Fleurus - 24th June 1794 - refight 14th July 2024 at Joy of Six, Sheffield

As regular readers of this blog know, this year I have spent an increasing amount of time lately preparing to put the Battle of Fleurus on the table at the Joy of Six Show in Sheffield.

I have helped others put on games at shows, this was my first go at doing it myself.  After researching, writing, painting, varnishing, testing and tweaking, the game went live yesterday morning.

My thanks go firstly to Mike and Ned, stalwart members of the Leeds club, who volunteered to help me on the day.  Mike gets a "mention in dispatches" for kindly hosting the two play tests.  Thanks also to Chris Pringle and Mark Smith for encouragement.

Finally a massive thank you to Sarah, my wife, who has become a "Fleurus widow" over recent weeks, who offered to drive me there and back on the day and who has been super encouraging.  She produced the map!  On the day she brought a book to read....

The After Action report:

Ned and Mike helped with the set up and Sarah offered to take the Austrians until such time as a new player wanted to take over and she could read her book.

Sarah has known about BBB, the rules set that we use, from it's very early days, but has never played a game before.  So, this was her baptism of fire, as she handled 4 of the 5 Austrian/Dutch assault columns.  Ed from London had seen the game advertised, is interested in the the Revolutionary period and decided to give it a go.  Ned took the remaining Dutch column and helped Sarah, Mike took the French left and helped Ed with the French right.

In brief, on the actual day of the battle, 1 column of Dutch and 4 columns of Austrians attempted to break through the French troops encircling Charleroi, held by the Austrians.  The day before the battle the Austrian garrison had surrendered, so all the French attackers could be deployed to halt the Austrian relief columns.  After several hours fighting the Austrian Commander, Saxe-Coburg decided to order a general withdrawal, despite the Allies having gained a lot of ground.  His withdrawal ended the Austrian attempts to hold Belgium and led to the successful French invasion of the Netherlands.  The French victory was followed by a coup against Robespierre and the end of the reign of terror.  French Generals no longer had the shadow of the guillotine over their every move....

Here's the map of the battlefield - start positions are roughly where the troops are at 08.00

The refight.  

Mike and Ned were opposite each other, with Mike having already played two battles and won both times.  Ed was in defence and Sarah tasked with winkling him out of a series of villages and woods.  

As Ed and Sarah had never played before, there was a lot of initial questions, but once they got a rhythm going they got stuck in to the battle.  It is a tribute to BBB that you can work off one QRS (Quick reference sheet) and a lot of the rules are intuitive.  

By the end they were seasoned veterans......   roll the dice, work out if anything happened, consult the rules if needed.  

The French outnumbered the Allies 83 : 53 but suffered from troops that were raw - so casualties immediately hit morale.  A couple of Ed's units fled after combat and at least one fled before combat!

As the game progressed Ned's Dutch ground Mike's French down and successfully launched an assaults on Roux and Marchienne-au-Pont, which enabled him to take Charleroi.  Sarah's Austrians also ground the French down as she pushed through the bulk of the French forces.  

In this game, with most of the French raw, passive & fragile, once they had taken one casualty they were harder to motivate and more susceptible to running away.  We had also added a scenario rule that french Generals had to be in contact with the units they wanted to add +1 command bonus on die rolls, rather than having a sphere of influence.  This was to reflect the revolutionary nature of the French forces, with the need for leaders to get alongside units to motivate them, rather than directing the wider battle.

By the end of turn 6, having gamed from 10.30 - 3.30 with only minor breaks for food, the French and Austrians agreed it was an Austrian win, with 4+ objectives held.

The game generated interest in passers-by (and see the many JoS reports to see the other stunning games on offer) and proved to be a highly enjoyable day for the 5 of us who played through the day.  It has to be said that had we played the last two turns, the French may yet have turned it around and saved the day - once again the game was in the balance right to the end.

Mike and Ned enjoyed the day and Ed and Sarah had a lot of fun!  

Umpiring for me was also a real pleasure as the game unfolded, though my voice got a little hoarse!

Pictures:

Set up

Looking West

Centre, looking South

Dutch on the Allied right

Allied Centre & Left

As the game progressed, I took some photos, enough to give a flavour but not a coherent timeline!

Charles in the woods at Fleurus on the left, Wenzel in the middle put pressure on the French

Ned's Dutch head for Roux.  In the background the Dutch head for Charleroi!

Beaulieu in the foreground and Archduke Charles assault the line of villages and woods.  The French are getting broken (blue counters = spent)

Towards the end of the game - the Austrians have taken one VP

The Dutch are in Charleroi - the French assault is about to be thwarted by the Dutch heavy artillery to the right of the picture

The French balloon, deployed near Fleurus, watches over the mounting pile of casualties.

See earlier posts for details of some of the figures painted /created for this game here , there , here again and also here .  It was nice to get the troops out!  Sarah didn't get to read her book....