Dean Webster wrote:
Hi Tony,
I've been trying to think about what advice I could give a new player. The problem is, every situation is different, and there's too many to cover.
We all have a concept that one "big charge" will win, or lose, the day, but that's not true. These games are a marathon, not a sprint. You win be inflicting more casualties, across more turns, than the other guy.
Think Waterloo. The French attacked Hougomont, d'Erlon attacked, the Heavy Brigade charged, the French cavalry did their charges, and lots of other stuff happened. Finally, the Old Guard was driven back and French morale collapsed.
None of those things, by themselves, decided the battle. It was an 8-10 hour slog with 24k-27k casualties on both sides.
My advice then is as follows.
1 - Knowledge is power. Find out, in as much detail as possible, where the enemy is. Use your worst quality cavalry (light cavalry preferably, Cossacks if you're Russian) to scout the enemy. Don't have enough cavalry, or need to scout through woods, use skirmishers.
Note - It's generally considered to be poor form to use officers as scouts, ie deliberately moving them out of command range with the sole intention of spotting the enemy.
2 - Hit 'em where they ain't. Concentration of force is key. Find the enemy weak spots, and concentrate as much force as possible to overwhelm them. Never attack one unit with one unit when you have two available.
Numbers are an obvious way to determine a weak spot, but so is morale. Get to know which enemy units are likely to have the lowest morale. Most of us can recognise guard units when we see them, but try to learn which enemy units have lower morale as well. For example, the Prussian Landwher have a distinctive uniform.
Shoot at the unit with the lowest morale, at the unit that is already disordered, or into the units flank. All of these things make it more likely a unit will rout, and potentially cause neighbouring units to rout, or at least disorder as well.
The rest just comes with experience. Be patient, take your time. Like a good chess player, think about what you and the enemy might do in future turns, before you think about this turn.
Cher Général Webster,
Thank you for taking the time to help me, and other newbies, to (proper) Nap war gaming.
I am currently playing two games of Waterloo and one of K43. It's amazing how much gold there is in the tiniest things.
Like, the other day, in passing, one of my opponents pointed out that having different formations cause units to be Disordered. Now i know why they won't get out of Disorder even if Napoleon himself is in the hex: it doesn't matter if one counter is in line and the other is in column!
The first nugget of gold you gave me was in the note to point 1. While i am not even remotely close to the 60 turn monsters that involve moving wings of corps, i have seen videos and whatnot, and your etiquette note will stay with me for life. I see how someone is trying to "game the system" by getting their commander out and taking a look. That's ahistorical and an a-hole. Thank you!
The second point of yours that i loved was letting me know to keep going after the little guy. When i have to fire a cannon into a hex, i see one unit is Disrupted, has low infantry, or whatever bad thing. I didn't know whether to "spread the love" or hurt the wounded. It sounds like kick the man who's on the ground first. I like it. Boot to throat is what wins.
And finally, yeah. It's a mindset. It's a grind. It's picking up a red skillet again and again until i learn that it's hot. I've actually appreciated it when i'm getting spanked. I set up a defense, then i see my opponent do something i didn't think about. Not exploiting me for not knowing, but i just didn't play well. I thought i had a clever set up then--WHAM!--i left a group encircled.
Thanks again for the tips. Noted and i'm sure others'll be using them too. You're helping more than just me.
Chapeau !
th
NWC
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