Cordova Campaign – Change Order of Battle

 

Start of Battle of El Carpio

This campaign phase was designed to test play a new Order of Battle for the Spanish Army.  

In all previous campaign phases both armies had three corps per side, each consisting of 4 infantry brigades, 1 cavalry brigade and corps artillery.   This worked well for the size of wargames table because one corps occupied each of the nine scenic squares.

The exception was the campaign in Southern Spain, where historically the regular armies always lost set piece battles.   The main problem for the French was not to defeat the Spanish armies, but to maintain their lines of supply and fight the guerrilla war.

Over the years I have tried different orders of battle for the Spanish army to recreate this type of warfare.   The most successful was using guerrilla brigades to force the French to detach infantry and cavalry brigades from their field army to guard their lines of supply.    This was usually done by a roll of dice to determine the outcome of these small combats.   However it had little effect on the main battles, which were fought as regular wargames.

The whole aim of the campaign is to provide interesting battles to wargame.   This is achieved in the other four campaign areas by having equally balanced corps and armies on each side.   All corps are 4 infantry brigades, 1 cavalry brigade and 1 corps artillery.  The outcome of each wargame is largely based on the luck of the dice.   This system works well for my wife and I, who have wargamed together for many years.   It means  that each of us has an equal chance of winning each wargame.

My latest attempt to solve “The Spanish Problem” was to ignore the guerrilla war, but give the Spanish more infantry and artillery and the French more cavalry.   The French troops were better trained, particularly the artillery.   The Spanish gunners were C class, to balance their four corps artillery to the three French.   It looked promising in theory, but as always the true test would be on the wargames table.

After three games it has become apparent that it is not going to work.   It was immediately obvious that it would be difficult just to deploy four corps in line on the available play area (see map above). 

I experimented with having three Spanish corps in line, and one in reserve.   However it was difficult to effectively use them in the available time.   It also caused big problems trying to keep track of them once they were committed.

When they were deployed four abreast, as in the battle of El Carpio, it was difficult for the French to counter the fourth corps.   If they created a large reserve to fight the fourth Spanish corps, the other three French corps were too weak to attack the other two objectives.

So I have decided to rethink the whole concept.   Normally I would do this at the start of a campaign phase, but I don’t want to waste the next three battles in this campaign phase.   Also each campaign phase takes about three months, so it will be a year before we return to Southern Spain to play test the new concept.

The new concept is to have three armies of three corps each.   The Spanish will have 12 infantry brigades, two cavalry brigades and three corps artillery.   The French will have 9 infantry brigades, two cavalry brigades and three corps artillery.    This is because I only have two Spanish cavalry brigades in my collection.   When I designed the original figure collection I wanted the Spanish to have one regular and one guerrilla cavalry brigades, for historical reasons.  This has proved a mistake for practical reasons.  The easy answer would be to paint up some new Spanish cavalry, but I have not painted a figure for 20 years and do not want to start now.

The campaign justification for this wholesale reorganisation is as follows.   Having taken the first three Spanish towns, the French will detach three infantry brigades and one cavalry brigade to protect their lines of supply.   The Spanish, who have lost a lot of casualties, will use their fourth corps in each army to make up the battle casualties.

The end result will still give the Spanish more troops, each army will have 12 infantry brigades to the 9 French brigades.   The Spanish infantry will be slightly less well trained than the French, but the gunners and cavalry will be the same.  

I am not at all sure how this will work out, but I will have three games to play test it.   Don’t be at all surprised if there is a completely different organisation for the next campaign phase in Southern Spain.

 

Cordova Campaign – Battle of El Carpio

Battle of Carpio – table at start of game

Both armies start the game on the table.

At the top the Spanish are deployed in front of El Carpio
The three French corps are deployed with one corps in each square

There are three game objectives
Inn on the left, woods in the centre, bridge on the right (must hold both ends)
The side which has possession of at least two objectives a t the end of 12 moves will win

The Spanish CinC has taken command of the cavalry brigades of 5th and 6th corps
He has deployed them behind the woods in the centre
5th corps hold the inn on the left
6th corps hold the woods in the centre
7th corps hold the area between the woods and the bridge
8th corps hold the area on the right bank of the river

On the left 40th French corps hold both sides of the southern bridge
In the centre 41st Polish corps are ordered to take the woods
On the right 42nd Italian corps are ordered to take the inn

