Bussaco - twice

 Ah, Bussaco, one of my favourite Napoleonic battles and one of my test scenarios for any new set of Napoleonic rules as it is a nicely self contained Army level action. As we've not been to the Peninsular for a while, John put this on using his squared, online version of Brown Bess.

Tim C was Massena, while I got Reyniers IInd Corps and Simon took Neys VIIIth Corps. The wicked British had Tim G as Wellington, with Mark and Jerry ably assisting as ADCs.

The French are on a bit of a sticky wicket with this one, more numerous than the British, but the Bussaco ridge is a formidable obstacle. The only saving grace is that the position is 9 miles long, so Wellington has to spread out somewhat.

The assembled multitude. John and I had found our bicornes. If you've got the stuff, might as well wear it. Given the lengthy position, Massena decided to attack on an extended front, rather than keep piling our Army up the road to he convent on the right (which is what he did in the real battle, being rather ignorant of the British strength).  

A closer look at the Bussaco position. A huge long ridge with rough slopes either side and Wellingtons lot occupying the reverse slope. We have ten infantry units (roughly divisions) to the British seven, but they have superior musketry. My chaps are the three units on the left.

Off we go. Ney and Massena marched forwards, while I did some choreography around the squares to get my reserve unit into line. I thought I'd better maximise the strength I had at first impact.

My chaps marched forwards and deployed into line before getting shot to bits by the British. irl the French attempted this manouvre under fire, with poor results. Massena also brought up his reserve units to form a single line. Ney however went piling straight up the hill in the middle in column, handing the British a piecemeal attack and a juicy target. 

Unsurprisingly Neys Corps was shot to bits and largely routed in short order. Massena and I plodded forward in line and made contact. If only we'd all done this simulataneously.

Faced with a rather greater concentration of force, losses were exchanged on both sides, roughly equally. I got the upper hand over the Portuguese, while Massena hammered the Light Division in the convent.

Massena kept  slogging away, which prompted Wellington to move into the convent. Neys reserve division moved up and formed line. Unfortunately the British 2nd Div routed one of my units, but not before I'd put some hits on. Another one of my units assaulted the wavering Portuguese.

The British around the convent started to win the firefight and Massenas divisions were routed. The British were getting a bit anxious about their left and 5th Div wheeled to move across. This was a painfully slow manouvre in the broken ground. I continued to batter the Portuguese in close combat.

The Portuguese finally broke and ran but not before my other division had finally had enough of the British musketry and legged it. The downside of advancing in line was that I didn't have the manouverability to work around their flank, and I really didn't fancy forming column under fire.

Meanwhile Neys last division fell apart under the British musketry and we called it a day at that point.

We'd managed to inflict some damage on the British, even to rout one unit, but almost the entire French Army was also routed so in serious need of reorganisation. The broad front attack was surprisingly effective though, if only we'd coordinated the attacks a bit better. As the whole thing was over in a few turns, we set it up and did the whole thing again the next night...

For the second try we set up as one huge phalanx, aiming to jam the most French units possible simultaneously against a smaller number of British units. 

The entire Army tramped forward and formed line at the base of the hill. This is about as un-Napoloenic as you can get, but desperate times call for desperate measure.

Up the hill we go. Wellingtons boys nervously prime their muskets.

Oooh, a cunning plan. Junots Corps holds back while REynier and Ney smash into the British line. This gives seven units (for 28 dice worth) in contact with five British units (25 dice worth). The British get the first fire, which evens things out. In the ensuring exchange we inflict five hits for the loss of sixteen. Not bad at all, although two of our units are routed.

After some back and forth, Ney manages to rout one of the British units. Our line is looking increasingly ragged but the Brits suddenly look quite thin on the ground. The Portuguese press forward aggressively.

After a few more turns of pounding, it is all over the for the French once more, although Junots Corps is in decent shape.

The general consensus was that the French did a bit better this time than before, but I'm still not convinced a big phalanx is the way to go. Massenas historical approach of concentrating on the right and centre didn't work out too well either though, so maybe this one is just really tough for the French.

It was good fun being able to run the battle twice and it prompted a lot of interesting discussion.