ALEXANDER HAY
As the technology of war advanced the musket became the great equalizer. If your troops would fire, the enemy would incur casualties, regardless of whether your troops were the better trained or the more experienced. The effect of a thousand poorly trained, ill commanded troops firing into a block of men should not be ignored. Therefore a simple system was developed to account for a unit suffering losses.In ancient battles the general is more important in combat, but in modern battles the chain of command is more important. C’est la Guerre uses a simple command structure to manage battlefield movement.In addition there is troop grading so that better trained more effective troops can have an advantage, and poorly trained less effective troops are at a disadvantage.C’est la Guerre accounts for casualties and losses without going into an overly complicated accounting system, and provides for a command structure without dealing with morale or having the players issue orders.REVIEW:C’est la Guerre is an excellent rules set that provides enough flavor of the Horse and Musket period for a good game, without bogging one down in the details that can make a game tedious. Anyone familiar with DBA or its derivatives will be able to get into things quickly. Play is fast....My first opposed game, with a former DBA player, took about ninety minutes, playing twelve complete turns, while bringing him up to speed.Armies vary in size, based on quality and type of troops. My Seven Years War Prussians fielded fourteen units. The opposing Russian list had twenty. Most will fall somewhere in between. We played on a 4x3 foot table, using 25mm figures.After setting terrain, and determine which edge each player sets up from, both players roll to see who will go first. This is followed by rolling a d6 to see how many initiative points you work with. Various action cost you points...moving a unit, rallying a unit, etc. you can maximize you efforts by moving in lines or columns, or using a ’command group’ based around your command unit. Distance from ’command’ means that an action costs more.After movement, both sides engage in fire, followed by melee. combat involves opposed dice rolls, modified by factors based on unit type and quality Results range from ’no result’ to ’push back’, flee or destroyed’. casualties may occur, which will induce negative modifiers to the unit involved.Musketry range is very short, which is good and proper. Close in, trade volleys, and have at it with the bayonet. The real challenge is moving into position to do some damage with the enemy trying to break your formations with artillery and skirmishing cavalry.Lists are provided for the major wars of the 18th Century, including the the Great Northern War, the Wars of Marlborough, the Jacobite Rebellion, the Seven Years War, the French and Indian War, and the American Revolution, and there is a Napoleonic List as well. By using the ’rifle ranges’ included, I see no reason these rules could not be pushed to handle the Crimean War and US Civil War as well.I have found these rules to provide an enjoyable game, either solitaire, or face-to-face , and hope their will be an expansion for campaigns, which could be played over a course of several get togethers. Some lists for the French and English in India would also be most welcome.A fine value, every club should have a copy. (Steven P.)
