Napoleonic's: The Bank Job, part 2

Last time we played we left the battle fairly evenly poised with the British feeling they had the slight upper hand. But all was still to play for as the daylight saving meant extra time before night fell on the final battle in our Spanish excursion.

Things however took a sharp turn in the favour of Major de la Croix and his French forces. In the past the 2nd Hussars had generally died without gaining much in return. They where about to repay the continued faith Major de la Croix had shown in them in magnificent style.

Below we can see them massing in the distance, with the British ready to unleash the usual fire as they ride forwards.

In Shakos & Bayonets you activate units by drawing their card from a deck, most unit types add 4 cards to the deck which get re-shuffled once the 3rd Clock card is drawn. Unbeknownst to Major Berkeley the Hussars had been ordered to act decisively due to Major de la Croix have three of their cards in his hand. So the Hussars charged forwards and the normally reliable British firing missed badly.

This lead to a unit of Centre company infantry being removed in a flash bringing memories of Battle of Albuera to the North Gloucestershire men. But the Hussars where not done yet and they ploughed on into some light infantry next.

Less casualties this time and the British survived to run away. Again the British fired on the French and again they could not cause casualties, the French lived a charmed life. So once more they charged on again into the unit manning the wall.

Here we see the aftermath with the French finally taking enough casualties to knock them out of the battle but not before they had also forced the infantry by the wall to flee as well.

With the British attack nullified in one glorious charge the French infantry went on the attack to try and seize the gold in the compound.

They managed to clear the second wall of the compound and commit enough units into the area to take control of the gold.

The British did manage to hold the river crossing objective but at only 2VP's to the French's 3VP's it was a French win.

This result helped the French to close the gap but they still trailed 9-16 in campaign points so Major Berkeley probably won't be drummed out of the army in disgrace even if he did allow Major de la Croix to get hold of the British pay chest.

Napoleonic's: The Bank Job, part 1

For the final adventure in our Napoleonic campaign both sides have converged on the bandit stronghold with the intention of securing the pay-roll. The French have the cannon with which they can knock down the gate and pierce the house wall. We planned to play this game over 2 weeks and increased the points to 800 a side. 

The Spanish would shoot at the closest enemy within 24" on each clock card and needed to be cleared from the walls to stop them doing this.

Due to the number of troops on each side we deployed half the units we had on the table at the start and then would be able to bring on the rest once the 3rd clock card had been drawn.

Both sides left their cavalry off table and deployed their infantry with the aim to move towards the compound and also seize the wagon. The wagon could be used to transport the gold much faster than if it was being carried by hand.

The opening moves saw the French lay down accurate cannon fire that quickly breached the gate and then the house wall. The French line infantry also forged ahead with a series of rapid moves in column towards the compound whilst the British infantry was rooted to the spot.

This meant that a unit of French Grenadiers was first to enter the compound whilst other French Line units reached the wall running along the road whilst the British had barely left their starting posistion.

The French cleared one wall of defenders but took several causalities whilst doing so.

The French consolidated their position outside the compound but their shooting was largely ineffective as whilst they managed to score several hits on the British their powder must have been wet as they could not convert these into kills.

By this time the first three clock cards had been drawn and the off table troops started to move onto the table. The British line had also started to get into the action and they advanced towards the French lining the walls.

It was going to be a tough ask for the British to shift the French from their walls but they positioned themselves to unleash volley fire into the enemy.

The double volley didn't cause many casualties but the leading French unit's morale did waver and it retreated back from the wall closer to it's friends.

Further fire from the British Light's caused more French casualties and the Fusiliers retreated further back allowing the British to advance themselves.

On the British right the Light Dragoons had seen the French lining up their cannon to fire on the advancing line troops so they dashed into combat and put the French to flight. This did open them up to fire from the Voltigeurs massed on the French left who thinned their ranks.

In the compound things had turned to the worse for the French as Spanish fire started to take it's toll and the unsupported Grenadiers made a run for the exit.

