Wincing at the return to Piessting - Updated

**It turns out we rather mutilated the "shock" rules in the first edition of this report. As luck would have it, we had some spare time and managed to re-run the ending. Same outcome (poor "crapauds"). I've updated this report. If you read the old one - sorry and just imagine that Scheittekatte slipped into a strange Austrian-pudding inspired vision ...**


This was a modification of Scenario 4 from the SP2 rulebook - Escort Duty. The French, flushed with the success of kidnapping several Austrian sheep, now face the simple task of escorting them back to camp via their deployment point. The Austrian commander is tasked with intercepting the column and "fleecing" the French of their captured animals. Scheittekatte's honour is surely at stake.

The game ends if one side's morale reaches zero; if the French exit by their deployment point with their precious flock; or if the Austrians somehow manage to capture all of the sheep.

We've taken to adding some minor objectives, something along the lines of Muskets and Tomahawks but more of a "bonus" to add a bit of flavour rather than create a points-based system. Volte-Face aimed to rout the Grenzer (who have been a constant nuisance). Scheittekatte was aiming to get the Grenzer into melee.


French forces:
With a reduced force points total (60-ish rather than the 70-ish of recent encounters) and given the need for speed, Volte-Face decided to leave the Italian cannon at home today. With Volte-Face carrying a minor wound (therefore at Level III), this left a few points spare for an extra leader to accompany the skirmishers. This unit will need to move fast, so rallying that extra shock will become very important. Given Cliche's recent poor performances, he'll be tasked with escorting the sheep!

Unit	Points
Line Fusiliers x3 (24) Leader Level III [Major Volte-Face] #1 Leader Level I [Sergeant L’Excraimont] #2	12 9 3
Light Infantry Chasseur in Line x2 (16) Leader Level II [Captain Cliché] #3	8 6
Voltigeur Skirmishers x2 (12) Leader Level II [Captain Blasé] #4 Leader Level I [Sergeant Rallier] #5	14 6 3
Total	61

Austrian forces:
Scheittekatte decided on bringing along his trusty Fusiliers in three groups and the battle-hardened Grenzer under Longabuscu. Both formations dropped their minor leaders. This battle sees the welcome but slightly risky return of the Jaegers (and their floppy hats - but you know my opinion on this matter), this time accompanied by a sharpshooter. The Jaeger officer (Schweitensauer) was severely wounded in our very first battle, so he has been replaced by the tough veteran, Lieutenant Wincing who is a local man and therefore no stranger to the difficulties associated with Piessting.

Unit	Points
German Fusiliers x3 (24) Leader Level III [Colonel Schiettekatte] #1	12 9
Jaeger Skirmishers x1 (6) Leader Level II [Lieutenant Wincing] #2 Sharpshooter	11 6 1
Grenzer Skirmishers x2 (12) Leader Level II [Lieutenant Longabuscu] #3	16 6
Total	61

Deployment:

The French started with some poor rolls - starting with a force morale of 9 compared with 11 for Scheittekatte. Volte-Face also rolled a lowly 1 for the number of turns his force could move up the board before the Austrians deployed. An inauspicious start for the "crapauds".

On the other hand, Blase fairly flew down the field with his skirmishers over the next two turns. To his dismay, Scheittekatte deployed in a field on his flank, knocking back a fine brandy he'd captured at the previous battle and generally blustering about in his usual manner. Actually, Scheittekatte had taken his formation on an educational antiquarian picnic, so the rank and file were quite relieved to see the French and moved towards them with uncharacteristic fervor. Meanwhile, Volte-Face's bad day continued by declaring an advance for his formation and rolling a miserly 2 on 2D6. This caused Cliche's unit which was shepherding the sheep to lurch along at the back at a shambolic pace.

Blase seemed unperturbed by the arrival of Scheittekatte's Fusiliers so the sudden appearance of Leutnant Wincing's jaegers (replete with a sharpshooter) certainly did not ruffle his feathers. Eager to get stuck into the action, Wincing let rip at Blase's skirmishing Voltigeurs but did little more than cause a couple of points of shock. The sharpshooter expertly picked off a pheasant in the tree but that's beside the point. With Tiffin out of the bag, the French forces were actually looking in decent shape, with the right hand side of the field pretty much free for Cliche to "pas de charge" his way off the board to secure the victory. Volte-Face began to add a confident swagger to his stride.

