Remote Big Wars Game

I played a remote game today with Spencer Fisher, 630 miles away in Portland Oregon. Since we only had a limited amount of time, I chose a scenario from Neil Thomas’ One Hour Wargames. We played scenario 11 Surprise Attack, roughly based on Quatre Bras. The defenders, the Red Army, had to hold off an attack with a third of the attacking force and wait for reinforcements. The attackers, the Blue Army had to traverse the 6-foot board and take the crossroads by turn 16. As it was, we played to a conclusion in 11 turns, taking about 3 and a half hours.

The scenario as written called for only 6 units per side, but I added a couple of units to each side. The two armies were equal with 2 units of light infantry, 2 units of line infantry, 1 unit of elite infantry, 1 horse and 1 field gun and one unit of cavalry. Since we were replaying Quatre Bras, it made sense for the Red (British) Army to be on the defensive. One last change I made to the scenario was to substitute a farm complex for the lake in the book. Since I knew Spencer was a fan of the original Little Wars, I chose Stuart Asquith’s Big Wars for rules. We both agreed that they successfully model the original Little Wars, but without the shooting toy cannon. The Blue Army came within a hair’s-breath of taking the crossroads, despite having to cross almost the entire length of the table. It was an extremely near run thing.