Below is Part Six in a series from David Waldorf covering a Manoeuvre tournament “March Madness” style. Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 can be found here, here, here, here and here. Enjoy! -Rachel

Pregame Analysis

The French are again the obvious favorite, but the damage they received from the Americans in their first game ought to keep them from getting too cocky. Besides which, the Russian units reduce far more favorably than the French ones do, despite being underpowered on the full strength side. The key for Russia is to play defensively, but hit hard and try to reduce the French units as often as possible. Fortunately for them, they have the better side of the board for this strategy (south). Meanwhile France will look to push through by brute force, with an eye toward keeping its units on the full strength side to prevent the Russians from gaining that small numbers advantage.

Gameplay

France, having drawn two cards for the 45^th Regiment de Legere and a Forced March card, decides to place the 45^th in the middle of their line. The rest of the French units fan out in alternating strengths. The Russians position the Black Sea Cossacks and the Leib Grenadiers to quickly take control of the two central hills, and place the rest of their units to counter the French ones as best as possible.

France gets to move first, using a forced march to propel the 45^th Regiment de Ligne toward the enemy lines. Russia answers by sending the Black Sea Cossacks to the top of the opposing hill, where they attack downward at the French 45^th and reduce them. Within a few moves the French respond, with Louis Nicolas Davout bringing the 45^th Regiment de Ligne and the Guard Cavalry to assault the Black Sea Cossacks on their hilltop, where they have dug in with a redoubt.

The defenders are driven off the hill, and reduced via cavalry pursuit when the Guard Cavalry captures the hill. The Leib Grenadiers move up to retaliate in an all-out attack on the Guard Cavalry, laying three cards and a leader to bring in the reduced Black Sea Cossacks to help. This massive assault succeeds in driving the Guard Cavalry off the hill and reducing them, but in a subsequent turn the Guard Cavalry eliminates the Leib Grenadiers, and retakes the hill.

Several turns later combat continues to swirl around the two central hills, with French cavalry being forced off of one hill, only to eliminate the Russian Black Sea Cossacks and claim the other hill. At this point, the battlefield looks like this:

There is further give and take on both sides, as units move up, battle, and recover. The Russian Kexholm Regiment, previously reduced from an all-out committed attack against the Guard Cavalry, is served up the Grand Barrage from Napoleon himself, and eliminated from the game. The Russians manage to reduce the Garde Imperial and keep them reduced with guerrilla tactics, but a follow-up 2d6 bombardment attempt fails miserably and the Garde is able to reinforce after all.

The Russians send the 1^st Cavalry deep into French territory, knowing by now that their best chance at winning is through battlefield control. But the French also push further into Russian territory, and eliminate the Koursk Regiment with a powerful combination of attack and pursuit from the 1^st Cuirassiers. At this point France has already reshuffled their deck, and the Russans begin to bleed the clock with the few cards they have left, trying to eke out a control victory by nightfall. But it is a losing battle, and at nightfall the French have won:

Analysis and Discussion

France moves on to the final with another solid performance. This is not surprising given their status as the favorite going into the tournament. Of the two possible opponents they could face in the final, both are a few steps further removed on the tie-breaker list, and France’s prospects of winning the entire tournament look good.

Russia had some bad luck at the dice, but otherwise played well. There were a few times when they tried to go all-out with their card playing in an attempt to eliminate their target with one huge attack, when it may have been more advisable to try to break the attacks into two parts to first reduce the opponent, and then eliminate them.

Next week will feature the final game in the second round as the Austrian Empire faces off against the Ottoman Empire. Who will advance to face the French in the final round?

Previous Article in this Series: Manoeuvre Tournament Part Five: Ottoman Empire vs. Great Britain

Next Article in this Series: Manoeuvre Tournament Part Seven: Austrian Empire vs. Ottoman Empire

Author: David Waldorf