Impromptu Games

I should be available today, with a preference for French side^^.

Still I will have to drop out around 00:00 /00:15 BST which is 1:00 AM in France. When do you usually stop playing ?

I can play tonight. I will play wherever. 'To the Sound of Guns!'
Vince, we usually finish much earlier than the last game. 11pm to 1130 Gmt is likely without too many delays.

Vince, so translated to French time, we should be all at discord by 20.00.. then updates and decision what are we doing at the night by 20.15... planning of the battle (vs AI is usually less time).. let's say 10-15 minutes.. so we start at 20.30... add average lag that stretches it from 3h to 3h 30 minutes... so there you go we should be done by midnight French time... add post battle banter and you should be still safe... but then add heavier lag, crashes and restarts during the game, waiting for players, sorting some issues before the game, etc... and it can go beyond that.. I'd say if there's a danger of you having to leave it might be worthwhile sometimes to save it 30 minutes to go and complete it at the next session - the issue with this is that we might not get same players next time.

Try to avoid Gettysburg or DLC maps if you can Miko.

Also in terms of this period a "prinz" is usually nothing to do with royalty. A prince is ruler of a principality which is a petty component state of the HRE.

It was a FUN game today. Excellent scenario Miko!

Ok so beating Kevin and making it 2-2 score overall was pretty good, I admit.

But the scenario itself was great and was a fun team with Grog, Vince and Ehey.

It was definitely a fun scenario, made even more interesting by an excellent choice of map although not completely balanced due to the different distances the two sides had to move to reach the exit zone and the presence of a concentrated cavalry force on one side which will always have the ability to pin down a force with weaker cavalry.

Perhaps giving the Austrians a cavalry division as well (or if they have integral cavalry brigades, make these in total significantly stronger), or starting the French further back on the map so that the shortest road distances are then equal? I would be happy to play this again on the French side with those adjustments.

Nice scenario Milo and a hard battle but I have to agree that it was a difficult one for the Austrians to win, whatever the French plan. That takes nothing away from Pat's sound strategy and Leadership.
I would play that again with such changes as Martin suggests but I'm sure we'll have to wait a while to erase it from memory first. Cheers all.

Pat's sound strategy

Now there is a string of words never seen in print before.

I think the word "sound" is used in the context of noises rather than of something solid and dependable. Maybe Pat's strategy was to blow raspberries throughout the battle?

Sound strategy. It was the product not just of me but a conversation as a team. A team that would happily replay this scenario from either side as proposed, knowing that the outcome would again send Prinz “minor victory” Kevin scurrying, tail between his legs.

Next week then, same time, same channel, swapped sides?

Yes very nice scenario. The map is a nightmare, no visibility, rough terrain. Open to swap, but I think people who were in French positions that time will have an advantage with knowledge of defensive terrain on the south east. Then be able to choose more carefully their path.

Be aware that all of us know that map very well. The terrain down there is so well known to all of us.

Digby wrote:Next week then, same time, same channel, swapped sides?

I think we would struggle... French side did not know the position of the eastern division, as for their intel I've drawn the arrow at the northern edge of the map - If you've watched Ehey's stream, the focus of the French was to delay the main Austrian Corps and get to the exit roads, with one interesting option that the last division commanded by Pat would surprisingly attack Austrian Corps rear while it would be busy to break to the east... It would be hard to emulate my lack of knowledge of Kevin's plan. Might be interesting if all 4 from the French team go for Austria but before planning they'd have to choose a player that leads the eastern division.
So the French side would have to think how to beat eastern division to the exit roads - yeah, cavalry could get there first but then the rest of the French Corps would be left without cavalry facing Austrian Corps with 4 cavalry regiments... you can split French Cav by one player taking corps command (with intent of commanding a cavalry division and infantry division) and another one just taking a cav brigade, but that would break what you said was French advantage having all the cavalry under one command.
I know I wouldn't be able to pull as good performance with cav as Ehey did... and that was the key for the French plan to work...

