Napoleonic Shako Rules Try Out

 

Hello There! I have been painting Napoleonic 28mm figures for a while now and finally have enough to put on a game.

I have used Shako II rules for many years, at the club I attend, but with a number of people being more familiar with the rules I have never learned the rules thoroughly. This has obviously been a problem when you want to put a game on yourself!

Adrian and I played a thrown together game using all the figures that we had available. This resulted in a mix of Spanish and French on one side and British and Austrians on the other. The scenario was loosely based on Maida but both sides had cavalry at their disposal.   

The steep learning curve nature of the game meant that there was not much time to take photos but here are the few that I did take.

I used the singularly based figures intended for the skirmish rules as skirmisher stands. The Spanish guerrillas stood in for the British allies and the Royal Corsican Rangers and the Sicilian Light Infantry. 

All of these figures were on the table for the first time. Here is one of the Austrian Colonels I have completed recently. 

The battlefield covered 8' by 4' and the scenario provided a good and useful learning experience. After the game we had a few questions for some club members.

The game played out quickly, even with referring to the rule book a number of times.

The French came very close to winning and put a lot of pressure on the defenders for a long time. The French column attacks did not fair well with the dice throws and eventually rebounded and fell back.

The cavalry battles continued for a few moves and then, while they were doing well their infantry forces broke obliging the cavalry to retire.

We found ourselves flicking through the rules a lot and the hap hazard way the subjects are organised made it difficult to find what you wanted to clarify.

I have since contacted some members of the Shako II facebook page and they have been kind enough to send me a list of  the headed titles from the rule book and an edited quick reference sheet showing other house rules from other clubs.

These all provide food for thought for the future.