Hi All
I'm playing a LaSalle army builder game tonight and I've rolled the River Crossing board (even number 1). How wide is the bridge? March column only or wide enough for an Attack column.
I'm thinking march column only but with an impassable river it seems a bit limiting. The attacker can place another bridge of course.
Thoughts?
regards
Stephen
I always assume it to be only 1BW wide - which is already a pretty huge bridge.
Hi Sam
Thanks, thats what I thought. Just wanted to confirm.
regards
Stephen
Has anyone played the river table? It has come up a couple of times in games I have played, but we have rerolled and used a different table.
It seems to me that unless the defender really wants to make a game of it, it is going to be a tough game for the attacker. The defender can slap down a town on their side of the bridge(s) which makes it hard to get across - particulary if you can't charge in march column!
Cam
Hi
Well we'll be giving it a go tonight so I'll be able to tell you tomorrow!
regards
Stephen
I think the trick with Bridges is superiour firepower. for instant russians, extra batteries can just bater down any defeader around the brigade, one you chase the enemy way from the bridge you make a bridge head, hope that the firepower from guns on the other side of the bridge as well infantry now acorss the bridge can hold the enemy back untill you get most of your forces over it.
Hi All
Played the river table last night. Empire French Infantry + Lt Cav support (attacking) versus Peninsular Brit Inf + Lt Cav support. We didn't fully finish the game due to time constraints, we were new players, we packed up in the defenders bound (10th turn).
The Brits took the table edge closest to the bridge and deployed first. Additional terrain was a rock wall near the bridge on the defenders side and a ford about a foot in from the other small table edge. This gave two crossing points, one in each half of the table. The objective was placed on the extreme Brit left flank (ford side) and moved 8BW to still end up closer to the ford than the bridge.
Most of the action surrounded the ford (rough going, reduced movement), it was close enough to the French side for the Cav Brigade to reach it on the first turn, across it on the French second and provide an effective screen on the third. The French Foot Art deployed on the French side of the river to cover the crossing but was only effective on its first shot as it spent the rest of the game limbering up and redeploying from some excellent Brit counter battery fire.
Four Battelions of French foot waited their turn and followed the Cav over the ford. Meanwhile fanother four battalions (under a poor sub-commander)closed on the bridge.
The Brits deployed three battalions (including the Elites) and the guns to cover the ford and two battalions to cover the bridge. The Brits took the Impetuous option for the Lt Dragoons to hurry them to the field.
Important to note that the French Cav sub-commander was had a superior tactical ability which certainly told in combat! One Regiment of Chasseurs charged a battalion of Brit Line on the extreme left Brit flank (including the Brit engineer), they failed the reaction and were run over, breaking. This left the French Cav in command of a corridor down the side of the table into which poured the exultant French Chasseurs followed by a regiment of hussars. As the French Infantry commenced to pour over the ford there was a stand off between the Brit infantry and the remaining French Cav, without their own Cav they were unable to do anything but shoot and hope to be charged!
Meanwhile over at the bridge one French battalion crossed in march column, were charged when they emerged on the Brit side, formed column and fought off the attackers, they were over! Next to the bridge the French were using their engineer and building a pontoon bridge (this was not completed by turn 10 even though it would have only taken two successful engineering tests).
One turn later and the successful French line holding the Brit side of the bridge was charged and broken and another French battalion lined up for a try at crossing the bridge.
The Brit Cav arrived on turn 8 deploying three regiments to face the ford flank and one to the bridge (all within command range of their sub-commander of course). The Chasseurs fresh from their victory over the line infantry immediately charged a regiment of valiant Light Dragoons and bounced them straight off the table!
When we called time (during turn 10) the objective marker was beginning to be threatened by the French Cav and the game certainly in the balance. Brits lost 4 points towards their break of 7 and the French 2 points towards their break of 9.
Very enjoyable.
regards
Stephen
Sounds like a fascinating situation, looking forward to giving that board a try some time.
Sounds like a fascinating situation, looking forward to giving that board a try some time.
Looking at it, and talking it over with a friend, I'm not sure there's too much of an issue.
The river goes diagonally across the field, virtaully from corner to corner, with a road and bridge just about in the center of the field.
If it's a 'standard' game, the defender is not going to be able to set up on the river bank except at one extreme corner and the attacker will be able to place a bridge or ford just in front of their deployment zone, potentially allowing a fast march thorough and then deployment and/or a race towards the bridge in the centre of the field, almost a meeting engagement to try and secure it.
The placement of the attacker's bridge could be countered by putting a woods or other nasty bit of terrain in front of it by the defender as their second piece of terrain, which would slow things up significantly.
It might be an idea to have a 'house rule', that player placed pieces of area terrain must be 1 base width away from any other pieces of terrain.
In the case of the 'home field advantage', when the defender sets up first and you're playing along the length of the table, a significant part of the attacker's deployment zone is on the defender's side of the river and the bridge is much closer to the attacker than the defender, and they can place a bridge or ford right up to the edge of the defender's deployment zone, allowing attack from that flank.
All it does is narrow down the frontage you can attack on, and, potentially, give a shield against assault for the attacker's artillery. In some ways it gives the attacker an advantage if he plays it right.
Of course, I could be talking utter rubbish here... I've only played the game twice so far :)
I would add, if possible, an OPT rule that allows to charge across a bridge, even if the unit crossing is in March formation, without halving dices. It's very easy to block a bridge with a unit, and you can't charge it, only shoot from the other side of the river.
Very interesting post, I have not tried the terrain generator. Do you have an actual OOB posted anywhere
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