Battle of Breugen Crossing

Last week I realized that I hadn't posted any photos of miniatures on my blog this year. I decided to rectify the situation by finally playing a miniatures game! Not only that, I decided to kick off a new campaign set in Francesia. Welcome to the War of the Imperial Succession.

Background

When the Emperor died without an heir, the Imperial Diet sets about securing a replacement. King Henrik of Bluderia, a distant relative of the Imperial line, puts forth his candidacy. Redgrave feels menaced by this move so they threaten war if Henrik does not renounce his candidacy. Henrik refuses and war breaks out.

The Battle

Bluderian forces (bottom) advance into Fenwick (seized by Redgrave during the Short War). They must secure a river crossing to continue their advance. Redgravian troops hold the bridge at Breugen Crossing (bottom right) while reinforcements approach (top left).

Note - I developed the scenario on the fly. I laid down some terrain cards and got this layout.

I decided to place the river so that it flows left to right. The rest of the terrain just fell into place. I originally intended the scenario to be a meeting engagement but the terrain just cried out for a defense of the river. I ended up going in that direction. Given the strong defensive position, I should have reduced the Redgravian forces. Oh well.

Bluderian infantry tries to force its way across the bridge while the remaining troops discover a ford (left)

After crossing the ford, Bluderian cavalry ride down some skirmishers defending the bridge. 

But sustained artillery and musket fire rout two infantry units that try to cross the bridge.

Then the Redgravian infantry in the village turn and unleash a hellish volley on the Bluderian cavalry. It is a massacre.

With the attack across the bridge completely defeated and facing insurmountable odds, the Bluderian army once again retreats.

Aftermath

The war has begun with a resounding Redgravian victory. They lead the campaign 1-0.

It seems likely that Redgrave will pursue the Bluderians and more battles shall ensure.

Stay Tuned!

Game Notes

I played using my latest version of MicroBattle. The game took under 40 minutes including set-up.

I made one tweak to the rules. I like adding fog of war to my games, and having units fail activation and not move is an excellent form of fog of war. I also like variable movement. However, I am not fond of using both of them - too much dice rolling required. So I decided to combine them:

Every turn, each unit rolls a D6 to activate / determine movement.

• Infantry, artillery, and heavy armor fail to activate on a 1, move 1 space on a 2-4, and move 2 spaces on a 5-6
• All other units fail to activate on a 1, move 1 space on a 2-3, move 2 spaces on a 4-5, and move 3 spaces on a 6

At least, that how I intended it to work. In practice, here is what I did:

• Infantry, artillery, and heavy armor fail to activate on a 1, move 1 space on a 2-3, and move 2 spaces on a 4-6
• All other units fail to activate on a 1, move 1 space on a 2, move 2 spaces on a 3-4, and move 3 spaces on a 5-6

Essentially I used the prior rules, but had the unit freeze on a 1. I think the second version may be easier to remember.

Regardless of the exact method, I think the concept worked well. There were some occasions of inactive units, which added a nice fog of war, but it was not so prevalent as to be too disturbing. I think I shall continue to experiment with this idea.

As far as future battles, I will be doing a Neil Thomas-style 5-battle campaign.