Blucher is a tabletop game of the great battles of the Napoleonic Wars. Command an entire army from the first reconnaissance of the enemy to the deployment of forces and husbanding of reserves to the bombardment and engagement, and the final commitment of elite shock forces that will shatter the enemy’s weary defenders.
Blucher can be played with miniature figurines and terrain or with “unit cards” on any flat surface. You may in fact use both in the same game, since the cards provide a wonderful “fog of war” that conceals your forces until they are close enough to the enemy to be identified and represented with miniature figurines.
It has been given a rating of 8.2 on BoardGameGeek from 50+ ratings.
Epic Fox Table Top has produced a series of videos that are great at explaining the mechanics of Blucher.
1. Part One
2. Part Two
3. Part Three
If you’re interested in getting into Blucher. I can’t suggest you start anywhere else but these excellent collection of videos.
Historically the Battle of Ravine-à-Couleuvres also known as the Battle of Snake Gully, was a major battle of the Haitian Revolution on 23 February 1802.
A French division under General Donatien de Rochambeau was advancing down a ravine (the Ravine-à-Couleuvres), towards Lacroix, Artibonite, where they attacked the army of Toussaint Louverture. Louverture’s forces consisted of 1,500 elite grenadiers, 1,000 grenadiers in different Demi-brigades, 400 dragoons. Louverture’s forces resisted the attack strongly, but had to retreat across the Petite-Rivière after suffering 800 deaths.
Prior to the battle on 22 February 1802, the French occupied the heights of Morne Barade and were attacked by rebel troops; the battle raged throughout the night and the French forces successfully resisted the attack. The following morning, the Haitian forces advanced out of the Ravine-à-Couleuvres as the French were travelling down it towards Lacroix, while Louverture rallied his cavalry. According to Bell, the losses of Louverture’s army were minor.
The Gameplan
This would be my first game in Kreigsspiel and as such I was learning the ropes from the other players when I was able to communicate with them during the battle. That said it was an awful lot of fun and made me think of Kreigsspiel as more of an RPG wargame rather than the table top precisely measured game you imagine it to be.
This game took place with six players on each side, an overall General and then five Generals of Brigades. I was placed on the French side and in command of the third Brigade.
Unfortunately there were no accurate maps of the area available and so the game was to be played on a similar landscape using the Fredericksburg map from the Amercian Civil War.
The Battlefield
Our mission was simple, we were to enter from the north and take and hold the river side city as quickly as possible, while the rebels were out to stop us.
Our General issued his orders to us, which involved the Cavalry Brigade scouting the main route down to the city and assessing where the rebel locations were while avoiding combat if possible. My brigade was to follow the route taken by the cavalry as quickly as possible to try and take and hold the southern most part of the city ensuring that we held those bridges. The remaining brigades were to move to the northern part of the city to secure the crossing points there.
My initial orders showing the target positions of where I wanted my battalions to be placed once they reached the city.
07:45 On our route down our wagons get stuck in mud and I’m forced to lose time ordering our lead battalion to assist in freeing the wagons. At this point I wasn’t quite aware that orders had already not been understood, as my wagons were leading the column towards the enemy!
At 08:00 I assumed that the lead four battalions were well ahead of us this point after our delay freeing the wagons from the mud. So I sent orders to them via ADC advising them where to position themselves in the city until our arrival.
At 08:15 it became clear that all of my battalions were in fact towards the rear of the column.
At 8:30 contact is made with the enemy by the Cavalry screen in front of us.
08:30 Some frantic ordering in response to the firefight ahead sees me attempting to move my battalions in front of my wagons finally and deploying skirmishers while our General rides on ahead bravely to see whats going on
Brigade makes contact with the enemy and moves to support our cavalry.
08:45 As we were no co-located with the Cavalry commander we were able to get his report on the situation straight from the horses mouth (pun intended). I order my remaining battalions that have not yet arrived to push into the fields on the right as the nearest bridge to he city was just a couple of fields away to our right. We had the intention to punch through the enemy and try and make it to those bridges.
09:00 The initial combats appear to be going in our favour although the cavalry on the right are already starting to suffer casualties and the arrival of enemy cannon does not help our situation. I order my remaining three battalions to move up on the right flank to try and relieve the wounded cavalry elements.
09:15 My infantry start to gain the upper hand in the combat but the artillery is a worry.
I give orders for my troop movements with the intention to try and push my very slight advantage, I also send a message to the other Brigades to inform them of our plight.
