01 March, 2009

Battle of Rolica (1st Position)

Richard Borg was special guest at Leprecon this year (quite a coup I'd say!).
He demo'ed his up-and-coming Command & Colours Napoleonic game for us on Sunday.
The first scenario we played was the 1st Battle of Rolica - I'd never even heard of it, so here's a link

This scenario represents the first defensive position taken up by the French north of Rolica.

French take up strong defensive positions north of Rolica

French artillery eye up opposition. Although on the ridgeline upon which almost the entire French force is deployed and supported by infantry, they are heavily outnumbered by the English artillery.

French artillery eye up opposition

Wellesley orders column across river. The plan would seem to be to manoeuvre around the French on the left flank and then take the main position in a frontal attack once it's been turned. The Portuguese rifle battalion have been identified as a danger by the French artillery and they are pounded by them as long range at any opportunity.

Wellesley orders column across river

French hussars English advance guard into square. Fearing tha the left flank will turn his entire position, Delaborde orders his hussars to stymie any attempted river crossing here.

French hussars  English advance guard into square

French hussars threaten Portuguese infantry. Delaborde takes personal command of the hussars on the other flank; with nearby infantry support he can make this an effective attack.

French hussars threaten Portuguese infantry

English heavy cavalry charge up hill but are repulsed by well-timed volley.
Twice the heavy dragoons charged this light infantry unit, but both times they were hit with a well-timed volley which turned them back.

English heavy cavalry charge up hill but are repulsed by well-timed volley

French light battalion fire into Portuguese in square. The hussars, having forced the infantry into square circle their formation and their supporting light battalion fires with deadly effect into the packed ranks.

French light battalion fire into Portuguese in square

Fierce calvary fight on French left flank. The French come off worse from this long and frenzied engagement.

Fierce calvary fight on French left flank

French hussars destroy English horse artillery. Having threated the infantry and then withdrawn to the rear of the battlefield when targeted by the horse artillery, the hussars sweep in as soon as they cross the river and set up in range of the right flank of the French line.

French hussars destroy English horse artillery

French lights form square against victorious Portuguese cavalry. This Portuguese unit causes havoc along the French left flank, but is then caught in a crossfire and driven back to their own lines.

French lights form square against victorious Portuguese cavalry

French centre still strong, and is steeling itself as the English artillery has advanced into effective range.

French centre still strong

Colonel Trant is shot as he retreats with broken cavalry. The light infantry under Delaborde claim another scalp.

Colonel Trant is shot as he retreats with broken cavalry

French look on as Ferguson leads heavy dragoons in once more. They are decimated by the light and line battalions who open fire on them having repulsed the English infantry who were also assaulting their position.

French look on as Ferguson leads heavy dragoons in once more

The French are victorious, having defeated both flanks of the English. However prudence dictates that they use their victory to fall back to a second position.

4 comments:

  1. Now this looks alot of fun... I could get into that for Nappies.

    Do you think it could be modded for tabletop use without hexes?

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'd say so; although hexes really speed up the game vs. measurements - you'd play a one-on-one scenario like this in an hour max (including set-up)
    You'd have to make some kind of decision on the cards/battlefield sections though

    ReplyDelete
  3. Only got here now... :o

    As portuguese feels good to see some attention paid to "our" napoleonic war.
    And I'm starting a diorama about this battle, so it's good to see how others represent it.

    Very nice. I would love to see better pictures of those figures!
    Cheers

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks Atreides - I think Borg deserves a fair bit of credit for having scenarios for battles in Portugal which don't usually get a lot of attention.
    However I think you'd be disappointed with better photos - because due to the limits of the collection I used Brunswickers and Belgians for the Portuguese!
    Had a quick look at your blog - very nice stuff, I especailly like the rear-guard vignette

    ReplyDelete

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