Martin's GdA battle report

Monday last saw the forces of His Majesty King George clash once more with the villainous French invading forces in the Iberian Peninsular.  On this occasion his Majesty's forces were lead by Martin and Jeremy and the villainous French by Norman and Robin, who was playing as a dual character in so much as he represented the objective of both armies, Commandante Pedro Costa del Sol y Sangria y Tapas y Paella y Benidorm, a Spanish guerilla leader also known as El Loco.

 

The British forces had to gain access to a farm complex where they believed El Loco to be and to provide protection ; the French had to capture him and they too were heading for the farm buildings and orchard area that nestled to the north of the table closer to them than the Britsh.  So the race was on.

 

The British consisted of two infantry Brigades under Martin and a heavy cavalry brigade and RHA battery under the command of Jeremy.  Norman had a two large brigades of French to call upon and two brigades of cavalry though light cavalry instead of heavy being the order of the day there.  The Brits were supposed to have an other brigade of Portugese troops to call upon, but they failed to show up as they were celebrating the Festival of Saint Ignacious the Inebriated back at Bob's barracks.  The French sportingly did not use a brigade of Dutch troops they had to hand and so the scene was set.

 

It must be said here that the opening movement system created by Robin worked a treat, meaning that more moves were made during the evening and battle commenced sooner than normal.  But once again the luck of dice throws was to play a very important role in the entire affaire.

 

Norman's lancers made an appearance just to the north east of the farm and near a steep hill only passable via a single narrow road, some of his infantry making a direct thrust in that direction.  Unfortunately the dice Gods had decided that they didn't like the French and no other moves were made.  The Brits with the help of excellent dice throws had all their forces on the table and ready to deploy for action by the end of the first move.  They also gained the initiative for move two and this was to prove vital to the outcome of the battle itself, as Martin was able to rush the 60^th Rifles and two brigades worth of light infantry into the farm and made contact with El Loco before the French could react.  However the game was far from over.

 

Norman's two lancer regiments appeared to be offering combat and Jeremy's Scots Greys and their two supporting regiments were happy to oblige, charging the lead lancer unit from the right hand side of the field where they had been watching for such a move while blocking any attempt by the French to use the hill road to their front.  This time the dice went in favour of the French, the only time it did so for practically the entire evening, and the charge failed to hit home, leaving the Greys unformed and vulnerable.  However devasting shooting from the 60^th rifles and their light infantry colleagues and the small group of guerillas in the farm tore holes in the leading lancer regiment.

 

The next move again saw the Brits gain the initiative and this time Jeremy walked his heavies into contact with Norman's lancers, as being unformed they could not charge.  The following melee would see the French unit crushed into the Spanish dust and their support unit having to retreat to the table edge.  And still the dice wouldn't allow a positive response in terms of fresh French troops coming on the field or the ones that were there actually doing what they were told.

 Back at the farm El Loco had received a message from the British Commander asking how long he intended to stay in the farm given that the French still had troops that could appear at any time.  The reply came back that he was looking for gold that he had buried there.  It seemed that he was drunk when he did so and couldn't remember where he'd left it.  So the British stayed and shot the heck out of any French troops they could see.

 

Eventually two French light cavalry regiments did make it on to the table and they were immediately under fire from the farm complex, taking casualties as soon as they appeared in range.  An other note was sent to El Loco... the reply came from a subordinate stating that El Loco was having a siesta being tired out from his gold digging exploits.  How he slept through the racket going on around him still hasn't been explained.

 

Suddenly two full brigades of French appeared before the farm and orchard, preceded by a wave of light infantry.  A letter was once again sent to the farm but this time to the gallant commander of the 60^th Rifles telling him to stick a pistol up El Loco's nose and suggesting that he and his men hot foot it for the British lines while the troops in the farm complex held off the French to allow him to escape to safety. - either that or obtain an other hole in his head.  Accordingly Captain Hercules Cad – Bounder ensured that El Loco and his men headed for the British lines, situated on a hill behind the farm and this was really the end of the battle in real terms as the British main forces had taken possession of the guerilla leader.

 

The British therefore decided to break off contact with the French and began to make an orderly withdrawal from the battle field, the light infantry and Rifles firing and then retreating to maintain an effective screen for the main lines as the French took over the farm complex.  The last move of the game saw the British head for their table edge and then father time called the game to a halt.

 

It has to be said that the dice rolls of the French didn't do them any favours at all.  Unlike other games they didn't even out between the two sides.  However what astounded the British commanders was that the French didn't go for the farm and El Loco when they had the chance.  They on the other hand stuck to their orders and carried them out very effectively, maximising the damage they could inflict on the French and taking very little in return.  Once they had control of the farm it then became just a matter of time before El Loco made it to safety.

 

If the game had gone on longer could the French have caught him ?  It has to be said this was highly unlikely as the vast majority of the Britsh Infantry, and cavalry to a lesser extent hadn't seen any action and taken no casualties and so were more than capable of stalling the French so that El Loco could be taken from the field.

 

Many thanks to Robin for a really fun game and a great opening movement system.  The Brits have retired to Mrs Miggins's Pie Shoppe and the French to lick their wounds.

Words and pictures by Martin Jones.