General d'Armee 2

Scott has a new division of Württemberg troops to break in and the new edition of General d'Armee, so a small game was arranged to start learning the rules.

We decided that it was 1813 and Napoleon and the Allies were fighting to the last German. I fielded a mixed division of Prussians and Russians roughly equal to Scott's force; 8 battalions of infantry and 2 regiments of cavalry. His artillery battery was large at 3 models so I took 2x regular sized batteries.

Prussians 

Prussian dragoons and Russian uhlans

Russians

Württemberg cavalry brigade 

Württemberg Light infantry

Big artillery battery wearing proper helmets

Württemberg dragoons get stuck in. I opted to be aggressive and stand and fire instead of forming square, which hurt him badly (both regiments retired "Worn") but after two charges cost me the Jaeger battalion.

Prussian artillery

Skirmish lines skirmishing. Skirmish fire is a lot less bloody.

Württemberg fusiliers wearing proper helmets as well!

Scott enjoying himself. The game certainly gives a grand spectacle, which is I think the point of big Napoleonic games, rules bedamned.

Dragoons charging again! My infantry have gone into uncontrolled musketry, making them less effective

Jaegers about to be destroyed

Russian artillery. I'm not sure if Scott counted them as 12 pounders?

My cavalry charge!

Prussians enjoying the autumn colours

Württemberg Light Infantry storm my battery!

You can see all the hits the Lights have taken charging the guns.

The initiative mechanic is interesting. Roll 2d6 high roll wins. But for every hesitant or broken brigade you add an extra dice and must use the two lowest rolls. So the extra dice give you more chances to roll badly.

Supports in charges can add reroll attempts, but you need to weigh the risk of rolling worse vs how bad the result is now.

Fire combat is less bloody. So smaller forces are more viable and give a better game. With the first edition I always felt that a single division wasn't enough for the game, but now it seems fine. 

There are some ideas that are new and require a bit of thought to wrap your head around, but they're interesting.

More games are required, and I should maybe buy my own copy.