Peninsular War 1809 to 1814

Another multi player area movement strategic game from Ian, this time covering the Peninsular War!

A very lovely map of Spain. The size and intersections of the various areas represent the density and difficulty of the terrain (generally major rivers or mountain ranges)  and also correspond roughly to the various regions of Spain. The map also has various major cities, which are important for determing lines of communication, some are inside the areas (eg Burgos, Madrid) and some (like Cordoba) are on area boundaries as major rivers flow through them.

With a varied array of real life participants, it was an excuse to wear an an array of stupid hats as well as show off various figures. I was cast as Spanish, so found the biggest bicorne I own. Tim is showing off some of his 54mm Portuguese staff officers, while Russell counters with his Del Prado Napoleon.

Tim C and Ian were French, Russell and I Spanish, Jim and Tim G Anglo-Portuguese while John ran the game.

The game runs from 1809 to 1814, with three campaign seasons per year and simple movement and combat rules. Units can stack up to three per area, move one area and fight when they are in the same space. Attacker wins draws. Once per year each side rolls for reinforcements, although there were various restrictions on what and when. The French have to start removing units from 1812 onwards as Napoleon invades Russia, and the British start to have the option to land in Corunna or Santander later in the war.

The various factions have overlapping objectives. The French want to keep Joseph on the throne and keep the British penned up in Portugal (ideally kick them out). The Spanish want to kick the French out of Spain and the British want to invade France!

We went with the historical setup. Ian has designed it so that various alternate options can be explored, the main one being that the French don't invade Russia.

The Spanish are scattered around the periphery of Spain, Joseph is on the throne supported by large French forces and the British are in Lisbon and Oporto. The Spanish and Spanish Bonapartists fight worse than everyone else, needing a 6 to instead of 5.

The black blobs are Spains trump card, guerillas! These are placed in an area and interdict French movement on a 1-3. They don't move and can't be destroyed, but proved to be surprisingly effective in disrupting French movement. These also get diced for annually as reinforcements and by the end of the game, Spain was in uproar as the map was black with guerillas.

1809 saw the British march into Estramdura and the Spanish concentrate in Adalucia and actually drive the French back! The French consolidated their hold on northern Spain

By the end of the year though, it had all gone wrong. The French attacked aggressively and conquered Andalucia and Galicia, destroying most of the Spanish Army in the process. The fighting with the British was brutal and although Wellesley came out on top, it was a much reduced British Army which marched into Madrid. Joseph retreated north to link up with his French allies.

Going into 1810 things looked a bit cheerier as both sides rolled for reinforcements. The Spanish bounced back in Leon, more French troops crossed the Pyrenees and some British forces landed at Lisbon while the main force was back in Oporto, concerned about the French in Galicia. Even Joseph managed to raise some more troops! Guerillas spread out across Spain, we were trying to isolate various areas of the country with blocks of interdiction.

1810 was the French high water mark, they pushed aggressively against Portugal, which allowed the Spanish to retake Madrid (again). Once more Joseph survived, albeit with reduced numbers.

1811 saw a big French effort against the British and they took Oporto and threatened Lisbon. Meanwhile the Spanish chased Joseph into Navarre.

But as summer 1811 drew to a close, the French had been repelled at heavy cost and were back in northwest Spain while Wellesley still held Portugal. The Spanish were content to sit in Navarre for now.

We broke for the night at that point.

On Wednesday Micheal toook over from Russell. The Spanish marched back to Madrid while the French concentrated northwest of the capital, somewhat hampered by the guerillas who were all over Spain now.

The Anglo-Portuguese followed up slowly but seemed content to let the Spanish do all the fighting in 1811.

1812 was curtains for the French. A decisive battle was fought northeast of Madrid (Vitoria?) which resulted in heavy British and French losses. A small British force landed in Santander and the French had to withdraw some units to send to Russia.

The Spanish went from strength to strength with their main army at Burgos, a subsidiary force from Barcelona invaded southeastern France! 

