First game of the year: Napoleonics Peninsula War

First game of the year was a simple grid-based Napoleonics game. The scenario was an ambush on a French column escorting a siege artillery train: the French had to exit the board with the artillery train before the game ended, and the Spanish had to stop them. Think of it as a moving ambush.

The set-up had us, playing as the Spanish, rushing to get into position to block the passage of the French siege train. We threw our infantry into march column and rushed to get to the high ground overlooking the road in the valley. The French at the far end of the board had the advantage of occupying the strongpoint of the town, and our initial discussions on the Spanish side focused on how we might take the town (the conclusion: with great difficulty).

After setting up overlooking the valley and the road that the siege artillery train would have to pass through, we sent our cavalry ahead to clear the French volitgeurs on the heights opposing us. Though we took a bit of a beating from the light infantry shooting at us, the cavalry managed to clear the heights.

By this point, the French line infantry was advancing across the road to engage and push us back, to make room for the siege train to pass behind them. The French infantry was both more numerous and better quality than our Spanish, but we had one battery of light artillery, and the cavalry disengaged from the heights and swung in from the left to help. On the other side, the French cavalry had made a similar maneuver, and threatened our rear. This was the diciest part of the battle, as a good outcome for either side would tip the balance.

Eventually, an all-out melee occurred, with three different fights. The Spanish cavalry broke through and destroyed the siege train, which was the main victory condition of the game, and with a bit of luck, the Spanish won all the melees - a successful moving ambush, helped by a bit of luck!

A bonus: one of the books placed underneath the terrain mat to make the hills was this absolute classic, Donald Featherstone's Complete Wargaming. The Don was with us for this game.