09:30 The fighting intensifies, but my men start to run out of ammunition and are taking casualties at an alarming rate. I order my troops to retreat back along the road until we’re beyond the range of the enemy artillery.
10:00 My men begin to pull back
10:15 and my men begin to recuperate and rearm, while are Cavalry push back into the fields on the right.
10:30 and our Cavalry route the rebel cavalry and pursue their Generals. Only to be halted by the dreaded artillery. Prompted by this I order my battalions to take the enemy guns as quickly as possible, hoping to remove them from play or possibly even capture them for our own use.
And with that the game was over. While myself and my fellow gamer who was in charge of the Cavalry had managed to smash aside the Haitians, capture their guns and even wounded their commanders (I think)in our little corner of the battlefield. It just wasn’t enough with the 1st and 2nd French Brigades getting badly mauled to the north there was no hope of our little force crossing the river and securing the town.
A victory for the Haitians but a costly victory.
Summary
This was a fantastic introduction to Krieggspiel and I thoroughly enjoyed myself throughout.
It wasn’t anything like I expected, and in the end felt more like a Role-playing game where you’re in charge of a specific General. I highly recommend anyone to take a look at this game and perhaps join the International Krieggspiel Society and dip your own toes in!
Recently I’ve really been enjoying IRO’s Saint Kristos – Pirate Island posts. This will be a massive 12ft by 8ft table when it’s finished and boy.does it look good!
They’ve also got a cracking alternate reality Napoleonic game going on in Turnip28. Seriously talented in terrain making and painting, I often find myself staring at the terrain pictures for ages. Why not head over there and check out IRO.
Warlord Games have released their Epic Waterloo miniatures and game system this weekend just gone. I was lucky enough to pick my French Starter Set from SCN Hobby World yesterday and I was eager to take a peek and see what was inside.
It’s one of the largest starter boxes I’ve seen, and one of the heaviest! I picked mine up at 20% off for £72 through Sarah at SCN Hobby World.
Lifting the Lid
Theres a tonne of sprues inside. Ten infantry, three heavy cavalry and three light cavalry. Along with the meaty full colour rulebook, a scenery piece, painting guide and flags. I
It was all very nicely packages tightly inside. Warlord must have learnt their lesson form the ACW version Starter Set here, as a common complaint was that everything was a bit loose inside that box and often some of the contents would arrive damaged.
“Do you have a flag….?” – Eddie Izzard
They have coloured the plastic of both starter sets, (blue for french and Red for British) so if you’re eager and know someone with the other set you can play straight away without the need for painting.
Sprue 1– Light Cavalry
Hussar!
There enough here for 11 bases of Light Cavalry, as well as 3 artillery. Made up of 4 Lancer bases (one spare model), 3 Hussar bases (3 spare models) and 4 Chasseur bases (1 spare model). None of these models are command models but the addition of two Imperial Eagles on each sprue allows you to convert some in to standards. You can also use the spare models for ADC’s or for diorama pieces on your Brigade Commander stands.
Geek Point 1: The standards were made optional as none of the French Cavalry had their standards on the Waterloo campaign.
Sprue 2– Heavy Cavalry
These are the other 10 bases of Cavalry, but these make heavier versions of the Cavalry regiments. Here you’ll have 4 bases of Cuirassiers, 3 bases of Carabiniers and 3 bases of Dragoons. Again, you have the inclusion of an artillery piece on each sprue and two french eagles. There were a lot more Cuirassiers and Dragoons at Waterloo than Carabiniers but I can understand why Warlord have included one of each type on the sprue.
Sprue 3– Infantry
There’s loads of infantry… all told just over 800 men. The detail on the sprues is incredible given their size, and time has been taken to differentiate the flank companies of Grenadiers and Voltigeurs from the centre companies.
This sprue is packed. You’ve eight stands of infantry and enough skirmishing Voltigeurs for another stand, as well as some foot artillery and a command figure.
Bases
Bases… lots of them!
Of course, none of these would play well without the basic addition of bases… just look at that pile! It’s huge.
Dice
And some dice… as if wargamers don’t have enough to build their own fort! Still a good inclusion for a starter set.
Declan’s picture of the dice included
Decoster’s House – Building
Decoster’s House
Warlord games have teamed up with Sarissa Precision to bring some scenery with the boxset which also comes with its own painting guide and stencil.
