Played a huge By Fire & Sword battle over at my friend Thomas house this weekend. We had also read up on all the rules, prepared laminated quick reference sheets for all the units to minimize the time it would usually take to reference stats from the main rulebook. We also made a quick reference sheet covering the most important stuff, like close combat resolution, all sub-steps of each turn etc.
The game was planned a few weeks in advance so we were pretty prepared. We also went through some of the rules and special rules before the proper battle started - for instance checking how the Caracole would play out, the real way of playing Pike&Shot units which we had misunderstood in previous battles, how to move cavalry in open order, talking through all the additional rules for using pistols in close combat, keep track of unit ammunition etc.
We had played this game a bunch of times before but this was probably the most focused and accurate game session we've had to date. I also made adjustments to my playing style and unit handling, taking on tips from the By Fire & Sword forum, more about that later.
The army composition was as follows:
Polish-Lithuanian "Crown" army
General with 4 command
Polish light cavalry regiment (12 cossack cavalry bases + commander with 3 command)
Polish elite Crown cavalry regiment (6 cossack, 6 Pancerni, 3 Winged Hussar cavalry bases + commander with 3 command)
Polish veteran dragoon regiment (8 bases + commander with 3 command)
Polish mercenary infantry regiment (Royal Life Guards) (8 muskets, 4 pikes, commander with 3 command)
2 banners of Polish-Hungarian infantry (6 stands)
Artillery battery of 3x Falcon 3pdr guns and 1x 3pdr regimental gun with Artillery commander with 2 command
The army was also supplied from the Polish treasury for additional points so that it would not suffer negative effects of disgruntlement.
Total army size was 42points
.. .. .. .. .. ..
Swedish "Garrison" army
General with 4 command
2x Swedish national infantry regiments ( each with 8 musket, 4 pike, 1 3pdr regimental gun and commander with 3 command)
2x German mercenary infantry Old type ( each with 8 musket, 4 pike, 1 3pdr regimental gun and commander with 3 command)
1x Swedish Reiter regiment with pistols (6 bases armoured, 6 bases unarmoured and commander with 3 command)
Artillery battery with 2x 6pdr guns and artillery commander with 1 command
Total army size was 42points
Check the full AAR and and the 68 pictures from the battle over at my blog her:
http://anatolisgameroom.blogspot.se/2012/11/poland-1656-divisional-pitched-battle.html
17 August 2008, 06:51:05 AM