Peninsular battle at Warfare 2025: Sagunto

Had a fantastic day at the Warfare 2025 show, deserves a fuller write-up but this brief report will have to do. Met lots of good people, had great conversations, ran our participation game twice and entertained all the players who joined in. Big thank you to them, to W.A.R. for running the show, to my OWS comrades for running the game, and to everyone we spoke to.

The game was Sagunto (1811) (aka Saguntum), a Peninsular War battle in which a Spanish army under Blake is trying to relieve the besieged Sagunto castle north of Valencia. The French Marshal Suchet moves to meet him and an encounter battle results.

Looking west from the coast. Spanish (red labels) are advancing left to right = north. French arrive to meet them from the right. Most of both armies are on the coastal plain. However, the French have sent a force through the Sancti Espiritu pass (upper right) which will meet Spanish coming from top left, as well as more that arrive Turn 4 or 5 from top right corner. White counters are Objective locations. (This was a playtest; we since adjusted these, removing the ones behind the Spanish lines in Cartuja and El Puig and adding one to the French-held Convento del Val de Jesus.) Basically, if the Spanish hold their line, it is a draw; if either side makes a significant inroad into the enemy line, they win.

Close-up of the French emerging from the pass. All figures are Baccus 6mm from Mark's collection.

And a view of the initial French front line on the coastal plain. Note the purple label = the Poles of the Vistula Legion. On Turns 1 and 2 these will be joined by more French reinforcements, including aggressive high-quality Italian infantry and seriously good shock cavalry.

The bulk of the Spanish army: a very good veteran unit left foreground about to occupy Puzol, some decent line troops right of pic, otherwise a lot of raw stuff filling the ranks.

Arriving from the southwest is the Spanish Army of Murcia, which isn't very keen on attacking. (Rated Passive.)

Things went badly for the French in the pass. Disrupted by Spanish cannon fire, the lead brigade failed to rally. It was then charged and destroyed by overwhelming Spanish numbers. The Spanish then surged up the mountainside against the second French brigade, which repelled them with heavy losses. Still, the French threat on this wing was effectively over by Turn 3.

Boldly the French cross the Baranco del Arenal stream. They will proceed to launch a series of aggressive but poorly coordinated and desperately unlucky assaults. (Phil's dice played a significant part. As did passing player Bob, whose first roll when he joined in was 12.)

Turn 4, about halfway through the game. Assorted cubes show the effects. Yellow = Disrupted. Black = Low on ammo (the Spanish have met the French with some murderous volleys). The Vistula Legion is no longer with us. The French dragoons have been wiped out in a bloody charge (they took some Spaniards with them) and the shock cavalry, the cuirassiers, are in shock.

View from the Spanish side. There were a few more turns of hard pounding here but the French could not make any headway. A clear Spanish victory.

We reset and played it again. It was a quite different game second time round. The dice were less dramatic and the French more patient, setting up their attacks properly, preparing with fire, etc. They managed to take both the objectives in the above picture (the hillock of El Hostalet on the left and the village of Puzol on the right) and it was a more even fight around the pass as well. A French victory this time, I think.

No Reflections for you tonight, beyond saying that it's a good scenario. Both sides have to maneuver; both have to attack if they want to win; it revolves around two somewhat separate and different axes of attack and the players have choices to make about how much to commit on each axis and how. Also it offers French (and Polish and Italian) quality vs Spanish quantity, which is always a good asymmetry in a game.

Recommended!

Salamanca at Warfare 2024

Last weekend found the OWS team at the Warfare show in Farnborough, UK. This is one of my favourite conventions. It used to be in Reading, which was more convenient, but I suppose the move to Farnborough means we get to meet some new people from further afield.

Our chosen participation game this year was Salamanca. We'd run it at OWS a couple of weeks earlier for our esteemed US guest, Vincent Tsao, of the Corlears Hook Fencibles, so we knew it was a good fun scenario. (See Vincent's write-up here.) It's also famous, colourful and eventful, making it a good choice to run at a show.