Flags & Painting Guide
A great addition is a full colour sheet of French flags. This will really add to the colour and make the regiments individual on the tabletop. Well done to Warlord games for this inclusion.
Rulesbook
The full rules book for the Waterloo Campaign in Epic Battles. This appears to be a full rulebook at 260 pages. It’s in glorious full colour as well and means you don’t need a separate copy of any of the existing Black Powder rule books.
Summary
This is a great box, and real value for money. It should draw many GW fans looking to get into Napoleonics. Declan and I are just two of them.
The Warpfire New Year Knockout is a one day event that took place in Florida, US. It involved 12 players duking it our over three glorious rounds of AoS.
Most Selected Faction/Subfaction
Win Rate
The Top Three Lists
These were the top three lists from the Warpfire New Year Knockout.
Karl Rohr – Legion of the First Prince
Karl won all three games beating Ossiarch Bonereapers/Petrifex Elite in Round 1, 3rd placed CJ Cole and his Daughters of Khaine/Hagg Narr in Round 2 and 2nd placed Shawn Todd with his Sons of Behemat/Taker Tribe in the last round.
Allegiance: Legion of the First Prince – Subfaction: None – Grand Strategy: – Triumph:
Leaders ———- Bloodthirster of Insensate Rage (General) (280)* – Command Trait: Ruinous Aura – Artefact: Armour of the Pact Kairos Fateweaver (435) – Spell: The Master’s Command The Contorted Epitome (255)** – Artefact: fourfold Blade – Spell: Flaming Weapon Be’lakor (360)** – Spell: The Master’s Command Synessa (260)** – Spell: The Master’s Command – Spell: Entire Slaanesh Lore
Shawn won two of his three games and only lost to first place Karl and his Legion of the First Prince. He beat Sylvaneth/Harvestboon in Round 1 and Ossiarch Bonereapers/Petrifex Elite in Round 2.
Allegiance: Sons of Behemat – Subfaction: Taker Tribe – Grand Strategy: Beast Master – Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders ———- Kraken-eater Mega-Gargant (General)(490)* – Command Trait: Old and Gnarly – Artefact: Glowy Lantern – Spell: Flaming Weapon
Core Battalions ———- *Bosses of the Stomp – Magnificent **Bosses of the Stomp – Magnificent
Total Points: 1955 pts
CJ Cole – Daughters of Khaine
CJ also won two games and like Shawn, he only lost to Karl and his Legion of the First Prince. Along the way he beat the poor Kruleboyz/Big Yellers in Round 2 and Lumineth Realm-Lords/Helon in Round 3.
Allegiance: Daughters of Khaine – Subfaction: Hagg Nar – Grand Strategy: Beast Master – Triumphs: Inspired
Leaders ———- Melusai Ironscale (General)(115)** – Command Trait: Devoted Disciple – Artefact: The Ulfuri The Shadow Queen(660)* Morathi-Khaine(660)** Hag Queen (105)** – Artefact: Khainite Pendant – Prayer: Catechism of Murder
In my excitement for receiving my Epic Waterloo French Starter set from Warlord Games, I’ve been perusing the internet looking for painting guides. The below are a collection of the best videos I have found. All of these videos have been published on YouTube by Miniature Realms, Miniature Wargaming Warriors
The Las Vegas Open is different to most other events that you would probably attend. 177 players took part in five games over two days on Friday 28th and Saturday 29th January. The top eight of from the first two days then played in a knockout tournament on Sunday 30th January to decide the overall winner.
Most Selected Faction/Subfaction
Ironjawz/Bloodtoofs are the most common faction at the LVO this year, closely followed by the usual Soulblight Gravelords/Vyrkos Dynasty and Stormcast Eternals/Hammers of Sigmar.
Win Rate
The Top Three Lists
These were the top three lists from the Las Vegas Open 2022.
Gavin Grigar – Cities of Sigmar
Gavin Grigar went though the whole tournament unbeaten, winning eight games and winning the crown.
Allegiance: Cities of Sigmar – Subfaction: Living City – Grand Strategy: Hold the Line – Triumph: Inspired
Leaders ———- Doralia ven Denst (115)* Sorceress (General)(95)* – Command Trait: Master of Magic – Artefact: Arcane Tome – Spell: Ironoak Skin Freeguild General (100)* – City Role: General’s Adjutant
Units ———- Corpse Cart with Balefire Brazier (80)**
Core Battalions ———- *Warlord **Battle Regiment
Total Points: 2000 pts
Jeremy LeFebvre – Cities of Sigmar
Jeremy also went the whole three days with a remarkable win rate of 6 wins to one loss. The loss was to eventual winner Gavin.
