104 Espinosa de los Monteros (10-11 November 1808)

uffin conducted a masterful attack on the Spanish right. Blake was carried from the field seriously wounded and his counterattack was annihilated by a rapid redeployment of guns and light cavalry. French win 7-2.

There is an error on the top of the map. It says "1809", but it should be "1808"

hoping that fixes two birds with one paste

Turns 1 – 9: Spanish forces successfully beat back a French attack in the center but lose ground on their left and right flanks. Both sides spend numerous turns building up critical mass to throw against the other with the Spaniards being surprisingly aggressive. Spanish lead in the early turns, five to two.

Turn 10: General Ruffin has his voltigeurs on the far right open a devastating fire against the Spanish line. At the same moment, General Eugène-Casimir Villatte’s line troops charge into the woods against General Pedro Caro y Sureda, Marquis of La Romana’s Spanish light troops. Both Spanish regiments are reduced by around 50%. Meanwhile, in the center, General Pierre Belon Lapisse advances against General Joaquín Blake y Joyes’ line and causes a Spanish collapse. Blake is forced to flee to his Grenadier regiment. French Leadership was well played this turn. But the Spaniards are still ahead five to three.

Turn 11: The French continue to press the attack. The Spanish right flank crumbles and General Romana barely escapes to the high ground in front of the Trucha River. But in the center, General Blake encourages his Grenadiers forward and they route Lapisse’s forces. The Spanish hold the center, for the moment, and are very close to snatching victory. They lead six to five.

Turn 12: The French proceed with La Grande Manoeuvre and move up artillery and line troops west of the shallow stream along their right flank. General Acevedo recognizes the scheme and redeploys his infantry eastwards behind the ridgeline. Both sides favor defensive positioning this turn and the next.

Turn 14: Generals Ruffin and Villatte see the exposed Spanish right flank manned by Romana’s weakened light troops. With extraordinary Leadership, the French commanders concentrate fire on the high ground defended by the Spanish. The merciless volleys are accurate, the Spanish light regiment is destroyed and the brave General Romana is killed while ordering his men. With Romana’s death, the Spanish right flank is turned and the French win a close one seven to six after fourteen turns.

Played this three times recently. As the French player, I attacked the militia on the Spanish left, routing it off the map. This was followed by an attack on the Spanish right (dictated by the cards) which routed several units into the River Trueba for a 7-4 win.

Not quite sure how it happened, but the return game saw a rapid 7-1 Spanish win. A French assault towards the river saw it beaten back and the militia held its own on the left. In my experience of this and C&C Tricorne, most players hold militia units back to protect them, but if properly supported, they can be very effective.

So we played again, my opponent confident he could do better. He did, but still lost 7-3! Once again, a French assault on the Spanish right in front of the river was beaten back with heavy loss. The French cavalry came forward and destroyed a line unit in square, but when subsequently attacked, the militia held it own without forming square, and the coup de grace came with two Spanish cavalry charges eliminating both French light cavalry units.

Much has been written about the guerrilla rule. In each of the above games, the Spanish drew an extra token, for a total of two. Did they swing the games? Probably not. In both games as the Spanish, I used the guerrillas to stop a French attack dead in its tracks. As the French, I drew the guerrilla tokens out by making threatening moves with weaker cards, allowing me subsequently to play stronger cards (bayonet charge and rally) without fear of their being annulled. People get exercised about this being ahistorical in that guerrillas were rarely present on a a battlefield, but hey, it's a play-balance mechanism so who cares!

Awesome one, with rolling battles across the flanks. Spanish (played by J) were up 5-3 early and nearly took it. French won it on a do-or-die cavalry charge, 7-6.