If you guys have a look at the first pics on Angus' site you will see that the first lines started not much more than 24" apart at the start of the battle and since the reserves were directly behind I don't see how they could have moved any faster?

http://www.edinburghwargames.com/Journal%2035.htm

Cheers
Dave

Andy, I think the biggest problem with that command which was the largest of the allied army was that it should have been split down the command between you and Peter with Colin only helping until his command came on the table. From what I could see Peter seemed to have split the command across the way with him commanding all the front line troops leaving you and Colin behind
Perhaps you should have a brotherly word with him.

Cheers
Dave

Actually Peter and I started off side by side but were aiming for different targets all of which seemed to be the same distance away. Unfortuately I started behind the double bend in the wide part of the river which ended up taking 2-3 turns to get through each bend.
Peter and I both gave Colin some of the units to command until his own troops came into play. Of course my orders dice didn't give much movement for either Colin or myself.
Does anyone know the melting point of dice plastic
Andrew

Just to add my own thoughts, I think the game was overwhelmingly a success. It was a huge amount of fun and I feel very good for having played a part. The organisation was superb. As for the movement, we could always resolve it by dressing up 500 or so guys in Marlburian uniforms, starve them, deprive them of sleep, give them hard physical labour for a few months, burden them with equipment and then see how far they could march (not in step) in, say, 20 minutes! Even then my guess is that they could travel farther than the distance represented by 8 inches on the table. However it's obviously impossible to be certain! I would go for the strategic march move. I just winged and moaned because a 4 gun monster battery appeared on my flank and creamed one of my nicest painted units (Barry's) and two of my guns. Then I went and messed up my cavalry charge. Anyway I got things sorted out in the end but I would have liked movement speeded up because I could have supported Angus's breakthrough although I'm afraid poor old Bob took the bull by the horns and took a lot of casualties before we could say Wurtemburg. However he did capture the first earthworks which is what the Dutch eventually did although at enormous cost. I couldn't even make a dent in Chris's French brigade in the woods. They were well 'ard. If we had more time the Dutch might have widened the gap and got their guard cavalry into the melee. I think the game ended just as it was about to get really interesting and if we had reached the point we ended it at 9.00 am Sunday morning instead of 4pm Sunday afternoon then we really would have had a result. Anyway many many thanks for the invitation. I understand the rules much better now and would definitely praise them. A game without equal! And great company too. Live long and prosper gentlemen.

Barry, it might be worth while you posting an explanation in the BLB section regarding the rules that came up during the game namely, units standing still shoot before one moving and clarify that an all or nothing charge is a one-off event for a cavalry unit. These points certainly came as a surprise to the few of us that had played a number of games before but they do make sense and it would be good to have them in print somewhere.

Cheers
Dave

And also to clarify that a roll of 6 for an infantry unit testing morale is always a pass.

That's actually mentioned in the main rules already Peter.

Cheers
Dave

Hi Dave,

It looks like a good game was had by all over the weekend with a good defence from the French/Bavarians and a hard struggle from the Allies.
Thank you for the Link to the Edinburgh wargames journal for the pic's and I look forward to reading Barry's Battle Report with futher pic's in Wargames Illustrated.
Did you play much of a part Dave and if on the winning side how did you manage that.....must have brought yourself some new dice!!!

Regards..........Ray

Ray, I deliberately took a very small command which was originally the Irish and Bavarian brigades but as D.I's troops were in positon behind mine I gave him command of the Bavarians until his own troops were involved. The main reason for the small command was that as umpire I needed to be able to have little influence on the game but still get to roll some dice. My dice rolling has improved from my previous game and O'Brien's regiment fougth a stunning battle for their first outing beating off one infantry and three cavalry attacks. Unfortunately D.I. almost spoilt their record last night when he commanded them, he put them in reserve behind the Alsace regiment which got hit by its own routing cavalry and the pursuing Dutch cavalry. They were pushed back into the Irish and routed having lost 15 figures and the Irish were in turn hit whilst shaken and now disordered but luckily for them we had to finish the game at that point with the game being a draw, so I suppose they have had two outings and survived both. The Bavarians supported by artillery fought another amazing battle and ended up completely blowing away my British Guards and Grenadiers battalions only losing their Lieb battalion in return.

Cheers
Dave

Now, now Dave! That's only half the story Tell them more about your Guards brigade being destroyed by the brave Bavarian's in the center
Your lucky I didn't get another turn!

Great game...Dave it was a real pleasure to game with you and your right! my Left wing was in big trouble. Thanks for bringing in all your toys.
I'm now totally hooked on this period. Hope we can game this period again soon? Man I need to paint some Bavarian troops.

DI

Just received the latest WI in the mail yesterday. Great to see th Malplaquet battle write up. well done Barry and some great pictures as well although I was disappointed not to see a photo of your French unit surrendering to me in the woods!

The magazine has some great other articles as well this month and the quality of the photos keeps improving. looks like the hobby is in robust shape.

Very good article Barry plus it was good to see that my figures were to the fore in four out of the six photos.
It's amazing how much you miss in these big battles (just as happeded in real life), I would loved to have seen Rogers face when the Death Star opened up on him. From an umpiring point of view both sides were given a number of options to change some things from the original battle and it was interesting that they both decided to stick to the historical plans. I wasn't sure if they were just being lazy or trying double bluffs?

Cheers
Dave

Thanks chaps... I haven't even seen it yet!

I finally got to read the Malplaquet article in Wargames Illustrated. Very nicely done Barry. Let me sum up the article. The author of BLB travels to Scotland (?) to play in the 300th anniversary re-fight of the famous battle of Malplaquet. He (and others) bring lots and lots of toys. They fight and drink for 2 days. The author played a French Commander. Someone brought a fieldwork anti-matter device. It broke when it got near the author's fieldworks. If you ask the French, they won the battle; If you ask the allies; they didn't really lose. Everyone drinks more.

Loved the pictures and the battle report. You all are very lucky to get play in these kinds of events. This is sure inspiration for some of us to give something like this a try.

Mike B

Hey Mike!

you'll easily get a job as Editor in Chief for Fox News or something

Let me just add a couple of small clarifications to your absolutely excellent summary...

1. I didn't travel TO Scotland. I live in Scotland and so just travelled to ANOTHER PART of Scotland

2. We DID a LOT of drinking ... and fighting (but I hastened to add not with each other.. because we quite like each other)

3. The Field Work anti matter device ONLY WORKED when I wasn't around to correct the mad 18th century scientist who was working it... I am actually surprised that 'Eagle Eye' Dave O'Brien did not catch this blatant Allied dirty trick which I think was definitely an Angus Konstam cheat(he is well known for that kind of stuff)

4. The Allies would be more than somewhat deluded if they thought the battle was anything other than a total and complete French victory


I am absolutely certain that with a little planning and some effort you and your friends could do something just as good...

then you can tell me about it!!

Good luck to you