Assault River Crossing, Second Battle of Oporto 12th May 1809 - Tiny Wars Played Indoors

The Serra Convent overlooking the River Douro at Oporto from where British infantry led by the 3rd (Buffs) Foot crossed to occupy the Seminary on the cliffs above on the opposite bank and around which Sir Arthur Wellesley placed his gun batteries in support of them and other Allied troops crossing to attack the French under Marshal Soult who occupied the city, 12th May 1809

 

A few weeks ago, Bill Slavin sent me an email giving me the 'heads-up' on his next game in the series from O'er the Hills Scenario Book which I have been looking forward to with great anticipation following his post about how he had built his table to refight the Oporto Crossing.

Stand to Games - O'er the Hills, Early Peninsula War Scenarios pdf Version

This scenario playing follows the others Bill has been working through since he started his series of games with 'The Leopard's Debut, The Battle of Rolica, played back in December 2020.

I personally have really enjoyed seeing someone else translating this scenario book, designed to be played with the rule set Over the Hills, and Bill's games have brought back lots of memories of the original play tests Steve M and I did when I was working on putting the book together.

If you are new to the series of games then I have listed below the series of links here on JJ's that will take you to Bill's blog, Tiny Wars Played Indoors where you can see his AAR's for each of the games played so far.

https://jjwargames.blogspot.com/2020/12/the-leopards-debut-battle-of-rolica.html

https://jjwargames.blogspot.com/2021/02/vimeiro-hill-battle-of-vimeiro-1808.html

https://jjwargames.blogspot.com/2021/03/flank-attack-at-ventosa-battle-of.html

https://jjwargames.blogspot.com/2021/07/battle-of-corunna-elvina-ridge-tiny.html

https://jjwargames.blogspot.com/2021/09/the-march-on-oporto-part-one-retreat-to.html

https://jjwargames.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-march-on-oporto-part-two-rearguard.html

When writing the Oporto scenario, I was adapting an earlier game that we played with the computer moderated rules, Carnage & Glory and needed to make the game a much more easily translatable set up for most wargamers to be able to set up on the table.

The battle was fought over and around a deep cliff edged river gorge with the outskirts of the city of Oporto and the key stronghold of the Seminary, occupied by British troops, the main features of the terrain to be fought over once the battle commenced, following the discovery of the British troops by part of the French garrison.

Our Oporto Table from the original game set up.

Thus, to make this a more easily playable game I opted to leave the gorge out of the map, using the wargamers old friend, 'the dreaded edge of the table' to represent this imposing terrain feature with the possibility of British reinforcements arriving in the Seminary from said table edge together with supporting British artillery fire directed from it on to certain areas of the table representing the batteries of guns Wellesley set up in support of his assault crossing.

Of course Bill was having none of that and opted to go large by building his representation of the gorge, cliffs and wine barges carrying British troops to produce, in my humble opinion his best table yet, leaving me rather 'gobsmacked' at his ability to 'adapt adopt and improve' with a post detailing his build for others interested  in having a go.

Tiny Wars Played Indoors - Building Porto

Frankly, I never imagined anyone going this far with this scenario and was amazed at the ingenuity of this table, and Bill's post is well worth a look to see his ideas on how to put together a put up and take down version of this game.

So if that little preamble hasn't wetted your appetite to see how Bill's game turned out with the troops in battle array across his table, then move on and wait for my next post about something else, but I think a few of the pictures of the game below will prod your curiosity still further.

The game was quite remarkable and one I would not have expected after playing it several times and seeing others having a go with similar outcomes.

When writing a scenario based on an historical actions and constrained by certain known limitations you tend to end up working within a bell curve of outcome probabilities with the the extreme, but still possible, outcomes hopefully moved to the ends of the curve and with the more likely outcomes very much in its centre.

I think Bill's account of his game shows what happens when the game starts to explore the less likely extremes and also the historical peril that Marshal Soult and his corps faced once Wellesley had established a foot hold on the French side of the river, requiring bold and immediate response to stabilise the situation.

The fighting that followed in this game is a classic struggle to retain and regain initiative and made for a fascinating read.

So if you would like to know more then just follow the link below to Tiny Wars Played Indoors for the full details and more great pictures of the game as it unfolded.

Tiny Wars Played Indoors - Second Battle of Porto, 12th May 1809

Next up: Mr Steve and I have been battlefield walking with a trip back to the early English Civil War in Cornwall and the seat of the Prayer Book Rebellion in Devon, and I have a book review.

