For our game we decided to use my small but very pretty collection of Front Rank Napoleonics.
The rules we chose were Song of Drums and Shakos.
The scenario was quite simple...
Control the Ford...
And the farm...
And you win the game...
Mharaid in the guise of Captain Rust Junior took the British and started at the Farm.
While I in the guise of Capitaine Desespere took the French and started at the Ford.
Taking half the men I dash forwards... gloriously.
The British under Rust's encouragement also move forward...
Well... Most of them.
Sergent Baptiste fails to encourage his men or himself forwards...
Except for Dorian... Who buggers off on his own...
I dash off... on my own... sigh!
The British continue forward... except for Tom...
Everyone except Louis follows Dorian into the woods...
No one follows me...sigh!
Tom , Dick and Harry watch Sergeant Shirley and the rest of the men advance along the river...
Rust bravely hides behind a tree...
At long last Tom , Dick and Harry start of towards the hill in the middle of the forest...
Sergeant Shirley and his men continue along the river...
After some unnaturally good dice throwing Sergent Baptiste and his men arrive at the river and open fire on the British...
And cause the first casualties of the game...
Horace looks on in horror as Bob is Knocked down and Norman falls into the river Hors de Combat. (as indicated by the red button... a death will be indicated using even more buttons)
On hearing the gunfire... and blood curdling screams... Rust orders some of his men back ... to protect him/hide behind.
My men continue to pour fire into the British... from the hill as well as the edge of the river... ( a black button indicates an unloaded musket )
Horace recoils in shock as Bob is once more knocked over and sergeant Shirley is thrown bleeding into the river...
Rust... Fails to do anything... Again!
Edgar makes a spectacular rush around the back of the hill... (my dice throwing has become unbelievably good... )
Oops!
Rust orders Walter and Dave to collect some bullets for him...
As more of my men follow me onto the hill... Xavier turns...
And joins Sergent Baptiste's men...
In knocking down the last of Shirley's men...
At this point I was starting to get nervous... I am not used to these kind of results...
Tom , Dick and Harry have been pondering on what to do...
Rust appears to pondering on where to hide...
Mharaid wanted me to show you what her average dice throw looks like...
The world has gone topsy turvy...
As my men continue to advance on the hill from all angles...
Walter joins Dave in a pool of his own buttons...
Rust orders Tom ,Dick and Harry to form a line and charge up the hill...
After a prolonged fire fight Bert , Frank and Gwilym finally disable Edgar...
Tom ,Dick and Harry start their seemingly unstoppable advance up the hill... has my luck finally left me?
Theo's buttons are now spilt on the crest of that terrible hill...
Frank ,Bert and Gwilym also prepare to charge the hill...
Xavier is the next to fall... Gasp!
Tom ,Dick and Harry seem invincible...
But... As they reach the crest of the hill Dick and Harry fall to the ground in a spray of buttons...
And Frank and Gwilym are knocked to the ground...
An enraged Tom makes a desperate charge towards me...
But he is shot down and joins his comrades on the button slicked grass...
On seeing this Bert ,Gwilym and Rust... do a runner...
Hurrah!... Victory!
And what an excellent game...
The names and the 'blood' buttons my not be to everyone's taste but they added to our fun immensely... there were cries of "no surly not Shirley" and "Theo will be avenged".
Mharaid's dice throwing was truly awful... half her dice ended up being quarantined in a box because they couldn't roll anything better than a two.
She even suggested that I might have touched them all with my unlucky fingers .... (He! He!)
We also took lots of pictures... many more than I have used here... it all added to what was an excellent day of fun and games.
All the best Aly
