Now to my experience with playing on it. It is quite a small mat and so we were playing with relatively small armies (40 infantry and 10 cavalry each - just a small skirmish), and was using some rules that I had come up with, and we were for the first time using cameras to track troop movements.
So on to a brief description of our game, which lasted around 2 and a half hours. I designed the terrain and let my opponent (Prussian) choose which side he would like to start his playing from. He chose the side with the town and forest, which in hindsight would have meant that he would have had an advantage to play defensively.
We tossed up for starting, and I won, and so began to move the front rows of my column into a single defensive row, at the base of the hill, and sent my cavalry around the base of the hill in an attempt to take the south of the town.
My opponent - let us call him Mr M, then proceded to prioritise capturing the town, putting my original plan for caturing the town aside.
Now I had in reserve a group of 20 soldiers, ready in case of the failure of the rest of my army, waiting. This included several of my veterans from previous battles, waiting in the rear of my army. I also sent out a small patrol of five men to form a bayonet hedge as an early defence in case of a cavalry charge from the side of the opponent. He proceded to attack these, a move that wasn't a particularly brilliant move from his behalf, with a scout force of only 2 cuirassiers, losing both of these for the loss of only two of mine. Having learned the error of this move, I presumed that he wouldn't come back to fight them, and left them there, without reenforcing them, just in case of another small attack.
I then moved my cavalry in toward the wheat field (yes, that's what that is), where he had placed another two of his cavalry, presumably in an attempt to draw my troops away from their ideal position on the hill. He had also sent several troops over the bridge to draw the main part of the fire. I attacked these, who were in skirmishing order, and so weren't any particular threat to my charge. His 9 troops, attacked by five of my cuirassiers, lost six of their number, taking out four of mine.
In his turn, he retreated his 3 remaining men, and sent his cavalry over the fence to kill my last remaining cuirassier.
It was then my turn. I sent my remainging five cavalry into a charge at his, killing them both for no losses. I then moved the rest of my front line troops into a position where I could resume the charge and combine cavalry and infantry to take the bridge and thus the town.
In his next turn, Mr M (as we shall now call him) concentrated the majority of his remaining troops into the town, in a last ditch attempt to turn my attack away. He sent 10 of them into the area sorrounding the bridge, with the rest in a Guerrilla style hide away in the nooks and crannies.
In his next turn, Mr M (as we shall now call him) concentrated the majority of his remaining troops into the town, in a last ditch attempt to turn my attack away. He sent 10 of them into the area sorrounding the bridge, with the rest in a Guerrilla style hide away in the nooks and crannies.
Now it was my turn. I sent my cavalry over the bridge at the same time that my infantry let out a volley of shots. It had a devastating effect on the enemy, killing 7/10 and routing the remaining three, who were then cut down by the sabres of my cavalry-men, for the loss of only on of my own, and I stormed my infantry over the bridge and into the town. It was then that the Guerrillas attacked, out of the shadows of the houses, and shot at my troops, but luck was obviously on my side, either that or they had been terribly trained, for all but one of their shots missed. He then moved his remaining cavalry in towards the edge of the town, and retreated those infantry that had been involved in the fray, leaving my soldiers prey for the oncoming cavalry-men. But it was my turn now. I sent my own cavalry onto the offensive, and formed bayonet hedges with those men who were close enough to others, moving these out into a more easily defendable position, waiting for the fight to come. The cavalry impacted on one another, sabres clashing, the sound of steel on steel. But only one side could come out on top. And I won it. All four of his cavalry had been defeated, for the loss of two of mine. And one of his losses had been a high ranking cavalry officer.
It was his turn. He moved his commander and five troops for defence onto a hilltop and sent the remainder of his troops into battle positions in a last ditch attempt to drive me off.
He was almost successful, killing over 95% of my troops before losing his last man. I began to move my reserve troops towards the battle, but he retreated, leaving me in conrol of the battlefield. I had won.