Allegiance: Cities of Sigmar – Subfaction: Phoenicium – Grand Strategy: Dominating Presence – Triumphs: Bloodthirsty
Leaders ———- Annointed on Frostheart Phoenix (General)(315)* – Command Trait: One with Fire and Ice – Golden Mist – Artefact: Phoenix Pyre Ashes Assassin(80)* Assassin(80)* Assassin(80)** Celestial Hurricanum with Celestial Battlemage (280) – Spell: Golden Mist Annointed on Frostheart Phoenix (315)* – Artefact: Arcane Tome – Spell: Flaming Weapon
We’ve covered a lot of Top 3 lists over the last month, so I thought it would be good to look at some of the stats surrounding them.
Be wary those, these are for all the one day and two day events that we’ve covered plus two or three more. All armies are at 2,000 points and using the current rules and FAQ’s.
The below list are the tournaments that have been used to populate this data.
Golden Sprue AoS GT 2022 Clash of Swords Tempest Coliseum of Sigmar PSU: March to War Norwegian Masters Kirwans Game Store Monthly AoS Tournament January 8th Metagames 2k Tournament Grudge Hammer LVO Prep Event Atomic Dallas Defenders New Year New Player TTWG Sigmar Bash MOX Age of Sigmar Tournament Forge & Fire 2k Age of Sigmar Viking Games RTT: Realm of Viking Part I Gitmob Charity Brawl 2022
Most Selected Grand Alliance
Order tops the table with almost half of all armies being from an Order Battletome.
Grand Alliance Win Rates
The win rate for each Grand Alliance tells a difference story though with Destruction being the most successful and Chaos the least.
Most Selected Faction
Out of those 280 armies that we’ve focused on it’ll be no surprise that the Stormcast Eternals are the most played faction with nearly 20% of the field playing Stormcast. This would mean on average at a five day event you’re likely to play at least one Stormcast army.
Faction Win Rates
Idoneth Deepkin lead the table here with a massive 72.7% win rate over 22 games. However, let’s narrow this down to the more popular factions who have played at least 50 games:
This leaves the five most popular factions, with Ironjawz heading this mini-league with a 57.7% win rate.
Top 10 Most Selected Sub-Faction
It’ll probably come as no surprise that the Hammers of Sigmar lead the table in the most played sub-faction. The appeal of Dragons and Dracothian units is just too great possibly.
Surprisingly for me, Skaventide is in fourth despite having possibly once of the most outdated books?
Top 10 Win rates for Sub-Factions with 20+ Games
Idoneth Deepkin/Fuethan top the charts showing that perhaps they’re the easiest faction to pick up and play? My own beloved Kruleboyz/Big Yellers prop up the rest of the table with a measly 30.3% win rate.
Stormcast Eternals/Hammers of Sigmar Analysis
So who’s their bogey enemy? Who do they lose to most often?
The data set is too small to have a any reliability at the moment, but Legion of the First Prince and Sons of Behemat/Breaker Tribe have had the most success against them.
If we reduce the opposition to Sub-Factions who have played them at least ten times then only the Ironjaws/Bloodtoofs have a favourable win ratio against them.
Ironjaws/Bloodtoofs Analysis
Again, the data set is to small to have any significance.
This event saw a total of 24 players take part over three games.
Gitmob Gaming are proud to announce their 1st one day event, which is also in support of the brilliant charity CALM, the campaign for living miserably. The charity seeks to break taboos around mental health, offer support for mental health issues and prevent cases of Suicide. This Age of Sigmar matched play event is open to 30 players and will consist of 3 games, held at the Bowlers Arms, Newbury.
Tournament Description
Most Selected Faction/Subfaction
For the first time since we’ve covered the top three lists in 2022 the Soulblight Gravelords/Vyrkos Dynasty are the most played faction in a tournament. The lack of an Ironjawz list is also quite surprising.
Win Rate
The Top Three Lists
These were the top three lists from Gitmob Charity Brawl 2022.
James won all of his games and beat Disciples of Tzeentch/Hosts Arcanum in Round 1, Ogor Mawtribes/Bloodgullet in Round 2 and Soulblight Gravelords/Vrykos Dynasty in Round 3.
