Wargaming with a Spanish Army

 The Battle of Olot

I have always found wargaming a Spanish army to be a real challenge.

It’s not too bad if they have a limited objective, and it is a one off game.   They usually end up running away, which is fine from an historical point of view.   And indeed if they were to defeat a similar sized French army it would seem odd.

But as part of a campaign it becomes an even greater challenge and particularly a PBEM like ours where one player only has a Spanish army to campaign with.   I am very aware that a series of defeats is likely to result in a sharp loss of interest in the campaign.   

So I have tried various ways to enhance the ability of the Spanish army.   They have two guerrilla bands to cause disruption of the French lines of communication and provide intelligence.  

I have also increased the size of the Spanish army from four corps to five, and the addition is a British corps.   So they outnumber the French.   I had hoped that this would move the balance to their favour.

However a Spanish army has to consist of mainly low quality troops, and poor commanders.   A numerical advantage in infantry and artillery does help, but only if the luck is on the side of the Spanish.   Once one brigade fails their morale and runs, nearby brigades are likely to join the rout if they are poor quality.  

I had great hopes for our latest Spanish v French battle.   At Olot three French corps attack three Spanish, but the latter have a fourth corps within four hours/game moves.   So they only had to hold for four game moves.

The Spanish had a good defensive position, with lots of hills to hide behind and keep them safe from French artillery.   The French attacked, took the right hand hill with ease, and routed the Spanish defenders into the reinforcements arriving behind them.     The game ended in seven of the twelve moves.

So back to the drawing board!

Wargame Building Project

We have finally completed the last of the scratch built buildings for France and Germany.   There is sufficient for two farms and four town sections.   This photo shows all of them as they would be used in a wargame.   All of the buildings are scratch built, the trees are commercial.

A different angle, and slightly closer.   You can see the scale from the 28mm figures marching on the road.

This angle shows the layout of the farms.   The buildings and walls can be rearranged if required, and the buildings could be used as part of a village rather than a farm.   But we find we often need two farms or villages as well as the named town.

All of the built up areas are based on felt squares which define the footprint of the farm, village or town.   This is so that the buildings can be removed to allow for movement and melee

This completes the first stage of our model building, which is designed for use in France and Germany.   Next comes buildings for use in Spain

Drawn Campaign Battles

Table at end of game

The battle of Salvatiere was an evenly balanced wargame, with three corps per side.  

The French had a slight advantage in infantry, but they were attacking and would need it.   They started with two corps on the table, and a third would arrive at the start of move three (of twelve)

The British started with just one corps on the table.   A second would arrive at the start of move three, and a third start of move eight.   So they would be outnumbered for two thirds of the game.  And when the third corps did arrive they would only have four moves to achieve anything.

The table layout prompted the French to attack in the north, where they outnumbered the British two to one.   Their third corps held their southern flank.  It was no surprise that the battle went well for the French, until the third British corps arrived.   The British reinforcements arrived on the southern flank, and immediately attacked.

By nightfall the French held the northern battlefield and........

.........the British held the southern battlefield

The problem is that this was a campaign battle, the second of four on this particular campaign day.   It’s vital to follow the correct chorological sequence for the campaign.  There are six different operational theatres, and the campaign diary charts the progress of each on a daily basis.

So it was not possible to fight a second day of Savaltiere, or at least not at once.    The table would have to be cleared in order to fight the third of the four battles that day.  

Strangely this has never happened in the campaign before.   It has always been possible to identify a clear winner, who would hold the battlefield.   The loser would retreat the next day, thus recreating the one map square necessary for the campaign.   This ensures that there is 24” between the two armies when a battle is declared and transferred to the wargames table.

I could have asked the two commanders to decide whether they wanted to fight a second day.   But it would have meant setting up the table again, and it would have been impossible to recreate the exact locations at the end of the first day.

In addition the British had five brigades in rout, and the French four brigades.   Both had also suffered heavy casualties, and their formed brigades would have been very brittle during a second day of battle.  

So I called it a draw, and declared that both armies would have to retreat the next day.

No complaint from the two campaign commanders, but I feel a little guilty to have enforced such a decision.   I know it’s only a game, but it is one which I take very seriously.    And I have a nagging doubt that I should have allowed them to decide whether to fight a second day.   It would have been a very short, and a very bloody, battle.  But at least it would have been their decision.