Round 2, Ligny, Game 1
Brad Jessup, Prussians, 6 banners
J. R. Tracy, French, 11 banners
(Brad killed 31 steps and I killed 51 - not sure if we're tracking these in this tourney)
Brad and I enjoyed a slugfest in our first round of Ligny, with Brad as the Prussians and myself running the French.
I opened with some poor choices, sending some Lights forward on the right to their near-instantaneous deaths. I struggled on that flank all game long – the French have a lot of power there but it is so crowded, maneuver proved very difficult.
Instead, I worked the left flank, and waited (for quite some time) for a center card to appear. I sent a Prussian Militia unit to the dead pile but Brad countered by killing a French Line formation, both on my left. Apparently I failed to learn my lesson with my Voltigeurs, and sent a Light Cavalry unit to its doom. I was hoping to kill an adventurous Prussian artillery unit but instead my leader returned to our lines alone.
I turned my attention back to the right, hoping to make something of the clogged mass of Frenchmen, but Brad quickly gave me another bloody nose, going up three banners to one. At this point I was finally able to make something happen in the center, sending infantry forward with the support of that magnificent artillery. Force March allowed me to close, and Prussian casualties began to mount.
Fierce fighting around La Haye and St. Amand saw losses on both sides, but I crept into a banner lead thanks to some lucky Leader Loss die rolls. Brad played Elan, however, and quickly evened the score at 5-5 in unit kills, but was ahead 7-5 thanks to geographic banners. He then pressed forward, bringing up his Lancers for a possible charge against damaged French Line units.
At this point we were both all-in, but French firepower gained the upper hand. Brad killed another unit to reach eight banners, but lost three himself in rapid succession, including another leader. His militia Lancers fell for my tenth, and then my Old Guard moved forward. The Grognards cleared a Prussian line unit but were beset by an immediate counterattack. Brad killed half of the Guard but they battled back with an infantry Yahtzee, annihilating a full strength Line unit for my eleventh and final banner.
This was an absolute bloodbath. I had good dice when I needed them, making up for throwing away two units in the early going. Leader losses were Brad’s bane – I think he lost two in four Leader Loss checks, while I sailed through at least seven checks myself. We had one rules issue – I misread the geographic Temporary Majority Victory Banner portion, thinking you had to have a majority of the listed locations to claim the banners. However, Brad correctly pointed out that you must merely hold more than your opponent has in hand. This is pretty big as it’s two banners for the Prussian and three for the French.
Overall, a big, grueling scenario, but not without nuance. Looking forward to the return match.