Last battle aside, I'm working on the new scenario but as previously I don't think it will be ready by tonight...
I called scenario Quatre Corps - because there will be 2 corps per side. The map will be one of the Russian Random Maps - I hope there are no any issues with those?
The setting will be a bit alternative history - Napoleon decides to evacuate earlier so his troops are in better shape and Russians have not yet recovered from Borodino...
The objective will be to get to supply depots... (I think there will be two of them).

I got the scenario generator working on my older laptop and have several scenarios in the works, AI and PvP. Might have at least a couple ready by today.

Definitely playing today. Looking forward to it, whatever the scenario

I can play today at the usual time, 14:00 EST, 19:00 BST.

I have a 2-Corps (5 div) French vs British AI in Quatre Bras map. And a 3v3 player French vs 1809 Austrians on Antietam map.

And should we ever do that 5-player vs AI then Kevin DEFINITELY needs to be one commander and it would be good for Ehey to be then other one so he can stream his observations and strategy as the Corps work together. Smoothly of course.

French vs British AI in Quatre Bras map.

Has everyone got QB DLC? If not, then timing is not great as it's currently at full price on Steam (£15)...

I should be there today.

Unfortunately, I can't make it tonight chaps. Have a good game y'all

Fun game. And Ehey’s streaming gives me a different view of my division while it was engaged. Numerous Cavalry on my right stopped me cold. I made better progress on the left.

Towards the end with maybe 30 mins to go I was feeling extra positive as Kevin and I pushed up a hill thru tall grass to drive back Austrians only to crest the hill and see thousands of Austrians waiting their turn in the hollow beyond to attack us. It was a lonely feeling.

Way off in the distance to the south I could see Digby and Phils units from the other corps. I guessed they were off at the other objective. Little did I know they had already overwhelmed the Austrians down there and were contemplating how to help us. Or perhaps more accurately: whether or not to bother helping us.

This was a difficult scenario for command and control since there were 2 corps separated by 2-3 miles at the beginning and both corps commanders also commanding divisions. Hard enough to raise your head to a corps level in normal circumstances... but this also demanded that Ehey and/or Miko operate even higher at Wing/Army level. Ain’t easy.

Kevin had jokingly suggested not to co-ordinate with the other corps, so I jokingly planned not to. We don't need help from another corps, we'll just take all the objectives!  Not that it would have been possible anyway. I was mildly stunned Miko's message made it through the part of a division that had continued up that road.  Surrounded in the first hour of the scenario.    Vince did really well as the left and Pat was an admirable anvil for the situation.  I flubbed a desperate cavalry charge at the end, my own AI cavalry showed me how it was done, and Vince seized the moment to assault the southern end of town just by the end.  I guess Kevin invented a new AI mode: "Hunt Pat Down."  Is that going to be in the next scenario generator version?

Impressive that our corps could secure our objective despite the majority of the Austrians fighting against us, I think.  I shall take this from my chest and give it to my division commanders, for they earned it.  But since I was a division commander I get a   , too.  Which means I have two now.  

On the other side of the field Mikos corps easily took two of the objectives against light opposition. It took me about an hour to even sight my first Austrian. I wondered what weird scenario Kevin had cooked up; 6 player divisions versus only 2 AI? After we'd enjoyed a long lunch at the middle objective Phil sent me a message saying that we could attack NE into the rear of the enemy that was defending the north objective and my first thought was "Why? Its a different corps. We did our job, can't those people even take one of the objectives?" I think that attitude was possibly more common than we imagine between commanders of different French corps!

Eventually I moved my artillery and two of my brigades up there to assist Phil's cavalry but the day was nearly over by then and I didn't want to gallop about too much in case the exertions after such a fine luncheon gave me indigestion. I issued no orders to my third brigade but for some unknown reason the AI brigadier decided to march off the objective and sit a little north of it in a field. Possibly because his men had looted anything of value and were off home.

It was an excellent game and I like the starting map not showing individual division locations, I think that speeds up pre-battle briefings because C-in-Cs don't (can't) get tied up in details.