Sunday, December 19, 2021

On the Table Today Is...

Corsican Rangers lurking in the scrub

Maida.  The Battle of Maida, 04 July 1806, is on the table today.  Matt (wargameinthedungeon) and I plan to refight the battle later today as I return to 28mm Napoleonics after a long absence.  With Matt embarking upon a new 28mm Napoleonics project, what better motivation than to get in some action while his armies grow?  

My lads are long overdue in making a trip out onto the table.  Looking back into the archives, the last time the armies saw action was 3-1/2 years ago at the Action at Foz d'Arouce.  Too long to be confined to barracks.  In an attempt to make amends, Maida will be fought twice this week and perhaps even more over the holidays.

Initial Dispositions

What about the historical battle, itself?

Battle of Maida, 4 July 1806

Stuart expected that a British landing on the Calabrian coast would encourage and support a Calabrian insurrection against the French.  The British intervention would aid in lifting the siege against the Gaeta Fortress.  The French were encamped along the banks of the Lamato River on the hills overlooking Maida.  They awaited the British landing.  Stuart planned to attack the French camp before it could be reinforced but Reynier had arrived with reinforcements before Stuart could strike.  Stuart’s army disembarked on the beach at Santa Euphemia Bay on 1st July.  His landing was unopposed.  With British naval support, Reynier chose to draw the British inland and not fight them on the beaches where naval artillery could provide assistance.  Oswald’s Division came ashore first and advanced to Santa Euphemia.  Oswald’s Corsican Rangers became engaged with French skirmishers and fell back.
Stuart's Expeditionary Army drawn up for battle
On 4th July 1806, Stuart marched his army south along the beach and then turned inland following the Lamato River.  The mouth of the Lamato River was reached at about 0900.  The British army wheeled and formed an oblique battle line opposite the deploying French army as it advanced down the hill from its camp. The battle lines are drawn.
Reynier's French arrayed en chequer 
The battle began with a brief skirmishing exchange between French skirmishers from the 1st Legere facing the Corsican Rangers and flank coys from Kempt’s combined light battalion in the scrub along the Lamato River on the French left.  After the skirmishing action was stabilized, Compere launched an attack by the 1st Legere against Kempt.  Three devastating volleys and a charge was all that was required to put the 1st Legere to flight.  Compere was wounded.  Next the 42nd Ligne attacked Acland.  British volleys stalled this attack as well.  Taking heavy fire and seeing the 1st Legere break, the 42nd Ligne did likewise.  Peyri then attacked but the Poles were treated similarly and fled the field.  Only Peyri’s Swiss and Digonet’s command were left on the field.  Acland and Cole advanced upon Digonet.  With the 20th Foot in a flanking position and Reynier’s left gone, Digonet fought a withdrawal from the battlefield.

The battle was won in fifteen minutes.

Will Stuart be as lucky today?

39 comments:

  1. Excellent looking game Gents!
    But 15 min? :O

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    1. Thanks! Kempt's routing of the 1st Legere took only about 15 minutes. After that, the French were reeling and did not recover.

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  2. A fine looking table and troops there Jonathan, I shall look forward to reading about the re-fight. En Avant!

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    1. Thank you, Phil! I await the action too! We will see if Matt has better look commanding the British in a later war.

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  3. Always nice to see redcoats and Union flags.

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  4. Great looking game Jon and await the AAR with pleasure:)

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    1. Thank you, Steve. With Matt likely to opt for the British, I hope the French have something positive to report.

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  5. Nice to see napoleonics on the table, with a promise of more to come. I have some Perry French artillery arriving today or tomorrow, so your posts will help them on the way to the painting table!

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    1. Hi Norm. Very nice to pull these fellas out of their boxes and plop them onto the table. I would enjoy seeing them in battle a bit more frequently.

      I await seeing your progress into Perry Napoleonics.

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  6. Nice to see Maida played. The last time played in our circle was uh, 1974. Lots of inspiration reading the post.

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    1. I agree! The last time I fought Maida with these armies was 2008. Time flies, doesn't it?

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    1. Perfect, for sure! Doubly perfect for a remote setting too.

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  8. A nice small battle made famous by Oman's analysis. It seems to me that poor coordination of the French/allied attack may have had more top do with their defeat than British firepower, though. It will be interesting to see how your versions play out, Jon!

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    1. Made famous by Oman's account, for sure. His thesis of superiority of line over assault column as the driver of a British victory was misguided since a number of historical accounts explicitly detailing the French deploying into line before attacking.

      The 1st Legere were stunned by the three volleys and a charge that Kemp unleashed. After that, it was all downhill for Reynier.

      Yes, we will see how this goes.

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  9. Sounds like a fun one to reenact and boy does your setup look lovely Jon! Looking forward to seeing how your games go.

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    1. To me, Maida is the perfect battle to validate a set of wargaming rules. I appreciate your encouragement on the table layout but my tables are drab compared to Matt's works of art.

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  10. Lovely set up and interesting battle, I'm like Matt,working on 28mm Napoleonics, so viewed with extra interest!
    Best Iain

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  11. A great set up and I'll be looking forward to this one.

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  12. Great looking figures and table Jon and as others have remarked, a perfect sized battle to transfer to the tabletop for a two player game. I have always felt most rule sets give too little recognition to the value of the British linear fighting methods, particularly the fact that in line, British troops were three ranks deep as opposed to six deep in most other armies. Even line to line, the deliverable firepower from a six hundred man British battalion would be double that of a similar sized French battalion. On top of that, I believe most people accept that the British soldiers of the era were on average the best trained and drilled, so that they could get off more volleys in a given time frame than their opponents could return at them. A battle won in fifteen minutes by devastating firepower sounds perfectly feasible to me...! What rules will you be using and how do they address this issue or do the British fire exactly the same as every other nation

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    1. Thank you, Keith! British linear firepower definitely plays a role in these rules. Well-disciplined and the ability to deliver larger volleys gives a British line an advantage. The British do not fire the same as other nations unless the other nations formed in two ranks and carried the same Combat Effectiveness. Rules in use will be my own doing.

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    2. That sounds good Jon, I look forward to seeing how things went in the game!

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  13. A Napoleonic table is always tops! Looking forward to the AAR of the first encounter. Hope it's not over in fifteen as well!

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    1. Thanks, Mike! The battle was not over in 15 minutes although Kempt's battalion of light infantry sent the 1st Legere scampering away just as in the actual battle.

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  14. Looks great. :-) Very much looking forward to the AAR too.

    Cheers,

    David.

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    1. Thank you, David! I did not take so many photos in this game. I have some curating to do and put the proper spin on events...

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  15. What a bloody affair that was ! I won’t published any spoilers before the battle report is loaded. A fine battle thanks to you for hosting Jon. A very interesting set of rules which have been carefully constructed and worked well. All I can say is it wasn’t over in 15 minutes 🙂

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    1. Thank YOU, Matt! By allowing me to tell the tale first, I can put the proper spin on weaving the British narrative.

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  16. Coming in late I see from Matt's that I can now expect an interesting report of take one!
    Regards, James

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    1. Never too late, James! One interesting twist is that Matt opted to play the French!

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  17. Nice set up and I’m sure the game was a fun bit of action. We all got those miniatures that haven’t seen the table in forever. Time to stretch their legs! 😀

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    1. Thanks, Stew! Time to stretch their legs, for sure! These same troops see action on Tuesday.

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