GENERAL
D'ARMEE
SECOND
EDITION
BRIEFING
The 2nd Edition of General d'Armee Napoleonic rules aims to focus the wargame
more on the aspect of the senior divisional commander than the battalion
commander. The player is now viewing the battle more from afar and spending
less time down in the dirt leading and
micro-managing his regiments on the frontline. Therefore he does what he can to
ensure success and to achieve objectives, but nothing is guaranteed.
When an attack goes in, he is viewing this through his telescope,
muttering to himself; "Come on Maitland, keep pushing, keep going!"
The result is not predetermined; as
there are no guaranteed lists of positive and negative factors, only superior morale, supporting brigade
units, good generalship and luck. These might go in your favor or they might not, but the better the plan, the better the situation
and above all if the attack is supported, it should have a real chance of
success.
The 2nd Edition concentrates less on the peripherals of the wargame,
such as column or square musketry fire, which is minimal at best and
concentrates far more on command decisions. The player's time is taken up with
C-in-C Commands and ADC takings, prioritizing
brigades for offensive action or stout defensive. He cannot spread his command
across his entire front, therefore must concentrate on a few critical decision
points each turn that will win him the battle.
Reserves are now vitally important. He who commits his reserve at the right place and at the right time is likely to gain a significant battlefield advantage. This all links into your previous command decisions and if your battalions have been able to dominate the battle, to force the opponent to react to your moves, then the committal of a reserve could prove decisive and break not only the opposing battalions but also your opponent's will to fight.
What's Changed?
"The marshal,
indignant at the hesitation of the general, sent me to tell him to carry the
position at the charge!" ADC Levavasseur, Waterloo 1815. (Or perhaps a
game of General d'Armee using a Brigade Attachment ADC tasking!)
The ADC system remains at the heart of the command and control system in General d'Armee; this has been updated and augment with what are termed C-in-C commands.
These commands represent the C-in-C personally
intervening in the battle to lead his troops or steady his men, and as such are
limited to either two or just one opportunity per game, depending on the
C-in-Cs ability. These include rallying a faltering brigade or leading a charge
from the front rank akin to Marshal Ney! The player chooses when to use these
vital interventions but as in the words of one film general, should "take careful timing" as to
when he chooses to ride out and personally intervene, as these actions can have
a significant impact upon the outcome of the battle.
ADCs remain very much as before but have been slightly expanded to provide greater command choices in the game, such as an opportunity to influence the initiative. Ammunition resupply is no longer a tasking and is replaced with actual model caissons that represent ammunition resupply.
Initiative now has an added twist. The winner of the Initiative may now remove one hesitant marker from any currently hesitant brigade but then must immediately pass the Initiative for this turn over to the opponent! This can provide quite a command dilemma as the player will gain a localised advantage on one side but be on the back foot for this turn across the division, on the other.
Charges
″Pakenham,
you will carry that height where the enemy's left is posted by storm and when
you have gained it, go at them hard and fast with the bayonet!″ Wellington, Salamanca, 1812.
Charges in General d'Armee were straight forward however it is appreciated that they could be quite involved and take up valuable battle time when there were numerous charges launched in a single turn.
So, two significant changes have been applied to the
charge procedure. The first change involves the actual charge rule mechanics
and creates a faster, more intuitive and slicker charge process yet keeps all
the nuances inherent in the first edition. This means the amount of text devoted
to charge rules had been reduced considerably and the entire charge process is
now much quicker.
The second and slightly more radically change in the 2nd Edition is that players are now limited to one charge per brigade. You can no longer launch multiple charges from one brigade, akin to a firework, shooting off charges in all directions. There are several reasons for this.
First I could not find a single historical example of
a brigade launching multiple charges at different targets all at the same time.
Yes, charges were supported by additional units, but I've yet to read of any
account where a brigadier ordered multiple charges in different directions
against different targets. It appears to have been beyond the command scope of
the officers commanding a brigade and for good reasons.
One reason may well have been that infantry brigades regularly deployed with a regulating battalion, which meant all battalions took their direction and alignment from this one battalion. If this were so, how does one launch a charge when the regulating battalion is charging off in another direction?
