Annual Christmas SYW Game Tomorrow

 

The Austrian form their battle line. This is a picture of my command,
 from the table edge to the wooded area on the table.

Click on pictures to enlarge

Our gaming group usually holds a large Big Battalion SYW game in early December of each year. We call it our Christmas War Game. This year it's a battle of the nations with Austrians, British, French and Prussians attending the ball, playing across three 6ft by 30ft tables. However, the most shocking aspect of the game is that the French and British are allies fighting the alliance of Austria and Prussia. (I didn't set up the ground rules here :) ).

Kieth L. is our host and he has graciously given us free run over the table in his large basement. We have players coming in from Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana.

Der Alte Fritz is even changing sides and will command a brigade of Austrian infantry and cuirassiers. The world is indeed turned upside down!

Here are a few pictures of the battlefield with the troops already in their assigned positions:

The British starting point on one of the Left Table.
French forces are also located on this table.

A view of the Middle Table

A view of the Right Table
(Austrians and Prussians)

A mass of the Prussian heavy cavalry comprised of 
cuirassiers and dragoons.

Here is the objective that the armies are fighting for:

Some Ian Weekley buildings form a village at the crossroads
in the center of the table.

Another view of the village. Hopefully the civilians have the good sense
to hit the road and get out of Dodge City.

We will be using Bill Protz's rules, Batailles dans l'Ancien Regime" (or B.A.R. for short). We use the BAR rules for most of our games (SYW, Napoleonic, British Colonial eras) so most of the players are already familiar with the rules, which should speed up the pace of the game.

I will be posting pictures of the game over the next several days, so come on back and see all of the Fritz Pix.