Відео

Sorry missed the live chat but catching up now. Looks like the French are in a world of hurt and to now have been out generalled. The Coalition have the upper hand and really just have to keep the three French forces separated, while pushing trhe centre group along the northwestern roads to Paris. The only chance I can see for the French at the moment is a dash of Napoleon magic. he might be able to move the two centre corps south westwards aiming to catch and smash the lead corps of the Coalition and then defeat the other two piecemeal or at the very least fight on equal terms, If he can do this the tide turns and the Coalition are now the ones struggling to move and take Paris, but it is a big gamble Need something from the French centre because the outlook, especially in the South is grim

Great episode, thanks 🍺

Nice work. I would suggest adding oily steel or black to the wheel rims.

Merry Christmas. David Farrell is my real name.

Blucher's battle was a tactical minor defeat, but I consider it a strategic success as they managed to withdraw in good order and are falling back towards their supports while the French are marching further away, lengthening their supply lines in the process. The southern fight was tough regarding the casualties, but we are on the offensive and we were up against the Corsican Ogre's best troops, which we managed to send packing in some disorder. I think one big strategic plus is that the French lost their cuirassiers, making the French cavalry shortage even worse. Going forward, Option 2 is my choice, but I would like to add a few refinements. Blucher needs to combine with the Russian corps and just continue to tease the western French force, luring them further away from their supporting corps. Avoid combat as much as possible, but be ready to pursue if the French pull back. The southern four corps must keep the pressure on the Guard and Reserve corps, ideally pushing them directly west. I think Platov's corps is down on the southernmost road, and they should continue parallelling the French, always threatening their flank and line of communication to Paris. The other southern corps should engage when they can get all three of their corps into the fight. As for the center three corps, I advocate their advance to Arcis-Sur-Aube via Brienne, then moving on either Fere Champenoise or Suzanne depending on the moves made by the French marching from Vitry-le-Francoise. Taking this route blocks any reinforcements from the north aiding the Guard/Reserve force while maintaining a constant threat on the northern French supply lines and one of the direct routes to Paris. They also will be in a position to move south if one or both of the Guard/Reserve corps move toward the Aube River, or north if the leading French northern corps approaches the Aube in isolation from the northernmost French corps. One question I have regarding the basing of the troops. Do the blocks of infantry represent division size units? You referred to them as regiments in the video. An entire Prussian corps consists of two blocks of infantry, which is why I ask the question.

I think as a coalition player we need to keep up the pressure on all fronts, just wearing them down. If we can keep at least a 3/2 advantage in each area of operation just the numbers game will lead our valiant armies to victory.

Awesome turn but a tricky spot for the French for sure. I feel we need to keep trying to seperate the coalition and then converge our forces to have superior numbers wherever possible. Are there any reinforcements coming?

Fun and games but it leaves the Coalition with a fairly straightforward strategy, keep pressing in the South, slowly pull back in the East and move North Westerly, to threaten the road to Paris and tempt the French (Napoleon) south to forestall that. So option one is surely the way to go The French however are in big trouble , those aggressive moves in the east have left two corps out on a limb and the attempted river crossing could not have gone worse. Seems to me there is a need to disengage where possible and catch breath. Of the options on offer, Four seems the best but I am a bit wary about splittimg the two corps in the South, good chance each could be defeated in detail. The Eastern forces really need to start heading west and could get the jump on the Prussians if they do so, but if they fight the flanking move might work - worry that the Coalition with its greater numbers is already winning the war of attrition Anyway, enough of that and time to pass on my best wishes to everyone for Christmas and hoping we all get a prosperous and above all peaceful New year

Is large Napoleonic battle has its difficulties. I use age of eagles where 1 figure = 90 men a base of infantry is 2 figures wide X 2 figures deep = 360 men and the smallest unit is a Brigade. 1” on the table = 120 yards. And abase of infantry is 3/4” wide X 1” deep. This ground scale is 1 mile is almost 14” so Quatre Bras will fit on a 6’ X.4’ table but can you imagine each of the Corps commanders (players) at Waterloo waiting until they at Waterloo waiting to be given orders to move? However it does work out well with Hougomont appearing to be far too big. My personal game is Trevor Halsall’s rules 4th Edition with a modified army lists so that a game can be played about 2500 points to finish in 2,5 to 3 hours. Men to figure ratio 1 figure = 20 men it worked well with 25mm figures but much better with 15 mm figures..

