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Figure 1 shows the situation on the rise just to the south of Gimioiancourt at Quatre Bras during the 3:15 PM game turn. A previous turns' French cavalry charge has cleared this rise of skirmishers. However, the Allied player has surrounded and cut off from retreat several cavalry units as shown by the letter "A" in Figure 1. How does the French player assault this position? Fortunately, the French have placed during previous turns six artillery batteries on the ridge south as shown by the letter "B" in Figure 2. The far right artillery has two batteries in that hex. During the French Movement Phase, the cavalry at "A" is positioned as a threat to force units to square "C". The position of the cavalry in front of and below the hill also discourages counter assault against the artillery in the next Allied turn. Forcing units to form square helps artillery attacks as shots by artillery against squares (and columns, too) are given a bonus of 50%. Another advantage of forcing the Allied player into squares is that the firepower of a square is reduced by 75%, Next, the infantry is brought up to melee the squares. Also, plenty of skirmishers are brought up with the assaulting infantry columns for firepower to give chances for fatigue and SP losses before the melee. The skirmishers generally do not participate in the melee while the infantry columns slated to melee do not fire. Units that have not fired during the current player turn receive a +1 dice roll modifier to the melee result. |
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In the French Offensive Fire Phase, the artillery softens up the targets. In this case, three of the artillery fired at the disordered Allied cavalry (at 8 pts/SP and a +2 modifier you can't go wrong with that!), while the other three each fired at an infantry unit. The skirmishers which do not go in with the assaulting infantry all fire at their adjacent targets. Next, note that the cavalry do not charge; their job is done - forcing units into square. If the cavalry had charged, they will be disordered and lose their threat value for a turn or more. Additionally, what value is gained by a charge at this point? If a unit can be surrounded and completely captured, perhaps that will make a charge worthwhile. Finally, in the Melee Phase the infantry melees the intended targets, freeing the surrounded cavalry. |
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