End of Talavera campaign

 

Battles fought during Talavera campaign

 

Soult won four of the six battles fought.

Wellington won the remaining two.

Soult took and held the city of Talavera and therefore won the campaign

This was the first campaign using our new wargame rules, which rely on just 1D6 to decide firing, melee and morale.   The rules worked well and needed only minor adjustments. The six wargames fought were fast and unpredictable and very enjoyable.   I think I can now confirm that the new rules work very well and will replace the earlier ones.  

There are five campaign areas in our campaign, three in Germany and two in Spain.   Each campaign phase is fought in one of those areas.   I stick to a strict sequence as follows:

 

North Germany – French v Prussians

South Spain – French v Spanish

Central Germany – French v Russians

North Spain – French v British

Central Germany – French v Austrians

 

This ensures that all of my wargame armies are used on the table in sequence.  It usually takes two to three months to complete a campaign phase.   Each phase usually produces six battles to wargame.

The objective is to produce interesting and fun wargames.    So armies are balanced to ensure that neither side has too great an advantage.   Numbers and types of figures (ie infantry, cavalry and artillery) are the same on each side.   Each nationality has strong and weak points, so each campaign phase is very different from the others.

Campaigns fought in Germany are more equal than those fought in Spain.    This is because Austria, Prussia and Russia had all learned hard lessons by 1813, and their armies were better trained and led than in earlier (historical) campaigns.  In addition the French armies never recovered from the 1812 campaign in Russia, and were largely conscript troops.   So although the campaign is not intended to be historical accurate, I feel it is quite fair to have balanced armies in terms of morale and combat value.

However in Spain it was a very different matter.   Most writers, and wargamers, consider Wellington’s 1813 army to be better trained and led than the French.   Even the considerable Portuguese element, which was largely led by British officers, was considered on a par with average British troops.

But most would agree that the Spanish army was poor quality and poorly led.    Brigades which served under Wellington’s command did perform well, though not as well as the Portuguese.   But the vast majority of the Spanish army were not up to this standard.   This poses a real problem for me, because of my aim of making all national armies more or less equal in combat terms, to give wargame commanders an equal chance of winning the game.   Otherwise battles fought in southern Spain would be boring for the French commander and frustrating for the Spanish commander.   In northern Spain it would be the French who just lost game after game.

Over the years I have tested many combinations on the wargame table, most of which were reasonably successful.  But I am always looking for ways to make the Spanish stronger and the British weaker, without moving too far away from historical fact.

In this campaign Wellington had two British and one Spanish corps in each of his three armies.  The Spanish were allocated garrison duties, so most of the fighting was done by the British brigades.   The Spanish infantry performed much better than expected.   

In general terms the French had better artillery than the British, who had better skirmishers.   The Spanish infantry and cavalry were poor, but their artillery more effective than the Spanish.   Each corps has four brigades and they are a combination of elite, average and poor.   This would allow even the Spanish to use their best infantry against the French worse brigades.   Though, of course, that is easier said than done (on the table).

Another great campaign and one which Jan and I both enjoyed.   Part of it was fought whilst my son and his family (aged 16, 12 and 8) were staying with us.   It was a very enjoyable, though very hot and noisy period.   Our wargames room provided a sanctuary where Jan and I could escape each afternoon for an hour or so Wargaming – whilst they were all enjoying themselves in the pool!