"Battle of Talavera refight" Topic

Hi,
please go to the link to find a report on the battle of Talavera I fought on its 200th anniversary, 28th July, and in Spain.

It was very enjoyable and has created interest with my Spanish friends so hopefully they will be playing with me in a few weeks time.

link

Thanks

That's a very nice write up!

Very inspiring. I played this battle twice in 28mm. Once out in Austin a few years ago, and recently did it solo on my own 12x6 table at home. Dolo, I put more focus on the Spanish, which historically I'm not sure would hae been any value to the war effort for the French. I wish I had taken pictures but this is prodding me to play it out again solo. During my solo game the Spanish put up valiant resistance, with the Brits later swinging down across the stream to upset the French right.

Nice looking game.

What color did you paint your Spanish? Some in white with bicornes, some in blue with shakos, some in brown?

Thanks for the comments,

To pbishop
I also played this battle before with a friend a few years ago and the French (my mate) attacked the Spanish on the level ground between the British lines and the fortifications of Talavera. In the game the French were able to roll up the Spanish lines and then take on the British although Medellin Hill was still in British hands at the end of the game. It was only afterward I learnt that the whole of the Spanish lines were protected by stone walls that were used for boundaries for the olive trees. So would have made the French attack a lot more difficult.

To Scogun
The Spanish I bought second hand in England at a bring and buy, so unfortunately I don't know the actual regiments. The ones in brown are militia. They have an interesting headgear a bit like a top hat.
They are very nicely painted (a lot better than I could do) so I will take some close up pictures and put them on my blog so you can have a closer look . I have to admit though there are some Austrian troops in white posing as Spanish, as i didn't have enough actual Spanish Troops.

I think I noticed troops in white or light blue uniform with bicornes, troops in brown and troops and blue, yes?

I ask because it appears this time period -- 1809-1810 -- is a real puzzle when it comes to Spanish uniforms. I admit I was hoping you had found research that told what uniforms were worn…at least at Talavera. One source I found says they were white with regimental colors and bicornes. Others say the white uniforms were pretty much gone by Talavera, and that there was no standard uniform at that time. So brown with top hats or shakos, or dark blue with shakos. Some sources say the top hat was worn mostly by militia/volunteers, but I have seen illustrations where some line regiments wore the top hat, too.

Hi,

Yes you are right about the uniforms being mixed up in this time period. Due to the Spanish armies having no central command and being split between different regional Juntas. I have found a couple of links you might not have seen that might interest you

link

link

I have lived in Spain for 2 years, but still haven't found any decent Spanish books on the subject.

My figures have to be pretty generic and adaptable because I like to refight any battle of Napoleonic age (Although my favorite area is the Peninsular Wars). So my Spanish troops may have double as another nation if I'm fighting Austerlitz etc. In the future Im hoping to have a core base of about 10 units in each major nation, Austrian, Russian, Prussian etc wearing field dress and then the other units wearing campaign greatcoats that could be used for which ever nation is fighting.

Hope the links help

Most of my Spanish now reside in Belguim. Last time I played I had about 30 guerillas in various gear, 2 line, 1 Cazadore in 1812 uniforms, A grenadier (junta/militia Front Rank figures in Greay, Patria (Green/red facings white trousers, French Shako Grenadier converts, Meurte (Peninsula Brit conversaion (Green,/blue trousers, black facings if I recall, Toledo, brown/white trousers, yellow facings, Brit Peninsula onverstion and Rey, brown with violet facings. Don't recll the rest. 2 batteries of artillery, 3 regiments of cavalry that did litte. Not a sizeale force, but enough for a representation. 10 battalions if I recall, I"ve got to rebuild the Spanish now and will probably focus on late uniforms for regulars, and whatever my resources portray for junta units.

I think the Spanish are underrated.

On my table upstairs, I've implemented some GdeBde rules. Some Spanish guerillas rolled a 12 and knocked off a French Division General. That caused some chaos for a while and on that flank, the Brits were able to gain a march while the French reorganized the command and drove off the guerillas. To add to the French frustration, one of my German Division brigadiers took a hit, and there was no spare. So the Division General is having is work cut out until the Corps commander can reorganize. Brits are loving this as they move forward…

Yeah, I like working with the SpanisH. With the exception of Zayas, I typically classify the Spanish commanders and the lowest class I use, but the regulars don't get much of a minus. Tough enough with poor leadership in the 2 sets of rules I use.

Paul

Sorry for the poor grammer and spelling above. Recovering from eye surgery. Can't see squat for a while.
Paul