The Inn at Santa Bárbara de Casa: A Lasalle Solo Scenario

Getting a little bored of painting, so I felt it was time to have another game. I had a search about, I was thinking about doing one of Charles Grant's Table Top Teasers but settled on this scenario which I found on the Scenarios Wiki on the Honour website.

I have stuck to Faron's scenario "No Room at the Inn" aside from some minor terrain details, starting positions of brigades, the units in the OB and of course I had to change the name slightly. I did keep to all the original ratings and have stuck to a 9x5' terrain.

I play solo, so I will append my solo variation rules below. I decided that I would not use blinds or spotting in this scenario as I believe this would detract from the intent of Faron's scenario.

Here is a link to Faron's original AAR.

No Room at the Inn by Faron Bell (changes in red)

early 1809

Background: As Soult’s French Forces invade Portugal, the Spanish-Portugal Border is in turmoil. Innocent civilians flee for their lives as the French plunder the border villages for food and supplies. Shortly before dawn, two opposing advance divisions find each other marching towards a vital crossroads near the border. Lorell’s French Division is made up of a mix of conscripts, veteran and elite allied troops. They have the advantage of position with a Battalion of conscripts having reached the crossroads and taking up positions in and around a country inn. Lorell’s command structure is overburdened and lacks cohesion due to recently being re-organized. Clowes’ British/Portuguese Division is made up of solid troops, though the Portuguese Line Regiments are fatigued from marching all night. Clowes is a good commander, has capable subordinates and has a slight advantage in overall quality, especially with his extra light infantry skirmishers.

Objectives:

Vital supplies and munitions are stored within the Church and are of great value to the French. The Inn and Hills are also points of interest for both sides as they serve to dominate the approaches to the crossroads. Flanking the battlefield by securing the bridge and, thus, access to the river is also desirable.

Set Up: French set up first inside their deployment zones. They hold the Inn at game start and may deploy a battalion from Goodenot's brigade within the Inn square. After the French deploy, the British set up inside their deployment zones. The British Move First.

Special Notes: (1) British may use the superior commander rule. (2) A unit crossing the bridge must be in march column to move across it. (3) The river is impassable. (4) The Inn and Church built up areas offer soft cover. (5) The 2 hills (both 1 level higher) can only be climbed through their access points and the movement rate is as through normal terrain. (6) There are multiple area as indicated on the terrain as "rough" and these and the two wooded area half the movement rate. (7) All stone fences are regarded as obstacles.

Victory Conditions:

Basic game length is 14 Turns + any bonus turns.

“No Room in the Inn” has two possible sets of victory conditions: (1) If a player fails his army morale before the game ends, he looses. (2) Failing result #1, assess victory as follows: 1 VP is awarded to the side that controls (1) The Inn; (2) The Church; (3) each Hill (2 VP’s total). (4) and the Bridge. 1 VP is also awarded to the side that has fewer routed/eliminated units (regardless of type) at game’s end. The side with the most VP’s at game end win.

Note: “Control” (or recapturing) is defined as no enemy troops touching the objective. Control is negated for either side if enemy troops are touching the objective.

Solo Variation Rules:

Activation Cards cards are used. The sub-commander's card activates his specific brigade, while the commander's card activates any of his brigades or independent units. The units have to be within 10BW's, so a partial activation of a brigade can take place. When a card is drawn that brigade goes through the 4 phases of it's turn (well 3 really as the status phase is carried out when the deck is finished, at the end of the turn), followed by the next card and so on. Going through a deck of cards is one turn, they are re-shuffled and you start again. If the Commander is killed or wounded his card is removed from the deck. Each deck is the equivalent of a turn in Lasalle speak. Units are marked when they fire, and can only fire once per turn (card deck). I have also found in this card driven version, that a unit can be charged and the charging unit can be reactivated a second time (by the commanders card) before the defender gets a chance to react. Certainly the defending unit needs to be able to react, I am still deciding on whether I should do it at the time of original contact or just prior to the combat.

Order of Battle:

please note that this is the first outing for the South Essex

The Terrain:
I had to make some adjustments in the terrain as laid out in the original scenario to adjust for the terrain I have. The hills are to the south and east of the small hamlet of Santa Bárbara de Casa (an actual place just west of Badajoz). I have moved the forests slightly and will start one of the French brigades on the far side of the river. All units will start in column of march, aside from the 26e ligne which is deployed.

Centre view with initial brigade dispositions. The Inn and the Church are demarcated by the stonewalls and are single town bases. Shockley and Kirkwood's brigades start to the southeast of this view.

Looking west, with rough areas and access points to hills noted. Shockley and Kirkwood's area of disposition noted. The terrain ends at the measuring stick (10x5').

Looking east, the forests to the north and the south are also rough terrain. Aside from the church and the Inn, all other buildings are purely decorative, but of course are hard obstacles. Good view of both hills. The only passable road starts to the west of the river and leads to the hill east of Santa Bárbara de Casa, unfortunately in 2 areas in is quite overgrown, significantly slowing traffic.

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