Portable Botched Relief
Having the time (or rather energy) to squeeze a solo game in, I set up the grid board to play Bob Cordery's Portable Wargame.
I picked the book up originally around the time I got Neil Thomas's One Hour Wargames, and in fact the two seem to get recommended together a lot by those seeking space saving or solo Historical play. I also recently acquired Bob Cordery's Portable Napoleonic Rules, and till I expand the number of bases of units I have will be using a sort of slapped together mix of his two rulebooks as seems appropriate.
So, setting up a scenario from OHW and using the random force chart from it led us to the the Botched Relief of Glannes 1812.
The French Brigade under General Allard consisted of :
1st Infantry Battalion (Average)
2nd Infantry Battalion (Average)
3rd Infantry Battalion (Average)
1st Light Field Battery (Average)
The British Brigade force under General Badger consisted of
1st Foot Infantry (Average)
2nd Foot Infantry (Average)
3rd Foot Infantry (Average)
1st Light Rifles (Average)
1st Light Dragoons (Average)
2nd Light Dragoons (Average)
The French are assaulting a town held by the British. British relief forces are poised on a nearby hill to assist but the Commander is proving rather inert. The French win by securing the town uncontested while the British win under the same circumstances. As per scenario 28 in OHW the French force will take initiative each turn.
---
Turn 1
---
A road leads into the town of Glannes, with the French approaching from the South and the British starting in the North. To the west can be seen the British relief forces (they only deploy a single unit at a time, with a new unit only showing up when a previous one has been routed to show the poor British command. I arranged them on the hill as such so I wouldn't forget about them).
General Allard orders his infantry to march ahead to secure the town, having the 3rd Battalion stay behind to guard the Light Battery, which he ordered unlimbered to provide covering fire to the town. The 1st and 2nd Infantry marched up the road.
General Badger is riding with the 1st Foot, with 2nd Foot following behind. 3rd Foot are the first to arrive from the west, marching east towards the French 1st Infantry and begin the first round of fire of the game, to little success rolling a 4 with no modifiers (Musketry hitting in Portable Wargame on a 5+).
---
Turn 2
---
Artillery phase to start with, and the French battery opens fire at the 1st Foot. Having a direct line of fire, and under the organization of General Allard, the 12lb guns roll a 3(+3) resulting a hit. The 1st Foot lose an SP, and the General accompanying them rolls an unlucky 6, being taken out in opening hours of the battle.
The 1st French Infantry trades fire with the 3rd Foot, and this will continue for most of the game. Most of the damage to the 1st is actually from them getting a result of "Retreat or take -1sp". Given their vulnerable artillery and general are behind them, they manage to stand firm for rather awhile. The 2nd Infantry makes it to the town of Glannes, while the third turns to face the British forces in the west.
The 1st Foot marches into the town to contest it and being close combat with the 1st Infantry to little effect, while the 2nd Foot continues South in an attempt to flank the French.
---
Turn 3
---
The French Artillery opens fire at the 2nd Foot, forcing them back. During the French turn, 1st Infantry continues to trade fire with the 3rd Foot, while the 3rd Infantry moves west to the edge of the town and lay down fire on the 2nd Foot, forcing them further into a retreat. 1st Infantry continues its close quarters melee.
2nd Foot trades fire back with 3rd Infantry, as bayonet and musket continues to be traded back and forth between the other pockets of fighting. The British forces by now I realized have reached their Exhaustion point (mostly from the death of the 6SP General) and may no longer take offensive action against the French (which is to say, may not march towards French units. They can however hold their ground and continue to fire,)
---
Turn 4
---
With 3rd Infantry in the way of the Artillery, it continues to apply its attention to the 2nd Foot. 1st Infantry is forced back to the far side of town, while 3rd Infantry begins to assault into the town against 1st Foot to assist.
---
Turn 5
---
With both forces Exhausted, the town remains contest and neither side wins decisively.
-----
In the end the game was a lot of fun. I simply played both sides to win. I think if I were to do it over, having the "Poor Leadership" of the British would have been better displayed by either Poor quality troops or, using the card draw method in PW, giving them a "low" amount of command. 1-3 cards perhaps, especially given instead of a 4unit vs 6 unit game, its more like a 4 unit vs 3 unit (with reinforcements).
There's a few other notes I have about the rules, but till I go through the rest of the PW stuff and get a few more games in I'll hold my tongue to a degree. The rules were fun, and even solo I enjoyed the battle.
Think I shall have to have another go soon!
Comments
Post a Comment