Uncle Duke's Napoleonette

For some nostalgia, I am posting this account from March 2005, when we had Al-Con at Uncle Duke's house and played Uncle Duke's Napoleonette, or UDN. UDN was actually inspired by a set of 18th Century rules called Lace Wars, which are available free on the internet at this link:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0-_LMmXX3FSb2pFdU1FZlU3YlU/view?usp=sharing

Our buddy Jeff modified the Lace Wars rules for some 15mm Grand scale Napoleonic games that we had. The intent was that rules should be easy to learn and play, with a historical feel. We had several enjoyable games with these rules using lots of troops, and the games usually ended within 4 hours or so. Uncle Duke liked the game so much, he called them the best Napoleonic rules he had ever played, which was certainly high praise. However, Uncle Duke then toyed around with the rules and developed his own, much more detailed version, or UDN. Duke's 15mm Napoleonic figures were from his own line of Heritage Napoleonic Miniatures called Napoleonettes, hence the name Napoleonette in UDN. Below are some photos of our pre-publication play test game. Finally, I thought it would be good to prove that someone actually played these rules.

The game was played on Uncle Duke's famous 2' x 2' terrain squares on a 12' x 6' table. The Bavarian town of Krankenstaadt in the background. Click on the photos to enlarge.

French commanders Prince Pavlik of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw (actually Mr. Bob on the left) and Marshall Jeffrie (Jeff on the right) and your's truely. The troops operated in large regimental units with bases holding many miniatures. We use Uncle Duke's famous movement sticks, which are more fun to use than rulers.

Marshall Jeffrie is taunting the Austrians, explaining why they are inferior to the French. Uncle Duke (right) looks downcast & pondering what will happen next, since he has Austrian heritage.

Hapsburg Archdukes William (Mr. Bill to the left) and Allen (Al to the right) commanded the inferior Austrians.

The inferior Austrian cavalry charges across the table towards the French right flank.



Uncle Duke observes Archdukes William and Allen moving their inferior Austrians forward. Archduke Allen is trying hard to stay awake after a night of partying in Vienna.

Marshall Jeffrie is admiring his troops and grinning over the impending victory, as they advance towards the hapless Austrians.

A panorama of the battle of Krankenstaadt. I thought the best thing about this game was how the troops looked.

A division of inferior Austrian infantry advancing.

Another view of the battle from the opposite side of the table. Note that each regiment has name labels and organizational information on the back of each unit.

Prince Pavlik observes Archduke Allen rolling dice to ensure he doesn't re-roll the results he doesn't like. Archduke Allen's cavalry was decimated by Prince Pavlik's troops, however the Austrian cavalry under Archduke William made very un-Austrian like manoevers on the French left, which you can just see on the lower right of the photo.

Inferior Austrian Grenzer Infantry.

Inferior Hungarian infantry deploying into line formation from thier regimental bases, supported by brown coated inferior Austrian artillery. Austrian artillery uniforms were obviously easier to keep clean than infantry uniforms.

Another overview of the battle of Krankenstaadt. Note that the French left flank (lower right in the photo) is turned in from inferior Austrian cavalry attacks.

The final photo of the battle, with Archduke William now moving his troops around the French left flank. How could the inferior Austrians do this to the French? Probably bad die rolling. Archduke Allen and Prince Pavlik have fought to a draw on the other flank.

The Battle of Flodden, September 9, 1513

Our most recent miniatures game was to re-create the Battle of Flodden, which was a Battle fought between the Scots and the English on September 9, 1513. It was the largest battle in numbers that was fought between the two nations.

The war started when Scottish King James IV, an ally of France, declared war on England in order to divert English troops from France, where English King Henry V was already engaged in a war against the French. The battle was actually fought near the English town of Branxton in Northumberland.

The Scottish troops were generally armed with the pike and fought in deep columns similar to the Swiss. The Scots also had some large artillery pieces and Highland troops who fought in irregular formations. The main English infantry fought in less dense formations using a weapon called a bill, which was a shorter pole-arm that had a large heavy axe-head, similar to a halberd.  The English also had smaller but more maneuverable artillery that could fire more rapidly. They also still had what had been a staple of English armies for 500 years, the longbow men.

For our game, the rules we used are modified DBA rules. To reflect the effectiveness of English artillery, they were allowed to fire in their own and in their opponents turn, while the Scots could only fire once every other turn. Scottish highlanders could fight as war bands and as bowmen, since they behaved as both under the DBA rules. The Scots started the game deployed on a hill as in real life, while the English deployed opposite.

Above is the initial deployment of the armies, the Scots on the left, the English on the right. Playing the Scots were Ralph & Dave. Playing the English were Al, Uncle Duke, and Ken. Mr. Bob was the referee. Click on photos to enlarge.

 The Scots deployed on the hill in front of the English.

The English line preparing to advance

 Both armies on the move, the Scots staying near the edge of the low hill.

Scottish Highlanders on the right flank were facing the English longbows, but were outflanked by the light English cavalry and eventually destroyed.

The Scots on the left flank advanced and crushed the English to their front. Each side had defeated one flank and lost the other.

As the English left began to turn-in towards the Scottish right, English artillery made itself felt and the element containing King James (yellow Scottish flag in the photo on the left) was destroyed and James was killed. This ended the battle.

Below is a link to a series of videos called "Two Men in a Trench," some archeologists who investigate the Flodden battlefield:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCw-0wjo7xk&index=5&list=PL7F1B722D766E2484

Below is a short video "The Battle of Flodden Fields."

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCw-0wjo7xk&index=5&list=PL7F1B722D766E2484