Denziens Eagles of Empire
A Day of Gaming
One of the barriers to getting into this game is the need to have unit cards for your models. I finally picked some up. The other factor is not knowing how many minis you'll need. You don't have an army list in the traditional sense but bring on troops when you need them cpdnfing command points which you gain from controlling objectives. These points can also be spent on victory points. The first player to reach the target amount wins. So no set turns either. It was these interesting mechanics that got us hooked on our first four games we did in one day. Each quick and deadly. We started with the basic scenario from the infantry drill book. A take the hill scenario using infantry only.
Both sides took the easy objectives represented by casualty markers but the hill was harder to reach. The prussians can spend command points on a doctrine to double their move so crested the hill first
Taking the hill the prussians come under fire from French chassepot rifle fire that is double the prussians range so they could only respond by using off table artillery which took more points.
The prussians hide behind the hill for safety and have to use more points to rush reinforcements on to the table. This gave the French oprtunity to advance. Now both sides claimed the objective which led to a bayonet charge which the prussians lost. Accumilating enough victory points the French win
Our second game included cavalry and artillery which introduced a whole bunch of challenges. The french hussars rushed to claim an objective and usedcall four points to get ahead in the victorypoints becausethey knew prussian cavalrywould soon contest it .
I realised I need more cavalry so I can make squadrons. This would make them more useful as well as artillery as two make a battery which increases their effectiveness. The French machine gun did help keep the prussians back who struggled to cross the dead ground which the French longer range covered
The tactical decisions really mater in this game. Cavalry battered into each other keeping the prussians back and allowing infantry to break forward while the long French range was hard to combat. The prussians realised too late they should have used off table artillery on the French in the buildings as they would get no cover. But the French had the victory points again
The final scenario we played twice and once again the prussians lost. Its very difficult to win once you get on the back foot and you have to spend points bringing on reinforcements rather than gaining victory points. After being cut up by cavalry in the first attempt the prussians advance through the cover of woods which cavalry can't enter. This slowed them down allowing the French to claim objectives first. It's a tricky game to master but very engaging and it's unique system of resource management kept us on our toes
Excellent-looking game. You are my hobby hero. You seem to collect, paint, and play all the games that are right up my alley.
Thanks hutch. Makes it all worth while when hou finally get a game in