Saturday, December 1, 2012

Alpia Advances -- Decks 9 & 10

Deck 9 was huge for Alpia.  Only 7 cards long it included Alpia's General and two Brigadiers.  The lone Stagonian card was a cavalry regiment . . . and they remain immobile.

During this deck, Regiment Utti finished off Stagonia's Ardant Regiment and Zuff took out the Stagonian Field Gun.  But in Deck 10, Stagonia's Regiment Goyette dispersed the Picanti Swordsmen before they could be pulled out of danger.

View from North
As  you can see to the left, a gap has opened up between the two forces.

(Note:  Alpia's "yellow" Brigadier Buffo is actually farther up the hill in a one o'clock direction . . . he slid down before I snapped this photo).

Stagonia's Brigadier Delage (on far left) has managed to Rally the routing de la Forquest Regiment (green banner), which now has a pair of Casualty Markers.

View from South
A view from the other direction shows the gap between lines a bit better.

Once again I have omitted showing the two cavalry brigades to the south of this image since they seem to do nothing but stare at each other.

It should be noted that all three clearly visible Alpian Pike & Shot units need reloads, while Qeel (out of sight in the far north) and all of the Stagonian foot are fully loaded.

Several Brigadiers are currently attached to units . . . and perhaps the General's might wish to change this (or attach others).  Following is a rundown of all units situation:

ALPIA:

General Rossi -- unattached
  • Brigadier Lombardi  --  attached to Cianti
  1. Asti Spumonte Cavalry  --  steady, out of command
  2. Cianti Cavalry  --  steady (brigadier attached)
  • Brigadier Franscioni  --  attached to Zuff
  1. Izzo  --  steady, one casualty, needs powder, out of command
  2. Zuff  --  steady, two casualties, needs powder (brigadier attached)
  • Brigadier Buffo  --  unattached, out-of-range of Utti
  1. Picanti Swordsmen  --  two casualties, dispersed and out of battle
  2. Utti  --  steady, needs powder, out of command
  3. Qeel  --  steady
  • Light Artillery  --  unlimbered

STAGONIA:

General Murdeau  --  unattached
  • Brigadier Arnoux  --  attached to Lau Crossbows
  1. Ardant  --  three casualties, dispersed, out of battle
  2. Lau  --  steady, one casualty (brigadier attached)
  • Brigadier Gilbert  --  unattached
  1. Cheveaux de Rappeneau  --  steady
  2. Cheveaux de Pincemail  --  steady
  • Brigadier Delage  --  attached to de la Forquest
  1. de la Forquest  --  steady, two casualties  (brigadier attached) 
  2. Goyette  --  steady, inspired (+1 to die), out of command
  3. Falcon  --  steady, out of command
  • Foot Artillery & Guard  --  overrun and dispersed, out of battle
 So there you have a run-down of the current situation . . . time for Rossi and Murdeau to decide what they want to do next.

-- Jeff


4 comments:

  1. Fascinating, watching this gradually unfold. So far it looks to have been a steady advance by the Alpians against stiff opposition. But now the issue is in the balance.

    You know, if this goes Stagonia's way, it will be a bit like the last battle of the American Civil war: Pamlico Ranch in June 1865 - a Confederate victory!

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  2. Let's try Palmito Ranch, May 1865, shall we? Actually, I've just checked it out, and it seems my memory was much at fault. Your battle is nothing like, and much more interesting!
    Cheers,
    Ion

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  3. Excellent game, Jeff - a lovely table top as well.. it's made me want to dig out my copy of the rules...!

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  4. Steve, Thank you for your kind words, sir. I am particularly enjoying VWQ as a solo game not knowing how things will turn out. They are lots of fun . . . but I do know that one of my on-line Generals does NOT like playing them face-to-face because they are too unpredictable.

    A couple more turns have been played, by the way. What I am using is a mini-campaign using a number of the scenarios from Grant's "Programmed Wargames Scenarios" . . . this initial battle being #11 and the next #18 . . . after that it will be #1 or #5 depending upon who wins #18.


    -- Jeff

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