I recently played a decent-sized solo game of Valour & Fortitude (2nd ed, v3.1) with my 10mm Napoleonic troops, snow mat and 6mm buildings. The action-packed game did not disappoint!

The scenario played was “Set Piece Battle” and after selecting about 360 points each of French and Russians from the V&F 3.1 list, I diced for the attacker (per scenario instructions) and the Russians rolled highest meaning they were the attackers. The Battlefield was already set up for my Eylau Scenario for “Eagles Cheaper than Brain Cells” and I kept it including the hills and villages. The Russians selected 2 x villages. The French selected the large town on their baseline (the “defensible terrain” town of Eylau) and the large woods on their right.

Turns 1-4

The rules suggest when playing with 10mm troops to halve all measurements, which I did but it felt a little fiddly and next battle I might try 2/3 measurements intstead.

Turns 5-8

The gallery above shows the Russian attack against the French right taking shape. It’s important to note here that Valour and Fortitude handled the attack easily with little to no questions so far as the Russians shelled French units across the field and the French responded in kind!

Turns 9-12

The Russians have experienced a setback to their plan but they still have the combat power to shift some units around. There is an intense firefight going on in between the woods and the town and also more Russian units are demonstrating in front of the town. A cavalry battle is occurring on the extreme left of the French line as supported Hussars charge full in against thte Russian dragoons.

The Russians attempt to gather up their forces for one final push into the woods but trading fire with the French sees the French come out on top!

So what did we learn?

For starters, the attacking force has a tough job in Valour & Fortitude. Attacking units must be properly supported and preferably with no hits on them. An enemy should be softened up and close to being shaken when you assault them. This is easy to say, but if the dice aren’t with you and you’re on a tight schedule, you should have a “Plan B” lined up!

The terrain rules are still a little hazy to me but for the most part the game flowed really well. Basing the units on 2×1 stands, with 3 stands to a battalion was no problem and I think this will be my basing scheme moving forward.

Obviously, V&F plays better with lots of units, as units dry up pretty quickly. Once committed to a course of action, you have to see it through. In this battle, the Russian “Brigades” should have cooperated with each other and both supported each other to seize the wooded area. Imagine if an entire brigade would ahve assaulted the woods, instead of one single battalion! The rules are clever and pack alot of punch into a few pages. I like that and I can completely see the “Black Powder” DNA evident in these rules, but they are just so much more streamlined and efficient.

Anwyays that about wraps up “Napoleonic Month” here. I still want to get the Battle of Lindenau, 1813 on the table, but I am furiously cranking out 20mm WWII units for an upcoming game at a friend’s house. More to follow so stay tuned!