With the first of my Prussians for the Franco-Prussian War recently completed it seemed fitting that they should take the field. As a result just over a week ago my Prussians, along with my existing French, deployed for a Franco-Prussian War encounter along the Franco-German Frontier.
The 19th Century was a time of significant advances in weapons technology and by the time of the Franco-Prussian War both sides were still absorbing these changes. The older Prussian Dreyse needle gun was clearly outclassed by the French Chassepot with its superior range. Yet from an artillery perspective it was the opposite, with French artillery were outclassed by the breach loading Prussian Krupp guns and their associated percussion fuses. Then of course there is the Mitrailleuse, a completely different weapon system.
New weapons, as well as evaluation of their performance in recent wars, was resulting in changes to doctrine in both attack and defence. As we wargame this period it is obvious that tactics used for earlier periods simply do not work. As a result our group continues to attempt to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the troops and their weapons weapons, and most importantly, how to use them effectively on the table.
In our most recent game both players were clearly experimenting. The French commander was determined to maintain the initiative using the superior Chassepot to outrange the Prussian infantry. Yet he struggled with the deployment of his artillery and his Mitrailleuse batteries. When using French I often tend to fight defensively. With the Prussians this wasn’t going to work. Therefore I to was experimenting in an attempt to achieve a breakthrough in a reasonable timeframe – specifically before French reinforcements could deploy. Interestingly, I found my attacks bogged down and on one flank the Prussian infantry, despite having superior numbers initially, were unable to secure a result.
Our game was truly fascinating, which I believe is testament to the Volley & Bayonet rules we use and their period specific variations all built into the basic rules system. If you would like to read more a report of our game can be found here.
Across the Table 