Sunday, April 19, 2009

Horse Musket and Gun - Game this Fall

It's been suggested that we try and run a larger game of Horse Musket and Gun this fall.

I believe a reality check is in order before getting too excited about the prospect.

1) Is there enough interest among potential players to cover the cost?
2) Do we have enough figures to provide a playable force to each player?

Right now I figure there are about a dozen players interested in game of 25mm Napoleonics at the scale we are playing. That would be about a three or four short of the number we would need. Could we get the additional players by this fall, probably, but I am not going to hold my breath. Twelve players would require a $17 fee per player, either in food and beverage or payment. Twenty players drops cost per player down to $10.

Assuming 15 players, that would be 15 divisions worth of troops needed.
Austrian Light Division – 2 Regiments of Grenzers, 2 Cavalry Regiments, 1 Battery
Austrian Division – 4 Regiments of Infantry, 1 Regiment of Landwehr, 2 Batteries
French – 12 Battalions of Legere/Ligne Infantry, 2 Batteries
French Cavalry Brigade – 3 Regiments of Light Cavalry
Prussian Brigade – 5 Regiments of Infantry of Some sort.
Russian Infantry – 6 Regiments of Infantry/Jagers

Austrian Light Division – 60 Foot Figures and 60 Cavalry Figures
Austrian Division – 325 Foot Figures
French Division – 180 Foot Figures
French Cavalry Brigade – 40 Mounted Figures
Prussian Brigade – 120 Foot and 12 Cavalry
Russian Infantry Division – 136 Foot Figures

So with those numbers in mind
6 French Infantry Divisions, 2 French Cavalry Brigades = 1080 foot figures and 80 mounted figures
2 Austrian Divisions and 1 Austrian Light Division = 710 foot figures and 60 mounted figures
2 Russian Divisions = 300 foot figures
2 Prussian Brigades = 240 foot and 24 mounted figures.

Between Jim and me we have the following figures:
French Foot = 500 foot + 176 Guard foot
Austrian Foot = 192 foot, 28 Grenzer + 28 Jagers, 192 Grenadiers + 72 Landwehr
Russian Foot = 96 Foot
Prussian = el zippo

At this time we just don’t have enough figures.

I’ll look though my pile of unpainted lead but most of that is not plain jane basic infantry, which is what we need at this time.

I realize the Joel Gregory has probably as many figures as I do, probably more but that still leaves us too many short for the big game and Hastings is probably outside of his range to drive to.. We would have to get the Tom Zwirn, Kevin MacDonald, and Jack Ladd Painting services very very busy for the next six months. I am afraid I just don’t see it happening right now.

However that won’t stop me from drawing up a potential order of battle :)

4 comments:

Unknown said...

um this may seem a rather silly question but why not just use 15's?
or is that not possible as most 15's are based for nappy's battles?

I have a little over 3000 figures based for Empire, though I seem to recal basing for your system is the same as empire.

just a thought

Jeff said...

Horse Musket and Gun is not dependent on basing as long as both sides are based similiarly.

My 15mm Collection is organized to be played at 1:30 where I have been workign hard to complete the one hundred days campaign.

As wierd as it seems there is not much interest in playing battlaion level gaming in 15mm, rather the bigger scale is what people want. I just shrug and go on.

Anonymous said...

If the main driver for number of players required is cost for the Levee, a few meals and drinks per person will hit $20 easily. Last time I think I hit that number just with drinks. :-)

Speaking for myself, the main reason battalion-level games appeal at 25mm scale is twofold. First, I paint more than I play these days,and I am looking forward to painting up some larger figures. At that scale I can tackle piping and stuff like that without going totally mental.

The second is that the battalion-level games offer a chance to game different types of scenarios, since the level of command drops from the army/corps level down to brigade/divisional level.

For what it's worth, I don't consider Empire a true battalion-level game, per se. It uses individual battalions, but the focus is at command and control at corps level and higher.

I'll be working on some 15mm and 25mm Naps concurrently for the rest of the year. That reminds me... I need to get some more Russian green.

joel said...

Jeff;

depending on when the game is held this fall, I would not against going to Hastings. Even If I can't attend, you can borrow my troops. I most likely have all the Prussian Foot that you need, and can paint up the required mounted for the game.

Joel