Salamanca - 22 July 1812

 

Haven't posted here for a year. I'm still using LinkedIn for most work and wargaming PhD stuff - which currently doesn't leave much else. PhD should be finished in a year so my amount of hobby wargaming will hopefully then ramp back up!

On 21-22 Feb 26 we (as Rose Hill Wargaming Group) ran the 4th of our 20mm Peninsular War "big battles" - this time Salamanca. This is the biggest game we've done so far with a 26' x 14' playing surface (split over 3 tables) and over 3000 20mm figures (a mix of plastics and metal). The rules are still our own Steady Lads Steady, which are designed for play on a 10cm grid.

The tables at STARTEX, showing how few blinds are out at 8am

This is one of those battles where hindsight is a real issue. The French are unlikely to be silly enough to open up a gap in their lines as they march along the Monte de Azan, and Wellington, knowing the French want to force his flank can just try and block the route with a strong force. A lot of Salamanca wargame scenarios start when the French make the mistake and Wellington throws a chicken leg over his shoulder and declares "By God, that'll do" - so the French don't have a lot to play for.

Deployment positions at 0800 with movement boxes. One square = 600m

We therefore started the battle at 0800, when very few French or Allies were on the table. And since all were beyond 600m of each other all were represented by blinds (some of which could be dummies). For their missions, the French primary aim was to get a division off the far edge of the table, with a secondary objective of inflicting a good kill ratio on the Allies. The Allied primary aim was to block such a move, but without suffering excessive losses. To try and remove some hindsight the table was divided into  four "boxes", the Allies initially being able to deploy only in the northern one (DZ), and then getting release to move into the other boxes as the French advanced. This would hopefully stop a solid wall being put in place before the French had any chance of making it to the far end.

Still a lot of blinds, and the Allied barrier forming

Before the game the Commanders issued their orders, and in particular where off table units were to arrive. The umpires then controlled the arrival time - roughly based on historic movement speeds. Wellington assigned the potential blocking task to the 1st (incl. Guards) and Light Divisions, supported by the Heavy Cavalry. This meant they could get into position a lot faster than Packenham's 3rd Division could historically - the 3rd was ordered to make its shortest possible march, onto NE edge of the table.

As the battle started Marmont immediately ordered Foy into the attack towards the Lesser Arapiles, supported by 3rd Division, whilst 8th Division and his main force moved behind the Greater Arapiles and started heading for the Monte de Azan. Unfortunately by the time they go there the Allied roadblock was in position (perhaps I'd been a bit generous with box release or 1st and Light Division arrival times, or the French had taken too southerly a route). The two western forces then just faced off against each other whilst the battle evolved all the rest of the way down the line. The KGL cavalry seeing off the French Dragoons, and the French Light Cavalry losing to their British counterparts meant that for most of the game the French only had one light cavalry regiment - which certainly hampered their ability to manoeuvre. By the end of Saturday (Turn 11, 1330hrs battle time) the front line was a big zig-zag, running N-S in the West (far end of the table), then E-W along the plain in front of Los Arapiles and between the Greater and Lesser Arapiles, and then N-S again between the Pelagarcia and the Lesser Arapiles.

Shortly before the end of Saturday, 3 Div holding the E end of the line just off camera

It was interesting how different in flavour Sunday was from Saturday. Saturday had primarily been the CinC's day, getting the blinds to move across the table, trying to manoeuvre for position, apart from some light fighting in the centre and E flank. Sunday though was when the brigade commanders earnt their keep, fighting the enemy in front of them along a now relatively static front line. The centre was a fight of steady attrition, with both sides feeding new troops in and the French getting at least one battalion up to the base of the Lesser Arapiles, but certainly nowhere near the village of Los Arapiles. In the E, Foy's 1st Division and subsequently 3 Div and even 4th Div kept up a steady pressure on  the Allied 7th Div, and 3rd Div when it arrived, finally beating them back to the Lesser Arapiles itself. In the crook of the front line by Monte de Azan the Allies were slowly pushing the French in, but it wasn't until the final moves that the Guards and Dragoons moved across the rough terrain of the Monte de Azan to start pushing the French back. The zig-zag increasingly became more of a straight line and, as with many wargames, the front line rotated as the French pushed forward on their R flank (north) and the Allies pushed forward on their R flank (south).

We called ENDEX at about 3pm real time, about 1630 battle time, so about when the French line collapsed - but there was no sign of collapse here but the battle had settled down into an attritional fight.

A few turns before ENDEX view from the E end of the table

There are several ways in which we can try and evaluate who "won" the game.

Historically, the French performed far better than their real-life counterparts, still holding their own against the English, troops bumping up against the Lesser Arapiles on two sides, a route open to Salamanca and in all probability they may have been the ones to stay on the field. The Allies fared less well, although they blocked the French flanking manoeuvre they didn't destroy the French force in the way that Wellington did - although they had strong untouched brigades left whilst most of the French ones were damaged. Interestingly the research I did on the bicentennial Napoleonic games showed that wargamers often had a hard time reproducing the victories of Wellington and Napoleon! So on a historic basis it was probably a win for the French players.

Statistically speaking the Allies had lost 13 of 29 brigades, so just short of their 15 brigade break point. The French had lost 7 of 18 brigades, so also just short of their 9 brigade breakpoint - and with more fragile brigades the French may have lost it first if the game had gone on a bit longer.

In terms of the scenario victory conditions, the Allies got 2 out of 3 for their Decisive Victory (blocked exit, below army breakpoint, but not a 3:2 damage ratio). They did though meet the conditions for Marginal Victory (blocked exit, below army break point, below 3:2 damage ratio - although the ratio was actually more like 2:3). The French failed their Decisive Victory condition (exit a Division plus), but made their Marginal Victory condition (2:1 damage ratio). So on that basis it was a draw.

Overall we called the game a draw, which I think was fair, both sides having fought themselves more or less to a standstill (at least in the centre) and both very close to their army breakpoints.

Trying to design a scenario for a battle where one side won primarily due to a mistake of the other, and where neither side really wanted to fight is always a challenge - and particularly when you've got a bunch of wargamers who want to play a wargame for the the whole 2 days! The scenario may not have been perfect, but I think that most people really enjoyed themselves, and we enjoyed staging it. Roll on Vitoria in 2027!

(If you'd like to be put on the mailing list for Vitoria then just get in touch).

Some more photos from the game below.