Spanish Mini-Campaign 2: The Battle of Pla

After our enjoyable first attempt at a Sharp Practice 2 mini-campaign set in the Spanish Peninsula (see here), Vidal and I have decided to have another go at it but in a somewhat different context. This time around, we're not using a version of campaigning from TFL's Dawns & Departures, the usual starting point for SP2 campaigns. Instead, I went back to an old board game favourite, The War of 1812 from Columbia Games. The map in this game, besides being gorgeous, provides an excellent geographical context for a small campaign, involving relatively small forces. 

I had previously married this mapboard with a mish-mash of campaign rules for an 1812 campaign but before this we decided to try out the system in Spain. I sourced a map of Spain from a stash I have on my hard-drive, culled from who knows where on the interwebs. For rules, I ported over the 1812 mish-mash I had previously created, a combination of the Columbia Games campaign rules, Piquet Games' Theater of War, and Sharp Practice 2. You can see the rules here: link 

As can be seen, the French and British-controlled areas (blue and red numbered towns, respectively) are located on the east coast of Spain along the Ebro River. It doesn't take much to realize this is completely and utterly fictitious. I'm moderately confident that there were French and British forces in the area during the war but I have no idea how many, where, or how they operated. Not really important for us. This is just a geographical shell to add some context to our campaigning. That disclaimer out of the way, the basic objective for both sides is to control as many enemy towns as possible (the higher numbered, the better). The details can be seen at the link provided above.

1812: Turns 1 & 2

On this version of the map can be seen the opposing battlegroups deployed about the area and the initial moves in Turns 1 & 2. This resulted in a battle at the oddly named crossroads of Pla. French Battlegroup H (strength 2) moved north from Reus to confront British battlegroup F at Pla. Vidal was required to reveal the size of his British battlegroup and it turned out to be strength 2 as well. After the Battlegroup Composition procedure, we ended up with these forces for the battle:

The battlefield was then shaped with Dawns & Departures and a Battle scenario rolled up randomly. This is a fairly straightforward scenario where the attacker (in this case the French) must capture the enemy Primary Deployment Point or force them off the field by means of a voluntary withdrawal or reduction in Force Morale to zero.

The battlefield was relatively sparse with only two farm buildings and two fields (rough ground). This seemed perfect for my infantry formations. I had been somewhat chagrined to not have any skirmish troops in my force for this battle... especially as Vidal somehow ended up with two units of 95th Rifles (ugh) and one of Portuguese cacadores (at least these were not rifle-armed). Support was rolled for and the French received 4 points as the attacker and the British half of that. I decided that given the open nature of the battlefield, I couldn't go wrong by purchasing an Exploring Officer. This choice provides an extra 3" when deploying and a Fixed Secondary Deployment Point. I also chose a Physic, but I was doubtful how useful that choice would be. The French Primary DP is in the top left of the photo (the lovely vivandiere stand) and the Secondary DP is the white disc below the central farm building. The British Primary DP can be seen in the top right of the photo. Because of the disparity in forces, Vidal chose two barricades (seen deployed between the right-hand farm and the adjacent field).

As it turned out, these barricades were never used in the battle (by either side). Given the skirmish-ey (yes, it's word) nature of his force, Vidal may have been better served choosing a Marksmen for one of his 95th Rifles units. He could then sit out of range of the French muskets and try to pick away at French Big Men. Hindsight as they say...

I rolled 9 Force Morale POints and Vidal 11. Even with the French numerical advantage, it would take some doing to get the British Force Morale down to zero. Immediately out of the bag came the Big Men chips for both of my infantry formations so I took advantage of the extra 6" for deploying out of sight of the enemy (Vidal had nothing on the table as yet) and pushed ahead as far as possible.

French infantry deploy. 

The lack of a skirmish screen is painfully evident.

The Spanish cavalry commander, feeling a bit cocky, trotted onto the field with his command hoping to catch the flank of the French infantry. Nothing like yellow coats to strike fear into the hearts of your enemy!

And the bane of my existence, the 95th Rifles, deploy just out of range of French muskets (but still well within the range of their own rifles). Have I mentioned how much I dislike these guys? In fact, with their very first fire on the French infantry, they were able to hit one of my Big Men, possibly even the force commander. But wait! The Physic was also attached to the same formation and counts as a Big Man for casualty purposes. The Physic was hit and killed, forcing a Force Morale test. The French lost two Force Morale points but the force commander was saved. Was the Physic worth it in the balance?

French artillery deploys near the Primary Deployment Point and promptly targets the Spanish cavalry. Spanish cockiness soon turned to disillusionment and the cavalry decided it was enough merely to show up looking splendid. They quickly about faced and trotted off the field with as much grace as could be mustered.

Portuguese cacadores deploy near the farm, hoping to get a sneaky shot at something French. This was their first deployment in a game and, surprisingly, did not conform to the normal standard of new units breaking and running.

French chasseurs a cheval start moving to the flank of the farm. My original intent had been to deploy and  charge the Spanish cavalry but the latter had already vacated the area, leaving the French cavalry commander somewhat disappointed.

I could have made better use of the French cavalry by deploying them on the opposite flank and threatening the 95th Rifles. There was much more open ground and would have provided more opportunities for maneuver .

Both French infantry formations crawled (and I mean "crawled"... two successive rolls of snake eyes) forward and were finally able to bring the 95th Rifles under fire, albeit at long range. The casualties did begin to mount among the rifles, however, and Vidal wisely decided to quit the field. The loss of his only formed unit (the Spanish Dragoons) had severely hampered his plans and he saw no real chance of winning... thus the withdrawal.

The battle counts as a Decisive Victory for the French (achieving the objective but not forcing the enemy Force Morale to zero) so the French Battlegroup will receive a "20% up 1" modifier (20% of its units in the next battle will be upgraded one quality level, appropriate to the unit type). The British Battlegroup will receive a "20% down 1" modifier.