So indeed it proved, generating plenty of interest from show visitors. We were only able to tempt one player into actually rolling dice with us (we only attended on Sunday, which seems to be the day when people do a quick lap and buy stuff, rather than leisurely lingering to enjoy the games). But we still got to have good conversations with a lot of good folks, whether about the history, the game, the BBB rules, or the figures and terrain.  I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who stopped by and helped to make it such a good day out.

As for the game: 

This classic battle will be familiar to many readers of this blog. In a nutshell: the opposing armies have been marching parallel, Wellington retreating towards Portugal, Marmont trying to race past and cut him off. Wellington stops retreating and attacks the French army while it is strung out on the march.

(The scenario is by Dr Mark Smith and will be one of 16 in a planned Peninsular War scenario book for BBB. Half of these battles are Spanish vs French; one Portuguese vs French; the other 7, British and allies vs French.)

In my usual format, 11 captioned photos tell the story below, followed by a few modest reflections.

A full battlefield panorama to get you oriented. It's the end of Turn 1. The French are in an 'L' shape on the hills along the left and top edges of the picture, with a division on the Greater Arapil (the single hill at the start of the stream, upper left). Thomieres' division has boldly continued its march to capture the village of Miranda de Azan (top right corner), earning the French an irretrievable Objective (Mark's cunning scenario device to encourage - but not compel - the French to replicate the historical risky French march). The Allied right wing (commanded by me) has responded by advancing onto the Pico de Miranda (the hilltop next to Miranda de Azan), while the bulk of the Allied army masses in front of the angle of the French 'L'. 

All figures, terrain and paraphernalia from Mark's collection. Figures are Baccus 6mm. White rectangles are location nameplates that we did for the show. Little red and blue ones are unit labels, ditto. White counters are objective locations. The French need to hold 3 at game end for a draw or 4+ for a win.

A closer view of the Allied left and centre (commanded by Mark). On the left, the Light Division (including Sharpe's Rifles, of course), supported by Bock's KGL cavalry, sits behind Campbell's division. They will spend all game trying to capture the village of Calvarassa (an Objective) from the French on the opposite ridge (the pipecleaners indicate that it is a steep slope). 4th Div is on the Lesser Arapil (centre right), waiting for the right moment to storm the Greater Arapil. Clinton's division (bottom right) will eventually move right to support our attack on El Sierro.

Closer view of the Allied right. Bradford and Pack's Portuguese occupy the village of Los Arapiles (centre left), anchoring my line as  it wheels forward. The yellow label denotes the one Spanish brigade present.

Zooming right in on Miranda de Azan and the Pico de Miranda. D'Urban's cavalry have crested the hill, supported by Power's Portuguese. Unfortunately, the bulk of Pakenham's 3rd Division (bottom left) was slow to move out. 'Slow' became something of a theme at this end of the battlefield ...

... as it took another 3 turns or so to wipe out Thomieres and capture the village (upper left), making time very tight for Pakenham to join in the final assault on El Sierro at the other end of the pitch. The Portuguese won't make it - they are about to drive off the French cavalry (bottom left) and pursue them off the board.

Here's how it looks from the French side of the hill. Two French divisions (bottom left and right) with artillery support are trying to stop the French left being rolled up by British heavy cavalry (left edge) and Hope's division. My Portuguese are still poised in Los Arapiles (top centre), about to support Hope by advancing against the lower right French. French fire was proving deadly, though - black counters denote French units with Low Ammo after delivering a deadly salvo/volley against Hope.

Meanwhile, on the French right, the Light Division (top right) is working its way around their flank but French artillery fire has deterred the KGL cavalry from supporting the Lights.

Pakenham's men taking an unconscionably long time to dress their ranks ...

Rolling up the French left is slow and bloody work. Most of Hope's division is gone, as are the two Portuguese brigades that advanced out of Los Arapiles. Hope's Portuguese brigade remains, supported by the heavy cavalry (bottom right corner), and will continue to drive back the French division in front of it. We had hoped that Clinton's division could join an attack on the Greater Arapil, but Mark has been obliged to commit it here (top left corner).

