With the plethora of rabbits, badgers, stoats and Lego men gracing our club’s gaming tables recently, I thought it time to redress the balance and put on a game for the hard-core historical war gamer.
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| A bit of fox hunting or should that be 'chasse au renard' as David takes us on a wild goose chase of a mixed-up game recreating Albuera - well sort of. |
I was also worried for the sanity of our Chairman and hoped to lure him away from the Dark Side. With the promise of using Nigel Marsh’s excellent computer moderated rules, Carnage and Glory 2 as a further sweetener, I was fairly confident he would leave his ships in dry dock and find his land legs again. And so it proved to be.
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| La Albuera Church |
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| Diorama by Curro Agudo Mangas in Luis de Morales Museum |
I had started to sort out my British and Portuguese army and I was keen to get them on the table. I had also been fascinated by the battle of Albuera after having read many years ago Jac Weller’s book, ‘Wellington in the Peninsula’ and I had been particularly struck by the black and white photos of the largely unspoilt battlefield.
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| The main bridge in front of Albuera - see Oman's map below |
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| The lesser bridge over the dried river bed |
When I visited the glorious Fields of Grief in 2018 it had hardly changed. Alas not on my next visit four years later when solar panels were encroaching over the ground at an alarming rate. So with all that in mind, a game based around the battle of Albuera with no mention of any of our furry friends seemed an obvious choice.
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| French view of British firing line |
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| Looking down the British firing line with the French approaching from the right of picture |
At the battle of Albuera, Soult performed a flanking attack on the allied right whilst pinning the allied centre, held by Alten’s brigade, and the allied left, held by Hamilton’s and Collin’s Portuguese brigades. The allied right was held by Lardizabel, Zayas and Ballasteros Spanish brigades which famously held off the French flank attack, giving Beresford time to reinforce them with Colborne’s, Hoghton’s and Abercromby’s Brigades.
Having passed through the Spanish lines, the British became involved in the most bloody and murderous fire fight of the Peninsula war and it was in this action that the 1/57th earned their nickname 'The Die-Hards'.
That was all the background I needed for the scenario but for an excellent account of the battle I would recommend ‘The Battle of Albuera 1811: Glorious Field of Grief’ by Michael Oliver and Richard Partridge.
So what would have happened, I wondered, if the Spaniards didn’t stand, and Beresford did not have time to reinforce his right flank? With our game in no danger of being interrupted by the sound of furry feet we saw the allied Division of the wily Maj Gen Lowry Fox pitting his wits against the cunning of Gen de Corps Jean Renard. I flipped the axis of the battlefield to faintly disguise its true identity, changed the name of the village and with players appointed to their brigades, the following orders were issued to the opposing Generals.
Major General Lowry Fox
A strong enemy force of Divisional strength is attacking from the West. You must hold the village of El Tejón and prevent the enemy from capturing the road leading East.
General de Corps Jean-Baptiste Renard
Capture the east-west road running through El Tejón. The majority of your Brigades are advancing from the West, but General de Division André François Moineau’s Cavalry Division and one other Brigade have conducted a flank march and are in position to attack the enemy’s flank from the South. The Divisional artillery may be attached to either attacking force.
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| The table setup at start of play |
With most of the toys on the table, I fired up the laptop and away we went.
And things got going pretty quickly. Both Belette’s and Furet’s brigades launched an all-out assault on the Allied right and the village of El Tejón. None of this preliminary bombardment and softening up the enemy stuff. Straight in with the bayonet. Except you have to get through a fair amount of lead first to say nothing of struggling across a river or a bridge to get to grips with your opposite number.
The allies were fairly confident they could hold their ground, but their feathers were decidedly ruffled when several routing battalions of Spanish troops materialised on their left flank and proceeded to push through the orderly redcoats, who nevertheless held formation whilst heaping derision on their white coated so-called allies. The reason for the discomfiture of the Spaniards soon became apparent when Renard’s sly flank attack appeared.
Furet’s brigade had suffered badly in their attempt to press home their attack, and with their Brigade commander mortally wounded, shot in the head whilst gallantly leading his men forward, the attack was faltering.
Belette’s Brigade assault on El Tejón was fairing little better with the 2/17e Légère Regiment being severely mauled by musketry trying to cross the smaller bridge. An heroic charge by 2/28e Légère Regiment on Bull’s horse artillery resulted in some success, Bull being forced to pull back and losing a gun. Unfortunately, General de Brigade Michel Belette had neither the impetus nor the support to take advantage of this minor success.
