6 mm Napoleonics - Modified Lion Rampant

[jon_1066]

Thanks for the comments.  Here are some French Artillery. 



I am also working my way through the French Infantry.  I'll need to put an order in for more figures soon.  I still have a heap of Cavalry to paint but figure more infantry is always good.  I am aiming for Tuegen Hausen to start with then perhaps scaling up to Raab.

[DintheDin]

Very good job!
Eager to see some more group pics from your games! Cheers!

[jon_1066]

Well things are still going very slowly with this project.  I managed to get a game set up last night.



Not a great shot but you get the idea.  I need to paint 12 more bases of French plus command stands and skirmishers, 7 Austrians plus 8 Grenadiers, some Austrian Artillery, make a tonne of woods and about 6 feet of roads.  Oh and iron that blinking cloth as well.

I cut up some old carpet underlay to give the contours for Teugen Hausen.  They aren't very clear on the photo but work OK in real life.  I really need to improve the lighting in that room as well.  Didn't have time to actually play it out bit happy with where it is headed.

[jon_1066]

Well some more progress in lockdown.  I've managed to paint more French, some Austrian Hussars and Grenzer and change the rules again.  Taken it back to a simpler version more akin to the Lion Rampant base engine.

The first battle is the opening salvo of the 1809 Danube campaign with the Bavarian defence at Landshut.

Austrian V Corps prepares to advance



The Bavarian (stand in French) defence.



The Area between Landshut in the south and Altdorf in the North is wet water meadows.  Artillery can't cross it and it is rough ground for formed troops so the main road is a crucial part of the battlefield.

The Bavarians need to delay the Austrian advance as long as possible but keeping losses to the minimum.  The battle played out fairly historically.  Austrian artillery dominated the crossing outside Landshut allowing the Austrians to cross.  A fighting withdrawal was successfully carried out with the water meadows hampering the attacking Austrians.

The Austrians are led by the Kienmayer Hussars against the Bavarian rear guard


Next was Tugen Hausen, then Abensberg.  Still a lot more to paint for Eggmuhl.

[jon_1066]

Tugen Hausen next

The opening,  French in the North near Tugen.  Part of Davouts Corps are marching through with some skirmishers foraging.  An Austrian Brigade advances down the sole road with Grenzers in the woods to their left.


The combined fire of the skirmishers and French brigade drive the Austrians into retreat.


The French brigade are disordered in the combat.


I have decided to use trees mounted on a penny to mark disorder.  They are not visually jarring but are obvious enough that they are visible.  One token is disordered, 2 for wavering (no attacking for you) and 3 for retreating.  A fourth and the unit routs from the board.

Again the battle played out fairly historically.  Austrian reinforcements were slower to show up than the French and their advantage in artillery couldn't be bought to bare because of the single road through the wood. Result Austrians fail to capture Tugen to cut off Davouts corps thus setting up Napoleon's counter blow at Abensburg.

[DintheDin]

So beautiful terrain! Must have been very enjoyable to play a big battle!

[jon_1066]

Thanks Din.  Yes it was nice to get everything out - and that all the minis were painted.  Could do with a few more buildings and roads and something to use for a smaller stream rather than a river.

Abensburg next.  Austrian V corps is defending the line of the Abens against the Bavarians of VII Corps and Wurtembergers of VIII corps.  All German allies have French stand ins.

Wredes second division attacks Bianchis Brigade with Radzetsky in the background guarding the crossing at Siegnberg.


Bianchi is put into retreat.  The Beaulieu infantry regiment and a 6lb foot battery cover their withdrawal.


Wurtermberg light infantry are scattered by charging Hussars in front of Siegenberg.  The Hussars are fortunate that a follow up attack into the Infantry brigade guarding the bridge just resulted in a withdrawal rather than the hussars being blown or worse.


Off the field portrayed, historically the Bavarian 1st Division were mauling Thierry's brigade to the north and Lannes was driving his corps toward the Austrian line of retreat so a general retreat is sounded for the Austrians having done well to hold up the Allied army in this sector. 

[fred]

That's a good looking game. I like that it looks like real terrain, with big woods, and gentle slopes, not what we normally end up with on wargames tables.

I also like that the infantry look like proper long thin lines of troops.

I was going to suggest you look at Rebels and Patriots - as that is the official Horse and Musket take on LR, but I think you are well beyond that in your scale of game now!

[jon_1066]

Thanks fred.

I like 6 mm for the look you can achieve.  There is still a huge compression of the battlefield in terms of the villages and towns but at least it sort of looks something like a natural landscape.  I really dislike the whole "plonk five bits of terrain on the board" look.

I saw Rebels and Patriots was released.  Looking at it it is a bit too skirmishy.  eg Infantry ranges are 12".  That's over a kilometre in the ground scale I want. 