Late in the battle, Mark's attacks develop against Calvarassa (top left corner) and the Greater Arapil (top right). On the final turn, he mounts assaults against both these Objectives. Currently, the French hold four - enough for a French win. We need to retake one to draw or 2+ to turn defeat into victory.

The final act on the final turn. Both of Mark's assaults are repulsed. Everything rests on Clinton and the heavies, which have just smashed through a spent French division. All they need to do is overrun the French battery holding El Sierro. It's a fight at good odds - but not quite good enough! The French guns are forced to limber up and fall back, but we haven't driven them off the heights yet, so we can't claim the Objective. The French have won, damn their eyes!

Reflections:

Clever Victory Conditions. In my post last month about Cold Harbor, I reported how I had tried to be too clever with the victory conditions and departed from the tried and tested BBB formula. Mark's victory conditions for Salamanca are very effective: a typical formula of 7 objectives spread around the table, typical victory target for the French of 3 for a draw or 4 for a win - but with one important tweak, namely that the village of Miranda de Azan provides a 'highwater mark' objective that the French can never lose once they've reached it, even if the Allies recapture the village. This worked very well. (As did Mark's special rule for Marmont being wounded and replaced, as happened historically.)

Players Should All Use the Same Dice! When I run a game, I have a set of dice that are all the same type, and everyone uses these. If the dice are biased, at least the bias should affect everyone equally. Mark does similar but his dice are different colours: blue for the French, red for the British, yellow for the Austrians, green for the Russians ... having fought Salamanca twice as the British, I am convinced his blue dice have more sixes on them than the red ones!

Time I Bought a Battlemat? My plain green felt cloth has done good duty for a couple of decades but Mark's battlemat looks better and was part of the reason his layout attracted well deserved compliments. I feel a terrain investment coming on.

Warfare 2019: Solferino! (And Wagram. And Marengo.)

The Warfare show laid on by the Wargames Association of Reading is always a highlight. This year was possibly the best yet. On Saturday I was free to do a lap of the traders' hall and admire all the display and participation games.

Solferino! French advancing from the left against masses of yellow-labelled Austrians on the right.

Photo by Alan Millicheap (more on the BBB group at groups.io). Those are my hands.

My image rights manager will be contacting Al.

Then on Sunday we ran Solferino 1859 as a BBB participation game. Crispin had lovingly carved custom terrain so all the hills were the right shape, and decorated his town bases with cypress trees for a proper Italianate aspect. 6mm Baccus armies gave the right mass battle visual effect. It got loads of interested passers-by, not to mention some keen joiners-in. The terrain was admired, rules and scenario explained, game philosophy discussed, and I'm happy to report a couple of Italian wargamers seemed delighted to see this battle on the tabletop. I met a ton of good people (so forgive me if you see me again next year and I don't necessarily remember your names) and felt like I spent most of the day chatting - I never left the table for 8 hours - and despite that we got through the battle one and a half times. It was a brilliant day.

As if that wasn't enough, then on Monday Mark ran the latest of his growing set of epic Napoleonic scenarios: Wagram 1809. With 300,000 men on the pitch, this little scuffle was even bigger than Solferino. You'd think it might leave no room for maneuver and just be a dull slugfest, but it was a fantastic game. No shortage of slugging it out, to be sure, but plenty of movement, and a real feel of punch/counter-punch, like two heavyweights trading blows, reeling back and then surging forward again. Awesome.

It would be remiss of me not to mention another fine game we had a couple of weeks ago, involving a younger Napoleon: Marengo. We used the scenario written by Vincent Tsao of the Corlears Hook Fencibles, fought each other to a bloody standstill, and went home happy.

Now is a good time to note that the former BBB Yahoo group has migrated to groups.io at:
https://groups.io/g/bloodybigbattles
and all the accumulated scenarios and other resources are there, includding Vincent's Marengo game.