The game also gave me a chance to use my recent redoubt purchases from Battlefield Terrain Concepts.
Historical Background
Wellington's British and Portuguese forces had recently barricaded themselves behind the Lines of Torres Vedras in front of Massena's French army. A stalemate occurred, which Massena's forces could not tolerate for long due to supply concerns. In order to relieve the pressure on Massena, Marshal Soult led a large force, primarily made up of units of the Army of the South, to lay siege on the fortified town of Badajoz. Badajoz was located in the Spanish region of Extremadura, reasonably close to Wellington's position. A Spanish army under La Romana was dispatched to raise the siege. While enroute, La Romana died and command passed to General Mendizabal. The Spanish force camped to the left of Badajoz upon the heights of San Cristobal. Unfortunately for the Spanish, no attempt was made to entrench and fortify this strong position.
On the morning of February 19th, 1811, Soult tasked Marshal Mortier with a surprise attack across the Gebora river and against the Spanish position on the heights. Using heavy fog as an advantage, French infantry under General de Division Girard and 2 brigades of cavalry under General de Division Latour-Mauborg crossed the river and surprised the sparse Spanish pickets.
Mendizabal's Spanish were unprepared for a defense and found themselves aggressively attacked by 9 battalions of French infantry of the ligne. Latour-Mauborg attacked the Spanish/Portuguese cavalry located on the Spanish left flank and sent French hussars and chasseurs to envelop the infantry on the heights. The Spanish and Portuguese cavalry literally melted away and the Spanish infantry found themselves flanked by light cavalry and threatened frontally by the French infantry. Forming brigade squares in order to protect themselves from the cavalry, the Spanish infantry were ripe targets for the French infantry and 2 horse batteries. It was a disaster for the Spanish.
7,000 French literally destroyed the Spanish force of approximately 12,000. The Spanish suffered approximately 1,000 battle casualties but 4,000 men were also taken prisoner. The French incurred about 400 total casualties.
The relief of Badajoz failed and Soult continued to besiege the town. The Battle of the Gebora River was a typical example of French superiority over the Spanish in a pitched battle.
The table-top battle
Using the rules General de Brigade at a 20:1 figure scale was a minor challenge, not because of the number of required figures, but due to the ground scale. The Spanish historically occupied a position 2 miles in length. A large table of 12' x5' was required. House rules needed to be implemented to account for the effects of the heavy fog as well.
The San Cristobal heights are located on the right side in this picture
View from the Spanish position towards the Gebora river
Another angle of the table from the southeast corner of the table
House rules
The entry points onto the table-top were randomized for the French. (A die was rolled for each French infantry brigade). Coordination in the heavy fog was considered to be difficult. Visibility in Turn 1 was considered to be 250 yards, 350 yards in Turn 2, and 450 yards in Turn 3. Beginning on Turn 4, the effects of the fog were considered to be minimal.
Spanish command and control was also assumed to be a challenge historically. Due to the deployment over a 2 mile front and heavy fog shielding the exact direction of the French advance, the Spanish were restricted to changing brigade orders only when Mendizabal (or each independent brigade commander) was able to actually see the French force. In addition, each Spanish infantry and cavalry brigade were limited to Hold orders on Turn 1.
Wellington recommended strongly that the Spanish, upon occupying the San Cristobal heights, entrench and fortify the position. Mendizabal promptly ignored this wise advice. For our scenario, it is assumed that the Spanish artillery are placed in redoubts with a -2 cover modifier.
The Game
After rolling for French randomized entry, Mortier's strategy was to utilize Tactical Marches in order to advance upon the Spanish quickly. If given time, the Spanish might be able to bring their superior numbers to bear. The French plan was to mirror the historical tactics and launch a lightning strike onto the San Cristobal heights.
With fog still shielding the French advance, the Spanish were literally fixed in position without the ability to change any brigade orders. Cavalry was able to counter-charge though, and Spanish infantry and artillery could maneuver to defend the deployment area.
Spanish infantry and artillery on the San Cristobal heights
Another view of the Spanish position
The Spanish right flank, away from the French advance
Spanish cavalry await the French attack
Phillopon's brigade enters the table-top
French cavalry under Latour-Mauborg advance against Spanish horsemen
By Turn 2, the French cavalry was visible to the Spanish cavalry brigades, but order changes by each brigade commander were unsuccessful. The French continued to advance. By Turn 3, the cavalry were engaged and the Portuguese rolled well and activated an Assault order.
French and Spanish/Portuguese cavalry begin to engage each other
The cavalry lines clashed and the Portuguese Dragoons proved stubborn, winning the first 2 charges. The Spanish horse underperformed though and the French cavalry smelled victory. Latour-Mauborg, by this time, felt that des Eclat's Dragoon brigade was more than capable of defeating the allied cavalry, redirecting Briche's light horsemen against the extreme left flank of the Spanish infantry on the heights. Meanwhile, Girard's infantry steadily advanced against the heights and utilized the horse batteries to punish the Spaniards on top of the heights. As predicted, the Spanish had major command and control issues and continued to be fixed in place.
