Table at start of Salamanca game
At this stage of the PBEM campaign there are lots of email to answer, as everyone settles in with the new orders system. All of this delays the actual map movement, and consequently the first battle.
So to keep us going, Jan and I have turned to our occasional series of wargames called "Wellington's Battles". These are wargames inspired by the battles Wellington fought in Portugal and Spain.
The aim is not to recreate the actual battle, but to fight a fun wargame based on the historical battle. The table usually bears some resemblence to the actual field of battle, but the orders of battle make no attempt to do so.
I try to start the wargame as the battle opened, but then Jan and I have complete freedom.
I have always considered it hopeless to try to recreate a historical battle. It is a huge task to get the order of battle correct, and the ground will never bear more than a passing resemblence to the historical battlefield. And what is the point, because once the game starts it is very unlikely to follow the same sequence as the historical battle.
But having said all of that, it is good fun to pretend you are Wellington or Napoleon and face similar tactical problems to them in a wargame that looks a little like Austerlitz or, in this case, Salamanca.
The game, as the battle, starts with Packenham's surprise attack on Thomiere’s division. The big difference is that I have allowed the leading French cavalry to be deployed in line, so that they have a chance of stopping the initial attack.
I have put the set up details on the blog, and I will be posting one move each day as Jan and I fight the wargame. If you would like to follow the progress of the game, you will find it at:
So to keep us going, Jan and I have turned to our occasional series of wargames called "Wellington's Battles". These are wargames inspired by the battles Wellington fought in Portugal and Spain.
The aim is not to recreate the actual battle, but to fight a fun wargame based on the historical battle. The table usually bears some resemblence to the actual field of battle, but the orders of battle make no attempt to do so.
I try to start the wargame as the battle opened, but then Jan and I have complete freedom.
I have always considered it hopeless to try to recreate a historical battle. It is a huge task to get the order of battle correct, and the ground will never bear more than a passing resemblence to the historical battlefield. And what is the point, because once the game starts it is very unlikely to follow the same sequence as the historical battle.
But having said all of that, it is good fun to pretend you are Wellington or Napoleon and face similar tactical problems to them in a wargame that looks a little like Austerlitz or, in this case, Salamanca.
The game, as the battle, starts with Packenham's surprise attack on Thomiere’s division. The big difference is that I have allowed the leading French cavalry to be deployed in line, so that they have a chance of stopping the initial attack.
I have put the set up details on the blog, and I will be posting one move each day as Jan and I fight the wargame. If you would like to follow the progress of the game, you will find it at:
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