Round 5

and the first one

With regard to the connectivity issue with Russian players, I have a sort of work around. If the Russian player uses a VPN, you can synchronise the games. My experience was that is wasn't a very stable connection, and that there were multiple disconnects in the game, with the Russian player disconnecting each time, but that may have been his connection. 

Initially we could not sync at all, but using the VPN on a different machine allowed us to sync, but the connection was bad. Whether it was just that different PC, or VASSAL I can't say. Hopefully that will help.

 

Round 5
2d match, Altenburg

Allies: gdnuke. 1 banner
French: Craterus, 6 banners

 

Game 1:
Gileforn (Allies) 5 Banners
RiverWanderer (French) 6 Banners

A close struggle for most of the game, with the French just edging a win.



Game 2:
RiverWanderer (Allies) 6 Banners
GileForn (French) 3 Banners

French started out in strong fashion and attacked in force in the centre, though a Lancer unit had to be rescued after a mauling from roving cossacks. Unfortunately for Andrey, his two random card losses put his attack in difficulty, made worse by his Line unit being forced into square briefly. The Allies on the other hand were able to sustain their defence. Even so, the Austrian centre was on edge of collapse by the end.

Game 1:
EZPickins (Allies) 6 Banners
kfan (French) 0 Banners

My Cossacks took most of the casualties as the Lights had a run of good luck taking out the French.


Game 1:
EZPickins (French) 6 Banners
kfan (Allies) 1 Banners

I avoided getting engaged with the Cossacks and advanced across the board in the center.  

Game 1
toganalper (Allies) 6 Banners
GomJabbar (French) 5 Banners

The French charged forward on both flanks. A little too boldly on the left but the dice were on the French side and the Allied right flank was decimated. The Allies had better luck in the center but the dice still favoured the French. It was looking like a decisive French victory with 5-1 banners. But then the Allies rallied in the center and took the win. A terrible retreat decision by the French in the last turn allowed the Allies to take the last 2 banners in a single cavalry bonus attack. Congratulations toganalper, an amazing comeback by the Allies.
 
Game 2
GomJabbar (Allies) 6 Banners
toganalper (French) 1 Banner

This time the Allies charged forward on their right flank to great success. The French consolidated their strength in the center. Attack and counterattack in the center surprisingly when the Allies way. The French quickly lost 3 units (and 2 cards). With only 3 command cards the French were severely hampered. The Allies continued the assault in center and right and finally eliminated a couple of 1 block stragglers for the win. At one point a Canister by the French GHA looked liked it might turn the tide of the battle but the dice failed the French.
 
Thanks for the games toganalper. That was fun and most unexpected to see 2 Allied wins. I expected the French to have the advantage in this scenario. This was my first time using the new V5 module. I loved the automatic dice calculation. Thanks Mark Benson.

Round 5 game 1 Altenburg

Mike Stanley (scioio1zama) French – 6 banners – won
Aleksandr Pushkarev (Dawnreader) Allies – 0 banners – lost

The French launched an immediate attack on the Allied left, and in the back & forth, the Allies lost a LC and the leader Thielmann (and a Cossack.)  Then the Allies attacked the center with Cossacks, and we went back & forth there.  A French Lancer attack on an Allied LC missed but got 1 flag.  The reroll got a hit, then 2 crossed swords got the leader Mensdorff, then the breakthrough bonus attack finally killed the LC.  (Three Cossacks also perished.)

After an Allied Grand Manoeuvre, a French Coordinated Advance knocked off 2 more Cossacks.  Finally, after a totally failed Allied Rally (3 flags, one swords, and one unusable blue infantry symbol), another French Coordinated Advance took out a LC and the Austrian Horse Cavalry for the win.

The battle was more balanced than it sounds, with seven French units taking a total of 12 hits.  But the French had good rolls at the right times and the perfect cards for what they wanted to do. 

 

Happy New Year!

Week out from deadline.. if you haven't organised your matches yet, please do so. If you haven't heard back from your opponent, check the SPAM folder, and contact me if you still haven't heard.

If you have played and the match isn't reported yet, please report ASAP so I don't start chasing you.

Game 1
Mark McG (Allies) 4 Banners
FoxK (French) 6 Banners

Overall both matches ran for 4 hours, not including the 2 hours the day before trying to get VASSAL to sync. So the details are now somewhat fuzzy. Allies made early efforts to reduce the French hand down by hitting the cavalry and tying the Line foot into square, which was somewhat thwarted by Hasty Square.

End of the game was a 2 strength Russian HA with leader and supported being hit with 1 hit and 2 flags, the leader dying on a double swords and consequently the Russian artillery being unable to ignore both swords and being eliminated. 7 turn game.

 
Game 2
FoxK (Allies) 3 Banners
Mark McG (French) 6 Banners

2 turns of lining up the cavalry across from each other, eventually became clear the Allies were going to wait, so the French took the initiative. Guard Light cavalry took the lead, and ignored many flags. The French heavy cavalry came up and cleared the Allied left (and the unfortunate Thielmann died on a double swords), taking a 5-2 lead, and the game could have ended with a 1d leader loss, but he escaped.

Then a hard grind to pursue down the last banner, with successive near eliminations until eventually the Centre came good and chased one down. Tough game. 9 turns.
 

Game 2
scioio1zama (Allies) 4 Banners
Dawnreader (French) 6 Banners

Allies started the battle with light cavaly attack in the center, the French repulsed with their cavalry and got 2 banners. Then the French charged in the center and on their right flank and captured 2 more. But then things started unfolding badly for the French side - the allies counterattack killed a guard light cavalry and a heavy cavalry. 4 -2. French cuirassiers on the right  won the 5th banner for French. The allies weren't just sitting back, they stomped over cuirassiers and heavy cavalry on the french right with Thielmann and his light cavalry. 5-4. And French with last fierce attack in the center got the last banner. Very quick an bloody 5 turns game.