The above picture is of the final moments of the Maltese Legion, read on to learn the story...
We recently had another 25mm Napoleonics game, using the General de Brigade rules, that featured Napoleon's Campaigns in Egypt and the Holy Land (NIE from now on!). It was a "what if" scenario that pondered the burning question of what might have happened to the French troops besieging Acre had been attacked in strength while Napoleon was off fighting at Mt. Tabor? The short answer... nothing good!
A brief recap of the game...
For those who missed it... A quick re-cap of the "Turkish" sortie to sack the artillery batteries that were bombarding the city of Acre. While Eddie (future Marshal of the Empire Lannes) solidly held the French right wing I (ill-fated General de Division Reynier) held the center and left of the French line. While engaging the British (hey, where did they come from?) in the center and a Turkish infantry brigade on our left I chose to IGNORE a small cavalry brigade of Turkish lancers as they moved around our left flank. "Mon ami, they are ze rabble and can do us no harm." Within a few turns the Turks stormed both of our batteries and began to grind on the hapless French infantry standing, solidly/stupidly, to hold the central mine entrance and the left wing. After trading ineffective musketry for a while I was suddenly confronted with Pasha Kennedy's cavalry poised in my central rear area with assault orders... uh oh. No problem says I - after all, a good shot when they charge in will empty a few saddles and that will likely run them off. (Insert NFL films dramatic background music and voice over here) What happened next was a charge for the ages. The cavalry charged, got shot, passed morale (ah darn - no problem though,they suck... right?) and charged home. Upon impact the cavalry rolls double sixes (mon ami, I am not liking zis suddenly) which doubles all casualties. Lets see, the sudden loss of 95% of the Maltese Legion in one melee with another cavalry unit bearing down on those few (un)fortunate survivors looks... well, not good. Suddenly the French center has evaporated under the combined firepower of two British units (yeah, I know, the giant unit was just Swiss) and the hammer blow of the bloodthirsty Ottoman cavalry.With things looking bleak for the French, Lannes decided to fortify his position in the village and leave the hapless brigade on the far left to find its own way out of the Turkish horde. All in all, the Frenchies got a harsh beating. Reynier had lots of 'splaining to do when Napoleon got back from his excursion in the countryside while Lannes could point out that his units were intact and ready for action (butt kisser).
Thats what happened as I saw it (just before I got knocked on the head andplayed dead until the Turks left).