First real engagement
With a twirl of his sword and a mouthful of apricot dumpling (which he'd been saving under his hat for just such a moment), Schiettekatte marched his brave Fusiliers to the hedge and promptly received a devastating first-fire from Blase (see below). The left-hand group in particular was already reeling. Tiffin arrived early and Wincing's jaegers took the chance to finish reloading.

Next round. Wincing was drawn immediately and shot off again at effective range into the Voltigeurs, causing some further shock.

Then the move of the day. Longabuscu's chip finally arrived (Grenzer). He swithered about deploying to the left of the Fusiliers - a safe move which could have allowed the Austrians to block the inexorable French/sheep march down the field. Unexpectedly, the Grenzer deployed to the right of Scheittekatte's Austrian Fusiliers and promptly hopped over the hedge to take a position roughly to the flank of Volte-Face's French Fusiliers (below). Unfazed, Cliche simply ran his formation (and fluffy companions) straight ahead. At this stage, with the sheep already a third of the way to down the board, there was a general consensus that things were going downhill rather rapidly for poor old Scheittekatte. He had even dropped his lucky bratwurst and was generally feeling somewhat glum.

Meanwhile, the firefight between Blase and Scheittekatte continued to blaze on, with shock and casualties beginning to mount both ways. Blase smartly withdrew his Voltiguers to effective range which meant that the Fusiliers were at a disadvantage (skirmishers add one to their dice at this range). The Grenzer loosed their first fire at Volte-Face. This caused some shock to the nearer groups but somehow managed to kill two unsuspecting Fusiliers at the far end of the line. Longabuscu also took the opportunity to scoot his skirmishers a touch closer to the French line, threatening a charge. Tiffin.

The decisive moment (below)
Longabuscu's chip came out at the start of the next round and he declared a charge into Volte-Face's formation. It was not a flank charge as they began in the front arc, but it was 2 groups of Grenzer (rated "aggressive") against 1 group of Fusiliers and a supporting group at half-effect. Volte-Face's formation was broken by this (I am not sure we went for the "bad things happen" at this stage but I doubt it made a difference as you will see ...)

Fisticuffs was brutal. The Grenzer bayoneted 4 Fusiliers and caused 8 shock over the 2 groups. The French were at a serious disadvantaged but still managed to kill 3 and cause 4 shock. Perhaps the French would survive? Volte-Face spat on the floor and cursed the day that the Grenzer were painted, steeling himself for the inevitable withdrawal. Scheittekatte, meanwhile, whipped out a strudel of victory and wolfed it down - the Grenzer had achieved their minor objective of getting into fisticuffs.

**So this is the bit we royally messed up ... by "leapfrogging" the withdrawing French groups over/through one another by applying shock left, right and centre in a feat of remarkable agility and poor morale rolling. So one fisticuffs incident led to the French morale evaporating inside 3 minutes. It was amusing but looking back not really the spirit or intention of the rules. So what actually happened once Scheittekatte woke from his gastronomic-induced vision?**

Well, as the pictures above show, we picked up at the point where the French lost fisticuffs (more narrowly than expected). They withdrew as a block and because both groups now had excess shock they were forced to withdraw again. This time, instead of leapfrogging away to oblivion, we applied the excess shock of the first group to the second group and left it at that. Volte-Face still faced four "bad things happen" rolls (slightly better than the infinite rolls he faced last time!). In a quick rules check, we realised that Volte-Face was attached to the first group and therefore counted as an extra man for shock purposes. Handy.

Predictably, however, ol' Volte-Face rolled abysmally and his force morale still dropped from a relatively cock-sure 9 to a certainly cack-handed 6 in no time at all.

Tiffin was pulled, but Cliche's formation had not activated, so with a gutteral, dialect-heavy "hourra" they surged forward a mighty 3 inches. They stopped at the wall - bemused by its germanic structure and what appeared to be skulls instead of cement (good old citadel walls). In true French fashion, they settled down to a deep philosophical discussion about the nature of dry-stone walls whilst the next round began.

What happened next was unexpected but really shows why SP2 is so engaging. The next 8 chips were blue in colour (except for a further Tiffin) and things started to look almost rosy for Volte-Face. Scheittekatte was left to wail and gnash his teeth in frustration until a ranker handed him a sausage roll to distract him - any of the Austrian chips could have been decisive.

The Voltiguers redeemed themselves by pouring fire into the Austrian Fusiliers. Each group of Fusiliers was now very close to snapping and without an NCO it would take an age to rally the shock. Scheittekatte did some quick calculations and realised his morale might drop drastically if one more round of firing hit the Fusiliers before his chip came out.