More anon 

JJ

The March on Oporto, Part Two, Rearguard at Grijo - Tiny Wars Played Indoors

Battle of Grijo, 11th May 1809

Well I've had a busy-fun non-wargaming week away after driving down to Plymouth last Thursday to attend Will's graduation ceremony where he joined other graduates from Plymouth Medical School to celebrate the end of their five years of study, to begin work in the NHS.

He and they were alongside Professor Chris Whitty, the Chief Medical Officer for England and one of the chief architects in the UK battle against Covid 19 and the roll out of the national vaccination programme, to receive an honorary doctorate from the University that was awarded prior to the Covid outbreak, highlighting his other significant contributions to medicine which were rightly included in the address and recognised with a standing applause.

Following that we had a family gathering in a local restaurant before heading off down to deepest-darkest Cornwall for a family week away and more dining out, walks and plenty of banter and laughs - good times.

However the wargaming keeps going on here on the blog even when I'm away enjoying myself and Mr Bill Slavin has had his blog highlighted on the 'followed list' of great blogs, with his next game of Peninsula War Napoleonics from O'er the Hills.

O'er the Hills contains twelve scenarios, including this one, covering the early years of
 British involvement in the Peninsula War during the years 1808-09

Continuing from his last game, 'The Retreat to Albergaria, (see the link below) Bill has followed up with part two of these linked games from O'er the Hills with his rendition of 'Rearguard at Grijo'.

This scenario is designed to link in with the previous one by potentially inflicting Fatigue Hits (FH) on units involved in the previous fight depending on how they were at the end of that action. 

JJ's Wargames- The March on Oporto, Part One, Retreat to Albergaria

The map below illustrates the position that General Franceschi occupied on May 10th 1809 after extricating his forces and wagons back from Albergaria the previous day, hotly pursued by General Sir Arthur Wellesley's Anglo-Portuguese force, eager to cut of the French advance troops from their falling back to Marshal Soult's main army occupying Oporto.

The Grijo Scenario map with the blue area indicating the French set up position and the Red the British with additional arrival points along the French retreat route back to Oporto.

As in the previous scenario Wellesley is planning to envelope his enemy with flanking columns, set to arrive in the red areas of the map whilst Franceschi now joined by General Mermet's 2nd Infantry Division seek to fend the Allies off as they facilitate the continued retreat of their supply wagons.  

As in the previous game the scenario presents a retreat/rearguard situation with all the drama that these kind of games can generate, in terms of knowing how long to hold the ground and when to retreat and with who.

Bill's splendid table with the initial forces set up ready to go

Although the French have received a strong reinforcement with Mermet's infantry, Wellesley now has Sherbrooke's British 1st Division with two battalions of 'The Gentlemen's Sons' otherwise known as His Majesty's Foot Guards, who present a potent spearhead to the Allied pursuit force.

French Legere and cavalry prepare to hold the rear as the retreat commences

Bill's game turned out quite different from our own playtest posted here on JJ's back in February 2018

JJ's Wargames - Over the Hills Playtest - Rearguard at Grijo  with, in our game, the French opting to make a strong stand early on in and around Grijo before falling back and a strong attack put in by the Guards at the end.

French Hussars on the move

Of course if you haven't read Bill's post then I will not spoil the fun by giving away the end so just pop over and take a look if you're interested, in the link below, and as you can see from the few pictures I grabbed, Bill's tables and figures are always well worth a look anyway.

Tiny Wars Played Indoors - The March on Porto, Part 2, Rearguard at Grijo

So a nice way to resume normal service to be followed with a post this weekend looking at some additions to my Mohawk Valley collection of AWI Perry Miniatures that have been feeling rather neglected since time spent in JJ's Shipyard over the last two years - More anon.

The March on Oporto, Part One, Retreat to Albergaria - Tiny Wars Played Indoors

Time to get the collection of French supply wagons out on the table as the Retreat to Albergaria gets played at Tiny Wars Played Indoors.

If you've been following Bill Slavin's playthroughs of the scenarios in O'er the Hills, you might be interested to know he has now progressed into the spring of 1809 with his latest game recreating the French retreat from Albergaria, pursued by a British army under the newly arrived Anglo-Portuguese commander-in-chief, Lieutenant General Sir Arthur Wellesley, recently cleared of allegations at the hearing convened to look into the controversial 'Convention of Cintra' that saw the removal General Junot and his French army from Portugal in 1808, repatriated to France in British ships.

I have attached a link below if you would like to follow Bill's highly entertaining account of their play with excellent pictures of his 1:72 - 20mm collection of Peninsular Napoleonics and appropriate terrain to match.

