BatRep Arroyo con Pollo - Conclusion

The final installment in the Battle of Arroyo con Pollo is upon us.  For earlier episodes, see,

BatRep Arroyo con Pollo - The Approach

BatRep Arroyo con Pollo - Attack

As we last left the action, the French second wave of attacks were repulsed all along the line.  The British line was showing some stress to combat but was standing firm.

Situation Turn 7

On Turn 7, French gain the initiative and Brigadier Menard on the French right is activated.  French guns in the farm yard target the 20th which is in disorder following its charge on the 70th.  Firing at close range, the guns inflict casualties on the 20th forcing it to retire towards the rear.  With Lowe attached to the 20th, in the commotion, Lowe's horse panics and stampedes!  

Lowe hangs onto his hat as horse bolts

Lowe's horse carries him to the rear

20th falls back back in disorder

At close range, the 86/1 fires into the 20th's supporting battalion, the 38th.  Under the volume of fire, the disordered 38th retires back into the safety of the defile.

Both 20th and 38th fall back

With both central British battalions falling back from fire, Menard orders the 86/2 to change from square into attack column.  Their target?  The guns on the heights!  As the 86th approaches, the disordered guns fire.  No effect!

86th attacks the guns

The 86th reaches the guns and with overwhelming numbers, scatters the men serving their cannon.  The guns are captured! 

Cats in amongst the pigeons

Witnessing the loss of the guns above them, both the 20th and 38th fall back even more deeply into the defile.  With the 20th and 38th falling back and their position becoming untenable, the KGL lights see the writing on the wall and retrograde back into the rough ground on the ridge.  With the British left giving way, the KGL hussars ride back across the arroyo in search of safety.

With the British left in disarray, Mermet spurs his horse into action to keep pressure on.  Mermet leads the Reserve Grenadiers across the valley in a charge against the crumbling 38th.

French attack in assault columns

With the grenadiers bearing down, the 38th panics and breaks for the rear.  Passage into the defile and British rear is opening.

Grenadiers attack!

38th wavers as grenadiers close

As the 38th passes through the unsteady 20th, the 20th is carried away as well.  The British left has been destroyed!

British left in flight

Having seen the destruction of his left and the threat of being outflanked growing by minute, Spencer orders his right to abandon its positions and head for the hills.

British right in retreat

Thus ends the Battle of Arroyo con Pollo.

Wow!  Getting the initiative on Turn 7 was pivotal.  The French, with Menard, were essentially able to steal a march on the British by softening up the British left at the end of Turn 6 and then hammering it home on Turn 7.  The British needed a reserve on the left to blunt the attacks and cover the retreats.

One of the keys to the collapse of the British left was the fluke bolting of Lowe's mount.  Having Lowe suddenly hare off to the rear robbed the 20th of Lowe's command influence at a crucial battlefield moment.  Given Lowe's benefits when attached, (through both the -2DRM to Response Rolls and the ability to reroll one or both failures), would have almost guaranteed that the 20th would have held.  Although with a CE=2 and disordered, that might not have meant much.

The rules worked well for solo play and produced a very enjoyable game with a number of tense moments.

Now, time to clear the table and reset for the Saturday group game of Bunker Hill.

BatRep Arroyo con Pollo - Attack

The action at Arroyo con Pollo continues from where we last left the combatants.  Part One of the battle is documented here.  Initial French attacks on the British flanks were repulsed.

British left

As the action is rejoined, the 6lb British gun deployed on the heights on the British left fires into the cluster of grenadiers as they fall back from their failed assault.  The grenadiers sustain more casualties and the once orderly retreat turns to rout.  No nearby French infantry are troubled by the sight of their grenadiers heading for the rear.  With the grenadiers scurrying to the rear, the KGL hussars, having crossed over to the left bank of the arroyo earlier, begin their charge on disordered French infantry holding onto the base of the heights.

