15mm Battle of Vimiero.

Vimiero hill. 

Having completed several test games of Napoleonic Command we thought it was time to try a historical scenario. This was lifted straight from the Genera de Brigade Peninsular war scenario book. Once again we used Neal's superb 15mm collection of Dwarves  to game this one.

I took the British and Tom took the French.

Neal was his usual impartial self as umpire


Th British starting positions with the Light Division on the left.

The French ready to advance,

The French, having won the dice off went first and advanced along their entire front.

No redeployment for the British as they waited patiently for the approaching French columns.

Disorder points accumulated by both sides at this point following threat assessments by both sides before the end of turn 1. 

In turn 2 the French continue to advance.

French guns deploy.

The 95th redeploy into skirmish order.

French redeployment with guns unlimbered and columns into line.

Ffrench prepare to assault the British positions east of Vimiero.

I could have done without a double 4 here!

The 95th are pushed back.

 In a revolutionary new tactic the British right sinks into Vimiero hill.

French infantry deploy into columns to prepare for the assault on the ridge.

On the right the British have moved to threaten the French flank while the French artillery turn to face them.

A view along the ridge line. The main French effort is focused on the Light Division.

Charges going in all along the British left.

Further along the line another French column advances up the hill.

The redcoats fail to stop the charge.

The other charges also go in.

The British line assaulted by 4 columns.

The French pressure on the British line results in the British brigade..

losing initiative indicated by the red counter. In their next move the will need to take action to reduce the threat level against them.

A similar outcome on the other flank which is being assaulted by 2 brigades including an elite grenadier brigade.

The most threatened unit must lose a base which, after a 'dice off' turns out to be the battery! The brigade loses the initiative and must fall back.

The 95th fall back into Vimiero and the light infantry retreat off the table...

The other brigade sees a unit withdraw behind a friendly unit. Having lost initiative the brigade is unable to execute their flanking movement.

The French columns react to the British by wheeling to threaten the their flank.

The French Grenadier brigade also turns to face their flank in response to the sight of dust clouds to the west.

The British wheel their line to face the new threat to their flank. The remaining British brigade now has 2 French ones to deal with.

The French charge.

But the redcoats hold them off and they react to their failure to charge home by deploying into line.

The beleagured Light Division once again lose the initiative.

A large gap in the line appears, will the reinforcements arrive in time to save the day? With both British brigades having lost initiative again its a case of holding on as best as they can.

So we called it a day as time was getting on with the British still in control of the ridge which was the main objective. How long they could continue to hold is anyone's guess but the British commander was distinctly lacking in morale.

We have decided to introduce a special rule for skirmishers to reflect the tactical realities of the Peninsular war. The British brigade skirmish screen in the reaction phase will be allowed to reform and take up its usual position on the left of the Brigade. British and French light infantry  battalions operating as skirmishers can reform behind their own lines. 

Next week we will be doing the Spartacus slave revolt in 10mm using Hail Caesar.



Napoleonic Command 3rd 28mm game.

This was our third game practicing the rules with the 28mm figures. We are satisfied now with our understanding of the rules and our next game will be a 15mm game based on an early Peninsular War battle. While Neal is preparing that we will be doing a 15mm WW2Blitzkrieg Commander game.

This is how the game played out with Tom taking the French and me and Neal taking the British. We had been hoping Derek would turn up with his  Russians reinforcements for my meagre force but, reflecting the real Napoleoic wars this was one of the many occasions when they stayed at home! 

Initial French deployments. 

The Allies with my Brigade of Portuguese on the left flank and Neals British infantry and cavalry Brigades in the centre and right.

French from the left flank. 

British artillery deployed for action in the centre of the Allied line. 

French Dragoon Brigade.  

 French cavalry advance and and inflict a disorder point on the British.

The British cavalry charge.

The French begin to accumulate disorder.

Defeated French cavalry lose a base.

Disorders  on two French brigades.

French cavalry pull back from the British.

But the British have several units threatening them and lose their initiative following the worst possible dice result, a 1 and a 6 giving a minus 5 off their cohesion score

The Portuguese get their first threat assessed against them.

As do the British infantry.

The Portuguese extend their line to protect their flank.

The cavalry withdraw from the threats to their front and flank.

In the centre the British artillery prepare to meet French columns cresting the ridge.

The French Grenadier brigade.

Their right flank in mixed order.

A French brigade loses initiate and must move some units out of threat range. Threat can also be reduced by adding commanders to units as this halves the threat against them.

A view from behind the Portuguese lines.

A panorama of the game.

The French right advances.

The right also.

As the French advance their Portuguese opponents lose their resolve.

The British withdraw their skirmishers and prepare to meet the French as they march up the hill in their columns.

The small French Grenadier brigade have a number of units threatening their front and they lose their initiative. They will not be advancing in their next turn.

To their right the larger brigade suffers no such fate.

The two lines face off.

The French cavalry supported by infantry.

They charge the British cavalry.

The lines close as the French advance uphill. 

A view from behind the British lines with the cavalry engagement on the right.

Two and a half squadrons of French cavalry take on five British.

The Portuguese having regained their initiative prepare to engage the French as they advance up the hill.

The French brigade lose their initiative and increased disorder level to 4.

The other French brigade also loses initiative.

The French cavalry again lose their fight withe the British light cavalry Brigade.

They lose initiative, a stand and are forced to retreat.

As time was getting on we ended the game with all French brigades having lost initiative. We felt that we had reached a point with the rules which meant we could test them with a more demanding and historically based scenario. After a week off to do a WW2 Blitzkreig Commander game in 15mm we will be doing an early Peninsular War game using Neils 15mm dwarf armies. We will use the same sized table so there will be plenty of room for maneouvre. Looking forward to that one.

Carl had intended to do a report on the x-wing game he played on the same night but they used a new blue vinyl mat the club has just purchased for naval games and the glare from it made the photos useless! We'll have to tone it down a bit to resolve that problem.

Thanks for reading.

Mick