"Talavera 1809, Conclusion!" Topic

And now the conclusion of a balanced and somewhat controversial game.! Which I believe has the most photo's I've ever posted in one post. When we last left off…

link

Cheers and see you at Historicon!

Chris

I love it! Wish I was there. I am planing planing to do the Peninsular Campaign myself. How much of the the battle were you able to do with 25/28mm scale figures? Is the scenario OB and maps on your blog? In C&G does the person inputting the data able to play too? Does it slow the play of the game?

An epic AAR. Enjoyed reading it and as I said in the other threads that terrain is amazing. I really like the back and forth nature of the battle as units moved in to attack and were pushed back and reformed or fresh units brought in.
It seemed that retaining the last reserves and fresher troops is how the French finally wore down the Spanish and KGL positions. Is that how the players felt? I had the impression from the AAR that the French reorganized several times after each attack and the Anglo/Allieed side not as much.
I think that's the first set of rules I have seen where troops shoot their own general for cowardice. Also interesting the amount of knocked out and captured guns.

Rallynow,
I focused the action from the redoubt at Para de Vergara in the south, to the Cerro de Medellin in the north. This represented two miles of front, but excluded the valley to the north of the Cerro's, and the area occupied by the Spanish from the redoubt south to Talavera. This concentrated the action on the primary attack launched by I and IV corps on the afternoon of the actual battle.
Chris has posted maps and other scenario blurb on his website, look for parts I and II.
In this game we had fourteen players, eight French, running brigades, and six allies, running a division each. The bloke behind the computer, was me – I did not play, as I prefer to be the tyrant behind the keyboard, keeping the players on schedule and in order.
The game started at 9:45 AM, and ended at 4:45 PM, with a half-hour break for lunch. We played eleven turns [nearly three hours of realtime], and achieved a result with army morale loss against the Allies. That was controversial, as if I'd taken the French Dragoon division out of the picture, the result would have been reversed, with the French effectively being the underdog….. It was needless to say a close fought battle.

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As one of the players – Hill on the British left – I can say that the game was absolutley brilliant and the result in the balance until the very end. Thanks for putting on such a splendid day.

Ashenduke,
Fatigue is a critical aspect of the system, both physical and mental. Wearing down an opponent is most certainly an aspect that works. On the Allied left, the initial French assault was repulsed with much effort, but a second French advance against the same defenders broke the resolve of the previously triumphant but fatigued British.
One particular Spanish unit held out for multiple turns, suffering extreme losses to artillery. During this phase, they were accompanied by the Marquis de Portago, who lost two horses whilst committed to rallying the Spanish unit. Eventually he was called away to rally another beleagured unit, and that saw the collapse of the defiant Spanish unit, the Imperial de Toledo. The unit was actually the largest Spanish unit in the division, so it wasn't surprising that they took the attrition well, particularly when repeatedly rallied by Portago. The Spanish corps commander was 'accidentally' shot by his own men – this was a reflection of his incompetence. Another British officer, Howorth, on staff, suffered a nervous breakdown. He later attached himself to a British unit who suffered, rather than improved, with his attention.
The cannon were overrun in a number of French assaults, Chris took several KGL pieces, and Tom captured four Spanish 12 pounders in their assault upon the redoubt. These attacks were mainly successful due to their coming late in the action, at a point where the Allied crews were tiring from constant action, and simply couldn't produce effective fire to resist the attacking French.
Battles of the period tended to be determined as won or lost by the prizes taken, prisoners, cannon or standards. In this regard the French came out clear victors – but it was achieved at enormous loss in men, fatigue and morale.

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Thanks for the reply Ligniere. I like the way your game incorporates fatigue. Also pretty interesting the way it tracked the losses of cannon and standards.

I have enjoyed following this AAR, and will definitely be giving the teddy bear fur a run at some point.