On the French left more fire from the Voltigeurs emptied saddles and the Light Dragoons looked to be in very bad shape.

In the centre things looked better for the British as their infantry gained the wall along the road and their reinforcements started to arrive as well.

This is how the battle stood at the end of the session with all to play for still. The French have taken the greater casualties but neither side holds an objective so it's all still very much in the balance.

Napoleonic's: Escorting the Cannon

This week's battle saw the British trying to escort their cannon across the table in the face of stiff French resistance. The French had opted to field some extra Voltigeurs in place of their Hussars.

The opening moves of the encounter saw the French push their Grenadiers and Fusiliers towards the road with their Voltigeurs opening an ineffective fire.

The British pushed forwards with their infantry and as the French exited the woods their Light Dragoons entered the table behind them.

By this time the French had occupied the cover around the road and the way ahead looked tough going for the British.

On the right the Light Dragoons charged in against the Voltigeurs and sent them reeling.

A second charge proved more bloody for both sides with the lone Frenchman making for Paris. The nearby French Grenadiers then charged in.

This proved bloody for both sides as the Light Dragoons where wiped out but the Grenadiers also suffered numerous casualties.

The British Grenadiers finished them off as the cannon started to make progress down the road. The cannon escort had been picking off the Fusiliers who blocked the road.

The cannon made more progress as more French Fusiliers fell and things looked good for the British so they kept pushing on.

At this point the second unit of French Grenadiers decided to push on towards the road and leapt over the wall they had been sheltering behind. The normally reliable British Lights for once failed in their shooting.

This allowed the French Grenadiers a chance to shoot and they killed many British Lights and the rest fled. At the same time the French Fusiliers charged out and after a brief fight managed to take charge of the cannon.

This left the British with one unit close enough to try and recapture the cannon but with the light failing they could not catch up in time.

So the French managed to win their first encounter and seize control of the cannon which will be all important when it comes to taking the British pay chests from the Spanish bandits.

The French win moves them onto 6 VP's with the British on 15 VP's after Major Berkeley completed his objective to get into 2 melee's.

Napoleonic's: Corral the Horses

This week the two sides set off after a herd of horses that had been spotted near-by. The British wanted them in order to help move their cannon and the French wanted to hinder this process. The horses started in the centre and moved in a random direction each time a Clock card was drawn. Mr T had thought up the scenario and I provided some Spanish horses (with riders) for us to chase around.

As we did not know which way the horses would move and when both sides opted for a spread out deployment. The scenario also provided two bonus objectives to either side of the table. The French made more of an effort to capture these whilst the British mainly concentrated on the horse capturing.

Very early on the first Clock card was drawn and the horses bolted towards the British so one unit of Light Infantry dashed forwards and took control of some of the horses before the French could react.

Very soon after another Clock card was drawn and the horses moved towards the French.

And then almost immediately after yet another with the horses coming back towards the British.

And then another Clock card sent the horses back towards the French in range of their Voltigeurs.

Whilst all this was happening the British on their left flank faced off against a French Grenadier unit and with one round of deadly fire killed three men and sent the rest routing from the table. On the British right flank the French had seized the other secondary objective and started to retreat backwards with it.

Before the horses in the middle could move again the Voltigeurs took control of some of them.

They then suffered a charge from the British Light Dragoons who managed to wrestle control of several of the horses from them.

Both sides then started to retreat with their horses and the French Hussars advanced far in advance of their lines to try and stop the British.

After an initial repulse the Hussars did manage to rout the British Light infantry but where themselves charged by the Light Dragoons.

After a couple of melees the Hussars having been badly mauled by the British fled the area and left the British to take control of the horses once more.

The French  did manage to take a few of the horses and one of the secondary objectives but the British had most of the horses and the other secondary objective so won the scenario 2VP's to 1VP.

Neither commander managed to complete their personal objective so that leaves the British 14 VP's to 4 VP's ahead.