End of Tordesillas Campaign

Strategic map of Tordesillas campaign showing location of battles

Just completed this campaign, which was set in Northern Spain, between Wellington and Soult.   It was the fifth phase and ended in a much needed victory for the Anglo-Portuguese army.   Wellington had lost three of the previous four phases, and was forced to retreat into Portugal.   This victory allows me to continue with the map of Spain, rather than yet another retreat into Portugal.

The campaign lasted for nine weeks, and 14 campaign days.   There were seven battles, and Wellington won six.   The seventh was a draw.

The final battle lasted two days.   Wellington failed to take the city of Valladolid on the first day, but started the second day with more cavalry and artillery than the French.  This should have led to a quick victory, but his luck (and my dice) deserted him.   He did win, but it really was a very close run thing. 

A summary of the Tordesillas campaign, and also the campaign in Northern Spain to date, can be found on the campaign diary blog

http://1813pbemcampaigndiary.blogspot.com.es/

Strategic map of northern Spain showing all battles fought

The campaign started in April 2009.   It was designed to provide me with interesting battles to wargame, and has well achieved its aim by providing 237 battles so far.   It covers Germany and Spain, and has five independent campaign areas, each with a French and allied army.  

The campaign has run non-stop, though it has changed and evolved during that period.   The maps started as rough hand drawn and are now computer generated.   The rules have been amended much, but remain basically the same.

It started as a solo campaign, but was converted to PBEM in October 2009.  It reverted to solo in February 2016.

I never expected the campaign to last so long, and in June 2013 we reached the end of 1813.   The campaign continued with the invasion of France in 1814.   But in February 2015 I rewound the clock and started the 1813 campaign again.  Despite this the campaign continued without break, each campaign phase starting immediately the previous one ended.

The campaign has been recorded on a series of blogs, which act as the campaign diary.  There is a permanent record of each campaign day, a summary of each campaign phase and a report on each of the 237 battles fought.  

The current Campaign Diary Blog has run since December 2015, and has links to the previous thirteen blogs which covered the earlier stages of the campaign.

The greatest upheaval has been reverting to solo from PBEM in February 2016.   I found that I was losing interest in the campaign, and in addition was finding it difficult to fill the ten campaign command posts.  Replacing players was an ongoing problem, with 84 players taking part during the six years it ran.   I always managed to fill the posts, but I found it to be a thankless task and gradually lost interest.

Since I reverted to a solo campaign seven months ago I have found a new enjoyment in the campaign.   I can direct the campaign to provide the types of battles I want to wargame.  Rather than have to fight uneven battles I can simply refuse battle and give ground.  I can use the maps to select good defensive battle positions, resulting in more interesting and enjoyable wargames.   In effect it has given the campaign a whole new lease of life for me.

According to Wikipedia the Napoleonic Wars lasted twelve years from 1803 to 1815.   The Peninsular War lasted six years from 1808 to 1814.   My campaign has already run for more than seven years, longer than the Peninsular War.   It is still going strong and could well outlast the Napoleonic Wars.