Tiny Wars Played Indoors - The March on Oporto, Part One, Retreat from Albergaria

If you are just picking up this series of games you can follow the link below to Bill's other renditions back to the start at Rolica and through to Corunna.

Tiny Wars Played Indoors - O'er the Hills Scenarios

Scenario 5, The March on Oporto, picks up the the story of early British involvement in what became known as The Peninsular War, following the death of Sir John Moore and the evacuation of the main British army in theatre from Corunna in Galica in January 1809.

It wouldn't be until the 8th February that Marshal Soult's battered II Corps, following the pursuit to Corunna and the battle, was restored enough to begin the French advance back into Portugal via the tortuous roads through the Galician mountains into the north of the country seeing him taking the city of Oporto on the 29th March after a decisive battle with defending Portuguese forces under the Bishop of Oporto who were routed and suffered some 8,000 casualties in their retreat from the city.

The theatre of operations in May 1809 as Wellesley commenced his offensive
from Lisbon in the south to drive Soult out of Oporto in the north and hopefully
destroy the bulk of his forces in the pursuit.

Sir Arthur Wellesley landed with fresh British reinforcements at Lisbon to join the British garrison together with the first elements of the British trained Portuguese army on the 22nd April 1809 and in his characteristically determined approach to demonstrate to the British government the practicability of his plan for holding Portugal as a base of operations for aiding and supporting the guerrilla war in Spain; he immediately activated plans to drive Soult and French II Corps out of the country that would see his spearhead formations clash with a French advance party somewhat unaware of his presence near the village of Albergaria, hastily forced to prepare a rapid withdrawal back to Oporto when they realised the strength of the force that was attempting to envelope them from the south.

The scenario starts with the French march column set up on the road 
through Albergaria ready to march north to Grijo

This scenario is part of a two part series, with the results potentially impacting on the second game as French General de Division Jean Franceschi attempts to pull his cavalry and infantry forces back in the face of a rapid Allied pursuit whilst ensuring the safe passage of his baggage train on a thirty mile journey back to the village of Grijo where he might hope to receive help sent out from Oporto to stem the Allied pursuit as the French fall back over the River Douro.

Bill's representation of the French march column as illustrated in the scenario map above. 
Perfect, what could possibly go wrong?

Steve and I had a lot of fun play-testing this series of two games, working out the tweaks to allow the results to be linked into a mini-campaign game which is all about retreat management in the face of the enemy, possibly the hardest military manoeuvre to conduct and one that produces a game totally different from the usual 'set 'em up and start charging and firing' affair but no less exciting and interesting. 

This series of games gives a good excuse to get some French wagons built and out on the table, which only adds to making the game look a lot different from the usual Napoleonic set too.

As you will see from Bill's account his game mirrored much of our own experience with the French commander reaching decision points in the game as to when and who to turn about to make a stand covering the retreat of others, ready to in their turn, turn about and cover those behind them.

For the Anglo-Portuguese it becomes a balance of rapid pursuit, aiming to keep the pressure on whilst not overextending elements of the force that could be overwhelmed piecemeal, and always with an eye to taking advantage of an enemy mistake.

 

The fox is in sight and the horns sound 'view-haloo' as the Allies press their pursuit hoping not to encounter a 'stag at bay'.

Again, as I discussed with Bill, these scenarios, and indeed I would recommend all of them, repay the players for including the Brigade Morale and Orders rules in Over the Hills as the added pressure of brigades with decreasing morale levels that threaten that they might break off, together with orders going astray or being misinterpreted at a vital time, with all times in a retreat like this often being vital, add a whole new level of interest and simulation without, in our experience, much effort and we played all the games that way because of the fun they generated as best laid plans fell apart or better still came to fruition.

Thanks Bill for a very entertaining series so far, I know Steve, I and others have enjoyed the read throughs and personally has refreshed my enjoyment of putting these games together and I'm looking forward to your next production.

Finally I should mention that not unsurprisingly Bill's posts have reignited an interest in playing the scenarios in O'er the Hills, and enquiries to me about getting hold of a copy, with the book being currently out of print.

Stand to Games Shop - O'er the Hills, Early Peninsula War Scenarios pdf Version

I have been in touch with Adrian McWalter at Stand to Games and would direct you to the pdf copy of the book in the link above which I see is on offer at £9.60 and if plans progress to a reprint I will update any confirmation to do so here on the blog.

Over the Hills - Facebook Page

In addition I would highly recommend joining the Over the Hills Facebook page for the latest updates and information, with lots of input from Ady McWalter and other folks interested in playing Napoleonics with the rules and scenarios.