 Then Volte-Face's chip allowed him to steady his troops and rally them a bit after the fisticuffs.

 And to top things off, Cliche grabbed a couple of flags when his chip emerged and declared a "pas de charge". The philosophical discussions about walls seemed to interfere with the actual movement, as you can see. Or perhaps his commands were lost amidst the heavy bleating of sheep and soldiers alike?

That proved to be the zenith of French fortunes. The increasingly masterful Longabuscu ordered his Grenzer to unleash another round of lead into Volte-Face's crumbling Fusiliers. Whilst Volte-Face avoided injury himself, further casualties and shock caused both groups to withdraw again. With a resigned sigh and flatulent gesture of defiance, Volte-Face turned to the increasingly familiar page that features the "bad things happen" table. Predictably, he rolled badly.

Just to show Cliche how it is done, Wincing leapt over the hedge like an expert hurdler (grazing his nether regions lightly on the way over, causing his troops to shudder - or perhaps wince - ach, whatever). The Jaegers hurtled forward 10 inches after rolling an unbelievable 3x6s - one being lost for hopping the hedge. They scooted around to challenge Cliche's plodding advance off the board. Then Schiettekatte's Fusiliers opened fire on the Voltiguers, causing one group to withdraw owing to excess shock and the formation was broken by fire. A familiar story followed ...

L'Excraimont's small group bravely shot at the Grenzer but to no avail. Longabuscu ignored irritating small group and ordered another salvo into Volte-Face's Fusiliers. This caused more withdrawals and loss of morale.

 

Scheittekatte's Fusiliers appeared again (after Tiffin) and that was it - one last volley into the dwindling Voltiguers meant that they had to withdraw again. With Gallic flair, Volte-Face nonchalently threw in the towel and the day once again belonged to Schiettekatte.

Cliche: he sometimes moved but how often do you see an entire formation with no shock or casualties on the losing side? Methinks the French strategy was flawed ...

The devastated remains of Volte-Face's command.

Review

Volte-Face (lamenting the loss of his warm, woolly companions): 

Zut. Zut alors! What in the name of the Tour de France happened there? I'm not usually one to bleat about the luck of the draw but goodness me, could I have rolled worse from start to finish - even the second time around after the restart? I knew that I'd pay for pinching the kids' Easter Eggs from the cupboard. Karma. I was surprised that the Grenadiers didn't show up as they are a tough unit to deal with. And when the Grenzer deployed behind me I really thought the French were in for an easy win. I mean, I lit the cigar and pulled up the comfy chair. One more volley and Scheittekatte's Fusiliers would have run off to Vienna. Besides, all I needed was Cliche's chit and maybe a few blue flags. A couple of "pas de charge" and we'd be back at the French camp counting our sheep. Even when the Grenzer charged I thought it wouldn't make too much of a difference. But I did see the funny side when Volte-Face's formation crumbled and headed towards shock-oblivion. Never leave your flank open to a charge - it's pretty obvious! And why didn't I detach a few soldiers to scoot off with the sheep? I needed Cliche's men to even up the firefight. But well played to the Grenzer and ol' Scheittekatte seems to have turned the tables in the campaign. No lamb ragout for the boys this week!

Scheittekatte (visibly pleased at the prospect of roast lamb for tea, sipping on a celebratory schnapps):

What a victory my boy! What did I say? Linear tactics. Wins the day every time. Oh, and aggressive skirmishers m'boy, they may not be civilised soldiers but they pack a wallop when told to do the right thing. Longabuscu has proven himself once again, so we fulfilled the mission and the objective of getting the Grenzer into fisticuffs. Wincing's boys kept plugging away so he had a sound debut (better than his predecessor for sure). The Fusiliers soaked up a lot of punishment when needed. Of course, it was my shrewd tactical planning and inspirational speeches that made all the difference. In retrospect, I can't really remember why Wincing deployed so far from the French objective. Must have a word with the man, he might have ruined it all. But for now, it's back to Vienna for a waltz and a medal ceremony for me. 

On a side-note, this was a success for the strategy of choosing high-ranked officers and no NCOs. Centralised command y'see. Don't trust the NCO blighters - darned rankers the lot of them and all a bit French to have inspiring commoners at the helm. It was a bit rough to remove shock I suppose but the extra support in firepower made all the difference in my book. The French were simply out-gunned and succumbed to the genius of superior breeding / Austrian nobility. Vive l'ancien regime!