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Monday, March 24, 2014

Twistercon 2014 Lasalle Scenario: Castrejon

I realize I've been very distant from this blog for quite a while but I've been spending much of my time preparing for the convention this past weekend. One of the primary projects during 2013 was painting new AB French to replace my Old Glory units and go with a complete AB French army. All the months were spent on completing several new battalions as well as some cavalry and artillery.


So here are some images of the game I ran with my figures for the Anglo-Portuguese and the French forces.


Castrejon was a skirmish fought between the 4th and Light Divisions who were left more or less as a rearguard by Wellington during the 1812 campaign just right before Salamanca. Finding specifics on French units engaged has eluded me so I had to fill in units present with the Army of Portugal (and a couple of other units I simply liked the uniforms of). I suspect the French did not have many units up and in line, so this scenario was played as if the divergent column was part of the battle.


The battle was fairly slow to get started as the allies decided to slowly push their way forward.


A few turns in, the British artillery tried in vain to cut a path through the French units but failed to do much of anything. The British cavalry and their Portuguese allies were more aggressive and would suffer the brunt of the casualties despite facing almost equal numbers.


The French decided largely to leave the town to the Light Division that came up to occupy it. Multiple attempts would be made by the French 36th Ligne and 2nd Leger without any luck. The French hoped to lure the Light Division into the town and then use the weight of numbers to overwhelm the defenders.


The 3rd Btn of the 36th Ligne and the Cameron Highlanders engaged in a several turn struggle for securing the eastern edge of the town. The Highlanders were unable to recover from the multiple disruptions and were eventually swept away.


As the Anglo-Portuguese force reached its breaking point, much of the Light Division was weakened by failed attacks and two battalions occupying both sectors of the town. By the end of the final turn, the British cavalry was mutilated and the Light Division was facing some surely fatal flank attacks. Allied casualties were double that of the French and beyond the 33% army break point. Wellington will surely be upset at this loss!

May not be shown at the bottom of the pictures, but there were a few units present on both sides. I believe I counted 1450 figures. A nice game of Lasalle that out-shined all the other Napoleonic games going on at the convention.