Musket Fire at Waterloo

Recensione del Gioco di Guerra di ...by Design

Fanteria, cavalleria ed artiglieria britannica holding the line near La Haye Sainte. The unit encircled in yellow has Wellington attached to it. Musket Fire at Waterloo is a fun game, best enjoyed by due players using the "Fog of War" option which allows hidden movement e reverse slope deployment.

System Requirement

• Mac/PowerMac
• System 7
• 4 MB RAM
• 1.5 MB Hard Disk
• Solo Wargame
• Due-Player Mode
• Play by eMail

The Grande Armée deployed for action. The unit encircled in yellow is a brigade of guard fanteria con Imperatore Napoleon attached to it. The remaining fanteria of the guard is deployed to the left e rear of this brigade. Reille’s II Corps is on the left flank, Lobau’s VI Corps in the center, e D’Erlon’s I Corps on the right. Kellermann’s III e Milhaud’s IV Cavalleria Corps are in reserve immediately behind Reille e D’Erlon respectively.

The left e center of the line britannico extending from Papelotte to La Haye Sainte. The unit encircled in yellow is a cavalleria brigade con Wellington attached to it. Fanteria britannica occupies the farm of La Haye Sainte, but they still need to be deployed for all around defense.

The center e right of the line britannico extending from La Haye Sainte to Hougoumont. Again, the unit encircled in yellow is the cavalleria brigade to which Wellington is attached. Guards britannici are inside the Chateau Hougoumont.

The Prussians are coming. The player francese must attempt to win the battle quickly, before the Prussians arrive on the scene.

Valutazione

The map is of a similar quality to the one used in the Cannon Fire series from the same publisher, except that the hills are noticeably square in this scenario. Game squares measure 400 x 400 yards. Each strength point equals 250 actual men, o 3-8 guns. One game turn equals 30 minutes of real time.

Fanteria e cavalleria brigades are uniformed according to the dominant troop type e nationality deployed in the formation. The soldatini which make up a brigade are larger than those found in the Cannon Fire series, resulting in fewer soldatini per unit. Waterloo is a relatively small battlefield, ed it would have been visually more pleasing if larger unit icons had been used, e larger terrain squares to fit them in.

The game provides players con the look e feel of a Napoleonic miniatures game. Units are rendered con nicely uniformed soldatini, but there are not enough of them to simulate a brigade of 2000 men.

Fanteria units maneuver in line, column, o square formation. Stationary fanteria units may adopt an all-around defensive posture inside villages. Cavalleria has a choice of line o column formation. Artiglieria may be limbered o unlimbered.

Victory points are awarded for routed o destroyed enemy units, leader caduti, e the capture of strategic locations on the map. The game ends immediately if the francesi have 80 victory points more o 50 VP less than the allies.

Firing range is one square for fanteria ed up to tre squares for artiglieria. The opportunity fire rule is in place, preventing enemy units from sneeking up on defenders without getting fired at.

Units failing morale will rout immediately to the rear, e force morale checks on friendly units they pass through. This may trigger massed routs. General officers attached to a unit will be named in the unit’s status report card, e they provide a +2 o +3 morale bonus. Generals may be moved from one unit to another at the beginning of a turn. General officers become caduti if the unit the are attached to is destroyed.

The game controls are easy to use. Units may be maneuverd con the cursor keys, e there is a pull-down menu for special actions e formation changes.

There is an interesting what-if scenario called "Waterloo con Grouchy" which has Marshal Grouchy’s corps arrive at the same time the armata prussiana enters the field.

The game icon representing limbered artiglieria looks very similar to unlimbered artiglieria, making the distinction between the due a little difficult at times.

Charges can be dicey, particularly when unit morale is low o if the unit has suffered losses in fire combat. Cavalleria had best charge line formations from flank o rear, ed avoid charging squares o columns. Cavalleria in line receives a morale bonus, ed attached leaders improve morale as well. However, even brigate della cavalleria regolare britannica con Wellington attached will fail to charge on an almost routine basis, e this can be very frustrating for the player. The reviewers cavalleria refused to charge even routed fanteria in flank o rear. When they do charge, cavalleria often lose the melee against deployed artiglieria charged in flank o rear.

The strategic map may only be viewed, it does not allow the player to click to any sector of it. This option is available in the Cannon Fire series from the same publisher, but is has not been implemented here.

The combat AI will launch cavalleria charges against prepared fanteria in line, e fail in the attempt, then blow the fanteria away con artiglieria fire. Clearly, the other way around would be more approriate to Napoleonic tactics. One way to strengthen the computer opponent is to set the advantage higher, giving the enemy units better combat odds e higher morale. Unfortunately, this result in fanteria britannica losing many firefights e cavalleria refusing to charge. Clearly, this cheat mode is not a great way to improve the AI. Better to play the game against a live opponent.

The "Follow Enemy" option did not work on the reviewers Performa 630 con System 7.6.1. Play by eMail is not a feature of this game, although it’s included in the Cannon Fire series from the same publisher.

The "Show ID" option will provide players con relatively cryptic information about the units. Villages, roads ed other key locations are not named. Players not familiar con the Waterloo battlefield will not be able to identify the villages e farms over which the battle was fought.

This simulation of the Battle of Waterloo provides a quick ed enjoyable game for due players. The AI is good enough for a practise game, but only a live opponent will be challenging enough to test the players generalship skills.

Modello di ...by Design, Inc.

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Soldatini Napoleonici

– Pubblicato: 14.06.1999 – Aggiornato: 23.05.2007
© 1999-2011 by IDL Software GmbH, Darmstadt, Germania. Tutti diritti reservati.