IBERIA: Campaign for Portugal - Four Battles

 

Grant came down for the ANZAC long weekend and we resumed our own struggle for Portugal. This campaign has been completely successful in terms of applying our adapted campaign system and it's given our games a real edge.

Over two days we fought four battles. The previous single battle in the campaign was an Anglo-Allied victory but cost more in taking the ground than the French lost in defeat and retreat - thanks to some good retreat rolls. Retreating units on the campaign map have a 50% change of losing a strength point.

The above image shows the opening moves on Day 1 of the continuing campaign which resulted in the battles for Alcantra and Castelo Branco. The Anglo-Allied forces struck the locations simultaneously to keep the French Cavalry assets divided - or at least tied to one battle or the other as their forces would have been capable of reinforcing the other.

Battle for Alcantra

Played on an 8'x6' table, the scenery was randomly determined for hills/buildings, trees, crops, copses and linear obstacles (walls). As the French were defending, Grant chose the table edge to set up first (either long or short) with the Anglo-Allies coming from the opposite side.

I fear there's not much to see as I failed to take shots until after the battle. The image shown here is the aftermath. The sides were modest and evenly matched with about 200 points (Black Powder rules) of infantry and 100 for cavalry which provides for two small brigades and two squadrons of cavalry.

The French fought hard on the Allied left flank and it was a close run affair but the Allies prevailed and the battle was lost when the French brigade broke under combined infantry and cavalry assault from the rear. Half of either sides forces were relatively unengaged.

Broken units (routed) are rounded up in points terms to the nearest 50, which is deducted from a related campaign token. Following the loss of the brigade, Grant elected to retreat his remaining forces as he had become outnumbered, with little chance of victory and an increased chance of further broken units.

When retreating this time, he failed as many times as he passed when dicing for attrition over the course of the next two days. It is fair to say that Grant's dice rolling was poor across the two days with little respite and in the face of some very fortunate rolling from me - a killer combination.

Battle of Castelo Branco

By far the bigger of the two battles, the Anglo-Allied forces at Castelo Branco consisted of 400 points of infantry, 125 of cavalry and a further 200 points of infantry coming on turn 3 (diced for).

With larger forces derived from multiple full-strength campaign counters, we were able to assemble full artillery batteries. The extra points also freed both of us up to invest in some better quality commanders.

I took Brigadier General 'Black Bob' Crauford who enabled my whole army to make a single free move before the start of the game. I then won the initiative (we flip a coin each turn) and managed to push my 79th Cameron Highlanders all the way across the table and unexpectedly seize the village on the French right flank.

I had brigaded the 79th Highlanders (which is a 'Huge' unit) of tough fighters with my light infantry and Cacadores. As you might see from the above image, I had difficulty in getting my Cacadores off the line but my 52nd Oxfordshire Light Battalion (a Large unit) pushed up to cover the right flank of the village from attack.

In our house rules, Napoleonic Light Infantry have the option of deploying skirmishers as usual for Mixed Formations but shoot at a value of 2 instead of the regular 1. Furthermore, if a light infantry battalion choses to, it can deploy the entire battalion into skirmish order and shoot at full value.

For this battle, the Anglo-Allies were outclassed and outnumbered in cavalry but very strong in infantry with more on the way. I determined to anchor my right flank in the hard going ground of the crops with infantry in square to face off against Grant's left flank cavalry. I supported them with a half battalion of rifles - he hates them. My thinking was that the rifles would off-set the loss in shooting value the square formations impose and the skirmishers could evade around the squares and let the proximity rule force Grant's cavalry to pull-up or fight the squares.

But then the damndest thing happened. I saw that as I had won initiative and Grant's artillery batteries were limbered, my KGL Hussars were within charge reach - maybe. I pulled on a very strong command roll and sent them screaming in - a squadron each hitting both limbers with a third squadron in support. Grant wisely elected to evade but being on his own back line, they evaded off-table. This was not the end of the world as he could command roll them back in due course.

My three move charge reach allowed me to follow through onto the French dragoons - who promptly counter-charged in response with one squadron. The counter-charge separated the lead squadron from it's supporting squadron. 

In spite of having Ferocious Charge for my KGL Hussars which gives them re-rolls on missed combat rolls in each first round of a new melee, the dragoons were too good and they sent two squadrons reeling. So it looked very much like Grant secured his centre, all but neutralising my cavalry for the time being. It was then that I realised something.

Because two horse artillery batteries were off table and the lead squadron of dragoons were now shaken from their efforts, that brigade had in fact become broken - three quarters of it being off-table or shaken/broken. This resulted in the loss of almost all of the French guns and his heavy cavalry.

With the loss of so much ground, being caught on his back line, with the loss of a brigade in the face of an almost completely intact and strong force with more yet to arrive, the French retreated the whole army after just one turn. Such is the way of things when you play a campaign - there's always the bigger picture to think on.

Rolling immediately on, The Anglo-Allied victors at Alcantra pushed on up on the eastern drive and re-engaged the French at Zazar Mayor.

The central feature of this battle was the large hill in the middle of the table. The Anglo-Allies took the Guards Brigade, albeit indifferently lead, and two squadrons of heavy dragoons both supported with two half batteries (single guns).

The Allies took the high ground early and pushed into hand-to-hand combat across the left flank with mixed results. The 42nd Black Watch were broken and the Scots Guards driven back.

But the day was won on the Allied right flank around the foot of the hill and across the open ground. The Coldstream Guards short and even charged the French cavalry as the British dragoons got the upper hand, breaking the cavalry brigade which caused the French horse artillery battery to withdraw in the nick of time. Once again, the French withdrew what was left of their forces at next to no cost to the Allies.

In the end, the fourth battle (of Atalaya) was over before it started - the French electing to withdraw in the face of the enemy on the campaign map.

Between table-top losses and withdrawal attrition, the French eastern flank has thinned out alarmingly in the face of significantly intact Anglo-Allied advances. Grant has begun to redirect the rear of his northern advance back to concentrate around Cuidad Rodrigo as the Allies now have their eyes on the prize for a decisive campaign victory.

Yet, it's far from decided yet. You will see significant forces amassing at Coimbra for what will be the largest battle in the campaign. This will be the next event and we are working out when we can game that.

I'm now confident that our campaign system works nicely so I'll make some amendments from what we have learnt so far, put it up on Google Documents and link it to a subsequent posting for those of you who might be interested.