End of move 12

The French plan of battle is to take and hold the inn and the woods
They are heavily outnumbered on their right, and hope to pin 7th and 8th Spanish corps

On the left the Spanish do not have any cavalry, which gives the Italians a big advantage.
They use their lancer brigade to force the Spanish to withdraw towards the hill
Their infantry, supported by the artillery, quickly take the inn

In the centre the Polish cavalry face the Spanish dragoons and lancers
They find it harder to push the Spanish between the inn and the woods back
When they do so the Polish infantry take the woods, but the reserve brigade is in square
The Spanish counter attack, but the Polish infantry hold despite 20% casualties
 
On the right 40th French corps are outnumbered by 8 to 4 infantry brigades
The Spanish also have two corps artillery against one French 

The Spanish commander moves the cavalry reserve between the woods and 7th corps 
The Dragoon brigade charge the Polish lancers, the Spanish lancers threaten the gunners  
The melee is a draw, with both brigades suffering 30% casualties

This leaves the Spanish with the lancer brigade and the Poles without any cavalry
The gunners seek shelter in the nearby infantry square and both brigades retreat
7th and 8th Spanish corps are ordered to attack, and the French withdraw to the southern bridge
40th French corps rally on the left bank between the hill and the southern bridge
They come under heavy Spanish artillery fire, but are saved by nightfall

Comments
At nightfall the French hold two of the three objectives and win the battle
But they have lost the right half of the battlefield to the Spanish attack

As 40th French corps retreat the Spanish pursue with caution
This allows the French on the right bank to cross the river at the south bridge
The Spanish do not have sufficient time to attack, but do some damage with their artillery

The Spanish commander supports 6th corps counter attack on the woods
One brigade from 7th corps attack the woods at the same time
The French light brigade holding the woods suffer 20% casualties, but hold
Had the Spanish right attacked two or three moves earlier they would probably have won

The French were fortunate to escape with such light casualties.
Throughout the game the French rolled better dice than the Spanish
Particularly for critical morale tests.
The large number of Spanish brigades in rout reflect their lack of luck with the dice

A very interesting game which highlights how difficult it is to counter four corps with three.

Cordova Campaign – Day Three

 

11 September 1813 – Southern Spain – Day 3

French occupy Espinal
13 French Army regroup at Montoro
14 French Army attack El Carpio
15 French Army occupy Espinal

Spanish win battle of Espinal
1 Spanish Army regroup at Muriano
2 Spanish Army defend El Carpio
3 Spanish Army retreat to Montilla

Battle of Espinal – Move 12

At nightfall the Spanish hold the farm on the left
They also hold half of hill in the centre and three quarters of woods on the right
The French hold half of hill in the centre and one quarter of woods on the right

Neither side hold two of the three game objectives
The Spanish hold one and most of the other two
The result in a draw, but the Spanish declared the winners

French have lost 5 infantry and 1 cavalry casualties (2100 men)
Spanish have lost 17 infantry and 3 cavalry casualties (7100 men)

6 French brigades in rout
11 Spanish brigades in rout

Comments
Neither side held two out of three objectives.
But the Spanish held more than the French and were declared the winners.
However the Spanish lost 3 men to each Frenchman lost, and had twice as many in rout
So the following day the Spanish had to retreat once again.

This was only the second game using the new Spanish order of battle, which gives them four corps to three French. It is already clear that the new system is not working well.

The evenly balanced armies allowed the game to work as planned. Each of the three corps fought their own battle, and the side who won two battles (and took two objectives) won the game.

Now the Spanish have a large enough reserve that they can retake a lost objective
The French then do not have sufficient time to regroup and counter attack

The number of Spanish figures on the table is also more of a problem than I anticipated.
There is not enough room for the fourth Spanish corps to deploy, and they are placed in reserve
However they are then too far from the section of the table where they are required.

I will experiment with using the fourth corps to reinforce each of the other three Spanish corps before the battle starts. They would then have five infantry brigades to each corps, against the four brigades in each French corps. This would make each of the three Spanish corps slightly stronger, but still allow the French to gain a decisive victory It would also be possible for the Spanish CinC to create a grand battery to make most use of his four corps artillery against the French three.

I suspect that at the end of the experiment we will return to the three corps per side. But I will have to find a way of giving the Spanish a small edge in numbers, and also increase their cavalry from two brigades to three.