BBB Peninsular War scenario book published

 

I am delighted to announce the publication of our eagerly-awaited new BBB scenario book for the Peninsular War, Bloody Big Peninsular Battles! (BBPB).

Wargamers love the Peninsular War, for many good reasons:

- It is where Napoleon's nemesis, Wellington, builds his reputation through famous victories such as Salamanca and Vitoria.

- The four contending armies - British, Spanish, Portuguese and French - all feature many colourful troop types. These range from the classic British riflemen, highlanders, etc., via Spanish yellow-jacketed dragoons or guerrillas and Portuguese caçadores or militia, to Napoleon's Polish, German and Italian allies. Even the Imperial Guard puts in a brief appearance.

- These armies meet on diverse battlefields in assorted unique situations: we see wagon trains, siestas, mountain passes, crown jewels ...

The 18 scenarios in this collection capture all this rich flavour as they take you from the start of the war in 1808 through to the Allied invasion of France in 1813. Fully half of the scenarios have no British troops present, reflecting the part played by Spain and Portugal in their own liberation. Each scenario is distinctively different, portraying each battle's individual character and presenting players with different tactical challenges each time. Campaign options enable players to play the set as a campaign in which victory in one battle provides some plausible advantage in the next.

Table of Contents

Introduction                                                             
 
The Early Battles, 1808 – 3-scenario mini-campaign
Medina de Rio Seco                                          
Bailén                                                               
Tudela                                                              
 
Spanish Counter-Offensive: The Campaign of 1809 – 5-scenario mini-campaign
Uclés                                                                
Valls                                                                 
Medellín                                                           
Talavera de la Reina                                        
Ocaña                                                              
 
Meanwhile in Portugal: Soult’s Invasion of the North, 1809 –  stand-alone scenario
Braga                                                               
 
The Defence of Portugal 1810-11 – 3-scenario mini-campaign
Busaco                                                            
Albuera                                                            
Fuentes de Oñoro                                           
 
Suchet in Valencia – 2-scenario mini-campaign
Sagunto                                                            
Valencia                                                            
 
Wellington’s Advance into Spain, 1812 – stand-alone scenario
Salamanca                                                       
 
From Spain to France: The Battles of 1813 – 3 -scenario mini campaign
Vitoria                                                               
The Pyrenees                                                   
The Nivelle                                                       

The book is available in PDF format from SkirmishCampaigns here.

Print copies should be available shortly from On Military Matters (US) and Caliver Books (UK).

To help you build armies to fight these battles, there is a spreadsheet of the bases required in the files of the BBB io group here. (You need to be a member of the group to get access to the files.)

BBPB is now listed on BoardGameGeek if you want to let people know what you think of it.

In very much related news, Jared Fishman of the 20 Sided Gamified Podcast has recorded an interview with me and BBPB author Dr Mark Smith. This is scheduled for release on 28 August. Check it out if you want to hear Mark and me enthusing about the Peninsular War, wargames, 19th-century military history, etc.

Waterloo at UK Defence Academy Shrivenham

I had the privilege of being invited to play in a Waterloo BBB game at Shrivenham. I was going to write a full report but one of my fellow players, Steve J, has beaten me to it. Rather than replicate what he's done, let me point you to his lovely full photo-AAR here. Likewise Stu on his Cirencester Wargames blog here.

Apart from echoing his thanks to our hosts, comrades and opponents for their good company and an excellent day, I'd just add one photo and one Reflection of my own:

Replayability. I suppose I've fought Waterloo five or six times now. Each one has played out differently to some degree. This time was radically different again, the French following a plan I'd not seen before and producing a shape to the battle that I'd not seen before. That plus the fact of it coming down to the last objective changing hands with the last dice on the last turn made it a seriously good game.

Penultimate turn. Lambert's 6th Division holds Mont St Jean (the village with the red star Objective marker), supported by Uxbridge's cavalry (foreground). In front of them, the Union brigade valiantly keeps two French divisions at bay long enough to prevent them joining the fight at Mont St Jean. Upper right, though, problems: the Old Guard surging down the ridge is about to smash through the remnants of Alten's division, force Wellington himself to decamp briefly, then storm onward to eject Lambert. Lambert will need the aid of Bylandt's Dutch/Belgians, arriving from the left (out of shot), to charge back in and expel the grognards to earn a draw.

6mm figures from Dave F's fine collection.