Talavera Campaign – Day 6

Campaign Map

French retreat from Avila

French attack Talavera
Guerrilla attack Valdemoro and two convoys

 

1^st British army regroup and resupply at Avila

2^nd British army attacked at Talavera

3^rd British army resupply at Torrecilla

 

10^th French army retreat to Villacastin

11^th French army attack Talavera

12^th French army regroup and resupply at San Martin

 

12th guerrilla attack Valdemoro, garrison lose 10% casualties

13^th guerrilla capture convoy from Mostoles to Maqueda, escort lose 10% casualties

15^th guerrilla capture convoy from Valdemoro to Carranque, no casualties to escort

Battle of Talavera

Talavera is Wellington’s main base and the French campaign objective.

8^th Spanish corps are the city garrison, with two British corps in support

4^th British corps is deployed either side of the river Tagus, on the left

3^rd British corps is behind the walled farm on the right

 

Both the British and French armies start the battle with considerable casualties

All brigades in 4^th British corps have 10% casualties

 

The French will arrive on the table at the start of move one

End of battle

On the left the Italian corps have routed the light division on the left of the river

However they are unable to take Wellington’s reserve between the bridge and the city

 

In the centre the Westphalian corps have taken half of the city

The Spanish still hold the other half, but are heavily outnumbered

 

On the right the French corps have broken 3^rd British corps

The British are in retreat, and the French are moving left to support the Westphalians

 

Wellington orders a general retreat – the French have won the battle.

 

Comment

Once more the French have won the game, but run out of time to take the city

This has been a recurring theme in recent battles.

 

Each game last 12 moves, which are equal to 12 campaign hours – one campaign day

Each wargame is a campaign battle, and must run to the same time frame.

Both campaign and wargame runes are designed to meet this vital requirement.

 

A battle always starts with one map square between the two armies

This transfers to the table as one wargame square of 24”

An infantry column moves 6” each move, taking four moves to cross a square

 

The attacking army normally takes 4 moves to advance and deploy within artillery range

In the next 4 moves they must weaken the defence in order to gain an advantage

They can do this by gunner casualties by their own artillery or cavalry

Or they can defeat the enemy cavalry and force their infantry to form square

The attacking infantry then have a reasonable chance of making a successful attack

 

However this only allows 4 moves for the critical infantry hand to hand fighting

In a town (two built up sections) this is difficult if the defenders have a reserve

In a city (four built up sections) it is pretty well impossible, even without a reserve

 

I have tried different tactics to allow the attackers more time for the melee

Whatever tactics are used it will always take the attacker 4 moves to reach the defenders

It will also take 4 moves to take the town and allow for a counter attack

This leaves only 4 moves to weaken the defenders before the attack

 

Both armies start the campaign with equal numbers of cavalry, artillery and infantry

The attacker will always have to advance into long, and then short, artillery range

So they will always suffer more casualties than the defenders during that 4 move period

To have any chance of winning, they must either weaken the defenders or roll GREAT dice

 

The whole campaign concept is to allow both players an equal chance of winning

Given experienced players that will always rely to a large extent on the luck of the dice

But it should also reward good tactics and punish poor tactics

In our games that is usually a minor lack of attention rather than a major mistake

For example failing to keep supports in supporting range, which is 4”

Or failing to keep the corps commander close to a brigade in danger, again 4”

Each will only be a minus 1 on the morale dice throw

But it can often start a chain of events which results in winning or losing the game

 

I will continue to ponder how to resolve this problem of attacking a built up area

But I have struggled with it for a long time, and cannot see any solution at present

Until I do so I will have to either fight a second day, which makes for a very short game

Or abandon a town which is still in dispute and being fought over

At present the second option is usually my choice

But it is an unsatisfactory one.