War of 1812 - Battle of Lundy's Lane

On Thursday this week Julian and I tried out my War of 1812 figures using a scenario from the Battle of Lundy's Lane from the Canadian Wargames Group 1812 booklet and the Command and Colors hex based rule set we used a few weeks ago for Talavera.

We had a great little battle that was all done and dusted in a couple of hours, with Julian commanding the victorious US forces.

The scenario started with 5 British battalions, 3 guns and a cavalry unit facing off against 4 US battalions supported by 2 guns. On move 5, the Brits could get one battalion of reinforcement if they rolled 1 or 2 on a D10, on move 8 the US could get 4 battalions if they rolled the same, then move 10 ANOTHER 4 US battalions plus two more guns might arrive and finally on move 12 the British might have another three battalions turn up. If we did not roll 1 or 2, then the next turn it was 1,2 or 3, then 1,2,3 or 4 and so on, until the reinforcement arrived.

Amazingly, I rolled a 1 on move 5, Julian rolled a 2 on move 8 and a then 3 on move 11 so that basically all the reinforcements arrived as soon as they were able to! We didn't make it to move 12 so the final British reinforcements were a moot point.....

We had the usual 1 point per captured flag or leader, with a total required for victory of 7. Incorporating part of the Canadian Groups scenario, the US could gain 2 points by holding the position where the British guns started the game (these guns were not permitted to move from this location)

The game started well for the Brits as they shot up three battalions of US regulars advancing across open ground in front of the heights occupied by the guns and the Royal Scots. However, Julian had a couple of cards that helped him out here, where he was able to roll to replace lost stands, so that although he suffered quite a few casualties, all three battalions survived to close up on the position.

They then unleashed some steady fire on the heights occupied by the Brits and after a couple of rounds, had wiped out the Royal Scots and killed the British commander - two points to the US,.

I was getting some pretty useless action cards which prevented me from doing much in the centre - where all the action was. My light dragoons (actually US light dragoons but I had not brought all my Napoleonic Brits along) charged the right most of Julian's advancing Yanks but they formed square and reduced my potential 4 combat dice to 1! This created a stand off between the cavalry and infantry that lasted the rest of the game.

Meanwhile, I had activated my one battalion of extra regular British infantry, whilst next move, 4 more battalions of US troops arrived. Julian then played a card that allowed up to 4 units to move 4 hexes instead of the usual 1  - and immediately he had 4 fresh units close to the centre of the action.

His first line of three battalions wiped out the artillery battery with small arms fire then assaulted the hill, engaging the two British units there. He captured the artillery position and gained another 2 victory points.

In the next move I was able to play my own bayonet charge card, recapturing the artillery position and destroying a couple of US units - but next move, Julian assaulted again with four fresh battalions PLUS he rolled to successfully bring on another four AND he had that bloody fast movement card again! So now I had two fresh battalions holding the orchard to the left of the hill, two half strength battalions on the hill being attacked by four fresh ones, and a cavalry unit tied up against a square.

That must have been move 11 because the game ended 7 points to 2 and I never got to the point that I had the chance to call on my last reinforcements!

General view of the battlefield - Brits position on the right, US attacking from the left. The British gun position was on the nearest hill hex to the camera

The Candian Wargames Group version of the scenario that we used for the map - we did not use their rule set however 

 The British left, a regular battalion, a militia battalion (played by Canadian Voltiguers in grey) and behind them, the Light Dragoons - as mentioned, represented by the US rather than British figures

 The third regular battalion, represented by one of my two West India Regiment battalions - all the figures shown are Old Glory by the way

 The figures representing The Royal Scots on the hill - they are OG Second Edition figures

 One of the regular US infantry battalions

 The main advance by three of the four US battalions, heads towards the British centre

 The Glengarry Light Infantry (rifle armed according to the scenario) in position next to the Royal Scots

 A slightly reduced US battalion with the leader figure (US Light Dragoon) attached 

 The US advance - note the absence of the Royal Scots between the guns and the Glengarries......!

 Another view from the US side - they should have been wiped out by rifle and artillery fire but I just could not draw the right cards! The Glengarry  Light Infantry have been driven back and the artillery reduced from 3 guns to 1 by mausketry

 The British left flank was secure the entire game, but these three battalions would have been more use in the centre!

 The first US assault - three US battalions on the hill, the artillery wiped out and their position taken

 Close up of the successful US assault

 British counter attack - two US battalions wiped out

 And the second wave of US regulars arrive to retake the position

The inconclusive melee between the Light Dragoons and a square of US infantry - in the rear the victorious American forces occupy the heights