As 1812 drew to a close, the last French units were destroyed and the British were on the French frontier, ready to cross the Pyrenees in 1813.

With no more French units in play and no prospect of reinforcements, we called it at that point.

That was a great game, very enjoyable and rattled along at a fair pace. You could perhaps pick holes in it as a simulation of Napoleonic warfare, but as a strategic game it worked well. We had a good washup session afterwards and ran through some potential changes but without over complicating it. The main things we decided to try were:

1. making the number of French units withdrawn in 1812 and 13 variable rather than fixed
2. allowing a possibility for French units to destroy guerilla units by staying place
3. having defending units win draws, which I think better reflects the realities of Napoleonic warfare.

We liked it so much, we wanted to play it again the following week! Well done Ian. 

 

Bring on the substitutes

 Being something of a cheapskate, I'm not above using substitute figures in various periods, with some substitutions more outrageous (1815 Prussians as French line infantry, Punic Wars Gauls as any and all 'barbarians') than others (Pz IIIH standing in for Pz IIIE). A rich source of substitute figures has been my 15mm SCW collection.

The Republicans in particular are a great source of substitutes. They have a bunch of guys (and gals) in drab uniforms with an interesting range of dull headgear and they can stand in for pretty much any minor, and not so minor, combatant of the 1930s and 40s.

 

The middle row in Adrian helmets have fought many battles as something other than themselves, mainly 1940 French. The Maxim MGs are a bit less useful, but if I need some WW2 Russian militia or RCW troops from either side, here I come.

There are also these guys in vaguely pudding shaped helmets who can be anything from Rumanians to Dutch, Norwegiens etc. I originally designated this lot as Communist 5th Regiment, but I cant actually recall what the figures are originally supposed to be. They are 30 year old Peter Pig castings, but to make them a bit more generic I've moved the flag bearers to separate stands and painted over the red stars on their helmets.

Also useful are the various artillery pieces with crews in Adrian helmets or berets.  I repainted all of these olive green a few years ago and like the infantry in Adrian helmets, they have seen a lot of action in 1940 France, but could easily be Bulgarian or Rumanian.

The Nationalists are a bit less useful as so many of them are wearing very distinct Isabellina caps or very distinctive uniforms. The Moroccans have seen some service as French colonial troops though, and I've toned down the piping on some of the caps on the others to make them a bit more generic (and they have served as 1940 French in side caps) . Like the Republicans, I stripped out all the flag bearers and based them separately too.

Particularly useless are the Carlists in their bright red berets, and the Guardia Civil in their very distinctive olive green unforms and waxed tricorne hats(!). I've used WW1 German jagers as WW2 German police, but I really can't think of a use for these guys except as Guardia Civil. I've been playing SCW since the late 90s and I think I've used the Guardia a couple of times and the Carlists once.

Anyway, here are four bases of Carlists in their red hats. I'm planning a game which requires some Chasseurs Alpines, who of course liked to wear big floppy black berets, so....

Some blobs of black paint Et voila! Nous sommes les Chasseurs Alpines. What an astonishing transformation for a few minutes work. I've often commented that when painting stuff, the only things you need are a uniform vaguely the right colour, hands, faces and weapons, plus the correct hat (or at least something which looks like it). I'm very pleased with those and they will be seeing some tabletop action in due course. Funnily enough I've got another scenario featuring some Rumanian mountain troops, who also liked to sport berets, albeit brown. So that will be another quick paint job in the future.

Dominion of Red and White - Novocherkassk 1917/18 and Ekaterinodar 1918

 Another day another set of Dominion rules, this time Red and White covering the RCW and Russo-Polish War. This one has lots of period specific tweaks and apart from its overall structure and basic combat resolution mechanism,  it is quite different to the earlier sets with specific characteristics for certain troop types rather than broad categories (missile/melee etc). 

I've bought a lot of Dominion rules recently, but my WW1 Russians (apart from the cavalry) haven't been out of their box since early 2020 so I was keen to get them on the table. They are a mixed bunch of figures mainly from various eBay purchases, a mixture of Minifigs and Peter Pig WW1 and RCW figures in the main.

