AR for FoB: Engagement at the Ventosa

For my second go at solo wargaming using the Field of Battle Rules, I thought I would do the Engagement at Ventosa, the action on the left flank of the British forces in the Battle of Vimeiro fought in August 1808. For a brief synopsis of the battle see Wikipedia. The order of battle is here.

Junot, the commander of the French forces was badly outnumbered, and hoped that a flanking maneuver would give him an advantage. He sent two infantry brigades north and then to the east in an hope to surprise Wellesley on his left flank, northeast of Vimeiro. On reaching the farm at Ventosa the lead French brigade commander Solignac could see some British skirmishers west of him on top of a small hill. He ordered his brigade to attack. What he did not know was that on the other side of the hill were the 3 British brigades of Nightingale, Ferguson and Bowes. Solignac's only support was Brennier's infantry brigade with an attached dragoon regiment, which was almost a mile east of Ventosa.

I took the idea of the scenario from the General de Brigade rulebook, thus there are some alterations in the order of battle. It will be a 3 turn game.

Order of Battle

Terrain (scale 1"=25yds)

Vimeiro is in the extreme west. There is a class III forest north of the farm at Ventosa. The hill has 2 access points (both Class I terrain), the one to the east is 250 yds wide, the other on the northwest face is 150 yds wide, the hill is otherwise class III. The rest of the terrain is class I. The Maceira river, the town of Vimeiro, and the features in the corners of the terrain should not come into play.

The position of the 5 brigades is described below, all units start the game in a column of march, except the 1/95th which are attached to Nightingale's brigade who are in skirmish order. The other 2&3/95th are in line at the beginning of the game. The 3rd Dragoons attached to Brennier's brigade are just off the table and come on with Brennier's first move card. Nightingale's and Solignac's ADCs assume the Group Commander role for their respective brigades.

Looking from west to east with the town of Vimeiro in the foreground. There is Wellesley west of the river!!!

Victory Conditions

I am still thinking about this, maybe I will poll TMP. ...................Well, that was useful!! So let us decide on some victory conditions. Well if the British or French drive their opponent off the hill at the end of 3 turns they win. If at the end of 3 turns both sides have men on the ridge the calculation will depend on the total AMP lost. Well on to the game.

First Turn

Here is Brennier's brigade at the far east of the terrain.

So the cards were shuffled and the die were thrown, both D12 leadership dice: French throw a 12 and the British a 4; 8 Initiative ponts, French take first go and have 8+ cards to turn. Not much happens, poor cards turned, some movement, the dragoons get on the table, both French brigades creep forward, Solignac's brigade maneuvers into attack column.

The British move forward, Nightingale's brigade maneuvers into line. History repeats itself!! Bowe's brigade moves forward.

Desultory die throws occur, cards are slow, but then suddenly the French throw again for 8 IP and the game moves quickly. The 3e Dragoons move into line and advance, Solignac's brigade moves forward. The 1/95th skirmishers spot the 3 French infantry battalions advancing rapidly in attack column.

Solignac's brigade crests the hill, the 95th opportunity fire; no effect. The 29th Foot opportunity fire and the 58e ligne fall back out of command. The 12e léger and 15e ligne advance to engage, they hold their fire.
More move cards are drawn (the French have a superior deck), Solignac's brigade is relentless. The 12e légere and 15e ligne fire and the 1/95th are routed back, the French smell blood. The 12e engage the 82nd in melee and the 15e and the 58e engage the 29th in melee.
The 15e rout the 29th, but not before the 29th rout the 58e, but the unit integrity of 29th drops below zero and they are destroyed. The 12e rout the 82nd and fire into the retreating 82nd, their unit integrity drops to zero.

End of Turn 1. So history may not repeat itself, the French are in good position as they have only 1 unit in rout, have lost zero Army Morale Points, have a lot of leadership cards in their deck and hopefully Brennier is close. The British have lost the 29th, and both the 1/95th and the 82nd are at zero Unit Integrity. They have lost all their AMP. Not a good situation!!

Second Turn

An 11 vs 7 for 4 IP in favour of the French is thrown. Brennier's brigade moves forward, they are at the base of the hill. Solignac is able to bring his units back in command. The british get their Foot Artillery up the slope and the rest of Ferguson's brigade advances. The 3e Dragoons maneuver into attack column and advance and engage the 6th Foot in melee, they are repulsed. On the third IP throw, evens are thrown and turn 2 comes to an end.

Third Turn

The French again capture the initiative, the 3e Dragoons again attack the 6th but they stand firm. The remaining units of Bowe's brigade; 2/95th and 32nd Foot form square.

Almost all of Brennier's brigade is on the summit, the French advance is relentless.

Brennier's and Solignac's brigades can now smell blood, they advance rapidly firing as they go, the 6th Foot and the 2/95th are routed.

The French maneuver into position, the British initiative is lost, poor cards are drawn and the leadership fail to rally the troops.

The French move forward in attack column firing as they go, the 2/95th and the 6th are destroyed. The Foot Artillery battery is enveloped by multiple French infantry units. The situation is hopeless. The French are victorious.

Game Over
Well the French certainly trounced the English in this scenario. The British had lost all their AMP by the first turn and by the end of turn 3 the French had 5 extra AMP. What happened, well maybe I favoured the French a little in this scenario; I have a tendency to favour the underdog. At the same time the random generator had given the French a average card deck and the British a poor card deck. The die also seemed to favour the French. The turn ended before the British were completely turned off the hill, but it was very close to happening.

I still do not really have the rules down. I missed that on the lull card, the opposite side get a chance to turn a card. I am also still struggling a bit with close in movement, but a re-read of the rule book (thankfully very short) cleared a lot of things up.