Valour & Fortitude: Sambre Skirmish

For this week's Sunday Solo game I wanted to get what few Epic scale units I have painted on the table.

Finally a crack at Valour & Fortitude in Epic scale with Napoleonic's!

Designed for big games with at least several brigades, its not really a fair test for the rules, but would improve my knowledge of them. All I have painted so far for the allies is a British infantry brigade, helped out by a lone Prussian Infantry Bn. and the 'Chainy' 10th Hussars.

The French are slightly better off: two infantry brigades...

Also with a single light cavalry regiment, backed up by an as yet incomplete regiment of Dragoons whose paint was still wet!

Given it would be a very quick game, the scenario was sketchy to say the least. Mid June 1815, somewhere on the Franco Belgian border, between the Sambre and the Meuse...

The French Army is finally on the March, crashing across the frontier!

The tiny Allied force has to buy time for the allies to muster and concentrate, so has adopted a reverse slope position on a convenient ridge of high ground where two high roads merge.

The French division divides its forces between the two roads. On the right flank the divisional artillery and both cavalry units screen the infantry as it works its way through and around the town.

Whereas on the left flank the infantry have to contemplate an attack without support:

With the French guns clearly committed on their right, the British brigade commander sends his right two battalions forward of the reverse slope, the better to start the musketry early on...Posterity does not record what the lone Prussian Battalion's commander felt about being left safely tucked out of sight behind the ridge...

The left flanking French Brigade comes on in the same old way...

Whilst on the French right the commander makes more judicious use of all his assets, including using his Light Infantry detachment to snipe away at long range...

Whilst his guns deliver a not so hard pounding, the reverse slope providing hard cover to the Allies.

However its over on the French left flank that the decisive assault occurred! The British 'disciplined musketry' was not quite effective enough...

And the French were able to send in two battalions against one, for a total of 6 attack dice against 4. Both sides would be hitting on 4s, but the Brits would be rerolling any 1s. The other British battalion only had one opponent, but completely fresh and in receipt of 'Brigade Support', and so rolling only 5 dice against the Allied 4, but this time hitting on 3s. 

As the British were slightly behind the crest of the hill, the French, coming up and over, would win any ties...

The French rolled more hits than they received in both cases, but the Brits passed their Valour tests...the combat continues...

However for the next round in the British turn one of the British battalions is also fighting shaken and both battalions lose the fight and rout after failing their Valour tests. With their flank wide open the remainder of the Brigade has to retreat to the next fall back position...

This game proved to my satisfaction not only that Epic Naps look good on the table, but also that Valour & Fortitude work well when played solo. I'll now return to my brushes...