NAPOLEONIC SKIRMISH SOMEWHERE IN THE PENINSULA

Greetings, fellow shut ins! (at least mainly "shut in" when it comes to gaming).  In this post, I (belatedly) follow up on the promise of my last: a battle report of an actual face to face game. Several new acquisitions--most notably a striking unit of Nassau Grenadiers--to my friend Mark's collection (he of Mark D's Wargaming Blog) provided the inspiration for this game. I provided the French and Mark the British/Spanish. This was another game using my Brother Against Brother Napoleonic variant (so much of a variant that I sometimes refer to it as "Not Brother Against Brother"--but that's a brother of a different color).  Moving on, in the below report you may, as usual, clix pix for BIG PIX (and probably will need to do so if you want to see the text in the images). 

The scenario: The British had three larger companies (three platoons each) and the French  four companies (of two of platoons each, except for the 1st). The British started with one company (the 1st: Spanish) deployed anywhere north of the river up and to 24" in, and one company of their choice south of the river.  The last British company would dice to arrive on the road.  The French could start one company (of their choice) on the North table edge (figs would march in measured from the edge), with one French company arriving each turn thereafter (order up to the French) down the road.  After turn 3, the side that ended a turn with the only unit within 12" radius of the road junction and the town center would gain 1 point (each zone controlled). Click for a full order of battle and scenario information. The stage was set for a scrum!

Mark chose to deploy his 3rd Company on the table (two British line platoons and the Nassau Grenadiers) on the south side of the river.  He deployed the elements of his 1st Company (Spanish Grenadiers and two units of Guerillas) forward, along with the his Army command stand, which would manage the fighting at the crossroads.

The action begins: Mark detached one of the British Line platoons from the 3rd Company to work in support of his right. The Spanish Grenadiers took up residence in the town (from which they would not be dislodged) and the guerillas moved forward towards the north of the crossroads and to block the French entry.  Meanwhile, I brought on the 1st French Company (the largest), consisting of two legere peletons and one carabinier peleton plus the French Foot artillery.  On the extreme left, I got a legere peleton into the woods to maintain a presence in the 12" town zone.  Details of this early stage of the battle follow...

The lead French Legere peleton making for the key woods by the crossroads...

...but the pesky Guerillas get there first!

...the Tommys and Dutchers of the British 3rd Company come forward, while the the Royal Horse Artillery section makes for the hill to the British left. In the distance, the next French company can be seen getting ready to arrive...

Lieutenant Pierre Regret--soon to be the late-lamented--inspires his elite Carabinier peleton...

...Meanwhile, out on the British Right/French Left, it is shaping up to be a long day for the French. Mark would make maximum use of the cover and superior British musketry to shred the French on this wing. In order to prevent Mark from getting points, I would have to cycle units into the woods (within 12" of the town) who would then wither under the musketry coming from the town. 

Mid Game: Sniping back and forth continues between the French legere and the guerillas in the woods. The French 3rd Company (a line infantry and voltiguer) have arrived and are engaged with the guerillas in the open on the right. The 10th Chassuer detachment came in with them and has trotted up the road. Meanwhile, the French foot battery has pulled back after getting worse than it gave vs the Spanish grenadiers in the town. The legere peleton on the left is hanging on in the woods vs the town as it gets shot at from the town.  Lieut Regret and the Carabiniers have collided with the British Line and Nassau Grenadiers at the crossroads.  The British 2nd Company (KGL lights, British Lights, and detachment of Brunswick Hussars) is lining up to arrive. Some details of this phase...

...Lieut Regret falls in melee to Sgt John Bull, spawning a new saying, "Never bring a bayonet to a spontoon fight"...

Under the watchful eye of the Army Command Stand, the Nassau Grenadiers finish off the now led-from-the-ranks French Carabiniers...

...Meahwhile, Lieut Pate, leading the Voltiguer peleton of the newly arrived French 3rd Company, gets cut down in melee with the Spanish Guerillas! (losing unit leaders in melee would be a trend for the French...) Eventually, this unit of Guerillas was reduced to a single figure, which was shot down, firing squad-like, rather than by melee to finish them off (very Guernica)!

Late Game: The British have detached the British Light Infantry platoon of the late arriving 2nd Company to the right in order to take over the zone around the town.  The last French company, Impierial Guard, with one peleton of Old Guard Chasseurs and one of  Young Guard, has arrived and become heavily involved, the latter managing to take out the RHA guns on the British left.  The KGL lights have come up just in time and taken up position in the woods at the crossroads, handily fending off the French Old Guard Chasseuers. The newly arrived French 2nd Company (with two line peletons) has been sent into the meatgrinder on the French Left.  The pesky Guerillas have jumped out of the woods to harass the redeployed French artillery (thankfully, without a company commander, the Guerillas were not able to order a charge!). The Brunswick Hussars have been reduced to one figure and are out of command, while the French 10th Chasseur detachment is no more (so much for the cavalry). A few more details on the end game...

...The British lights take the now newly renamed woods on the British right, and the battered French 2nd Company is pulled back, leaving the British to gather points for control of the zone. In the distance, late game action continues elsewhere. A fateful event card has brought the Nassau Grenadiers some replacements, which have helped to stabilize the center...

...yet there were still high hopes that the Old Guard Chassuers would advance and sweep the KGL lights out of the woods and dominate the center, tipping the scales in a game winning charge! (Shades of late in the day at Waterloo). Not so much in practice, though: not only did they not take the woods, but the KGL wiped them out to the last bearskin, whilst not losing a single figure themselves (the debut game curse came for my newly fielded Old Guard Chassuers: I shoulda' knowed better!).

...Meanwhile, out on the extreme end of the line, the Young Guard peleton has been reduced to half strength but still has its lieutenant (take what you can get). From its position, it looks on as the Old Guard disappears into the woods vs the KGL, never to be seen again. On the bright side, such losses among the Old Guard will mean more chance for promotion among the survivors in the Young Guard.  Trotting up the hill, the one remaining Brunswick Hussar, although out of command, could still shoot with one dice (at reduced range and with a negative modifier for being mounted), and so he did, predictably still picking off a Young Guardsman!  Oh, the humanity!

Many thanks to my gracious host, Mark.

Victory this day was to Mark and the British, and well deserved! It was fine day of face to face playing with toy soldiers, one that has been a long time coming.  For those who might be familiar with Brother Against Brother, my variant uses a dice system for morale and special events rather than the cards. If you're interested, you may download the player reference sheet, which includes enough information to explain how this works (I think), the event list, and a sample unit rating list.  In this game report, you might notice numbered disks on the table. These are my Universal Activation Markers.

Excelsior!

POST SCRIPT: On the New Blogger Platform.  In my previous post, I expressed my less than enthusiastic assessment of the new blogger platform.  However, I did find one thing to like: the font management system.  I take that back. With this post, blogger reverted to its old trick of displaying some default font size and type other than the one I selected (and that I see when composing posts).  Sigh.