So the campaign continued with map moves and it wasn't long before the End of Turn card reappeared. However, this time we had gone through about 60% of the cards before it did. The campaign activation deck was shuffled and we moved into turn 6. This released lots of UI from hospitals.
MacDonald activated. He moved from Barcelona to threaten O'Donnel in Terragona. O'Donnel retreated into the fortress and MacDonald moved to besiege him there. To show a siege is in progress we moved their pins into the siege holding box #1 and moved the siege pin #1 onto the map.
Extreme Weather (extremely hot) came into effect in Aragon.
Freire activated, showed his heals to Suchet (departing Sarrion on a forced march card) to reach Tortosa in an attempt to relieve O'Donnel, at Teragona. He made the distance (4 nodes) but failed to initiate a battle.
The British failed to draw an event card.
Soult / MacDonald drew an event card - an important one.
Spanish Drafts: This was the card Peter probably most wanted and he recruited new drafts (in some numbers) to three of his armies, including O'Donnel.
Beresford activated but refused to move from the environs of Elvas.
MacDonald activated, again! He played his newly drawn event card: Siege Artillery. He ordered an assault on Terragona: No external reinforcements by concentration allowed. It would be 44 French infantry UI versus 28 Spanish infantry UI, both with their consequent supporting assets.
Because of the way the game ended last week (with insufficient time to do a new set of campaign map moves) it was agreed that I would pre-set a terrain for the next battle: Not knowing who would fight on it or where, this seemed fair enough - the exact terrain effect definitions could be sorted out after discovering which type of terrain (open, mountain, or wooded/cultivated) would be appropriate for the battle - I set up something that could cover all of the bases.
We spent the next hour or so working out the exact OOBs and Peter's fortifications (which he gets for defending in a siege assault game), then we deployed - Spanish first. With perhaps an hour of the evening still to go we decided to call the session over so people could get an early night. We are set for a full evening of table-gaming next week. This shot shows the Spanish deployment looking from the right, with a redoubt on high ground holding that flank of the position.
On the Spanish left Cazadores hold a Fleche in a wood.
The strongly held centre. Two fleches supported by a redoubt on high ground immediately behind.
The French deployed for the assault on Terragona. A strong left and centre with a possible flanking force in position on the extreme right.
Two batteries cited for maximum field of fire and within range of all the defences of the Spanish centre and left wing.
The French right - a mixed force of infantry and cavalry.
Two previously unseen units will take part in this action. These boys are Regiemento de Guadalajara. The ones in covered shako are all head swaps. The heads are from mistakenly ordered Nassau infantry. The buff facings, accoutrements and pantaloons, with bell topped shakos, are described for the grenadier companies sent to Cadiz, and I assume the rest of the regiment were similarly uniformed.
Secondly, I give you the Voluntarios de Navarra. I have these wearing the so called 'English Uniform'. They were wearing something similar late in the war (possibly with red lapels?); the grenadiers may have carried swords very similar to those carried by their French counterparts, mine don't. However, as the last infantry unit in the Napoleonic lead pile, these are close enough.
Which leads me on to announce that stage two of my Peninsular War project is finished! It has taken me years, far longer than anticipated. It is my biggest collection to date: There are 2,683 men plus guns, horses, limbers, etc. (it beats my SYW collection by 43 figures). I'm not sure there is going to be a stage three - I have other plans.
Finally, the fortifications are not as Peter left them: I admit to having tweaked them in his absence. I don't really have rules for field fortifications (usually making them up as required) and, having thought on it overnight, decided to classify and rule on some set types. In the diagrams below, the brown lines show the shape of each type of stylised fortification I will allow in the campaign. The defending units stand below/inside them, and the shaded area shows the arc of fire that the fortification shape provides: N.B. Range is measured from the centre of the nearest face. NC stands for no change. SK stands for integral skirmishers (SK provide some limited fire potential and give an Up 1 versus a firepower morale challenge - the SK are placed within the fortification) and are included to give defences a bit of an upgrade within the general format of the game without adding lots of new rules (in a similar manner, they are always out and never withdraw when troops enter town sections).
5 comments:
The Cazadores holding the flèche look a tough nut to crack , but then all the fortifications are formidable. It’s great to see a Spanish Army on the table with a realistic chance of prevailing, but that’s the beauty of a Campain . Looks like a cracking game coming up , a just reward for all your hard work , James . 👍
Defending a fortified position to the death seems the Spanish forte - I have high hopes. Is the river fordable?
The river causes a move reduction and disorder. Unless there is a major (campaign map) river that's what all random table-top rivers do.
Why would you take a straight fortification when you could get a fleche for the same points? It's got better field of fire and......no drawbacks?
Where did your rivers come from? Self made vs purchased?
Troops in a fleche have a NC (no change) modifier for fire. A simple fortification gives an Up 1 modifier to fire. In a string, you would probably have 'simple' between 'fleche/redoubts'.
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