Froeschwiller Solo Game

The Prussians enter the table

I decided to play a solo game of To the Last Gaiter Button since I had a few off days, and could afford to let the game sit on my table for a few days while I slowly played it to a conclusion. Instead of randomly generating a battlefield using the rules, I wanted to see how the game would play out with a historical scenario.

I picked the Froeschwiller scenario from 1870. It was of course not possible to play out the entire battle, so I decided to play only the southern end of the battle, pitting the Prussian 22nd Division versus the French 4th Division.

The TTLGB rules work well for an attack-defence game, since it has a 'running clock' mechanism that allowed a player to trade initiative for time. In this scenario the Prussians had superior artillery (don't they always?), and could in theory just sit tight and pound the French into submission - but due to the running clock they could not afford to do that.

The 42nd Brigade attack the French position in Nieder Wald, supported by the Divisional artillery.

In my game the Prussians slowly chipped at the French left, hoping to slowly roll up that flank before launching a two-prong attack on their centre. It worked well too, until I got bored.

As much as I enjoyed the rules, playing without a human opponent just wasn't engaging enough for me to see the whole battle through. It did, however, show me that with some thought about the distances, the rules can be used to replay historical scenarios.

Getting the figures and terrain out also reminded me of how much I enjoy the spectacle of a 10mm game; as a result, I went on a little shopping spree and bought myself enough stuff to start an Arab Revolt project.

The Arab Revolt had been on my wargaming bucket list for a while, but I have been putting it off until now. As the stuff I ordered arrive over the next few weeks, I hope to update the progress of this project on this blog. Stay tuned.