French infantry advance !
As if responding to a bugle call, all of the allied cavalry began to lose every engagement and melt away ( mirroring the historical result). After an optimistic start, the Spanish and Portuguese horsemen proved to be totally outclassed by the professional French cavalry. The Spanish, and then the Portuguese, eventually failed Brigade Morale rolls and then there were none. The French hussars and chasseurs, by this time, were threatening the Spanish infantry, forcing at least one battalion into square formation.
The Spanish left flank begins to crumble
At the end of Turn 9, as the allied cavalry fled the field, the French infantry charged headlong into the Spanish infantry. Surprisingly, the Spanish proved to be stubborn and threw the French infantry back with strong vollies of musketry.
The climax of the infantry battle, as the Spanish proved amazingly stubborn
Admirable as the Spanish infantry stand was, with the collapse of the cavalry, the allied force had reached its Falter point of 25% and had to roll for Army Morale at the end of Turn 9. Mendizabal, in miserable fashion, failed his roll and the Spanish retreated off of the field.
Admittedly a tough scenario for the Spanish, the allied infantry superiority could never be brought to bear against the smaller French forces. This allowed Mortier to target the location of the attack....with great effect. Part of the secret for French success was the aggressive decision to attack quickly. If given time, the Spanish could get some brigade orders changed and actually advance downhill to engulf the French (this actually happened in the second playing of the scenario). The French player must be very aggressive and never hesitate.
Fun scenario. The game also boasted accurate results when compared to the historical outcome. As usual, General de Brigade proved to be an excellent rules system for a scenario of this size. Final approximate casualties were 1,000 Spanish/Portuguese and about 250 French losses.
If a more balanced scenario is sought, increasing the Spanish command and control capability should give the intended result. The effect of the fog also hamstrung the Spanish capability to change orders effectively.
(French)
Marshal Mortier CIC Excellent
General de Division Girard Average
General de Brigade Phillopon Average
1/34th Ligne 24 figs Line
2/34th Ligne 24 figs Line
3/34th Ligne 24 figs Line
1/88th Ligne 24 figs Line
2/88th Ligne 24 figs Line
3/88th Ligne 24 figs Line
12 Skirmishers First Class / Line
General de Brigade Gaud Average
1/100th Ligne 24 figs Line
2/100th Ligne 24 figs Line
3/100th Ligne 20 figs 2nd Line
6 Skirmishers First Class / Line
Colonel A'levant Average
6 lb Artillerie a Cheval 3 gun stands Veteran
6 lb Artillerie a Cheval 3 gun stands Veteran
General de Division Latour-Mauborg Excellent
General de Brigade Briche Average
10th Hussars 16 figs Veteran
21st Chasseurs a Cheval 16 figs Line
27th Chasseurs a Cheval 16 figs Line
4th Juramentados 16 figs Conscript
General de Brigade des Eclats Average
4th Dragoons 14 figs Line
14th Dragoons 14 figs Line
26th Dragoons 16 figs Line
2nd Hussars 16 figs Veteran
(Spanish)
General Mendizabal CIC Poor
Brigade General Espana Average
Union bn 30 figs Line
Principe bn 30 figs 2nd Line
del General bn 30 figs 2nd Line
1/Tiradores de Castillo bn 24 figs Conscript
2/Tiradores de Castillo bn 24 figs Conscript
Cataluna bn 30 figs 2nd Line
6 lb Artilleria Pie 3 gun stands Line (2nd Class)
12 Skirmishers 2nd Class / 2nd Line
Brigade General Garcia Poor
Rey bn 30 figs Line
Leon bn 24 figs 2nd Line
Barcelona bn 24 figs 2nd Line
Sevilla bn 30 figs 2nd Line
6 lb Artilleria Pie 3 gun stands Line (2nd Class)
9 Skirmishers 2nd Class / 2nd Line
Brigade General Virues Average
Princesa bn 30 figs Line
Hibernia bn 24 figs 2nd Line
Zamora bn 24 figs 2nd Line
Toledo bn 30 figs Conscript
Voluntarios de Navarro 30 figs Conscript (Levies)
9 Skirmishers 2nd Class / 2nd Line
Cavalry Brigade General Boutron Poor
Carabineros (Dragoons) 20 figs Conscript
Reina Dragoons (Dragoons) 18 figs Conscript
Algarve Dragoons (Dragoons) 18 figs Conscript
Hussars Extremadura (Light) 16 figs 2nd Line
Cavalry Brigade General Madden Average
3rd Portuguese Dragoons (Dragoons) 18 figs Conscript
5th Portuguese Dragoons (Dragoons) 18 figs Conscript
