The Battle Begins

In my last post I described the forces and scenario for the opening battle of my Viva Iberia campaign. After reviewing the rules, I decided that for the Spanish to have any chance at all of winning, they would require some reinforcement. The revised order of battle (OB) is below:

French

    1 Veteran Line Bn. (Swiss) with Officer*

    2 Trained Line Bns. with Officer*

    2 Veteran Light Bns with Officer

    1 Veteran Medium Battery

The French CiC included one Aide de Camp. The units marked with an * have an integral but separate command stand which I equate to an attached Officer figure. The opening French positions are shown below.

The Spanish Forces were reinforced by an additional line battalion, as the point totals for them versus the French would indicate their chance of accomplishing their mission ranged from slightly over slim to none whatsoever. Anyway, their force was as follows:

Spanish

    3 Trained Line Bns.

    1 Trained Light Bn.

    1 Veteran Medium Battery

The Spanish CiC had an Aide de Camp with him. The Lights had an attached Staff Officer, but only one of the Line had an attached officer. The Spanish opening positions are shown below.

In my next report, I will go over the battle itself along with some commentary on the rules.

Until next time!

  

The Opening Moves!

For some time now, I have been discussing my mythical campaign, "Viva Espana!" which I think, by the way, I will rename "Viva Iberia!", to avoid any conflict with Two Fat Lardies Spanish Civil War campaign. Most of the posts so far have talked about collecting and painting the various forces to be involved, along with a couple of battle reports using either highly modified Charge! rules, or the more contemporary (and I believe more suitable) About Bonaparte by Dirk Donvil.

Now, for those of you that game in 54mm, you understand the logistical problems associated with large club games, especially if you want anything bigger than a skirmish.

Now,  in the depths of a particularly variable New England winter, I haven't been getting out as much as I used to. A large part of it I think has to do with my getting on in years, being in my eighth decade. Perhaps more relevant is that I don't like driving at night in the winter. That being said, a solo game or two combined with significant painting sessions, pretty much satisfy my gaming needs.  

 The basic rules were pretty much adhered to, so they would be a good indication of their suitability. For such solo games, I turn to Neil Thomas' One Hour Wargames. For this, I will be using the basic map for Scenario 24, Bottleneck.

 The Blue force will be the French and the Red force Spanish. Using the dicing system to determine the forces involved, in this case a 6 unit force (blue) against a 4 unit force (red), the following were decided: French-> 3 infantry units, 1 artillery, and 2 skirmishers 

French Artillery and Commander

French Skirmishers

Two French and one Swiss Battalions

 Spanish-> 2 infantry, 1 artillery, and 1 skirmisher. Under the scenario conditions, one of the red units had to be skirmishers.

Spanish Skirmishers

Spanish Line

Spanish Commander and Artillery

In the next edition, I will go over the set up and opening moves, perhaps even the entire battle!