Other people’s Portable-style Wargames: The Battle of Néry

Recently, Professor Gary Sheffield re-fought the Battle of Néry with Stuart Davies using the latter’s PORTABLE WARGAME-style rules.

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Stuart’s rules (with some Optional rules suggested by Gary) are summarised below:

THE RULES

Units

• Infantry Company: 2 figures.
• Infantry Battalion: 4 Infantry Companies PLUS a Machine Gun battery.
• Cavalry Squadron: 1 figure.
• Cavalry Regiment: 4 Cavalry Squadrons PLUS a Machine Gun battery
• Machine Gun and Artillery Batteries: Strength indicated by the number of gun crew (i.e. a 4-gun battery will have 4 crew figures)
• (Optional rule:  Machine Gun batteries have a maximum of 2 crew figures but each figure throws 2D6 and hit on 3, 4, 5, or 6 in the open. However, the Machine Gun jams on a 1 on D6 (i.e. either 50% or 100% of guns cannot fire in that turn)).
• (Optional rule: Field Artillery has a range of 12 squares and throws 2D6 dice per gun per battery.)

Turn sequence

• The moves were card driven.
• At the beginning of each turn each unit on both sides is dealt a card from the same pack, and that determined the order of activation.
• Thus if a unit gets the King of Spades (the highest possible normal card) it will move first, but one with the Ace of Clubs (the lowest possible card) moves last.
• If a unit gets a Joker, that trumps all court cards, and that unit can decide to go first or last.
• (Optional rule: A Joker means a unit can decide when to move/fire, which can be at any point in turn except when another unit is moving/firing.)
• Units can choose to reserve their fire, i.e. not use open fire during their turn but wait until a target appears.

Movement

• Units move up to the following distances:
• Infantry: Move 2 squares.
• Cavalry: Move 4 squares.
• Horse artillery: Move as cavalry.
• All can make a half move and then fire.
• All movement is orthogonal.
• Deduct 1 square of movement to mount/dismount, limber and unlimber.
• It is therefore possible to do multiple actions in same turn.

Firing

• Weapon ranges:
• Rifles: 4 Squares.
• Carbines: 3 Squares.
• Horse Artillery: 8 Squares.
• Machine Guns: 6 Squares.
• Each figure in a unit throw a D6 die to fire. (See optional rules for Machine Guns and Field Artillery above.)
• Dice scores to hit:
• 6 to hit in hard cover.
• 6 or 5 to hit in soft cover.
• 4. 5, or 6 to hit to hit in the open.
• Add 1 to dice to hit if close range.
• Deduct 1 from dice to hit if firing carbine.
• Artillery and Machine Guns nominate primary target directly to front but can hit targets in squares either side of target square.

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BATTLE REPORT

The opening positions. The British are at the bottom of the photograph.

The Germans emerge from the wood and mist and come under a storm of British rifle and machine gun fire.

British Machine Gun destroys a German Machine Gun.

Heavy fighting on the outskirts of Nery.

The British reinforcements arrive in the shape of the 4th Cavalry Brigade!

The British advance and the Germans prepare to retreat.

1st Life Guards overrun a German Horse Artillery battery,

The situation at the end of the battle.

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Please note that the photographs featured above are © Professor Gary Sheffield.