KGL Hussars ready for action

Seeing the hussars approach, the French line wheels back and performs a short retrograde to prepare for the charge.  As the hussars close, a long range volley is loosed and many light horsemen fall.  The French then calmly form square.  Now in disorder, the hussars pull up and attempt to recall.  The troopers respond to the sound of the trumpets and recall back towards the arroyo.

The 20th, with Lowe attached, volleys into the disordered 70/1.  More Frenchmen fall and the 70/1 falls back in an attempt to escape the heat.  A cheer erupts from the British line and the 20th pursues the retiring French.  Even though two volleys are unleashed into the 20th, neither are effective and the 20th closes due to Lowe's leadership.

The 20th attacks!

In the close work, the 20th dishes out two hits while the 70th can only reply with one.  With their combat effectiveness teetering on dissolution, the 70th retreats back away from the victorious British.

20th victorious

To cover the 20th's now exposed left, the 38th advances with the intent to assault the French 86/1.  The 86/1 fires two volleys and the 38th takes casualties and becomes disordered.  Not wanting to close in their disordered state, the 38th halts.

Who is who?

On the British right, the KGL go on the offensive.  Sympher's guns placed at the foot of the hill target the advancing legere.  Sympher successfully tears a few holes in the French lights before the 5th KGL foot can close.  As the Germans close, the 2nd Legere's skirmishers are driven in.  With combat effectiveness eroding from the cannon fire, the legere fall back into the wheat field.  With no desire to engage multiple fresh French infantry, the 5th occupies the ground vacated by the legere and halts.

KGL advance

Having a flank exposed to the threat of French cavalry is no good so the 7th KGL advances to cover the 5th's right.

7th KGL advances

Lamotte's cavalry now stirs into action.  The 5th Chasseurs a Cheval rally but  maintain their threatening position while the 2nd Hussars strike out towards the 7th KGL.  With the angle of the French approach, no fire was possible so the Germans form up into square.  Not wanting to attack ordered infantry in square, the 2nd Hussars recall back towards their lines.

Now Taupin's command activates.  The 2nd Legere rally while Taupin rides over to the Swiss.  The Swiss change into line and fire into the 5th KGL.  The Germans take casualties but stand firm.

KGL form square

With the 7th in square, the 70/2 attacks in assault column.  The 7th unloads two devastating volleys into the packed French but it continues to close upon the square.

French attack a square

In the assault, both combatants take heavy casualties but the French, nearing exhaustion, cannot break the square and are, themselves, repulsed.  With the exception of the Swiss, all other French attacks have been repelled on the British right.  The British right remains solid but somewhat weakened.

The French left retreats

Menard's command activates on the British left and much of the French actions are consumed reordering his command.  Menard rides over to join the 86/2 in square to rally it.  The 86/2 rallies and then forms line.  Mermet joins the grenadiers and with his inspiration, rally from combat effectiveness of 2 up to an effectiveness of 4.  Content to remain at arms' length from the enemy, the 86/1 inflicts casualties upon the 38th while Menard's guns degrade the fighting capability of the 20th.

At the end of Turn 6, French attacks all along the front have been repulsed and the British are still firmly in control of the defile.  The British line may be bent but certainly not broken.  While the French left has taken much punishment, the French right is recovering from their earlier setbacks.  Too bad for the French that they have no cavalry on their right to exploit the weakening British positions. 

Situation end of Turn 6

As has been uttered in many a game, initiative is going to be very important next turn!

British 83rd Foot in 28mm

Having seen recent activity in the Napoleonic Wars with both painting and gaming, I stuck to that theme with the next painting task.  This time, a British regiment of foot from Front Ranks' 28mm range.  My fielding of the 83rd Foot consists of two skirmishers and 18 infantry in close order.  The 83rd musters out in campaign dress with trousers sourced from a variety of cloth.

Why field the 83rd?  Well, I picked up several packets of Victrix flag sets at close-out prices from Northstar and this was one of the flag sets!  So, why not?

While I am painting and fielding two skirmishers for each British regiment, for Old Trousers play, I am considering reducing the number of skirmishers to only one for line battalions and two for light battalions.  This skirmisher reduction may increase play speed and will certainly reduce the number of such markers wandering about the battlefield.

