Sunday Game - Napoleon in Egypt 1801

Today 6 of us met at Barry's to get Mark's new collection of Perry Napoleon in Egypt figures on the table for the very first time.

The game was a fictitious encounter between a British force comprising three brigades of infantry, a small cavalry force, and some unattached troops, and a French force from the 4th Division plus Murat's cavalry and a few unattached units.

The British were weaker in cavalry and artillery but had more infantry - 13 battalions plus two 2/3 sized units of dismounted dragoons to 12 French plus the dromedary corps (camel mounted infantry)

The initial set up of the table was as below:

The mission for both sides was the same - gain control of the oasis situated in the centre of the table.

Any movement over the hills was at reduced speed, which helped the British get to the village first, a situation that proved to be very advantageous.

Mark, Paul and I commanded the British forces whilst Chris, Rick and Barry were the French.

The map below shows how each side marched on and deployed. Our plan was to hold the village on our left flank whilst the cavalry and two infantry brigades advanced on our right flank. We intended to ignore the French cavalry that rushed ahead and occupied the oasis early in the game.

 The combat developed as per the third map - my force of light dragoons and marines occupied the village and held it resolutely against Chris's 6 battalions. My second brigade formed a line from the village to the oasis and were subjected to intense artillery fire by Ricks 3 gun battery for most of the game. Despite well above average saving throws on my behalf, Rick managed to account for two battalions with his constant rolling of 6 dice needing 3+ to hit! On another day, he would have got rid of all four battalions and a lot quicker than today - as I said, on multiple occasions, Rick scored 4 or 5 hits in one turn, only for me to save them all!

Paul and Mark meanwhile combined their forces and launch a frontal assault by four battalions in line against two demi brigades of three battalions each in ordre mixte, commanded by Barry. These attacks did not go well for the British and after a couple of rounds of combat, the Brits were in headlong retreat, pursued by the demi brigades. The rout/pursuit continued for a couple of rounds and saw at least two British battalions wiped out. Amazingly, the demi brigade then assaulted two British guns, a combat that should have been a forgone conclusion with the French rolling 10 dice to the British 2 - however, Paul rolled a hit, whereas Barry failed to get even one, so the three battalions recoiled and were forced to split out of their ordre mixte formation. This led, after a couple more rounds of action, to the destruction of all three French battalions.

In the village, my two units of dismounted light dragoons had occupied some buildings and were engaged in a constant exchange of musketry with Chris, who deployed three full battalions plus a light gun against them. Again, I had wonderful luck with saving throws, and eventually, with some help from my artillery on the flank, I completely broke and drove off these three battalions.

In the centre, the British cavalry was pretty much decimated by French artillery and never got a chance to do much fighting. The French cavalry, on the other hand, made several charges but were repulsed from each by the steady British lines.

Chris made an assault on my second brigade after half of it had been wiped out by Rick's artillery, but we had another miracle result in the combat when I rolled 5 dice to produce one hit, and Chris rolled 10 dice for no result. Again, his demi brigade of three battalions was pushed back, and my units in the village were able to engage one flank whilst the guns pounded the centre. 

It was at this point we called the game - a minor British win. Both sides had suffered enormous casualties - 60 or 70% I would guess, and we actually fought ourselves to a standstill. However, the French had no infantry left at all out of 12 battalions that started the day, whereas the British had about 5 , so we felt the British had won...JUST!

Many images below - some are not of the best quality but I left them in as they tell part of the story of the game. All the figures are Perry Miniatures collected and painted by Mark, whose blog you can see by searching "1866 and All That."

 The village of Al Flatula -- scratch built Arab buildings by the talented Mark. The palm trees are from Chine - 60 for $25!

 The British column advances, led by one squadron of Light Dragoons. The infantry are Wattevilles Regiment of Stuarts Brigade

 The 90th Foot in Tarleton helmets

 The 13th Foot in "Round" hats

 De Rolls Regiment

 Another shot of de Wattevilles Regiment

 My second "Brigade" comprising two units of dismounted Light Dragoons and two battalions of Marines

 Paul's cavalry brigade passing my marching column

 The French Dromedary Corps

 Three demi brigades of French infantry plus their artillery advance towards the oasis

 Stuart's Brigade nearing Al Flatula and moving from column into line

 Marks "small" brigade consisting of two battalions of foot guards

 Rick's French cavalry brigade reached the oasis first

 Chris's first demi brigade in line as they approach the village of Al Flatula

 Rick's three gun battery that did such damage to Stuart's Brigade

 General view on the British right/ French left flank - Paul and Marks battalions on the left of the image and Barry's demi brigades on the right. My line adjacent to the village is in the top centre

 The Light Dragoons occupying the village and confronting three battalions of French infantry plus a light gun

 The first big melee - Mark and Paul combined to send four battalions crashing into Barry's unwieldy demi brigades

 Another view of the stoush between Barry and the British

 The Marines arrive in the village to support the Light Dragoons

 The 42 Highlanders flank the remains of one of Barry's demi brigades

 The combat continues on the French left flank as Barry pushes back both Mark and Paul

 In the centre, I combined with Paul to engage with Rick's French cavalry - he charged us but was driven off

 The first demi brigade can be seen in the distance behind the gun, having been driven off by the indomitable light dragoons. Meanwhile, Chris launched his second demi brigade against the remnants of Stuart's brigade

 The centre of the field - shortly after this picture was taken, the last of the British cavalry decamped

 Chris's second demi brigade goes in against my two guns and one battalion of infantry

 The position on the British left near the end of the game - the demi brigade failed in its assault and has split into three separate battalions - the one in front of the guns and the one facing off against my Brits in the village were ultimately forced to quit the field a move or two later

 View of the centre of the field at the end of the game - British to the bottom and the right, French in the top left

Same thing from a different angle - of the 26 battalions of infantry engaged , you can basically see everything that was left standing at the end of the game in this picture - a very bloody affair but jolly good fun!