Its official Marshal Saxe is pants, and a groveling retraction included.

Sorry for the delay in posting but I was on my travels again last weekend. Just before I left John, Steve and I fought a Seven Years War battle using the Rank and File rules again. When I set the game up I forgot that I had only used units of 30 figures and instead used their full complement of 36.

It proved cumbersome to maneuver but to be honest I found the sight very easy on the eye. Rank and File rules are a decent set to use and lend themselves well to the linear tactics of the Seven Years War.

Naturally I opted for the French with Saxon allies and gave John and Steve the better quality Hanoverian and Hessian troops with a smattering of Austrian cuirassiers. I sometimes think I heap pressure on myself as the army facing me was a tough nut to crack.

The battle itself was a rough affair with Steve piling forward with his Hanoverian's whilst John who had a full brigade of Grenadiers and Cuirassiers took a more measured advance. My intention was to hold up John whilst striking at Steve. Naturally that didnt go to plan and I had to switch attacks and attempt to split the allies by attacking the centre.

It is advisable if possible to halt and fire in Rank and file, one gets a better chance of hitting something, whilst moving and firing does give you a bit of a disadvantage. Not too much but enough to think about what you are doing. Naturally I messed things up a tad and watched as my French infantry wilted under sustained fire.

My Saxons fared slightly better but in one penultimate move John managed to shake the whole brigade which effectively caused them to leave the table.

They may be veteran figures in the truest sense of the word but these Garrison troops were very very effective fighters as they laid into my Saxons. I actually managed to charge them with a Saxon regiment that had been unable to deploy into line.They amazingly pushed the Hessian's back but then sustained vicious fire from the Hessian supports and simply melted away. It had been a gamble especially as they had no supports to speak of, but it was satisfying to see, well it was for me anyway.

The game was more about showing Steve how Rank and File rules worked and it didnt take him long to pick them up. Personally I thought he had been cribbing the night before as my French reeled from sustained Hanoverian fire.

Ive noticed that whenever Marshal Saxe is in charge he tends to lose his command very quickly. This was no different although he did manage to bring on the reserve heavy cavalry which allowed the Franc/Saxons to retire untroubled. John kindly granted me a losing draw, but it didnt feel like that to be honest. Still a very enjoyable game and a lovely way to spend an afternoon.

                                                         And now; a retraction;...

A couple of weeks ago I alluded to John of the Westerhope Wargames club as having a nefarious past. This was meant as banter but unfortunately proved to upset the said John. So can I assure you that John has never to my knowledge ever been arrested, detained or even spoken to by the guardians of the law and my ill placed attempt at humour was well out of order. He is a fine upstanding member of the community and a regular attender at church, or so he reckons.