Talavera 1809- refought twice in one evening

Tonight I went to Julians for the first time in about 3 or 4 weeks. He had dug out and tidied up his original Willie Figures Napoleonics first purchased and painted over 45 years ago - yes, thats how old we are! We used the Command and Colors Napoleonic rules set from the same stable as the ACW game we did a couple of months ago - you draw "action" cards and they define what you can do next EG move three units on the left flank or activate 2 units in the centre etc. It can be frustrating if you have a definite plan to attack on the right but your card draws keep presenting you with activation cards for the left!

In the first game commencing about 1700, I took the British, comprising four cavalry units nine infantry units and three batteries of guns. Julian commanded the French who had three larger cavalry units - four bases instead of three - thirteen infantry units and again three batteries of guns.

To win the game, each player had to capture seven victory points by either killing a leader or destroying a unit

The initial French advance on their right with the cavalry was successful and they knocked out one of my units and killed the leader - so two points to Julian. I managed to come back despite having fewer cavalry and evened it up a bit - the French retired to lick their wounds. The action moved to the centre with an exchange of gunfire and after a few rounds of this, Julian played a "bayonet attack" action card that allowed him to move four units forward two hexes rather than the usual one AND fight at the end of it. His French columns had an advantage in close combat and added an extra dice to their combat factor, but this was negated by the fact all the units he was attacking bar one were on higher ground. My artillery stood his attack off although he pushed back the one infantry unit on my right that was not on higher ground. But in the next move, I managed to flank his attacking line with a cavalry unit and combined with artillery fire, this drove off or destroyed three of the four units.

By this stage Julian was behind in the points score something like five to three, plus several of his units that had not been destroyed were in a pretty bad way - comprising one or two stands. He tried one last ditch frontal assault along my line but again the Brits stood firm and repulsed the Froggies. He got his score up to five but then I was able to put three units onto one of his and wiped them out, winning the game just in time to stop for dinner about 1900.

Some of the pictures are again not that great - I am sure it has to be the romantic subdued lighting because I don't have problems with any other pictures I take on my phone. I removed the worst but I have left in some that are pretty crap because they show one of the salient points of the game

The scenario map in the rules handbook

Initial British position - the centre

The French centre opposite

A view along the table, French to the left

The "abilities" cards for my British force

French cavalry advance on their right, the British left

The British centre after a couple of turns - I have combined two of my batteries into a "grand battery"

French cavalry success - they had destroyed one of my units and killed the leader

The French cavalry continue to advance but shortly after this I counter attacked, destroying one French unit and severely handling another, which forced them to retire

My cavalry counter attack

The first mass attack by the French columns - four battalions storm across the creek

The result of the attack - one unit reduced to a single base, two of three guns from the right hand battery gone - but the line held!

British response - a cavalry counter attack from the flank was supported by the guns and three French battalions were wiped out or forced to retire with heavy losses

Lull after the storm - the British line reforms

The French left wing infantry advances 

The view from the French side of the British centre 

The British right from the French perspective - oversized Guards and Light infantry battalions plus smaller unit of Rifles - a very hard nut to crack!

The British left flank anchored on the heavy cavalry and highland infantry on the high ground

The final French attack - two battalions assault the highlanders on the high ground on my left flank

At the same time, one unit stormed forward on the right, destroying one battalion of British line infantry......

.....before being assaulted on three sides by the guards, the light infantry and a line infantry unit. This was the end of the game as I had reached seven victory points!

GAME TWO

After dinner we reset all the units in their original positions and swapped sides, so this time I commanded the French assault. Having seen how hard things had been for Julian, I decided the best plan would be to redeploy half my force form the left and centre over to the more open right flank and make my main assault there - which is all very well but if you keep drawing action cards that say Probe on the Left, Advance on the Left, Scout the Left Flank etc, its a bit hard! On he British side, Julian seemed to be having about as much luck with his cards, so we had several early rounds where not a lot happened, punctuated by groans and swearing as we picked replacement cards that were still of no use!

Eventually I did manage to get a couple of cards that enabled me to do what I wanted and against expectations - both mine and Julian's - my two units of French cavalry were able to defeat four units of Brits, leaving me with a four to one advantage in the victory points. A few more useful cards followed whereby I was able to resurrect several units that had suffered casualties, including returning the cavalry to almost full strength again, much to Julian's irritation! The cavalry promptly charged a unit of highlanders who despite the opportunity to do so, declined to form square in the face of lancers - a bad mistake as it turned out!

I then used a Forced March card to rapidly redeploy four units from the centre to my right wing and all of a sudden, I was able to implement the plan I had made from the start. I played the same "Bayonet Charge" card Julian had used on me in the first game to send three battalions to assault one British unit holding a small village. I did need the 3:1 advantage to overcome this unit but the attack was a success, another victory point to the French, and the only British unit left to interfere with my left flanking movement was removed. My third (fresh) cavalry unit joined the other two and together they assaulted the British position on the height on the British left flank, wiping out a battery of guns and reaching the magical seven victory points.

The photos of the second game are pretty average - it was later and there was no natural light left so I think thats the reason but here they are for what they are worth

French cavalry engages the Brits - fortunately due to the terrain I was able to get two on one against the guys on the hill. The single stand to the left of the hill is the remnant of another British cavalry unit, and the remaining two are widely separated from each other

A turn later and three of the four British units are gone from the table and I had three victory points on the board

 I continued my flanking advance on my right, bypassing the British occupied town as my cavalry swept around the rear of the British position

 Another view showing how far I was able to exploit with my cavalry units, who really did most of the hard work. The lancers on the hill are just about to finish off the last element of the highlanders who didn't form square!

My three on one assault on the village......

....and the result - sorry about the dreadful quality of the photo!

The final assault on the British position on the height of their left flank - my third cavalry unit joins the other two to deliver the final blow and win the game for the French this time

A selection of the "action" cards I had at the end of the game - a bit out of focus unfortunately

So... a great way to spend four or five hours at the end of the working week winding down after the stresses and strains of dealing with customers and their strange and unreasonable demands and expectations! Not surprisingly, I informed Julian that I "quite like" these rules - but they do hamstring you a bit if you do not get the right cards and this affected both of us in the second game.

On Sunday, Julian and will be at Andrews place, probably playing The Men Who Would Be Kings colonial rules and maybe some sci fi game where I can use my armed ladies from my previous post - will let you know on Sunday evening!