TALAVERA
After Action Report

This was a game of Napoleon's battles fought with 15mm miniatures at UVic on Sunday Feb 1st '09. There were two players on each side.

Thanks again to all who indulged my Napoleonics urge once again. It was enjoyable fight. There is something about Napoleon's Battles that creates a nice sense of subtlety and ebb&flow. It isn't as decisive and brutal as many games. We manages 10 of the 13 required turns of the scenario.

Opening Moves: The British and Spanish are on the left with the Spanish mostly holding the fortified right flank and city.

A shot from the Spanish positions, witnessing the French begin to cross the creek and manoeuvre to engage the British positions.

The French right

The first French troops cross tentatively. There is a massive concentration of allied cavalry to the right that would prevent the French from acting aggressively until they had spent several hours moving their own cavalry across the river and onto the flank to counter it.

The view from the position of King Joseph Bonaparte and Marshal Jourdan

General Cuesta in command of the Spanish army, surveys the battle from his carriage.

The view from over Wellington's shoulder as the French deploy to engage in prolonged firefights

For Jeremy, who had been playing the role of Generalisssimo Cuesta until he had to depart and hand control off to Murray:
The end game of the Spanish flank. The cavalry of both armies finally engaged with the result that one French dragoon brigade was dispersed while the remaining one was sent realing back in disorder. Two Spanish cavalry brigades were routed but the lancers held the field. Spanish can be seen advancing across the barricades in divisional squares to threaten the remaining French cavalry.

Things did not go so well at the redoubt. The Hessian infantry finally managed to storm across it and routed or dispersed the two Spanish infantry brigades that sought to defend it. The Hessians then pressed on to his the second wave of Spaniards as they sought to ford the creek and they too were bloodily dealt with. The twelve pounder was damaged at the last also and it was only a matter of time before it was silenced. Highlanders had begun to cross the river to come to the aid of the Spanish but as the British center had begun to thin out and collapse, the Highlanders soon found themselves becoming very hard pressed. The determined Vistula Legion still held their ground at the riverbank.

On the far flank, the Spanish cavalry was thrown well back where it rallied and awaited a chance to return on better terms. The British cavalry meanwhile had been whittled down to nothing and now five brigades of fresh French light horse was beginning to impress their will on the battlefield. Only the 11th Hussars remained and though they did manage to beat off one French Dragoon charge, their fate was going to be decided shortly. Here we can see French infantry pressing very aggressively against the now hanging left flank of the British line.
The polish lancers, meanwhile were one hit away from dispersing and so had been driven off into hiding by the Spanish infantry that was returning from its earlier rout.

At 16:30 in the afternoon, real time, General Wellesley conceded a minor defeat.

Interestingly, we started the game at 1300 and ended at 1630. We played in real time.

P.S. Dale, we are such utter boneheads. Myself especially. That cavalry division that spent four hours moving into position on the right flank? Where it started (and anytime afterwards), it could have flipped into march column. Using the road would mean that it would never have had to make command checks so King Joseph could have concentrated on the front. Moving 24" per turn, it could have crossed the river on the bridge and have been in position and deployed out into lines in two hours total. Newbs!