The first two scenarios cover Denikins Cossacks in the Russian south, and they seemed a good place to start. I'll do the first battle fairly blow by blow and the others rather faster.

So, this is Novocherkassk down on the river Don, east of Rostov. The actual campaign took three months and covered a large area, so imagine each turn is a month and the ground scale is about 6 inches = 100 miles! It was fought over the winter of 1917/18, hence my snow cloth. The Don is the river at the bottom and Novocherkassk the small town on the river bank.

The defenders are Denikins Cossack Army. They have two elite cavalry units (Cossacks) and an infantry unit in the front line. In these rules Elite units attack earlier than other unit types but get no other combat advantage, I've indicated their elite status by putting a command base in the middle. Cavalry on the flanks get a +1 though (like the Ancient set), presumably as they can range wide out over the steppe. The cavalry are PP Cossacks and have featured in a number of games as WW2 Russian cavalry.

In reserve they have an elite infantry unit (indicated by the MG stand) and an unreliable artillery unit. I'm indicating unreliable units with a casualty marker on the base. The infantry are classic Imperial Russian infantry types, Minifigs I think. Big hats, fixed bayonets etc.

The treatment of artillery is very different to other Dominion sets. Artillery in reserve gets to fire every turn as well as normal unit activations AND infantry with a friendly artillery in reserve also get a combat bonus. The artillery barrage is modified by quality so UR artillery only hit on a 6, but they are still very useful for the support combat bonus. In the front line they fight like a normal unit, firing before anything else.

I've put Denikins HQ on for the looks too.

The attackers are the wicked Red Army. They had a lot more troops so I've made their units bigger (they are listed in the scenario as 'massed infantry' ).

They have five infantry units, one of which is elite (the one in the centre front with the MG) and also have an unreliable artillery in support. The infantry figures are mainly PP RCW Russian infantry in various garb, floppy caps, big greatcoats, the odd Buvinovka etc. I use them as regular infantry in WW1 games.

Their HQ is a bloke on a horse with a big red flag, all very Dr Zhivago and it has appeared in a number of games already.

Unusually on each turn the combat sectors are randomised, either a forced attack in one sector or one advantageous to attacker or defender. Even more unusually, defenders artillery fires in the attackers turn and vice versa and a final wrinkle is that reserves don't move up until the end of both turns, so gaps can appear in the line quickly. This represents the poor C3 of both armies and the role of artillery in WW1. Very clever and the random activation makes it excellent for solo play,

The Reds attack on the right and come under artillery fire (which misses).

The Cossacks attack first (elite) and miss, then the waves of Red infantry surge forward with their artillery support....

And rout the cavalry.

In the White turn, they are forced to attack the left. The Red artillery fires and misses, so the Cossacks charge....

And ride down the Red infantry.

Niether side has been defeated so reserves now move up to fill the gaps. The White elite infantry on the right and more Red hordes on the left. Neither side wants to put their guns on the front line as a) they are unreliable and b) you'd lose the free barrages.  

I already really like this set of rules.

The Reds manage to break the White centre.

While the Whites defeat the Red right.

The Reds bring up another infantry unit from reserve (how many more are there?) and the rather nervous White gunners find themselves firing over open sights!

Inevitably the Reds attack the centre supported by their artillery.

And the gunners turn tail and flee, leaving the White centre open.

Sadly the Whites are forced to fight in the centre by the command roll, so the victorious Red infantry outflank the White right.

And unsurprisingly defeat them. Outflanking infantry hit on 4+ and they've still got artillery support, so only needed a 3 or more.

With that Denikin is reduced to one unit and is defeated. That was three turns, so say each turn represented about a month of operational combat.

I thought that was great, very enjoyable and a very convincing narrative. Although it was only three turns, quite a lot more happens in each one than some of the other Dominion rules, so it felt much finer grained. The random C3 system is just brilliant for solo, although probably not a good idea for f2f play! 

