More kriegspiel-inspired Napoleonic action with Commands & Colours: this time I would command the British and Spanish against the French at the battle of Talavera.

A little reminder:

The Battle of Talavera was fought on 27–28 July 1809 during the Peninsular War in Spain, where a combined British and Spanish force led by Arthur Wellesley (later the Duke of Wellington) and Spanish General Gregorio de la Cuesta faced the French army under King Joseph Bonaparte and Marshal Jean-Baptiste Jourdan. The Allies held a defensive position near Talavera, repelling several determined French assaults, particularly against British lines on key high ground, and ultimately forced the French to withdraw after heavy casualties on both sides. Despite the tactical victory boosting Wellesley’s reputation, the success was limited strategically because supply shortages and the threat of other French forces soon compelled the Allies to retreat.

Here’s the inital set up. The British (red) occupy the high ground, the Spanish (yellow) are holding the town of Talavera, the French are…everywhere!

The action began with a major French assault on the Spanish holding Talavera. Things got pretty frought very quickly, and I had to use my British reserves to prop up the Spanish position.

The French were eventually repelled, but there were not many Spaniards left, and only really holding Talavera itself. Kudos goes to the Spanish light cavalry, who intervened at a desperate moment, and the Spanish and British troops holding the redoubt in the centre of the table. Had that fallen, then I think the game would have finished then.

The French assault on the left

The Spanish hold...just!

The French then switched the axis of their attack to the centre, looking to take advantage of the fact that my reserves had been committed on the right. The Froggies also advanced on the left, looking to evict the Spanish from a walled farm there.

On the left, the Spanish were forced out of the farm, but the French couldn’t follow up because they needed their troops there to join the assault on the British position in the centre. That had started well, with the British forced by artillery fire to retreat off the lower slopes, ceding the ground to the advancing French whilst bringing up what reserves they could.

The French mass for the attack in the centre

British under extreme pressure

Fortunately, the Brits then managed to hold their new line, although only with the intervention of the last of their reserves, the Guard Cavalry. The French were poised to do enough damage to the Allies to force a retreat but, in the nick of time, the British Guard Cavalry crashed into the enemy line, breaking an infantry unit and doing just enough to force the French back.

So a very narrow victory for the Allies 15 points to 14. The French would have won if they had had the heart to go forward one more time, but the British Guard Cavalry took that from them. Another of Wellington’s close run things!

I played in a big Age of Eagles Napoleonics game this weekend just gone: a re-fight of Talavera. Most amusingly, given that I’d rarely played the rules or, indeed, any Napoleonics before, I was given the role of Wellesley i.e. in command of the allied British and Spanish team lined up against the evil French.

I’d like to be able to say that I emulated the soon-to-be Duke of Wellington and won a noble victory but, alas, the day did not go our way at all!

The Allies are lined up along a tributary of the river Tagus, Brits on the left, Spanish on the right, with the French coming at them across the stream.

The French planned to demonstrate towards the centre of the Allied line whilst attacking around the Allied left. If that didn’t work, the centre would turn into the main attack.

As the French came forward on our left, effortlessly brushing a single Spanish brigade aside, I moved some of our reserves (Mackenzie’s infantry Division) to counter the threat. With their advance there countered, the French changed their axis of attack and came forward strongly in the centre and on their left.

The Spanish held a fortified farm on our right, and the troops there performed brilliantly: their artillery slowing down the French advance and then a battalion of conscript infantry lurking just outside the farm holding off a charge by French heavy cavalry.

Unfortunately, the British in the centre performed less well. Firstly, closing up from extended line to line left several gaps in the British line. The French spotted this, massed their artillery and blew a British battalion away to widen one of the gaps into something they could move through…and move through the gap they did: French cavalry and infantry bursting through to totally disrupt the British line.

I had, as mentioned, already committed my infantry reserves elsewhere, and my heavy cavalry just didn’t get across the table fast enough to properly intervene.

As the British line began to crumble, the Spanish remembered they had an important appointment elsewhere (Cuesta was under orders to preserve the army) and the day was firmly to the French.

A great game, and all kudos to Mark and Bevan as the French commanders who, respectively, pinned and then dissected the Allies: great tactics. Thanks also to Dave for setting up and running the game; and to my unfortunate co-commander, John.

One last thing to mention, John had one Spanish battalion that despite initially recoiling from a combat then stubbornly refused to be broken no matter what the garlic-eaters threw at them. It seems like it was the Spanish that shone all day.

Here’s a gallery of the game (excuse the rather curly roads!):