Allegiance: Sons of Behemat – Subfaction: Breaker Tribe – Grand Strategy: Beast Master – Triumph:
Leaders ———- Gatebreaker Mega-Gargant (525)* – Artefact: Vial of Manticore Venom Gatebreaker Mega-Gargant (General)(525)* – Command Trait: Louder than Words – Artefact: Arcane Tome – Spell: Flaming Weapon
Core Battalions ———- *Bosses of the Stomp – Magnificent **Hunters of the Heartland
Additional Enhancement ———- Artefact
Total Points: 2000 pts
Mark Paddon – Soulblight Gravelords
Mark won all three games beating Beasts of Chaos in Round 1, Seraphon/Thunder Lizard in Round 2 and losing to Stormcast Eternals/Hammers of Sigmar in Round 3.
Leaders ———- Coven Throne (290)* – Artefact: Arcane Tome – Spell: Vile Transference Belladamma Volga, First of the Vyrkos (200)* – Spell: Soulpike Radukar the Wolf (150)* – Spell: Amethystine Pinions Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon (General)(435)* – Command Trait: The Hunter’s Snare – Artefact: Sangsyron – Spell: Flaming Weapon – Mount Trait: Foetid Miasma
Battleline ———- 10x Dire Wolves (135)** 10x Dire Wolves (135)** 10x Dire Wolves (135)**
Units ———- 5x Blood Knights (195)** 5x Blood Knights (195)**
Steve won two of their three games and beat Soulblight Gravelords/Vyrkos Dynasty in Round 1, Soulblight Gravelords/Vyrkos Dynasty in Round 2 and lost against Sons of Behemat/Breaker Tribe in Round 3.
Leaders ———- Gravestride Corpse Eater (Drogg) (525) – Allies Belladamma Volga, First of the Vyrkos(200)* – Spell: Spirit Gale Necromancer (125)* – Spell: Fading Vigour Wight King on Skeletal Steed (General)(130)* – Command Trait: Kin of the Wolf
As with everything I would like this to be community driven, so if you see any typo’s or think paragraphs need rephrasing or moving then please let me know in the form at the end of this article.
Last Weeks Poll Results for Orders
Here are the results from last weeks polls.
Based on these results, the following section will be added to our living rules:
ORDER GENERATION
At the start of a turn each player will roll 2D6 and add the number of Generals they have on the table to that roll; this is their ORDER POOL.
WHO GOES FIRST?
Who gets to use an order first in the turn is determined by bidding. Once the ORDER POOL has been generated, each player should say how many orders they wish to use to bid for the FIRSTACTIVATION of that turn. Any orders that have been used to bid for the FIRST ACTIVATION are lost from the ORDER POOL regardless of whether the bid was successful or not.
For example, Player A rolls 9 for their ORDER POOL, and decides to use 4 orders to bid for the FIRSTACTIVATION of the turn. If they bid more than the opposing player, they can activate a unit first that turn. If they bid less than their opponent then they will have the SECOND ACTIVATION that turn. Regardless of whether the player wins the bid or not, they lose the number of orders that they used to try and claim the FIRST ACTIVATION that turn. In the case above Player A will have 5 orders remaining in their ORDER POOL which they can use to attempt to order their units with in the coming turn.
ORDERS
When an order is being issued, the player must first determine the score needed in order for the target unit to activate. To do so add the COMMAND RATING of the unit to that of the nearest friendly General on the table. This combined rating will then be used as a score which the player must equal or beat on a roll of 2D6 in order for the order to be effective. If the player does not achieve the score needed then an order is lost from their ORDER POOL and the next player then attempts an activation.
For Example, Player A wants to activate an elite unit on their left flank that has the possibility of claiming an objective. The units COMMAND RATING is 2, and the nearest General’s COMMAND RATING is 4, giving a combined total of 6. Player A rolls a 7 on 2D6 and so is able to issue an order to that unit.
THIS WEEKS POLLS
There are two further poll it has been suggested to me to add in regards to Orders.
Firstly, if a unit has been successfully given an order, does it carry out any actions the player wishes OR should it be a specific order such as move or shoot.
Secondly, if a unit has been issued an order can you then issue another order to the same unit? If so, should there be a limit on the number of orders any one unit can receive?
Next week we’ll begin to look at the stats of a unit.
–Peter
Suggestions?
Do you have any rules suggestions, or a topic you would like us to focus on next. Or perhaps you would like us to reword something in the main document. Anything you want, let us know below.
