"Spanish French Peninsular Battles" Topic

I recently acquired a large number of Spanish miniatures in the bicorne hat. I am looking for suggestions for Spanish French battles. Most of my books on the Peninsular War are written from the British point of view and leave out the part played by the Spanish army on their own.

This might be a good place to start. Battle Studies in the Peninsula May 1808-January 1809
link

The following are all playable, depending on which rules and the scale you prefer to use:

01. Esparraguera – June 6, 1808
02. Segovia – June 6, 1808
03. Alcolea – June 7, 1808
04. Cabezón – June 12, 1808
05. Mallén – June 13, 1808
06. Alagón – June 14, 1808
07. El Bruch – June 14, 1808
08. Zaragoza (Saragossa) (1st combat) – June 15, 1808
09. Montgat – June 16, 1808
10. Girona (1st combat) – June 20, 1808
11. Rio Cabriel – June 21, 1808
12. Épila – June 23, 1808
13. Cabrillas – June 24, 1808
14. San Onofre – June 27, 1808
15. Valencia (1st combat) – June 28, 1808
16. Alzira (meeting engagement, broken off) – June 30, 1808
17. Rio Llobregat (1st combat) – June 30, 1808
18. Zaragoza (2nd main combat) – July 2, 1808
19. Almanza (combat which almost happened) – July 3, 1808
20. Rosas (1st battle) – July 11, 1808
21. Medina de Rioseco – July 14, 1808
22. Menjibar – July 16, 1808
23. Bailén – July 19, 1808
24. Évora – July 29, 1808
25. Zaragoza (3rd main action) – August 4, 1808
26. San Lazaro – August 8, 1808
27. Girona (2nd action) – August 16, 1808
28. San Boy – September 2, 1808
29. Durango – October 24, 1808
30. Lodosa – October 26, 1808
31. Logroño – October 26, 1808
32. Zornoza – October 31, 1808
33. Gueñes – November 5, 1808
34. Valmaseda (1st combat) – November 5, 1808
35. Valmaseda (2nd combat) – November 8, 1808
36. Espinosa de los Monteros (1st) – November 10, 1808
37. Gamonal – November 10, 1808
38. Espinosa de los Monteros (2nd) – November 11, 1808
39. Cascante – November 23, 1808
40. Tudela – November 23, 1808
41. Rosas (2nd battle) – November 26, 1808
42. Sepúlveda – November 28, 1808
43. Bubierca – November 29, 1808
44. Somosierra – November 30, 1808
45. Barcelona (sortie) – December 16, 1808
46. Cardedeu – December 16, 1808
47. Molins de Rei – December 21, 1808
48. Rio Llobregat (2nd action) – December 21, 1808
49. Almaraz – December 24, 1808
50. Mansilla – December 30, 1808

Some of the actions, such as Bailén, have combats on different geographical areas, separated from each other so could be done as smaller actions by themselves.

There are an equal number of engagements between 1809-1811, some smaller ones such as the actions at the beginning of Soult's invasion of Portugal – Fancelos and Xinzo, as well as joint Anglo-Spanish actions at main battles such as Talavera. There are so many independent Spanish forces fighting separate mini-campaigns in their respective regions you can explore combats such as Rio Gévora or Monesterio without investing a lot more in building up your Spanish army.

It really depends on whether you want to go big or not, as to which actions are the most appropriate.

Cheers

Michael Hopper

log1cal.mh AT gmail.com

Or you could trade your Spanish troops to me. :) I have plenty of extra French and British.

Michael, thanks for that list.

I have played almost all of these a few times. My scenarios were lost with a hard drive failure on an old computer so I had to reconstitute many before getting the 2 books done. They are very challenging to play/command but quite colorful and unpredictable!

Michael Hopper, Thank you very much for list! I guess I am looking for medium size battles. The Battle of Alcañiz looks good, as well as the following Battle of María. I like the fact that the Spanish historically had a chance at victory. I also love that fact that I can use my French cuirassiers in Spain! I doubt if my collection would fit with yours, they are 1/72 plastics.

Send an email to log1cal.mh AT gmail.com and i will send a couple samples from the 1808 campaign since I am just wrapping up playing these a bit more.

I reviewed my previously list, done from memory.

1. I am missing a handful of actions from the 1808 list.
2. I got a couple dates wrong.