I hope that helps

JJ

Battle of Corunna, Elvina Ridge - Tiny Wargames Played Indoors

Sir John Moore at Corunna - Christa Hook (Osprey Corunna 1809)

If you've been following the recent series of posts by Bill Slavin who is currently working his way through the scenario book O'er the Hills, you might be interested to know that he has now arrived before the Galician port of Corunna in his recent refight of the Battle for Elvina Ridge which captures the key fighting that occurred between the armies of Marshal Soult and Lieutenant General Sir John Moore on the 16th January 1809.

Tiny Wars Played Indoors - Battle of Corunna, Elvina Ridge

Bill's three previous games can be picked up in the link below covering the two scenarios for the Battle of Vimeiro and the Battle of Rolica from the 1808 campaign in Portugal between General Junot and Lieut Gen.Sir Arthur Wellesley.

Tiny Wars Played Indoors - O'er the Hills Scenarios

As with his previous posts, Bill outlines the scenario setup and accompanies his blow by blow account of the battle with pictures of his glorious 1/72nd collection of Peninsular Napoleonics fighting amid his carefully sculpted terrain that really captures the limited line of sight the warriors on the ground would be experiencing amid the smoke and noise of battle.

This is a tough fight for the French under Soult as it was in reality, with a very good British army consisting primarily of veteran first battalions, now refreshed and reequipped after a few days rest by the arrival of the Royal Navy, following their harrowing retreat in the previous weeks across the Galician mountains in winter.

In addition the terrain favours the defence with broken ground making it poor cavalry country and a ridge line offering a ready made defensive position for the British to anchor on and with the French similarly tired and hungry after their long pursuit now in hostile country and very far from any depot.

The battlefield layout with the British to left and the French to the right of picture with Elvina tucked down in the valley between.

However Soult's forces are made up of veterans of Napoleon's Grande Armee who only know victory and have trounced their way through Spain and have chased this British army, taking prisoners all along the retreat route, as the British seemed to be on the verge of falling apart, if it wasn't for a very disciplined rear-guard force holding them at bay.

 

French cavalry, supported by horse artillery, massed on the opposite bank of the Molinos search out a crossing point to try and turn the British right flank 

I remember fighting this scenario several times and with the die rolls for the various British reinforcements and French cavalry finding a suitable crossing over the River Molinos, now in full winter flood, we found every game quite different although all of them were hard fought back and to battles across the valley in front of Elvina.

Massed French columns beating out the pas de charge and supported by artillery advance on the British line

As you can see from this selection of Bill's pictures of massed columns and British lines, together with massed ranks of French dragoons, really capture the drama of his own clash and I was quite exhausted just reading the to and fro nature of the fighting around and in Elvina.

 

Sir John Moore calmly runs his battle

I remember well visiting Corunna on our 2019 Peninsular Battlefield Tour as Carolyn and I drove our way across Spain and Portugal in a long planned retirement holiday taking in these key battle sites and was fascinated by how close to the centre of Elvina the opposing British and French ridgelines are, still clearly identifiable despite now being covered in buildings that have grown up over the succeeding two-hundred years.

The view of the French held ridge from the steps of the church in modern day Elvina, a surviving battlefield veteran itself.
https://jjwargames.blogspot.com/2019/06/corunna-retreat-peninsular-war-tour-2019.html

My local regiment, the 20th 'East Devon's' observe French cavalry crossing the Molinos

British Guards arrive to stem the tide!

Of course any visit to Corunna must include a visit to the last resting place of Sir John Moore in a former gun redoubt on the sea facing city wall overlooking the embarkation point for the British troops after the battle, now a picturesque garden area and from the remembrance poppies laid before it showing it still to be a place of pilgrimage for British visitors to the town.  

Flank Attack at Ventosa , Battle of Vimeiro 1808 - Tiny Wars Played Indoors

 

Mr Bill Slavin, host of the blog 'Tiny Wars Played Indoors', has continued with his adventures into the early years of British involvement in the Peninsular War with his playing of the third scenario from the O'er the Hills scenario book, picking up where he left off in the last game he played, by taking a look at the fighting that occurred out on the British left flank at the Battle of Vimeiro, 21st August 1808 around Ventosa Farm.

This scenario recreates the uncoordinated attack by General Junot's flank columns as the French commander sought to draw in British reserves with his frontal attack at Vimeiro Hill as his flank columns exploited in behind the British ridge line position and was first play-tested to be included in the O'er the Hills book by Steve M and me back in December 2017, where the uncertain arrival and set up of the French columns really emphasised the replay potential of this scenario with one game likely to be quite different from another depending on the slight element of chance that the French arrival could offer better opportunities than those that occurred historically and that the players could make good use of any advantage.

