons would normally be a 'Loose Order' target and so
would reduce the gun’s score by -1 on each of its two dice scores. But, the Dragoons
are packed together in 'Column of March' on a narrow bridge and so the gunners
will re-throw any misses.
The range is extreme so the gunners will lose half their
dice. They throw a single D8 hoping to
hit on a score of six. Their first throw
is a 4 and misses. They re-roll as the 'Target is dense' and get an 8. The
Dragoons have lost a man.
There is cavalry directly behind the Dragoons and so we
test for them being ‘Shot Through’ by throwing any dice and scoring an even
number as a hit. It’s a 4, and now the
cavalry has a casualty too.
The gun commander is well pleased at trying a long shot. Let’s see how the target units react.
Morale
Checks
The Dragoons and the Cavalry (it’s the Dutch Garde Paarde)
have both taken artillery casualties this turn and so must check their
morale. To do this they roll their ‘Signature
Dice’ and add or subtract appropriate factors. Let’s do the Dragoons first,
they are ‘Drilled’ and so roll a D8. They score a 4 and to this they add:
+1 for being supported
+1 for the presence of Von Tettau on the other side of the
bridge.
This gives a final score of 6, one more than the 5 they needed
so they carry on.
The Garde Paarde are ‘Veteran’ they throw a D10 and score 5 adding to it each of the + 1s the Dragoons got.
The advance continues.
The next post will look at Movement, Musketry and the one after that Charges and Close Combat.
