Franco Prussian War

To Forres last Sunday for a chat with Graham H about a future project and a Franco - Prussian game. More about the former another time, but our Franco Prussian collection is getting large and whilst we wait for the Perry's to build up the range I now have 3 Divisions of French infantry whilst Graham's got about 2 Divisions of Prussians. We both need cavalry and artillery more infantry.

That didn't stop us having a game though, to test my home made rules which are a pastiche of bits of Osprey's blue book activation and other mechanisms. A few tweaks are required, and we worked out a way to represent off table artillery which helps give the battlefield the right sort of depth and the Prussians the ability to plaster the French, and negate the power of the Chassepot...although they still need to take the ground. 

Piccies below from what was a rather nice day.

A Catch Up.

It's been quite a while since Graham H and I have been able to have a game. The real world got in the way for a while but with the lifting of restrictions that changed at the weekend. 

Looking back through my photos it was August....2019!

We tested a set of rules which I have worked up for playing multi divisional sized 19th century games and especially the Franco Prussian War. This is a favourite period of mine, along with the 18th, (more on that in a minute). With the announcement of the Perry FPW range last year both Graham and I decided this was something we wanted to tackle, on a grand scale. 

The rules work on a scale of 1"to 50yds with large bases of figures as a battalion of infantry, each with varying strengths, Prussians more than French for example and Austrian regiments being 4 stands while Prussians are 3. They are a home cooked set, with activations a la Rebels and Patriots, etc and other bits borrowed from Volley and Bayonet and other rules. 

The game was an encounter battled with a French division bumping into a Prussian Corps with opportunity for the French to take and defend some high ground but not enough to cover the approaches effectively. 

Graham took the Prussians, 28's from Eagles of Empire with some of the new Perry cavalry providing divisional cavalry support. I had the French, Ironclad minis with some supporting EofE, Foundry and Gt War to flesh them out. 

Graham decided to get up the table as soon as possible, but I had time to take the hill and dig in around the farm, losing my screening Chasseurs in the process. On my left a line regiment and a battalion of Turcos held of Graham's cavalry and a Bavarian unit but were too few in numbers to threaten the centre. There Graham tried to assault the hill but was driven back by Chassepot fire at least twice before deciding that his artillery could do the job cheaper then his infantry. Three turns were needed to rout the defenders of the farm and that gave me just enough time to pull back my battered regiments and we called it quits. 

Chasseurs screen the french deployment

The Flank

Perry Drgaoons

The Hill

The rules still need a lot of work to bring them up to a full set, but the flavour is right, at least for the sort of games we play. More will follow.

We also had a chance to discuss a 40mm SYW display game of somewhat epic proportions which Graham is planning for Partizan. This will be something special. 

Finally Ive spent some time this week tweaking editing and finalising Against Spain. Being on Holiday has given me a bit of space and time. I promised a sneaky peek so....

More next time, as I test the scenarios.

A Franco-Prussian game

Last night I had the second of two trial games using Rebels and Patriots for the Franco-Prussian war. This is a period I have longed to fight since I first read of it years ago and a few weeks ago I was able to swap some unused figures of mine for some for Graham H's collection.  These have been rebased and cleaned up and a couple of freshly painted recruits added to bolster the French.

Last nights game was a pick up using the Lament Ridge scenario from the rules. We threw down some hexion tiles under a green mat and added some hedgerows. Then deployed our figures.

The French were given the Chassepot for one point while the Prussians I selected as Shock troops due in part to the shorter range and the natural drive of their tactics to close with the enemy.

After deploying we found that the hedges were just out of rifle range, meaning someone had to hop over them into the open ground to get to the objective. A chilling prospect in the bolt action period. The random layout of the terrain gave both Mike , commanding the French and myself with the Prussians some tactical headaches. My Prussians would be in range of the French as soon as they moved, but the French would be able to almost close on the objective before I could fire. The lie of the land also meant one half of the field could not see never mind actually engage the enemy. It was a real pig of a situation for the Prussians. But part of the fun of gaming is to take on a challenge!

I decided to rush the objective and get a turn in front of it to see if I could at least get ownership and prevent the French from getting close. That unit dissolved in a hail of chassepot fire. Then Mikes's French shot up my left flank and drove it back. Then I fumbled an activation and fired on a friendly unit. I was hanging on for dear life but it was in vain and the game ended with me taking almost 50% casualties and gaining no honour. The French held the objective for 4 turns and suffered only minor losses. Unlike the real war they counterattacked when able and inflicted a sharp defeat.

Turcos on the flank.

The French approach the objective.

The Prussians break cover

The Victors.


Some tweaks are really required to get the Prussians to function properly. The shock troop selection itself sounds right, but the higher cost means you have less of them on the table than French Line which shouldn't be the case normally. I will work on these as it's too good a period to ignore.