Over the Hills - Play-test, Ventosa

https://standtogames.co.uk/shop/ols/products/oer-the-hills-rules

In addition, this part of the battle was written about by a participant in the fighting there, which I covered in my account of 'A Soldier in the 71st' and is also captured in the header to this post as the wounded piper of the 71st Highlanders piped his comrades into battle.

Prelude to Ventosa, A Soldier of the 71st

If you are catching up with this series of games played by Bill you can follow the links below to his previous two postings covering Vimeiro Hill and Rolica that preceded this game.

Tiny Wars - The Leopard's Debut, Battle of Rolica

Tiny Wars - Vimeiro Hill, Battle of Vimeiro 1808

As with his previous games, the scenario is brought to life with Bill's great tables together with the games being fought in glorious 28mm and the pictures that accompany his report are a delight.

Bill Slavin's representation of Ventosa Farm and the forces arrayed on the hill around the position

As with the previous games, it is really interesting for me to see how these scenarios translate when played by others and the games they generate when compared with our own play-test games and in this case illustrating the potential for the French to have a better day than was the actual case, which keeps it interesting for both parties.

General Solignac's columns close in on Ventosa Farm, little suspecting the British lines awaiting them on the other side of the hill

The Ventosa farmstead is a significant piece of terrain in this little action, allowing the French to anchor their position if not carefully dealt with by the British commander and if the French can withstand the likely British assault on their position allow their follow up column which includes French dragoons to severely embarrass any overcommitted British attack.

French voltigeurs are hard pressed by British counterattacks

Having fought as the British commander in our run through of this scenario and having had the threat  of French cavalry getting in among my extended British lines as French columns bore down in their wake, I read Bill's account of his game with great interest and well remember the adrenalin rush of some of our critical die rolls when reading his account

If you would like to find out how Bill's game turned out and his thoughts about the scenario then just follow the link below for his post and more pictures like those featured here.

Tiny Wars - Flank Attack at Ventosa, Battle of Vimeiro

Enjoy 

JJ

Vimeiro Hill - Battle of Vimeiro 1808 from O'er the Hills at Tiny Wars Played Indoors

Back in December last year I posted a link here to Bill Slavin's blog 'Tiny Wars Played Indoors' as he and friends commenced a playthrough of scenarios from O'er The Hills, starting with 'The Leopard's Debut' covering the Battle of Rolica.

The Leopard's Debut - Battle of Rolica

Bill and I have conversed over the many years that I have been posting to JJ's and I know we share a love of Napoleonics and table-top terrain to create the look of the battles we are trying to recreate and you only need to take a look at the tables Bill turns out for his games to appreciate the effort he puts in to get the look he does and I love that kind of passion for the hobby.

https://standtogames.co.uk/shop/ols/products/oer-the-hills-rules

So I thought you might like to see his second game played following on from the first with the fighting around Vimeiro Hill at the Battle of Vimeiro on the 21st August 1808, which as it was for the French in the historical battle, a very 'tough nut' to crack with Wellesley enjoying interior lines, great observation of the enemy and terrain, including poor cavalry country and reverse slopes to confound the moves of his opponent.

During our several playtests of this particular scenario I seem to recall only one French outright victory, when an audacious infantry attack on Vimiero town itself managed to dislodge the British garrison and then resist all attempts to dislodge them for the rest of the game.

It would seem in this latest run through the French had an equally tough encounter, but able to give a very good account of themselves and Bill outlines some of his own thoughts on tweaks he introduced for his game.

I love this way of playing with history and welcome any other ideas as I would never claim to have all the answers when trying to capture the known facts of these actions into a scenario that gives interest to both sides, despite the factors that weigh in favour of one side or the other; and the best scenarios for me are the ones that offer victory conditions other than the simple binary win-lose options, rather instead challenging the players to do a better job than their historical counterparts faced with broadly similar issues to overcome.

As you can see from these pictures from Bill's game, the look of it is amazing, so if you're interested in this subject, take the time to take a look at Bill's report of how their game played together with loads more eye-candy to accompany the comment.

Tiny Wars Played Indoors - Battle of Vimeiro Hill 21st August 1808

I'm really looking forward to the next instalment where I gather there are plans to play the linked game of this scenario and out on Junot's right flank at Ventosa Hill.

Next up Adventures in Vassal with Richard III