Vimiero 1808 Napoleonic battle.

We had a very interesting game last night,and a type of game which we don't play very often,ie recreating an actual battle.
Richard and I commanded the French,and Paul and Brian commanded the British.

This first photo shows the initial positions of both sides,Richard was to attack the East Ridge and Ventosa,whilst I was to attack Vimiero Hill and Vimiero itself.

This is my first assault on Vimiero Hill,I had "feinted" right as though I was going to attack Vimiero town in force,and then swung left and put my full weight against the hill.This worked to a certain extent,in that I had all my French concentrated against the hill,however it also meant that I didn't have a reserve to call upon if it all went pear shaped! (which of course it did!!)
I did manage to get troops onto the top of the hill,and created an "ugly hole" in the British line,but without backup they struggled to hold the advantage very long.

This shot shows Richard's first wave attacking the East Ridge,with colours flying and guns blazing!
Richard hit a painful "learning curve" in this game (Napoleonics is not his picked period) and fell foul of the age-old "not enough space to deploy" rule!! However he did manage to sort himself out and it looked,for a while,that he had got Paul on the back foot.

This shows Richard's attack on Ventosa,which did not go terribly well!! Paul's defenders were "crack" troops and the result was inevitable!! Richard "bounced" However undetered, he sent another two regiments against the defended position,and guess what? yes they bounced too!!

My first attack against the Hill has been repulsed,except one stubborn (stupid?) regiment that was trying to outflank the left of the \British line next to Vimiero,This took some awful "stick" from the defenders of the town and the Line it was facing,and I had to pull them out of harm's way.
I was winding myself up for a second attack on the British right flank,and this was fairly successful,driving the Line back and capturing a gun!!However the lack of support and the lack of a Command figure,saw me having to take a morale test,and my troops "retired"

Richard is being "smote" here,outnumbered and out gunned,however Brennier's troops have just arrived on the British flank,and are forcing Paul to pull troops out his main line to counteract the threat,this could be the Game-winning point!!

This shot shows the sad state of affairs on my flank,almost all of my troops are running away,sorry, I mean "retiring".

An overall view of the mess I've got myself into!!,however Kellerman has arrived and is attacking Vimiero! Kellerman's troops actually got into the town,then were repulsed,is nothing going right??

Oh no!! Richard is piling more troops against the town!! After an heroic struggle on top of the ridge,Brennier's troops were forced back on their cavalry support,and with the troops being beaten at the town walls,and my attack in tatters,the British were declared the winners (as in history!)

This game was interesting and threw up a couple of problems,mainly that correct orders are essential for a smooth and fast flowing game,without ambiguity,I'm sure Richard has learned something about Napoleonic tactics,and I am sure that I have learned something about setting up actual battles to be refought.

Roll on Thursday,don't know what we'll be fighting yet.d