Seven of us (three per side plus GM Chris as umpire) for today's Sunday game. We all started off on an equal footing, each player had 2 cavalry units, a standard battery of artillery and an infantry command - on the British side, Mark and Rick had four battalions each, while as their Portuguese allies, I had six battalions - opposite us, Paul, Barry and Nick had similar numbers of cavalry and artillery, but with five battalions of infantry each.
There were three BUA that were worth 2 VP each, one each nearest a starting edge and one equidistant in the centre between Rick and Nick, and each side also gained points for each enemy unit killed.
To add some interest, Chris had included the ability for each side to bring on up to six reinforcements during the game - the side that did NOT win a contested initiative, could roll for a reinforcement of either three cavalry or three infantry units, the CinC deciding where they would arrive. Sides had the option to decline to contest the initiative, IF they preferred to roll for reinforcements - of course, if both sides wanted the reinforcement option, they had to roll for initiative, but hope to "lose"! The reinforcements were relatively easy to gain - a roll of 1 failed, anything else was a success.......wait, you will see later!
I was so excited (and busy, as I was providing the bulk of the Allied troops) that I forgot to take an image of the bare table, but here it is after the first turn - Allies on the left.
Mark, on our right flank, had the "close" BUA in his sector
My Portuguese, in the centre, had Barry opposite, with the French "close" VP, on the other side of a shallow river!
Nicks command on the French right, opposite Rick, our CinC, on our left.
Here are Barry's Bavarians, about to occupy the church in a U-shaped bend in the river
Paul was French CinC and on their left, opposite Mark.
Bavarians nearest the camera with my Portuguese in the distance.
Ricks command (all my figures) advance confidently.
A view from the other end of the table, with Nick bottom left and Rick bottom right - Nicks troops got to the centrally located BUA (and VP's) first.
My Portuguese force supported by two units of British Light Dragoons, one of whom was only assembled and painted over the last week, and completed around 9pm Saturday, in anticipation of this game!
The first clash between the French lancers (Nick) and British dragoons (Rick)
And yes, as is often the case, Ricks dice rolling let him down!
And the bloody lancers broke through and popped one of the exposed British infantry battalions - we were off to a great start ...NOT!
View from behind Nicks position
After several turns, both sides had been able to call up reinforcements although I think already, Rick had managed to roll a 1 on one occasion and fail to get them on our side (Paul had no such problems, the French got all their reinforcements on, and they went to both wings, as Barry was in a pretty secure position in the centre, behind a river!) On our left, Rick and Nick had both added three cavalry regiments, and a significant square off of mounted troops had developed.
One the right, Mark faced Paul, who had rolled well on activation and had two time and a half moves in the first three turns, so had his cavalry right up in Marks face!
After an initial attempt to ford the river, my light dragoons redeployed to the left to support Rick.
Paul had also received a reinforcement of three units of cavalry - and, again, rolled up some time and a half moves to get them across the table in record time!
The French already held two of the three VP BUA's, and Paul was about to eject Marks Brits from the third :(
The Bavarians did not have a lot to do!
Against the run of atrocious dice, Rick managed to guide the Scots Greys to a victory against Nicks cuirassiers - huzzah!
Then the "Blues" of the Houshold cavalry moved up in support, whilst my Portuguese put artillery and musket fire onto the adjacent French hussars, leaving them in a very fragile condition.
A perfect charge from the Blues after Rick won the initiative - adding up all the factors, charging, elite, catching the French halted and in the flank, Rick was rolling 11 dice to Nicks 4 or 5 - and somehow, he managed to get a draw!
The action was desperate on Marks flank too, with the British recapturing the BUA and then being ejected for a second time1
Having concentrated on cavalry attacks thus far, Nick started moving up his masses (six extra battalions received as reinforcements) of infantry
As the cuirassiers battle the Blues in the background, most of the rest of the French cavalry retire through defensive infantry squares to reform.
Having lost their melee with the Blues, the Cuirassiers were set upon in turn by the Scots Greys and were defeated again and forced to rout beyond the river into Bavarian territory!
Gratuitous "Candy" shot of Nicks beautifully painted command element - Elite Miniatures, I believe.
Another view of the cavalry melee, with my two regiments of light dragoons to the rear of the Blues, in support of Ricks wing.
The Bavarians watch hostilities between Paul and Mark, from the safety of their "demilitarised zone"!
The British infantry on the road were one of Ricks successful reinforcement rolls. In the end, we got 3 of 6 possible reinforcements, the French got all 6 of theirs!
Speaking of which, Paul received three infantry battalions and, once again, got them across the table in double quick time!
Paul's guns line up one of Marks battalions. In the end, Barry, bored with the safety, crossed the bridge with his cavalry and charged the infantry in the rear, despite being in column of route! Given the tactical situation, the formation was not as big a disadvantage as it might appear, and the British infantry were soon no more!
The French cavalry, having reorganised behind the infantry squares, came forward again. I counter charged with my light dragoons, fighting at a disadvantage against dragoons and lancers - but, breaking the curse of the newly painted unit, both my light dragoons prevailed, and the French were driven off again!
Of course, normal service was quickly resumed, and the Blues were dispatched by a flank attack from another unit of lancers.
Barrys bored Bavarians broached the brook to bring the fight to the enemy!
Against my wishes, my Portuguese followed a direct order from CinC Rick to cross the river.
Oh, what a surprise - Nick has MORE cavalry reinforcements!
Rick waiting to meet the newly arrived cavalry.
When the French cavalry was driven back by my light dragoons, they disordered one of the squares, which meant it was no longer a square in good order, and thus did not gain 6 extra dice in melee - my light dragoons were able to break through onto them and a melee took place for several turns, with me rolling 2 D6 to Nicks 1 - unfortunately, we built up casualties at more or less the same rate, so that by the end of the game, each unit was sitting on 4.
This was the last image I took - the game was effectively over, as the score (based on VP held and enemy units destroyed) sat at 19 for the French and 4 for the Allies - what a whipping! In the end, I disobeyed Ricks direct command and did not try to force my way across a river that had a formed unit of cuirassiers waiting on the other side!
This was a fun game and could have gone much better for us if Rick did not have such abysmal luck with the dice. Not only did he manage to roll a 1 for reinforcements three times out of six - statistically, the chances of doing that must be low - 3% maybe (it is 17% to do it once, but he had three attempts, so I think we divide 17 by 3...?? Jon will be able to tell us!), but additionally, on several occasions he got himself into very advantageous positions, but the dice let him down. Even when he rolled well., the dice gods conspired against him - eg he had 7 dice to Nicks 4 in more than one round of melee, rolled four hits - then Nick rolled hits with all four of his dice in reply...ggrrrrr! In the end, it was the constant flow of French reinforcement to the two flanks that overwhelmed us - personally, in the centre, I did not lose any of my original force - but I did not receive any reinforcements, either.
It was nice to get a significant number of my Napoleonic Brits and Portuguese on the table, and having the newly painted light dragoons do well in their first outing was a bonus. I hope you enjoyed the AAR and the images of our game.