 

I just had to do it again. I enjoyed it so much I got some supply wagons out of the box to add to each sides rear are. Observant readers will note I'm using the pine trees to indicate a grid (in fact there are unsightly black crosses marking a 6" grid on this snow cloth, which I've covered up).

The first tirn was a complete wipeout as the Reds destroyed the White centre and left.

In went the White reserves, guns on the left this time.

In went a Red attack on the left. Amazingly the gunners stood and repelled the assault. Medals all around! The guns lost their unreliable marker.

Then in the White turn, the left sector was activated again. The Red artillery rolled a 6 for its barrage and scored a hit - that makes a reliable unit unreliable (what a clever idea).

And the gunners promptly ran away, leaving the White left wide open. There isn't any rallying in this set of rules.

And on the next turn, the rest of the White army was completely destroyed. Another Red victory.

One last try. The White centre collapsed almost immediately.

Next turn the victorious Red elite infantry attacked in the centre again. This time the White artillery scored a hit, and they dropped from Elite to normal. If hit again they would become unreliable.

That didn't seem to cause them any great issues as the Reds went on to defeat the elite White infantry in front of them.

There was heavy fighting on the left which saw some Red infantry routed, but once again the White gunners ran away when attacked directly and the victorious Red centre outflanked and destroyed the White left to once more take victory. 

That is three Red wins in a row, and historically the Red Army did capture the city in February 1918. I don't think the scenario is necessarily unbalanced, but the randomised C3 makes the outcome of the game more luck dependant than ones where each side chooses the engagement sector. For solo play it works very well and produces a very engaging narrative, but for an opposed playing, you might want to use one of the other activation systems.

After three games of that, time for another scenario. After losing Novocherkassk, Denikins army retreated southeast and tried to establish a new base at Ekaterinodar (Krasnodar) in the Kuban, attacking the town in April 1918. 

Here is Denikins army approaching Krasnodar from the north. Pretty mcuh the same as before, with two elite cavalry but this time they have two elite infantry and no artillery. The 5000 strong Coassacks were joined by the 3000 strong Kuban Army, who wanted to liberate the Kuban from Red control. None of these 'armies' were particularly big.

The terrain around Kransondar is typical steppe, but the city is on a large river to the south which I left off, and there is a river which has its watershed to the northwest, which I've represented here.

The Red hordes defending Krasnodar! (the town at the bottom). The Red forces in this area were pretty shaky so the front three infantry units are all unreliable. The defenders of Kransodar itself were made of sterner stuff, so the reserves include two fortified infantry (the ones with barbed wire) and and elite artillery unit, which was to prove quite devastating. Elite artillery hit on a 4+ when firing barrages....

The action opens in the centre and the Red artillery immediately scores a hit, reducing the White infantry from elite to regular.

The attack is indecisive however.

On the left the Reds rout the White cavalry however, and the Red artillery hits the Cossacks on the right, also reducing them to regular. That doesn't stop the Red infantry from running away though.

The White reserves move up on the left, while the exploiting Cossacks on the right run into the entrenched Red infantry. It is a bit wierd moving bits of terrain forward, but just sort of imagine the cavalry advancing and encountering the trenches...

And with that the White centre and right collapse and Denikin is routed again.

That is a historical result as after a week of fighting the Whites had to retire. The lack of White artillery makes a BIG difference, as even though their units are individually superior to the appalling Reds, that artillery support bonus is worth a lot.

OK lets try that again.

The White right goes down in a hail of bullets but they manage to break the Red centre, despite the attackers being hit by the defending artillery.

The White reserves move up on the right, and the Reds hastily fortify the centre. I guess the Reds have moved up and dug in rather than carrying their trenches with them! 

The White assault on the Red centre fails.

And then the Cossacks on the left at routed too and it is all over for Denikin.

Although the Whites didn't win a single one of the those games, I really enjoyed them and thought they were excellent. It was nice to play some Dominion games with larger figures too after the 2mm stuff and my Russians were very pleased to see the light of day again. I'm very much looking forward to playing some more games in this series.