Salamanca "Plus"
I once read a Larry Leadhead comic strip proclaiming this
new rule set was “Perfect”…so all he had to do was change “this”, “this” and
“that”. Our group (as I suspect most everyone else) suffers from that same
sickness. “These rules are great…we just need to change this one little
thing”. We have discovered (I wont say “learned” because we still do it) over
the years that this usually leads to disaster…especially when we tinker with a
thoroughly play tested scenario designed by people who do this for a living.
Such was the case with the older Salamanca Scenario out of the Red Book.
Wanting to play something a little larger, we used the Salamanca OB and each
added about a Corps from the Talavera Scenario (the French a Corps and the
British added the Spanish Army as well as a division of British Cavalry).
That in and of itself probably wouldn’t have made too much
of an impact either way…the forces were still pretty balanced. However, we also
decided to play the Variant Scenario Setup rule where the French set up anywhere
in a predetermined area on the map, then the Allies set up in a smaller area
after the French were finished. That was where disaster struck. Having the
ability to see where the French forces were deployed, I was able to weigh down
my right with most of my British Cavalry (where the French had none) and best
British infantry, thus assuring Combined Arms superiority immediately.
What you will see below is the results of such a change.
It wasn’t pretty…but the pictures are ok. Joe and Casey ran the French while
Shawn and I had the Allies. Joe was nice enough to allow Casey to play the
French Left (Facing overwhelming British Cavalry forces...hmmm) while he took
the center and right. We decided Shawn would take the allied left and
center (facing Joe) and I would command the right wing attack.
Note: We still had not finished rebasing all of our models at the time of
the game.
One good thing did come out of this battle though. This was
played on my old table and was one of the games that convinced me that we needed
to get a better terrain system (Felt
Covered Tables). The large hills you see were terrible for trying to
balance models on.
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The British prepare to take the right
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French forces load their muskets and await the inevitable allied onslaught
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The French center awaits the enemy in line
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Both armies on the allied left set up in defensive position. The Spanish forces cannot be trusted to do much else.
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The small contingent of French on the Greater Arapiles hill watch the ranks of redcoats form up into attack columns
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The Allied advance begins with a huge push on the right with cavalry and infantry headed straight towards the French held hill
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Emboldened by the defensive posture of the French forces, the Spanish army makes a few tentative moves forward
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Charge! Sensing an early opportunity, the British launch a combined assault on the hill.
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The assault yields mixed results. One French brigade is routed while one Portuguese brigade is routed as well.
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Pictured on the Left, this French General attached to a Line brigade held off several attacks before finally succumbing to multiple wounds.
The French carried him off the field of battle with full honors.
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The French start to feel the full weight of the British force superiority on the allied right.
With cavalry forcing them into square and infantry approaching, the situation was quickly deteriorating.
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In the center things were a little more balanced and produced a few good fights.
Even then, bad luck plagued the French forces as a French Cavalry brigade catches a Portuguese infantry unit out of square but fails to rout it (it had charged through woods and had a severe negative modifier because of that...something we had not realized would happen until combat began).
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More action in the Center with Spanish Cavalry charging into the fray
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The French move up an infantry division to try and stem the tide on their left.
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Disaster in the center! A Spanish cavalry brigade breaks through the French center and prepares to charge several routed units.
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At this point, we all decided to call the game. It had been a great
learning experience but with the modified OB and especially the alternate setup,
it was simply too much for the French to overcome. Great game by all and
as always, I look forward to many more...very soon.
