Battle of Haale, 17 October 1806

Ruleset: Shako II

Here are some pictures of my 6mm early Prussian army in action in a recent game of Shako II, the Battle of Haale during the War of the Fourth Coalition.

Initial deployments.

This was the second time I've commanded my Prussians and my second game overall in Shako II. I lost the battle, but it was at least a challenge for my opponent, as I understood the rules much better than in my first game, and paid much more attention to time-and-space considerations to manoeuvre the brigades and cover the ground better and use effective formations.

Treskow's brigade (all minis are Baccus except where indicated).

Hussar Regiment No 7.

The scenario was very interesting and involved the Prussian army attempting to exit units (including four valuable supply wagons moving automatically along the road) where the roads led off the board, and the French having to move across a pair of bridges and through a city to head them off. I attempted to pen the French in the town but they got out too quickly, while my cavalry wasted time on the wrong flank of the action.

Prussian army advancing to the intersection.

The French moving through the city (these are my opponent's minis and buildings - some of these minis might be Adler, some are 3D prints and the buildings I think are TimeCast).

The brigades fought hard to hold the road open but ultimately failed. My right flank brigade gave as good as it got against a French blocking force but after heavy losses on both sides the Prussian formation failed it's morale test whereas the French passed. At the same time the centre brigade simply lost it's combats and broke up.

The right flank battles the French blocking force while a French cavalry unit, which had just broken a musketeer battalion, is itself surrounded and destroyed.

The Prussian centre crumbles while a single musketeer battalion alone does what it can to hold up the French.

After that there were some desperate actions by disorganised Prussian units trying to protect the baggage train but the fight was over at that point. It was a fun game though and I learned a lot from it.

The Prussian Aide de Camp rides forward with new orders for a brigade commander, only to fall moments later to a stray musket ball, his vital message undelivered.

About the Shako II rules (as a comparison to Blucher).

Shako II is very much about overcoming issues of manoeuvring (especially for non-French forces organised according to the old relatively ponderous linear principles and having a much inferior command and control system) and having flank and rear support. Melee (and sometimes even musketry) is extremely decisive and units are broken and destroyed/routed from the table more often than not in a single turn and with a single turn of the die.

If your battalions are caught out with awkward facing and not neatly lined up when close to the enemy then expect to get a severe beating!

I find this is quite different from Blucher which is more attritional. Despite both combat systems deciding a melee in one turn (i.e. with losers thrown into retreat or destroyed rather than spending turns in contact) and both using a 'difference in scores' mechanic to determine casualties, Shako II units are more fragile and there are more powerful modifiers. It also uses a single opposed D6 roll whereas Blucher uses a handful of D6s, which (without having checked the maths) seem to me generate potentially greater score differences and therefore heavier casualties for the loser. Also, offensives can really steamroll weaker opponents because winners in combat generally do not take losses or become disordered and cavalry can get follow-on charges.

I'll be playing a bit more Shako II in future, so will compose some more posts on the topic.