Saturday 9 February 2019

(Big Game) Ramillies "The Second Wave of Cavalry is Committed" [Game 4] Post #6

The view from the extreme left of the Allied line. The French Guard Cavalry that dominated the are is simply put "gone" and a second line of French Cavalry comes forwards. Two units of Dutch Guards are looking for their next target (bottom right) while a unit of French Hussars (middle top - two bass of two cavalry figures) is thinking of doing something sneaky to the Allied gun (see below, I have a particular dislike for the Hussar units as it is dispersed for artillery shooting, yet at the same time it can immediately concentrate for a charge with a very long reach - a rules loop-hole as it has the best of both worlds): 


Meanwhile the mayhem in the middle of the Cavalry action shows a "bowling alley effect" as the victorious cavalry of either side ignore each other [on their respective flanks] and dash off to the races (see below, symmetrical results - the Cavalry battle is a grind going down the middle statistically):


Suddenly there are acres of open ground where but a few moments ago thousands of horse were engaged in desperate combat (see below, strangely the Allied are already in the enemy baseline while the French are heading to it - one feels no good of it will ultimately come for either unit):


Into this void the second wave of both French and Allied Cavalry is committed to fight (yet again) over the very same ground (see below, oh the "humanity of it" - for what purpose indeed):


I told you those French Hussars were after the blood of that artillery piece. What is more dire is that because we are bath-tubbing up a set of tactical rules from regiment to brigade level, through in inter-penetration rules the supporting cavalry are not allowed to charge. Hmm, the "billimeter" is in play here (see below, a bit like rules of Newtonian Physics versus Quantum Physics these rules are breaking in places when elementary particles clump together into atoms and molecules - the guns are charges and Allied players suck air in air between our collective teeth, the dice will have their say [OK, I am sounding sour, because it was a bitter vinegar moment]): 


Meanwhile Dutch Guard Cavalry charges a hapless group of French Cavalry to "clear the ground" for fresh Allied units to deploy (see below, the French are not in column but two half units stuck in a condensed formation):   


The victorious French pursues take on another Allied cavalry unit, which means they are positive in the trade for bodies - they are taking out more than their own weight (three for the price of two). They may even get the better of the new cavalry unit if the fight becomes a protracted melee (see below, the combat life of a cavalryman seems to be as short as a May gadfly!):


Meanwhile the successful Allied cavalry is torn apart by a French "Flank Trot" to combat. The Allied cavalry roll disastrously low on their morale and disintegrate after first routing and then being pursued to the ground (see below, the start of their doom, this trade was a selfless one-to-one sacrifice):


A remnant from a previous successful French charge id catch deep in the Allied backfield by Allied Mounted Dragoons (see below, which much to everyone's surprise are very useful in mounted combat against weakened first line cavalry): 


The French are dispatched quite professionally (see below, the key thing is for the Dragoons not to overplay their hand and mop up broken, disorganised and reduced line cavalry):


The rear fresh units of the Allied and French lines are lined to contest the "deadly middle-ground" once more.

2 comments:

Phil said...

Great looking game, beautiful armies...

Geordie an Exiled FoG said...

Cheers Phil

The game turns are playing slowly because of the amount of troops to move about

The initial cavalry battle seems to be moving to a conclusion (no more cavalry left on either side!)