Last game in 2023 - Mandara 13 March 1801 (part 2 of Aboukir & Mandara)

 I outlined the start of the British invasion of Egypt in 1801 in my previous post, which you can see here.

This post covers the battle of Mandara, as the British push on to the Egyptian capital of Alexandria.  

Firstly, here's the map again:

The game uses the top 4 rows of squares, with the British deployed in three columns, needing to cross the difficult terrain and drive the French from the ridge.  If the British took casualties at Aboukir (as I did) you can recover some of these (as I didn't) when you deploy your troops for the start.

Starting positions - the British all deploy in column.  Orange cubes = devastating volleys - some British troops were ex-militia, so not as great at firing as the regulars (thus don't get the devastating volley bonus). 

In the middle of the picture you can see the British guards (green cube = aggressive, blue cube = spent, orange cube = devastating volleys).  This unit had suffered in the landing and taken 66% casualties, this did affect the British in the second game as this was the best unit.

The British slowly move forward.  The disordering terrain meant that it took forever to close with the French and start to deploy into line.  The British only have 5 turns to take the objectives, 4 turns if they had taken an extra turn at Aboukir.

The battle was then in two halves.  The British left struggled to deploy and then assault the French right on the ridge.

The British right managed to close with the French left in the ruins, but the French inflicted enough shots to disrupt the British and slow the assault.

General view at turn three/four - British advances on the right not matched on the left.

A view of the British rear, showing units that had to retreat and recover from the left hand assault.

The battle ended in a draw, the British took the ruins, but failed to take the ridge or clear the road to Alexandria.  

Conclusion

This was a really fun game, two medium sized battles setting different problems for both sides.  The British out-number the French 2:1, but need to be aggressive if they are to take objectives in the given time.  The British keenly felt the losses taken by the Guards brigade, who were their biggest and best unit.

Highly recommended and many thanks to Mark for a diverting couple of hours!

Last game in 2023 - Aboukir 8 March 1801 (part 1 of Aboukir & Mandara)

 The last game of 2023 was put on by the excellent Mark Smith from his forthcoming Africa Scenario book - Aboukir & Mandara.  

These linked battles are the amphibious assault upon the French in Egypt and subsequent start of the march towards the Egyptian capital of Alexandria.  

The British forces were led by Sir Ralph Abercrombie and featured good inter-service co-operation on the British team between the Navy and the Army, meticulous planning and professionalism for one of the most complicated military operations that can be undertaken - invasion of an enemy occupied coast.

Firstly, here's the map - we used the bottom half for the Aboukir game.

On the day we used the bottom three rows for the Aboukir game, with the French lurking in the sand hills in the middle of the map, the Army assaulting from right to left, backed up by the British fleet firing over the top of the assault boats.  Very D-Day Normandy.....

Here's the set-up:

British boats lined up ready to start, the single 3 decker represents the Navy giving covering fire.

Row boys, row!  Boats could travel using the normal BBB rules - full move 9" and 6" half move, with a low risk of swamping and taking casualties.

The British have reached the shore and some units are already charging inland, whilst others are still arriving.

Once ashore, the British piled into the French.

The centre British unit took casualties on the way in and then got hammered by the French, so have retreated into the surf to recover.  More of this later.

The French retreating away from the beach.

This part of the game was completed in 4 turns and resulted in a British victory.  It was not one-sided, as the boats took casualties going in and once they had landed, especially as the French could avoid the Naval support by staying on the land side of the dunes.

It was a really fun game, with plenty of excitement and interest as the boats crossed the bay and the Brits stormed ashore.  Apart from the ships and small boats, all the troops were standard British and French models.

So - on to part 2 ....

Corunna - 16 Jan 1809 - refight 29 Nov & 6 Dec

After a long retreat in winter through the mountains of North West Spain, Sir John Moore reaches the port of Corunna and waits for the Royal Navy.  The two day delay allows Marshal Court to catch up with the retreating army and attack.  Moore successfully evacuates his army, but dies in the battle to hold off the French.  So much for history, how did we fare?

Mike chose to field his British army and I elected to give my French another outing.  The scenario is by Matt Bradley and has the British holding a ridge which the French must take for victory.  Here's the map:

I elected to use my main force to attack the objective villages of Piedralonga and Elvina (top two objectives) and pin the British at the bottom objective (on the San Christobal hill).

The start of the game - Elvina to the left and Piedralonga to the right.  Note the use of the hand-towel as the Atlantic - so glad it wasn't pink!

French columns going in - Elvina

Piedralonga

The scenario allowed the use of dragoons, as cavalry:

and dismounted, as infantry. The dismounted dragoons (red token) have really not got their act together, only one unit has charged home and the British infantry are benefitting from a massive injection of tea!

