Wellingtons Victory Reboot

A bit of a misnomer really as this is a re design or a new game with the old SPI title. Take your pick.

Lots of hankering and ugly chat on the board at CSW. Some fundamental challenges for the game being discussed with 10 minute turns planned, that there my friends would crush a man. This was a slow playing game to start. I am guessing double the play time at least if 10 minutes turns are used.

Allied Infantry in Line?
Allied Infantry in Line?

A heated discussion regarding movement rates vs firing ranges (which are a problem in fact for a lot of games like Le Bat) is ongoing. Funnily the defunct on life support Napoleonic Battle System systems solves this problem or at least caters for it. Jours de Glorie has this issue tenfold as the time scale is way out of whack with the movement rates and combat model.

The combat system feels a bit like a minis style approach, with ‘hits’ causing morale checks etc. Is that right?

We can see Divisional designations!  Is the top right number the Corps? At the risk of commenting further without any data I’ll just say that the map must be splendid, as these the single most drab looking, washed out counters I seen. Functional aspects are a challenge too. I shall report back with some details once I surf a bit thru the CSW folder….as that is the ONLY place where content is being posted by the designer.

Prussians

Prussians

French Infantry
French Infantry

I think the Cav units will pop on map, and be easily discernable with the traditional diagonal slash. However the infantry units look like they have baby Field Mouse poop on them. I’d know, I have a little infestation in a crawl space.

Fundamentally tho you have to wonder at Decision Games ability to get a quality game out that is properly playtested, with de minimis errata that works as a cohesive system out of the box versus the errata all over the place and folks testing post production.

French Cav
French Cav

Since this is not a REPRINT with errata and fixes for skirmishers etc, I shall be waiting on the side lines until after the product releases and experts tell me it is worth the hard earned dollars.

 

Chris Perellos design statement with his formating not mine:

 

UPDATED DESCRIPTION Wellington’s Victory is loosely based on the SPI classic grand tactical simulation of Waterloo. This will retain the feel of the original—the fragility of dense units in the open, the efficacy of different arms and formations at different times—while addressing some of the shortcomings of the original. Gone is the asymmetric turn sequence which so hampered the Prussians and gave cavalry near-immunity from artillery: in its place, a simplified sequence that retains the continual interplay between sides: each player gets a movement and combat phase, separated by a reaction phase for the opposing player. The reaction phase incorporates many of the original game’s phases, allowing changes of facing and formation, and in some instances allowing reaction fire. Cavalry charges are announced during movement and resolved during combat, just like infantry and artillery combat; charging cavalry does limit some reactions and does require some morale checks. Gone too are the step reduction markers. Infantry still is presented as battalions, but large battalions have several counters. Skirmishers are identified by battalion or regiment or brigade, depending on the army, so reflect the quality of the parent unit. Cavalry now is presented as squadrons, a regiment having one or more depending on its actual strength. Artillery remains in batteries. The number of available formations has been expanded. Infantry now have both close column (the “column” in the original) and column of divisions, a highly flexible formation used as the primary formation by all armies. Open order replaces skirmisher companies; all units can adopt open order, but only trained skirmishers can use it to full effect. Units occupying defensive positions can adopt garrison formation, enhancing their firepower at the expense of movement. Cavalry now can adopt column formation for major attacks, or spread out as vedettes. Combat has been much simplified. All combat is resolved with a throw of one-to-six dice, the number dependent on firepower, formation, terrain, and other factors. Each die is a morale check for the target, and the total of all dice determines whether casualties are inflicted. Most fire combat is simultaneous, a targeted unit able to return fire if facing and formation allow. Larger units (brigades, divisions, corps) are represented by headquarters, which reflect the unit’s base of operations. HQ are either active or inactive: only inactive units are able to reorganize units shot up in combat, or allowed to move across the map. An army with all units committed will be incapable of reacting to the sudden enemy appearance in an unexpected place, a possibility raised by the inclusion of hidden movement when units cannot be observed. The Prussian arrival is handled by an off-map track. There are Prussian units nearby at the beginning of the battle; if the French player ignores them, they can be brought on much earlier than was done historically. The track allows the Allied player to choose the entry location for the Prussian units, either to shore up Wellington’s flank, strike deep into the French rear, or (as historically) erupt onto Napoleon’s flank. Scenarios include a number of small learning actions focusing on one unit type, early start, and the possibility the French appearance at Mont St. Jean was only a feint.

 

5 thoughts on “Wellingtons Victory Reboot

  1. I play tested this one twice. The first play thru was quite fun and quick. I have played the LaBat system extensively and this version of WV was faster and more fun. Then I play tested again after designer changes. I think it wasn’t as clean on the second play thru. Hope it is streamlined some more. And I keep hammering them to make the counter colors brighter so that the counters “pop” out on the map.

  2. Seems like the movement might be a bit fast for a 10 minute turn…5 MA for infantry. Aren’t the hexes something like 100 yards?

  3. No thin red lines in this game then, rather a faded pink. I initially thought when you said 10 minute turns that that was the real time given to players to put pressure and time constraints on them, a device I’ve used in house rules for large games as a sort of command control and to avoid “analysis paralysis”.

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