[fred]

I saw Rebels and Patriots was released.  Looking at it it is a bit too skirmishy.  eg Infantry ranges are 12".  That's over a kilometre in the ground scale I want. 

It very much is a skirmish set of rules, and I suspect from what you have used from LR to make a battle scaled game changes nothing significant.

[LazyStudent]

Hi Jon,

Looks like you have a very interesting project. I would agree, I also find 6mm the best of scales!

Do you have a write up of the rule changes you are using now? I have tried going through the thread but it is difficult to work out what changed when and what is still your current thinking.

Thanks!
LS

[jon_1066]

Its changed quite a bit from the start.  The latest iteration is much closer to the basic Lion Rampant engine

Each base is 3 strength points
Infantry have four bases, artillery, skirmishers and cavalry have two bases

Armour is basic 2 hits for 1 casualty for everything

I didn't want to count casualties so a base is only removed if a unit takes three casualties in a single attack.  This also has the effect of making units quite durable to niggling long range fire but get bashed up very easily in situations that are bad for them.

A failed courage test gives a disorder.  Two disorder and you can't attack, three and you have to retreat (ie battered).  Four and the unit routs. Each disorder also gives -1 on all dice rolls (so activations, courage tests and to hit - a 6 is still a hit) and -1 armour in close combat (min 1)

Most things hit on a 5.  Skirmishers and artillery roll 6 dice in close combat, cavalry roll 6 dice when shooting.  Cavalry get a charge bonus +1 when attacking, Infantry and Artillery get a defence bonus of +1 when defending to the front.  Artillery get +1 to hit up to 6" range when shooting and usual -1 over 12"

Movement is cavalry move 3" plus total rolled to activate, Infantry 2" plus highest dice rolled, Artillery 1" plus lowest dice rolled.

Skirmishers have +1 armour against shooting but -1 armour in close combat.

Musket range is 6", Artillery 18". 

Rough ground automatically disorders all units except skirmishers.

Cover gives +1 armour vs shooting

Defending an obstacle gives +1 armour in combat.

A major obstacle automatically disorders a unit crossing it

That's most of it.  I've added colour parties to give +1 to activations and courage tests; and units with a leader get to re-roll a failed activation. 

[LazyStudent]

Hi Jon
Thank you for the quick reply! I see what you mean it does read as very similar to Lion Rampant. Here in Hamburg, we currently (before the Pause!) use General d'Armee, which I find excellent but it is difficult to play a large game within an ok time. And tbh, all of the other battalion level rules out there aren't that appealing to me for one reason or another. But we do also play LR and really enjoy it. Hence the interest in your conversion.
I really like the fact that skirmishers, if left un-dealt with, can slowly whittle down a formed unit/make them easier to break once the attack columns arrive!

A couple of questions, I hope that is ok.
Are you infantry units representing Brigades or battalions?
And how do you account for different size/quality of units within the brigades?
You say Cav gets 6 dice, do you account for any difference in the type of Cav?
Do you differentiate between foot and horse artillery? It is not clear from your movement rates. And do you require your guns to limber and un-limber?
How do you differentiate between infantry formations? Or is it assumed that they will form the best formation for the local tactical situation?

Thanks!
LS

[jon_1066]

I can ping you the rules I've written out if you like. 

Units are brigades with individual bases roughly one battalion.
Different quality/size can give bonuses or negatives to courage tests for the brigade as a whole, the individual battalions aren't differentiated.  At the extreme you could start an infantry brigade down one base (but that is quite a penalty). 
For cavalry they can attack with 12 dice but shoot with 6.  Most cavalry were equipped with firearms so it allows them to skirmish.  A stand up fire fight with infantry will be bad for them though.
Heavy cav get an additional +1 to hit in combat.  Lances get +1 to hit vs non lancers.  Most cav get follow up (so can attempt to make a second attack), Light Cav have Skirmish.
I allow horse artillery to move as normal infantry (so 2" plus highest of the activation dice)
I haven't bothered with limbering, etc.  If the gun is pointing the correct way it can shoot otherwise you have to move it.
Infantry have a Form Up special rule which gives them +1 Armour in combat but -1 Armour vs artillery.  So they can form up vs cavalry but then get mauled by enemy artillery.

I've tried to keep the KISS principal in mind - so if I could remove something I did.  I'm still tinkering with it though. 

[jon_1066]

Played a game with my 11 year old son today.  A sort of Aspern Essling with admittedly far fewer troops.  Here you can see the Austrian assault on Aspern.


Slightly simplified rules but they worked well. 

I've manage to build more forest and roads.  I've also produced some smaller streams.  Brown decorators caulk smoothed in the middle then painted a murky green.