Sorry I haven't gotten involved in the campaign, but I lost a stepson to cancer last week and another is in the terminal stage, so I've been taking time with my family. I missed the first two live streams by just a matter of minutes because of time zone miscalculations. I'll try to catch the next one. Overall, I feel that the Coalition forces have achieved a good start. I think they need to continue pushing 4 corps into a central position while keeping the pressure on the two southern French corps. I see that you implemented the idea about percentage casualty reporting that I suggested during the Valley Campaign game. I'm glad that the idea seemed worthwhile.

A really useful video, thanks

Great to have the campaigns back! Fairly good turn for the French given the circumstances.

Always glad to look at combined strategic and tactic phases, and the 1814 campaign is very interesting...Nice one!

Awesome turn 1. Possibly the French should have withdrawn a turn earlier or concentrated on Platov. But not terribly bad.

I'm curious to see how the battle in the south turns out. 😮

Somehow I missed the beginning, but I'm back at it now.👍🏻

Another good vid. I have some Horse artillery to do soon so this was great timing.

Great tutoral, fast and look great on the table. Cant wait to get started on my force.

👏

Really enjoy your guides William, so many others say it’s a “quick, easy” guide, then pull out 40 paints and 17 different steps… you got the good balance between speed, ease and quality… but definitely tabletop standard, basing and flags really add to the look of armies. Take care pal

Just something outside of the campaign itself. At the moment both sides are being moved following a vote on potential known strategies, with the most popular being the way to go. For future campaigns can I suggest a wrinkle which sort of uses Bill Sylvester's Solo Wargaming book as inspiration and offers up a bit of randomness Rather than just the top vote, all the votes cast create a percentage chance of that one being adopted and this is diced for at the start of the new turn. This offers up a chance for even the worst move being adopted and potentially create bumps in the road for the way most see the campaign playing out, making the follow up to each turn less predictable.

Yep i used your painting to do my Dutch Waterloo and they came out BRILL 👍 Great video thank you, Nice videos you do as well 👍🎲

Seems to me that the French may have made a strategic blunder by being so aggressive. The Guard and Reserve if held in their forthcoming battle are open to a heavy thrust by the Coalition to their North cutting them off from the rest of the French forces - in some ways fortunate that the lead unit faliled to move this turn. As it stands I would suggest the Coalition, sacrifices that isolated corps, trying to inflict as much damage and time as they can, while those units to the south move northwards to confront the attacking French, acting as a big scree to the movements in the south In the south I suggest the two Coalition corps fight defensively against the Guard while the other two corps in the south east corner march along the road immediately to their north west to try and get a favourable battle at 2:1 odds. That Corps that did not move can act (hopefully) as a reserve to that battle A lot depends on the outcome of these first battles

French should either double time to reinforce or envelope the allies depending on losses at the battle, lose/win respectively

Awesome turn, very exciting

Great session, really enjoying this.

Thanks for joining us agin on the new campaign.

I am confused. What rule set are you using? This is labeled epic battles and black powder and this does not resemble the rules that I have.

Could you go over how to paint the french Irish legion? Very much appreciate it.

Great first episode, this is looking to be a great campaign.

Missed the chat , but my thoughts, as the Frech commander I would expect that the Coalition will be on the offensive, using that numerical advatage in the south, potentially to try and pin/surround the Old Guard and Reserve. The three corps to the north of that could then move along the river road to seal them from the French centre. The isolated corps in the north could move forward to tempt the French on, essentially to get them out of position. Overall this plan would deliver a long hook to Paris from the south. This being likely, I would suggest we conduct a measured withdrawal , looking to concentrate forces for a strike back in later weeks.. The Old Guard and Reserve should move northwards along the road - going west is too long and puts them out on a limb, The two centre corps move back to the major road hub, together with that corps to the north. The corps in the far north should move south west to cover any movemnet from that single coalition force, but also to carry on the concentration of forces Overall I think we have to give up a few towns at this early stage and wait on the Coalition. Using defensive riverlines makes us strong and may get the opposition to try to outflank us, possibly allowing counterattacks where we hold the numerical advatage

I would agree with the your points. With Napoleonics you can change the rules at any time. 👌

One set of rules that I have enjoyed for Napoleonic wargaming as been ESR (Et Sans Resultat) by The Wargaming Company. With other systems that I have tried over the years, you would need about 4 bases per battalion, cavalry squadron and sometimes 2-3 bases for a battery. ESR is 1 base= 1 battalion, cavalry squadron, battery and takes up less room on the table. Other systems is old school Napoleon's Battles, my first foray into this era of gaming and as well as Lasalle 2, which is also good. It all comes down to a matter of what is that you want from a rule set. One suggestion too for anyone wanting to get into it is to find a club and check it out. See what game they're using with what scale of miniatures as well.

Great primer on Napoleonics. Very interested in checking out your rules. Will give it a look. Thanks!