Last Saturday I went to the BWA to try out the Napoleonic rules they are developing. They are based very broadly on the Chain of Command WW2 rules produced by the Too Fat Lardies and are working in conjunction with them.

French and Polish Infantry brigades were trying to wrest a crossroads from the British and Portuguese forces in the area.

Here the Polish are hitting the hinge point between the British and Portuguese forces with a large windmill causing a gap in their line. Two things to note are the skirmishers out in front and the lines of smoke. The way skirmishers work has been worked out very neatly so that they have a significant impact if ignored but do not bog down the game. Smoke from musket and artillery fire had a significant impact on the line of sight on Napoleonic battlefields, and so whenever a unit shoots, smoke is laid out along its front. Subsequent shooting through smoke effects accuracy. Smoke can be blown away by random events so is not neccessarily static.

My Poles converging on the crossroads and trying to disperse the British skirmish screen When formed troops “touch” screens (opponents or yours) they are dispersed but can be brought back on later once they have been reformed.

The French and Polish combined artillery concentrating on those British units defending the crossroads but the skirmish line is reducing their impact.

On the right skirmishers are about to force the British guns to retire and on the left the Poles are having the best of the skirmishing.

The Polish infantry on the top left corner have driven back the british from the river line and are approaching the crossroads. At this stage although successful the Polish are fatiguing and vulnerable to a British counter attack, but the 42nd Highlanders are the only British force available to do so and would be terribly outnumbered.

On the left flank a British counter attack is about to threaten the French Grand battery and their supporting infantry and on the right the French attack against the Portuguese in a village is about to push home.

At this stage I was wounded and needed to leave the battlefield, (leave for home as we were going out for tea) and so I am not sure how it all ended .

The rules and reference sheets are not available outside of those playtesting as yet and I am therefore unable to share them. What I can say is the mechanisms worked very well and I am happy to have a few more games to see how they work.

Who knows they might even end up in production down the track.