Peninsular War a first Battle

As advertised we played our first Peninsular War game this weekend. Not only was this the first proper run out for the collection but also a first test of the Soldiers of Napoleon rules. In hindsight this was a little ambitious but we had a very enjoyable day moving figures around the battlefield and getting to grips with the rules.

My objective was to get everything onto the table so it is lucky the forces are broadly balanced. Given the size of the battle, (it’s only when you get everything out you realise how much stuff you have actually painted) the scenario was a simple attempt to engage and drive the enemy away. We did spent the first hour running through the basics of the rules with a small advance guard before driving into the larger battle. Given all this ‘newness’ I didn’t take that many photos and as you’ll see in my comments later we didn’t really reach an end…. anyway you’ll probably enjoy the photos 😀

The two advance guards have clashed around the cross roads, then both sides Cavalry Brigades have arrived and surged forward to try and capture the high ground.

Reserve brigades are gradually fed into the battle, skirmishers out in front start to force the Fr each cavalry back

French reserves arrive on their left flank

The battle at the cross roads has stalled, skirmish fire is ineffective and the main lines are unable to bring the enemy into volley range 

Another British brigade arrives and advances on the left towards the church (I need to start working on my Napoleonic limbers)

Something of a peninsular spectacle ?

Even though at this stage it was obvious we would get everything into combat we brought the final brigades onto the battlefield for effect.

The main swirl of battle is on the British right, the french cavalry have now been pushed back

But the french infantry is advancing in strength

The french chasseurs pull back further to regroup leaving the Dragoons isolated

Another shot of the British light dragoons

This was the point where we reached our gaming time limit. Even though we didn’t remove them four battalions have been broken. The action on the wing was hotting up, the British cavalry is in a good position in the centre. However both armies are bring significant new forces into the battle.

One final shot of the British advancing in front of the church.

So a splendid first run out for the collection. We were clearly too ambitious with the size of the battle which would have taken another day to resolve. However, we enjoyed the rules which are really designed for smaller battles. There were a few  elements which didn’t quite feel right, for example the relative inflexibility of light cavalry, although that may be our misunderstanding and I need to read through them again. I enjoy the card activation approach and we will certainly be trying them again soon.

Thanks as always for checking in

Matt