Napoleonic Wargame Club (NWC)

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Maréchal M. Francisco Palomo
Prince d'Essling et Duc d'Abrantes
Commandant en Chef du 1er Corps d'Armée

Mssrs.,

I would add that, IMO, one of the flaws of the HPS/JT game engine is that it makes breechloading firepower too effective. Even a cursory review of contemporary writers quickly establishes that successful assaults were decided by the bayonet, not firepower. Once troops settled into a prolonged firefight an indecisive stalemate generally occurred. Given the inherent inaccuracy of smoothbore firearms and the clouds of smoke generated by black powder, hours long firefights produced minimal casualties and indecisive results.

Assaults were, essentially, deadly games of chicken in which troop morale was the decisive factor. If the defenders were disciplined and held firm, delaying their fire to point-blank range (25-30 yards), the attacker was disordered and fell back. If the defender panicked, firing at long range (80-100 yards), and/or the attackers' morale held, the assaulting troops would close and the defenders would rout away. This how a single battalion of MG routed a division of LW at Plancenoit, something which could never be recreated with the HPS/JT game engine.

The supposed superiority of British firepower in double-rank formation over French columns was a myth propagated by Oman decades after the fact. Wellington's army did not defeat the French with superior firepower. Rather, the British tactics consisted of delaying their defensive fire until the attackers were at point-blank range (25-30 yards) where they could deliver a devastating, single volley and then launch a bayonet counter-charge upon the disordered, front rank of their attackers. Once the attack was shattered, the British would rally and return to their defensive line to await the next assault. The key British advantage was the superior morale/discipline of their troops over the French conscripts and miscellaneous French allies they faced. Wellington sustained his troops' morale by providing, relatively speaking, generous provisions and pay. When those provisions were cut-off, such as during Moore's disastrous retreat in 1808, discipline collapsed and the army fell apart.

Regards,

Paco

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Maréchal M. Francisco Palomo
Prince d'Essling et Duc d'Abrantes
Commandant en Chef du 1er Corps d'Armée

I pretty much agree with Marechal Paco here. Also Christian as regards morale calculations don't forget that a unit must take a morale test if it loses a melee - 100%. As for the turn system I took a while to be convinced it was better but with the 10 minute turns and the new features of the engine I really like it now and also agree its the way the games are meant to be played.

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Marechal Knox

Prince d'Austerlitz et Comte d'Argentan
Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur

"What is history but a fable agreed upon"

Hi Christian
I don't pay any attention to CW series. I like the period but as a wargamer it really was a completely different era than the Napoleonic wars. Firepower had become the predominant force and cavalry no longer held the shock threat.
Linear tactics were therefore more important as was defilade from cover. Its not really as much a combined arms period more of an infantry fight with a lot of closed terrain and unmapped unknown areas the combatants moved over.

As for N period I still quite like the phased turn its just more efficient and fun to play the turn system despite some its flaws. The thing is all simulations are flawed. Its really just a matter of how much.

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Marechal Knox

Prince d'Austerlitz et Comte d'Argentan
Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur

"What is history but a fable agreed upon"

Christian,
a couple of points here.

You are correct, defensive fire does not happen enough and the game heavily favors the attacker and the side taking the initiative. The attacker forces the other side to check for routs, which in turn spread disorder. Have you played Bautzen much? That is one exception for me for line formation. The Coalition has some large Prussian battalions and tons of cavalry and artillery, so the French D rated units will take a real beating attacking.

I agree that some sort of full melee defensive fire is needed for units in line, skirmishers, and artillery. Again, this goes back to changes we are unlikely to see. To me, much of the problem is solved by lower stacking density (like 1200 or 1000-Tom Moore and I are playing a Ligny Quatre Bras game with low staking and phased based).

But I agree with Paco, these games were designed to be played in turn based play and all the games are tested that way (as far as I know). The phased base is left over from the battleground games and some battles and scenarios, such as Borodino, Ligny, and Waterloo have tons of dead ground that makes it easier to sneak up and take little to no defensive fire.