With both French Brigades embroiled in their respective attacks, Brig- Gen William Burrow’s Brigade was free to withdraw and strengthen Brig-Gen Daniel Horsepath’s Brigade which was preparing to meet the flanking attack.
Brig-Gen Archibald Dogerty was not too pleased to be so readily abandoned but decided the best form of defence was attack so he attempted to drive off Furet’s weakened brigade. However, as he was going against the defend orders given to him by Fox, his battalions were reluctant to fully engage with the enemy.
Renard could see that Furet’s brigade was being compromised so he wrote an urgent order that Furet was to cease his attack and to defend. He gave a hastily scribbled note to the courier, a most courageous and very brave young man, but who was also remarkably stupid and who rode off in completely the wrong direction.
A heavy cloudburst swept over the battlefield, making any musketry ineffective. It did, however, allow the flanking forces to gain valuable ground although it took Gen de Brigade François Blaireau’s Brigade an inordinate amount of time to pass through the vineyards. Perhaps his battalions were doing what the French do best – foraging and filling their knapsack and their bellies with the grape harvest. Best not to think of the consequences but there were tears before bedtime.
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| Renard’s sly flank attack appeared! |
As the rain eased, General de Division André François Moineau had skilfully positioned himself to execute a magnificent charge with General de Brigade Joseph Bouvier Souris’s Dragoons. Unfortunately, Moineau found himself suddenly indisposed and his orders to charge failed to reach Souris, who watched the opportunity slip through his fingers. The friction of battle is often created by the players themselves, without the intervention of an external force.
The assault on El Tejón continued with Blaireau’s Brigade being drawn in to support Belette’s weakened Brigade. Brig-Gen Loftus William Hare, seeing a gap opening between Belette’s and Furet’s Brigades ordered his two regiments of Portuguese Light Dragoons, the 1st and 7th, to cross the bridge and exploit the situation, causing some French battalions of Belette’s Brigade to cease their attack on El Tejón and form dense columns.
The charge on the packed French formation by the 1st Portuguese Dragoons went as one would expect, with both sides suffering minimal casualties and the Dragoons withdrawing a respectful distance. A cry of, ‘Charge the guns!’ went up together with much tutting and shaking of heads, but despite the lack of moral support the 7th Portuguese Dragoons successfully charged and routed 11th Comp. 6th Foot Artillery Battery.
Despite increased pressure on Brig-Gen Daniel Horsepath’s Brigade occupying El Tejón, the redcoats continued to hold firm, trading volleys with both with Blaireau’s and Belette’s Brigades. Renard saw the advantage of his cunning flank attack slowly ebbing away. His position was made even more perilous when the replacement officer of Furet’s Brigade was unhorsed adding even more to the woes of that Brigade which had seen two battalions dispersed and the remaining four battalions in a sorry state. With his army moral near breaking point Renard decided the best course of action was to withdraw his army as best he could, covered by Moinea’s untouched cavalry division and to lick his wounds.
I cannot speak too highly of the computer moderated system Carnage and Glory, created and continually developed by Nigel Marsh. It simply produces a totally believable and thoroughly entertaining game with the appropriate touch of English humour.
The support is second to none. I asked a rather rookie question to clarify a situation which arose in our game, and I got a response within a few minutes. If you want to try a computer moderated system and you have had your fingers burnt, give Carnage and Glory a try.
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| The End of Battle Summary Report that C&G produces, illustrating perfectly the story of the battle in the numbers it has created, with 2,737 French casualties with three battalions dispersed, one routing and an artillery battery dispersed, to the 173 suffered by the Allies indicative of the victory achieved. |
I am sure it was a relief to our Chairman to play a game where a menagerie of furry animals and birds weren’t rampaging across the table.
Wait- isn’t El Tejón Spanish for…. No, surely not. And what about Moineau? Isn’t that French for….
Flaky D wouldn’t be that sneaky- or would he?
My thanks to Nathan - the Fox and Burrow, Ian - the Horse and Hare, Mike - the Dog, John - the Fox and the Ferret, newbie Alex (welcome to the club) - the Weasel, Matt - the Badger and finally, with apologies, to JJ - the Sparrow, who had the wool, or should that be fur, pulled 'furmly' (sorry, just had to be) over his eyes, together with his two Brigade commanders, the Squirrel and the Owl.
Figures: AB
Mat: Tiny Wargames
Buildings: The Drum
Rules: Carnage and Glory 2
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