Les Grognards - Battle of Vimeiro Update

My recent gaming has focused on Wellington slugging it out with the French General Junot at Vimeiro, Portugal.  As Wellington, I positioned myself in a V-shaped formation along the sides of a wide valley with the Portugese forces under Nickolas Trant on the right side of the V, (supported by General Ferguson's brigade), and Crawford and Nightingall on the left side.  In the center Ackland, Anstruther and Lawson's battery with the remainder of my brigades poised to enter the battle on the wings.

The battle has taken a turn for the worse and I find myself scrambling to form new defensive lines and the Anglo-Portugese army is in real danger of being split in two.  It shouldn't be that way.  Wellington has the numerical superiority on the field and my battle plan hasn't been bad but I grossly overestimated the ability of the Portugese forces.  I should have kept them in reserve.  Their rout has caused the right side of the V to disappear exposing two smaller British brigades to a potential rout.  When the right flank gave way so did the center and now French Dragoons are riding my forces down on the field of battle.

It's not over yet but I need a new strategy and it's unclear if I will be able to regain/hold the center of my battle line long enough for my forces on the right flank to fall behind the steeper hills and the brigades of Crawford, Hill and Nightingall on my left flank for a chance to regroup.

French dragoons rout the center.  The 9th regiment is ridden down on the banks of Toledo brook outside Vimeiro.






  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

John Tiller's Campaign Series - Buy It Now

Image
John Tiller's campaign series game for $9.99 at  Matrix Games Ltd.  is a steal. There are so many great scenarios. I have been playing a Fastov scenario this morning detailing the 25th Panzer Division probe into a Soviet armor formation in 1943. If my memory is correct, the division commander is killed and the reconnaissance battalion is wiped out. The Campaign Series game lays this meeting engagement out on a beautiful map with the full OOB (over 300 unit counters are present). I have considered setting up this battle before for Panzer Battles and Command Ops, so to find it in this title's scenario list this morning was very exciting! This is a zoomed out view of the northern portion of the Fastov map in the map editor. Each hex is 250 meters. In the image below, 25th Panzer is probing north towards Fastov along both sides of the Unava river. The scenario designer set a minor victory at 600 objective points and a major victory at 1200 points. You can technically achieve
Read more

Maxwell's Marauders: Find the Observation Post

Image
Maxwell’s Marauders, 1st Platoon, C Company of the 7th Marine Regiment is a fictional unit, filled with characters that I have created to deepen my connection to my Squad Battles “ Proud and the Few ” gaming. The New York boys, Bullseye, Sgt. Rock and the rest are going to be persistent characters (unless they die on my digital battlefields) that take me through the War in the Pacific. From Guadalcanal to New Britain to Peleliu and finally Okinawa, the 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment served with distinction and so too will Maxwell’s Marauders. Along the way, my hope is that by investing in the backstories of the soldiers on the map, I will play smarter and take fewer risks with them, enjoy my gaming and appreciate this great Squad Battles system in a deeper way. About these scenarios The scenarios are short (under 20 turns (100 minutes or less of combat). They are historical, even though the unit is fictional. Each battlefield map is an approximation of the terrain Frisbie’s
Read more

Edson's Ridge

Image
September 12, 1942, just before sunset: [Historical scenario] Japanese Major General Kiyotake Kawaguchi has come to Guadalcanal to lead the attack against the Marine foothold on the island at Henderson Airfield. The I and III battalions of the 124th Infantry regiment are to attack from the south, along with the Kuma Battalion, II battalion of the 4th infantry regiment 19th engineer battalion. Kawaguchi will personally lead these battalions. A composite of Japanese engineers, special naval landing troops and the Oka Force, II Bn 124 Inf Rgt are to attack from the West. The Japanese objectives are the Marine bridge over the Lunga, the air traffic control tower on Pagoda Hill, the main runway hangars, and the Fighter One airstrip. Kawaguchi has grossly underestimated the strength of the Marine force facing him. The Marines have also disrupted his supply base along the coast at Tasimboko, dispersing a small reserve force, his artillery, and supplies. Special Terrain rules: The Lunga River
Read more