Maurice game - A Terrain Surprise

My friend and wargame companion of 20 years, Chris C.,
 surveys the battlefield.

Chris C. and I took the opportunity to play a game of Maurice a couple of weeks ago.  It was Chris's first game and my fourth.  Chris is an ardent Russophile.  As a result, this was the inevitable Russians vs. Prussians match.

As has been the case in every game of Maurice so far, I lost the scouting role and had to defend.    The Terrain card drawn was "Forest."  The Forest card allows for quite a bit of terrain and requires each player to select at least one Forest.
As a result of Chris's card selection during the army selection process, there were the maximum of 12 terrain pieces of terrain on the board.

The terrain reflected the Russian's unusual strategy.  There were 4 forests and a swamp in the center of the board.  Madness?  Yes, as events were to prove.

Initial set up.  Note the 4 forests and a swamp in the center.
Russians on the left, Prussians on the right.

The Russians took a different tact in this battle and prepared an army 7 Irregular infantry units,  2 Guard infantry, 4 conscript infantry, 1 regular cavalry, and 2 elite cavalry.  Two batteries were also present on the field.  The Guard units were created as a result of another army card.  Chris selected "Skirmishers" and "Cavaliers"  army cards.  Among the many advantages of the "Skirmishers" card was the ability of light units to fire at extended range.  Also, by winning the scouting roll, the Russians received another 2 irregular units.



The Prussians took a smaller, more conventional army of 6 regular line, a single battery, one Guard infantry, one Guard cavalry and 2 regular cavalry.  The cards selected included "Great Captain", "Cavalier", and "Lethal Volleys."

The advantage of irregulars is that they can move through difficult terrain without penalty and evade close combat.   The disadvantage of irregulars is that they have a lower chance of inflicting a hit on enemy units.

Regulars must incur a DISR every time they move while touching or in terrain.  This applies to crossing rivers, forests and swamps.  Also, regular formations tend to break up when some units are in contact with terrain while other units are not.  As veteran Maurice players know, a command includes only units in the same formation and in the same terrain.  Long lines of infantry are easily broken up into small commands when moving through mixed terrain.

Russian irregular infantry advances.

The Russians deployed a long line of irregulars across their center backed up by some elite and regular infantry.  With cavalry on their right and the conscript infantry safely tucked in behind some swamp and forest on their left, the Russians planned to advance their irregulars in the center to disrupt and disorder the Prussian line from the safety of the woods.

The Prussians planned a largely defensive strategy of waiting behind terrain and hoping for an opportunity to present itself for some tactical advantage.

We were not sure how the command rules were supposed to handle units that are unaffected by terrain.  We decided that since irregular infantry is unaffected by terrain, that they could advance as a single command as long as they were in the same formation.  As a result, the Russians were able to seize the center of the board and most of the forested areas immediately.  It looked like the Russians were going to be able to snipe at the Prussian line from the protection of the forests with impunity.

The Prussian line advances into the forest and
destroys or forces back the Russian irregulars.

Then fortune smiled on the Prussians.  One of the cards dealt to the Prussians was a card that gave a group of infantry the ability to ignore the effect of terrain.   Forward marched the Prussian line, into the woods to confront their tormentors.  A couple of brisk volleys at very close range and the Russian irregulars in the center were gone.

The sense of victory was short lived, however. The Prussians discovered that it was easy to get into the woods but almost impossible to get out.  Waiting outside the woods were some Russian regulars, including some elites.  Any Prussian that moved would incur a DISR and face concentrated musket fire from the Russian regulars.

Then the Russians advanced and elite infantry unit into the woods.  This was a fatal error.  After volley fire, the Prussians played a card that forced the unit to charge.  The Russians died bravely.

The end game.

At this point we decided to call the game.  The terrain effectively hobbled the game for both sides and the initial Russian irregular infantry strategy was a  non-starter.

We learned a lot about the nuances of terrain. Chris and I thought that there was a potential for an interesting game when both sides have a lot of irregular infantry and cavalry.  Perhaps a "capture the supply train" scenario.  Generally, however, large numbers of irregulars vs. regulars is a difficult strategy to execute.


The more I play Maurice, the more I appreciate the cleverness of the design.  The game provides a lot of flavor for the Seven Years War and reminds the players that this was a time of formal and rigid formations.  Units cannot fly around the table with the flexibility of a WWII US infantry squad.  I look forward to more games of Maurice in the future.  Plus, lets not forget that my armies get to see the table top in all their stunning SYW glory.  :-)