CTA 2011 Lasalle

Call to Arms was a 4 game tournament last weekend. I took part in the Lasalle competition with my 1815 Prussians. We had a good mix of armies, 1806 Young Guard, Peninsular French, 1806 Prussians, 1815 Prussians, Light Division British and Guards British.

I didn’t get enough time for fully finish 4 of my units as I only had 5 nights to paint due to the models arriving on the Monday. I did get them to gaming standard but couldn’t find anything to cut the lances down so my Landwehr cav had long lances which became a danger when moving (sharp brass rods).

First game was against Cam and his 1806 Prussians. These were 1:72 scale plastic figures. It only became odd looking when the units close. Fun game, we both dropped each other’s army down to breaking point but none of us would break. Game ended in a draw due to random game length ending on turn 20.

Second game was against Simon’s British Guards with Brunswick support. My first move I sent my Cav around the left flank while I took up position in the centre with my cannons supported by 2 units of line. My right was my weak spot. Only 1 line unit and 1 landwehr unit held it with a unit of landwehr cav there to try to slow down the attack. The idea was the smash through on the left while avoiding his large Guards units threatening my centre. It worked!

Third game was against Bryan’s Young guard army. He took the infantry support choice so had a huge amount of Valiant infantry. I has rolled up a poor tactician for my Cav commander so wasn’t able to break his flank like I did vs Simon. He was slowed down by my delaying tactic on my right but still had enough units to push through and seize the objective.

Fourth game was Vs Paul’s French with Dragoon support. It was a new mission where 3 objectives were placed in the centre and the winner was who held the most objectives at game end. I split my infantry in 3 groups to attack each objective. My left was average by centre was weak and my right was strong. To help out the centre I deployed my cannons. My Cav was deployed to cover the left or centre as needed. Paul started with a bit of bad luck. I hit him hard with my Landwehr cav destroying two infantry units who failed to form square in time but losing the Landwehr cav in process, a fair trade. My right easily took and held the objective there freeing up a landwehr cav and landwehr infantry to assist the centre. A few good rolls on the left saw a breakout of the stalemate their putting Paul below strength and failing his break test.

I really like Lasalle as a game. All games had a great narrative. It was never a case of walk forward and roll dice. There was lots of manoeuvre, delaying tactics and exploiting where I was strong. All things I think represent the period very well.

I also think the Prussian Army is a fun force to play. It has a good mix of units here is what consists of an 1815 force for Lasalle:

2 Line Battalions (Rated a Reliable/Experienced/SK2)

2 Reserve Battalions (Rated as Reliable/Experienced/SK2 in 1815)

2 Landwehr Battalions (Rated as Unpredictable/Amateur/SK1)

1 Landwehr Cav Squadron (Rated as Shaky/Amateur which is the worse Cav in the game)

1 Foot artillery battery of 4 guns (1 Howie, 3 cannons)

If attacking I get another Line Battalion and andother Landwehr Battalion.

In support which is organic (starts on table):

2 Landwehr Cav Squadrons (Rated as Shaky/Amateur)

1 Dragoon Squadron (Rated as Reliable/Experienced/Pursuit)

1 Hussar Squadron (Rated as Valiant/Experienced/Pursuit)

1 Horse artillery battery of 4 guns (1 Howie, 3 cannons)