Franco-Prussian War Skirmish Using Bolt Action

Had a great play test using Bolt Action for a Franco Prussian War skirmish game today thanks to my buddy, James S. He also didn't show up empty-handed, but had a 6-pack of Guinness Stout to add to our discerning rules review during the game. Both sides had 8 units a piece. The Prussians having the only cannon on the battlefield and the French a "hero" who could lend his Morale value to units in his area of influence. Here are some images from the game with captions of game play as best I could recall. James chose to run the French and I ran the Prussians. We set it at 6 turns, with victory conditions being the occupation of more than half the buildings, of which there were 4 total, and/or killing off more than 50 percent of the enemy. Oh, and we were using the 1st edition rules as neither of us have the 2nd edition.

Prussian Jaegers assaulting Zouaves occupying a building. The Zouaves lost the combat and were routed out - this even after using their 2 Attacks in HTH. We actually played this out after the game, which the French won, just to see how HTH would work.

Zouaves and Chasseurs a Cheval firing upon attacking Bavarian infantry. The Chasseurs were given a -1 to hit while firing their carbines from the saddle. This was at the end of Turn 2, I think.

French Line Infantry occupying a building - which they managed to do for the entire game, even after being shot at by Prussian and Bavarian foot, as well as the Prussian 12 pounder. The -2 to hit while in hard cover was very helpful.

Unit dispositions after the end of Turn 1. Prussians advancing on the left, and French on the right. Note the tree stumps in the "wooded" areas. The area in and around the stumps were considered light cover. I found them convenient to use, particularly with multi-figure bases, as they can be moved around a bit to fit the bases.

Zieten Hussars firing upon Algerian Turcos after making an advance move. They caused a Pin, but no casualty in this turn. Litko "Disordered" markers were used for Pin markers.

End of Turn 3. French infantry occupying two of the four buildings, and also in firing line along the hedges to stop the Prussian advance.

Two Bavarian infantry squads attacking the French right. They sustained a lot casualties during the game due to the longer range of the Chassepot rifles. I gave the Chassepot a 24" range and the Dreyse Needle Gun an 18" range. In spite of this disadvantage, the Bavarians still managed to inflict a good number of casualties on the French, particularly their cavalry.

Prussian infantry sustaining a lot of fire from multiple French units. They were eventually wiped out with the French ending up occupying the building.

Another Prussian squad advancing and firing upon the French behind cover.

Zieten Hussars taking long range fire from Turcos in cover in the distance. French Line Infantry along the hedges having taken a lot of Pins from both the Hussars and Prussian foot.

French left, with their "hero" lending his Morale support. It was not enough for the French Line Infantry on the right above, as they were eventually routed off the table.

That all said, the French were victorious in this skirmish. They held more buildings at the end of Turn 6, and had a few more units left than the Prussians. It was a see-saw battle for the most part, and if I had used the cannon a bit more effectively, it may have helped turn the tide. In any case, both James and I felt these rules work excellently for this scenario. He later admitted that he initially had reservations about using Bolt Action for this period, but he quickly changed his mind. I don't plan to change this scenario for an upcoming game day at Fort Steilacoom next month. However, I may add a few more units if they arrive in time. Best wishes to you all and thanks for stopping by.