After two successful battles in recent weeks, I have to admit I got a bit cocky.  As ever, the BBB rules brought me back to the reality that the more units needing to co-ordinate, the more likely one or more is to go slow or just stop.  The British moved forward at Piedralonga and got driven back up the hill, but it was more of a planned retreat than the rout I'd been hoping for. 

French disorganised assault - not enough troops charging home.  The British "D" rating for devastating volleys added just enough to their firepower to ensure my charges stopped or took casualties on the way in.

A little later in the game - the French have Elvina, however Piedralonga holds on for the Brits...  just.

Next turn - the Brits have Elvina, but the Brits have pushed back into Piedralonga

Close up of French infantry, mostly warmly dressed in greatcoats to keep out the cold.

French 12pdrs - great until the Brits decided to keep the battle at just beyond long range!

To the left of Elvina - two evenly matched blocks of troops slug it out for this flank.

A little while later...

French final assault on Piedralonga - not starting in a good place, as all the French units are disrupted.

Massed French cavalry, waiting for the British to break...  waiting... waiting...

Not really clear from the photos, but the British lost Elvina and got pushed off that part of the ridge.  They did hang on to Piedralonga and stopped the French left hand move past Elvina.  The French dragoons on the extreme left got wiped out, but the time taken to do this meant these British were unable to rejoin the battle.

As so often happens with BBB, it came down to the last move.  The British retook Elvina and the French ended up at the bottom of the ridge.  So, we ended with a British win, the rest of the army can evacuate and Soult has run out of troops.

A really enjoyable game and a lot of fun to get my troops on the table.  The British held firm and managed to counter-attack in style.  The French just ran out of steam and failed to make their numbers count.  As expected, the Brits held the villages and that "D" rating gave them an edge.  It was nice to see Mike's troops - there was one more battle in 2023 and I think we'll be in Spain for a while yet in the 2024 gaming season. 

Vimiero - August 1808 - refight 8 Nov 2023

 This week saw Mike and I get his Anglo-Portugal army out to take on my French at Vimiero.  

The British have to hold the village of that name and keep the road to it from Port Nova free of French.  Wellesley's task is to cover British troops landing at Port Nova, so has deployed on a ridge from the sea to Vimiero.  The French are deployed on the ridge facing Vimiero, whilst expecting a flank attack on the British left to arrive soon (decided by a couple of dice rolls).

The scenario map below shows the start positions.

Here are the troops at the start of the game.

British holding Vimiero

French holding their ridge.....   waiting for the flank march.  As the flank march did not happen till turn 3, we rattled through the early stages of the battle as neither Mike nor I wanted to move, Mike's forces on the western ridge started moving slowly.  Combat was restricted to some cannon fire to/from Vimiero.

It then gt a bit "fast and furious" once the flank march came on.  I tried a daring cavalry strike for the road whilst massing my troops for the assault on Vimiero itself.  Mike was not rolling as well as he needed to, so the Brits were not holding the French off.

My cavalry strike did not get to the objective in time, but my assault on Vimiero managed to get a toehold in Vimiero on my last turn.  Mike then riposted with an assault to drive me off and win the game.  Sadly he rolled too low in the assault and thus bounced off, leaving me in possession of what was by now a very battered village.

Glorious French artillery, supporting the final French push

The end of the game, French hold Vimiero for a draw.

Wider view - Vimiero in the middle, battered Portuguese troops behind.

All in all it was a great game.  It was really nice to get my French out and very satisfying to do better than history.  

The flank march definitely adds to the excitement of the game, as neither side knows when it will actually turn up.  Of the three infantry units on the march, only two managed to take part in combat.  

We managed to set up, play and pack up in just over 3 hours, probably helped by our decision to not move for the the first 3 turns but trade artillery fire and banter....

New Gallery Page - Army of Austria 1792-98

 New Gallery Page added - Austria 1792-98.  OK, here's some teaser pics...

Grand old Duke of York - British in Flanders 1793-95

Having bought the "Neither up nor down" book that covers the British involvement in Flanders, 1793-95, I started the forces needed.  In the scale I usually work in this will be 6 bases of infantry, 6 of cavalry, 2 command stands.  

In March I posted from the workbench in progress here and here are the finished troops so far - 3 units of line infantry, 2 heavy cavalry, the Duke of York himself to lead (astray?) the British troops.  

British Army

Duke of York (white Horse)

Heavy Cav (1st Dragoon Guards & 6th Inniskilling Dragoon Guards)

The Line Infantry 14th, 37th, 53rd

The figures are Baccus AWI British infantry (with French Officer & standard bearers), Napoleonic British cavalry and Generals (with suitable plumes).  Painting white/buff belts over red was a bit of a pain, but not as bad as I initially thought.  

Enjoy!