Finally by imposing a one charge one target rule we neatly avoid that old wargame bugbear of numerous columns ganging up in melee against a single line. So under the 2nd Edition it's now one charge against one target but of course this charge can be supported by the usual flank and rear supports. The balance to this change is that defending supporting units may either fire or support when defending a charge, not both as before. So the defending player needs to think carefully about firing with supports as this will denude his support rerolls in the actual charge.
Movement
Few changes have been applied
to the movement and terrain rules. The main highlight is that the charge bonus
is now only gained via ADC taskings, which includes using the full Forwards
movement bonus for charges as well as normal movement.
Skirmishers.
"The
tirailleurs of the 17th Legere, dispersed among the trees and bushes,
undulating terrain and garden walls...slipped along the brook and suddenly
opened fire." Capt. Bressonnet, 1806.
The main skirmishing rules have been overhauled. The size of a brigade skirmish screen is now based on the general size of a brigade and not linked to every battalion.
Skirmishers are now permitted
to move even if a brigade is hesitant.
Skirmishers now fire with
Skirmishers Casualty Dice, which hit on scores of 4 or more, bringing their
firing in line with all casualty dice, the down side being that skirmishers
require two "hits" to cause one casualty, as opposed to the standard one
hit equals one casualty rule. Thus heavy casualties from skirmishers is
unlikely unless a tasking is in play, while merely wear down an opponent more
likely.
Infantry & Artillery Firing.
"It
was the first time the noise of an English fusillade had reached our
ears....never had we heard a rolling fire as well fed as that." Lt. Girod,
9th Legere, Talavera, 1809.
There are now no lists of positive and negative modifiers. This has been replaced with a slicker system where fire benefits, such as Elite and Veteran volleys or firing at a column or square target receive extra Casualty Dice; while fire negatives, such as unformed or firing at skirmishers moves your volley down the volley chart. So, if a battalion in line has no negatives this means you fire on the Standard Volley line, one negative modifier such as firing unformed moves the unit down to the Inferior Volley line. Two or more modifiers sees the unit fire with just 1 casualty dice, this is the lowest a volleying unit can go.
Columns and squares fire with
just one casualty dice to reflect the fact they are manoeuvre or defensive formations
and not firing formations.
Artillery has undergone similar
treatment.
This means that firing is far
quicker but produces similar results to the first edition
The 2nd Edition retains the "casualty chart" as opposed to introducing a "handful of dice" fire mechanism, as the chart conveys four pieces of vital information to the player. These are; casualties, fire discipline, discipline tests and Destiny results. Also add a fifth, Low on Ammunition for artillery. Presenting all this information in a logical and consistent manner cannot be done when rolling handfuls of dice
Combat
This system is essentially
the same, but we now have greater chance of prolonged cavalry melees, allowing
supporting regiments to be fed into the melee. This makes cavalry melee more
interesting and cavalry supports more important. And, as Hesitant regiments
cannot reinforce this means that ensuring that your cavalry brigades are
obeying orders becomes an important command element for the player.
Morale
"Retire
general? If we take one more pace to the rear, we are done for." Col.
Pouzet, Austerlitz, 1805.
Discipline Tests have moved to a simple system of troop grade promotions and demotions as opposed to lists of positive and negative modifiers, producing quicker results. For instance an unformed Line unit testing would be demoted to Recruits and so on.
Brigade Morale has been
improved, so Faltering brigades are no longer as prone to sudden withdrawals
but nonetheless continue to produce a significant drain upon the divisional
commander and his ability to control his formations.
To conclude the 2nd Edition continues to provide a Napoleonic game with all its tactical nuances, although rules changes are significant the game still very firmly remains General d'Armee, creating skirmisher fire fights, infantry volleys and sweeping cavalry melees. However victory now relies slightly less on these tactical combats and slightly more on the player's ability to command his division successfully, to identify his tactical objective and to concentrate his command effort in the right place at the right time.
Vive l'Empereur!
