Song of Drums and Shakos AAR

So last weekend, my wife and I decided to break out "Song of Drums and Shakos" from Ganesha Games. She has shown a keen interest in my "little guys", and SDS is an easy game to get into. Since I already have the scenery, especially the farmhouse, for the "Take the farmhouse" scenario in the basic rule book, that is the scenario we chose to play.

Setup

I took the French, at 520 points, and the Mrs. took the British, defending the farmhouse with 400 points. In my merry little band, I had 4 grenadiers, an officer, drummer, eagle-bearer, and a half-dozen line company infantry with an NCO, in case the officer were to be rendered hors d' combat.

For the British, I gave them an officer, NCO (love the halberd!), drummer, 6 grenadier company, and 4 line company soldiers. After playing the scenario, I don't think the drummer is useful for the defenders holed up in the farmhouse; you aren't likely to be making group activations while spread out over defensive positions. Maybe there's a chance for a 'regroup' order, but that's about it.

Le Rosbifs

To battle!

So, coming on from my deployment position, having no voltigeurs or legere, I decided to go straight up the road and ignore the woods. I lead off with a column of line infantry under orders from the officer, with the NCO tagging along for support. The grenadiers were meant to follow immediately, but they would have to wait until the following turn (I failed my next activation).

The British meanwhile, seeing the French heading for the bridge, began pouring out of the farmhouse, leaving only a pair of their mates to man the window closest to the bridge. The French line company troops charged with a great cheer towards the bridge, with the NCO cheering them on. However, the British fire was withering; several of the French soldiers fell instantly, while others tried to return fire, but they were so rattled that their shots missed widely.

This bridge is too steep, as the soldiers kept sliding off and falling over; I need to scratch build a new bridge out of wood.

Two brave men of Gascony charged across the bridge to cross bayonets with le rosbifs, but were set upon by two British soldier's each, and were also quickly put down.

The white pom-poms indicate unloaded muskets; I like them better than cotton balls, because they don't get all over the place.

Finally, lieutenant Deja Vu ordered the grenadiers forward, trying to pour his best men into the fray with a group order. Ponderously (getting only one success out of two rolled), it took at least two turns for them to get within range. The officer followed along behind, to command his best troops to setup a firing line across the creek, but they too were quickly brought down by deadly fire from the British muskets. The drummer and eagle bearer never moved the entire game!

Denoument

Finally, the numbers began to tell, and the French morale broke, with even the standard bearer dropping his precious eagle and running for camp. His sweet Amelie waited there to console him. The British cheered as they saw the backs of Johnny frog (as usual), and the captain ordered a ration of gin all around!

The French NCO runs away into the woods. (Woodland Scenics ready-made trees on wooden discs). The wooden disc bases look awful here, but at the time of this writing, I have rectified that with wood glue, sand, paint, and reindeer moss and Spanish moss.

Comments about the game

 This is not the first time I have played this game, not even the first time I have played this scenario. But this is the first time I have been able to put my thoughts about the game in this blog. It is not likely to appeal to grognards who seek strict realism, as it is not meant as such a game. Rather, it is an adaptation of the popular "Song of Blades and Heroes" to a Napoleonic setting. Furthermore, there is no strict ground scale; everything is measured in the very abstract short/medium/long lengths that were introduced in SoB&H. But if you want a fun and exciting game you can play with your Napoleonic miniatures, this is a game for you.

Some critics like to point out, quite smugly, that there was no such thing as a "squad" in Napoleonic times, and that the rules allow an unrealistic mis-match of troop types in the same force that would never have fought together. For example, you could take a pair of dragoons on horseback with your legere squad and a handful of grenadiers. However, I never expect to use this set to create historically accurate or realistic battles; rather, I expect to have fun with some painted 28mm figures in interesting scenarios.

Some of the special rules are unrealistic though. One of them is the "light" special rule, which allows light infantry like jaegers, grenzers, and legere to move through rough terrain or woods at the normal movement rate. In larger scale games, like Drums and Shakos Large Battles, these faster movement rates make sense; units of light troops do not have to dress lines and maintain cohesion, since they are moving in looser formations. While moving around individual soldiers however, everyone on the table is capable of moving in loose formations. That being said, I accept the rule, as it makes such troops distinctive.

Anyways, that's my take on the game, one of my favorites!