Maida - two games in an evening! Original battle 4th July, 1806, refight 30th August, 2023

 

 This Wednesday saw my return to the Leeds club, Mike suggested that we play Corunna or Maida.  I was happy to provide suitable French and Mike fielded some brand new British troops he has recently painted.

Maida is not really BBB material, in that the battle has about 5,200 British troops attacked by 6,400 French.  Both sides had Swiss battalions and the French had Poles.  You can read more here 

We set up the table, with French deploying on a ridge, with a river and wood to their left, the British deployed on a ridge opposite the French.  The battle has 4 turns representing 15 minutes real life, so it's not going to last long.

Initial deployment looked like this:

French deployment 

The view from the British end

I led the French for game 1, which started badly in that two of my units refused to move and two more got half moves.  Once my French actually got started i tried a left hook, but the late start, loss of cavalry and just not having enough troops meant my attack slowed then stalled.  The Brits for lots of cannon and some units had a "D" rating for devastating volley.

Here's the pics from game 1- from left to right:

Inadequate French forces try to assault up a hill...

British defenders on their hill sneering at the French.

Mike deploying the British re-inforcements to pincer the slow French

As the game had only taken half an hour, we reset and swapped ends.  Having now got one game under our belt, we appreciated the need for speed, but were now playing for the other team....

Mike's French sped across the plain, heading for my Brits in an extreme left hook.  I deployed right and managed to do very little damage as they came towards me.  My right hand Brits moved forwards, survived an assault and retreated to higher ground.  My left hand Brits then assaulted Mike's left and got high enough results to exploit.  That D rating just tipped the balance in my favour in the fire-fight.  Once again, the Brits held the ridge.

Pics from game 2:

Brit defenders on the Brit right

Brit Arty swivels to the right

French attackers having a go at my centre

French covering force to distract my left...  getting whittled away

In conclusion, Maida is a really nice game.  

Not many troops needed, but you do get guns and cavalry (French only) so there is a nice mix of troop types.  It's an opportunity to deploy Swiss and Poles, so different uniforms and flags (we just used ordinary troops).  British D firepower gives them the edge, but then the French have skirmishers in abundance.

It's a tough call for the French, who are attacking on a 1:1 ratio, however, the French can pick where to attack and the British have to hold all of their hill.

I would recommend this game in it's own right and as a starter to introduce new players to the game.