Ron and I managed to get in our 3rd playtest of “Lasalle.” We were both much better prepared for the game this time around and thus got a lot more out of it. We are still making errors, still getting confused with the sequence, but the bottom line is that we did manage to have a pretty good time fighting what for the most part “looked” and “felt” like a Napoleonic action at this level. I will follow this with a quick AAR of the game with pictures and then close with a general review of the rules.

For this game Ron played a Peninsular French Infantry Division with his support being an organic “Elite” Brigade. I was defending with a Peninsular British Division with a Portuguese Brigade in support. We rolled up the “Village in the Woods” battlefield and I elected to defend in typical British fashion which Ron was happy to oblige me. I elected to have Ron set up first.

Ron deployed with his main force on his right and his “Elites” on his left. I set up with my British on my left and Portuguese on the right. Both guns I kept in the center.

The Portuguese form on the British Right.

The British left.

The French right – regular line brigade.

The French had first move and pressed on with two battalions from the elite brigade on their left while the third battalion pressed through the woods in march column leading one of the French batteries.

French elite infantry and guns advance down the center road.

The Portuguese, lead by Cacadores, extend the British battle line to the right hoping that having that having twice the number of battalions will allow them to hold off the superior French troops.

In the center, the British artillery starts to soften up the French advance.

The Portuguese on the right finish extending the line and thanks to the Cacadores, manage to outshoot the French muskets, however long range French supporting artillery fire keeps the death toll relatively even.

The French right, is unwilling to advance down a defile at a defending British line battalion and becomes content with shelling the battalion “plugging” the gap on the British extreme left. This left many French units idle for too long.

Having cleared the village, the French center begins to press hard.

The first charge that closes comes from a Portuguese Line battalion hoping to clean up after the Portuguese artillery hit the opposite French line battalion. Howevere, the Portuguese battalion ultimately would be repulsed.

In the British center left, a Light Battalion charges home on the British battery who failed to successfully withdraw behind the supporting “Elite” British unit. The artillery is wiped out. The British “Elite” Battalion charges in its turn and get revenge for loss of the guns, but in the process their +1 Tactics sub-commander is struck dead.

Meanwhile on the British far right, one of the French Elite Brigade’s battalions is destroyed by musket fire, leaving a three to one advantage.

In the center, the British line falls back into a semicircle inviting French battalions to enter the “kill zone.”

The Portuguese continue to overwhelm the French Elite Brigade and place the supporting French battery “in between a rock and a hard place.”

Back on the British left, the one Battalion that has been getting pounded by the French battery is pulled off the line before it gets too close to destruction and a fresh British line battalion moves forward to take its turn receiving the French cannonade.

The Portuguese on the right finish extending the line and thanks to the Cacadores, manage to outshoot the French muskets, however long range French supporting artillery fire keeps the death toll relatively even.

The large British “Elite” Bn in the center is broken by the combined weight of two regular sized French line Battalions. The British center is now in jeopardy and the “objective” is within French grasp now.

By this point, the French were had already been checking “army morale” for some time but had not broken. The British where better off, but only due so to the fact that they had survived some last minute charges (that I failed to get photos of!). So the game ended as a “draw” just as the amazing Portuguese on the British right started to shift to the shore up the crumbling British center. The French far right never really got in the fight, the French battery on the right just was unable to clear the defile and many French units sat idle for far too long. At the games end these unit were jus starting to shift to the center, but rather than being there to capitalize on the French success in the center, they now had to prepare to stop Portuguese infantry from coming in on the rear of the French center.

So in the end it seemed to be a fairly realistic run down of a small Napoleonic action. And most importantly we had fun!

Both Ron and I got along very well with the rules with minimum need for looking up items or referring to the game charts. From about turn seven forward we were literally “flying” through turns at a very fast pace. Our biggest problem in the early part of the game was just getting the sequence down. I believe we managed to bugger that up pretty well in the first few turns, but at least that was before the main combat actions starting occurring.

There are a couple of aspects we did not necessarily like about Lasalle:

1) Army breaking should get more likely as the army continues to sustain more damage. It is great that a force starts checking when it loses 1/3 strength…but more damage did not make the morale satiation any worse for them. Mounting losses should matter.
2) Shooting was a lot less effective then we were used too and melee seemed to vary widely in results. Perhaps these are more historically accurate but took some time to get used too.
3) We seemed to be missing out on “breakthrough” charges. When the French lights in the center charged and broke the British battery there, their “advance” had to halt just short of contact with the supporting British “Elite” battalion. This gave that British Bn a chance to shoot before the French lights charged home. I would think that units on a “breakthrough/advance” should be able to close with the next unit without that defending unit having a chance to fire.
4) No delineation in artillery quality. It just seems really strange that my Portuguese medium foot battery was just as good as my British medium foot battery. I’m not really sure where the artily discipline rating are listed.

There are some aspects that we really liked:

1) The rules did play extremely fast once we got in the “swing” with them.
2) There is a “time limit” that really forces you to be aggressive and “get at it.”
3) We really liked the way Skirmishers were accounted for in the game. I REALLY wish we had Skirmisher bases made up (converting from Napoleon’s Battles Base format right now).
4) The game was fun! By far the most important aspect. We felt that we had relatively balanced chances with our armies, and even after the French dropped by 1/3 strength they still had a chance to pull a win from under the British.

All and all I am very encourage by these rules. I had much fun with them and found them much more playable than any of the rules I have tried in the last few year. I have more sets to playtest in the coming months, but for now I consider “Lasalle” the set to beat.

If you are playing Lasalle you may want to consider usings these excellect markers for tracking your unit disruption. They are available from "The Dial Dude!"