My current replay of Arroyo con Pollo is using reduced skirmisher markers.  Thus far, the reduction has not materially changed the outcome but it has reduced the number of skirmisher challenges. 

Staying with 28mm Napoleonics, I  recently (as of this week) picked up two packets of 28mm Napoleonics at bargain prices through TMP.  The first package contained Bicorne Miniatures' dismounted dragoons and horse holders.  These are my first Bicorne Miniatures and first glance at the raw lead shows outstanding detail.  Bicorne should fit in well with the larger 28mm figures I have and dismounted dragoons will be perfect for scraps in Spain.  The second package contained a battalion pack of French line from Elite Miniatures.  Once painted this will be my second Elite French infantry to see service.  I look forward to tackling both of these in the future.  

While I Am Away...

...the troops prepare for battle.

I have been away for work at the home office in Seattle this week.  One of the few good things about a six hundred mile round trip for work is that it gives me plenty of commute time for podcast listening and thought pondering.

One such rumination focused on how to see a better performance out of the British in the last tabletop battle.  After the first Battle of Arroyo con Pollo, the British take up positions to relive the action upon my return.

Will we witness another French victory or have the British learned a thing or two from their earlier defeat?

Action at Arroyo con Pollo - Scenario

Since Kevin is a Francophile in general and a devout Napoleonic Francophile in particular, a Napoleonic game set in Spain should be a welcome surprise when we gather at the gaming table on Sunday.  Arroyo con Pollo will be fought using a modified version of Old Trousers.

Having a string of reverses in the Peninsula, the British find themselves back on their heels, as the victorious French press on.  To gain time in order to allow the main body to make good its escape, a reinforced British brigade takes up a holding position across a defile.  The British holding force is tasked with preventing the French from advancing through the defile.  Failing that, the goal is to at least delay the French forces until the cover of darkness allows the holding force to sneak away.

View of the Defile

At this time of year, the arroyo running through the defile is dry with low scrub flanking its banks.  The ridges guarding the defile are rough ground allowing no cavalry or artillery maneuvers.  Before the arroyo disappears into the defile, a small enclave of farms can be found.  While the farm houses themselves are small, each farm is enclosed by adobe over brick walls and should provide some defensive benefit.  At one time these farms were used to produce poultry for the local markets.  

Poultry Farms

To hold the defile, the British have at hand, four line infantry battalions (two of them KGL), one KGL light infantry battalion, two six pound gun sections, and two squadrons of KGL hussars.  The line battalions can deploy two skirmishers each while the light battalion may deploy up to four.

The British Holding Force

In pursuit, the French muster four French line infantry battalions, one Swiss infantry battalion, one reserve grenadier battalion, one legere battalion, four squadrons of light cavalry, two squadrons of heavy cavalry, and two guns sections (one heavy).  French line infantry may deploy up to two skirmishers each while the grenadiers and the legere may deploy up to four.  The French have three commands: two foot and one horse.

The French Pursuers

The roster below illustrates the composition of each command.  Each MU is rated for Combat Effectiveness with the higher CE value representing a greater combat effectiveness, ceteris paribus.  Note that the British infantry show a modest CE advantage (6 to 5) over their French counterparts.

Roster

While British take up positions across the defile and behind the red line as shown in the photo below, the KGL light infantry may deploy forward of this line. The French march onto the table from the end shown by blue arrows.

The Battlefield

Given the situation as described and the order of battle listed, what would be YOUR initial plans of action for each of the combatants?  Can the advancing French pierce the British defensive line and push on through the defile?  Can the British blocking force hold on until nightfall? 

Of course, strategies and tactics are not confined to Old Trousers.  Assume this action will be fought using your favorite Napoleonic battalion level rules.  Battalion level in the sense that the basic maneuver unit is the infantry battalion or cavalry squadron.

I look forward to seeing suggestions on this tactical problem.