Battle of Corunna January 1809

 We have moved our Command and Colors on line as son has moved back into lock down in London. Sunday afternoon saw the next scenario from the game Corunna. In one sentence the British have been famously chased back to the coast through difficult winter conditions, their rescue boats are delay so Sir John Moore has to turn about and face off against General Soult. Taking up a defensive position around the village of Elvina. The British historically win and escape but Moore is killed by a cannon ball so when the British return Wellesley takes control and secures his reputation for ever. (For those interested there is a picture of our simple zoom setup at the bottom)

The scenario setup, French attacking , left wing cavalry hampered by difficult terrain the rest of the army good solid Infantry, however, the British are in a strong defensive position in the village of Elvina and on the hills behind. The river is really a stream but does impact movement and more importantly fighting.

Having won the last three battles it felt right to be bold so, and the cards dealt the French really left no option other than to attack with the cavalry, they caught the British by surprise but were soon blown themselves. 

The British then countered to secure the centre whilst the French have really no choice but to advance in the centre and try and get to the village before the British

In a remarkable similarity to historical they fail , but then manage to force their way in (historically the village changes hand several times) however, it isn’t good for the French who simply can’t get numbers across the stream to support

Their final unit becomes isolated and is wiped out.

Suddenly it’s 4 victory banners to 2 for the British. And all the French can see is a wall of strong British infantry. The French have to at least try so attempt to swing right but it is the final whimper of a dying enemy.

The British were just too strong in this scenario, the British can just sit and wait in the villages and provide easy support. A good game though which again for its tremendous simplicity had a nice feel of historical action

For those interested our zoom set up, using my iPad, the stand is a converted cymbal stand, I built a very simple little stand for the cards so Ben can see them but I can’t I did occasionally have to point out which troops were which ie light vs line infantry, and I had emailed him a copy of the card and stats sheet in advance. Final thing was to send him some dice which had coloured sides very close to the C&C ones. It worked well and felt really not much different to a live game. He didn’t drink my brandy which is a bonus !

We’ll be playing again soonish and the next scenario is Talavera 😀 also played a proper ACW game and will blog that soon. Keep safe all