THE CAPTURE OF LOS BANDITOS

A Sharp Practise Scenario for 4-6 players

There are three factions in this battle: French, British, and Guerrillas. Each faction may fire on and fight each other faction. There may be multiple winners.

Background

 1812. Somewhere in Spain. Too long have the bandits of Don Julio plagued the area around Nostra Terra. They have been a thorn in the side of both British and French, pillaging and harassing without allegiance.  Historians will label them brave and plucky guerrillas but to the soldiers who have had to endure their crimes, they are deserters and cutthroats. Indeed, among the bandits are a great many soldiers who have fallen out of ranks to take up a life of liberty and base profiteering.

The guerrillas are based out of a marvellous system of caves that were originally dug by heretics fleeing the inquisition. As well, a rough river makes travel difficult which allows them to remain undetected. There is a single bridge that that connects the caves to the local village of Villa Nostra but there are also some treacherous fords. Many of the peasants in the local village know about the bandits but few would talk... freely.

Wellington wants this area cleared out of guerrillas. The local inhabitants must learn that the British forces are here to make their land safe and secure and that by abiding by military's authority, they will have that security. To that end, a Brigade is assigned to sweep the area to make an effort to find the bandits. While the primary task of the 95th Riflemen is to capture the bandit leaders (and break up the bandit band), the Black Watch is to provide support by keeping the French at bay. A battery of Royal Horse artillery is attached to the brigade.

Less fortunately, the Nemesis of Captain Hawkesworthe, Major McGonagall of the 42nd Highlanders, has been shadowing the rifle division. He has also brought with him all the hullabaloo and noise makers, banners and ballyhoo, that is the regular infantry. The Highlanders are assigned to provide support to the Rifles by keeping the French at bay.

It really though ought to be a simple task. The guerrillas are notoriously poor fighters and the Riflemen are elite sharpshooters. Once Hawkesworthe's men are across the river, surely the bandits will be throwing down their arms and begging to be captured.

Major Laclos has accepted his mission with relish. For months the local guerrillas have been troubling the area by dispatching all of his despatch riders, murdering his sentries in their sleep, and generally terrorizing his otherwise peaceful soldiery. This can be tolerated no longer. Indeed, it was Laclos that suggested to the General de Brigade that he, with only a small band of soldiers, could indeed bring back the nefarious guerrilla leaders back to see justice done to them. Revenge would motivate his troops.

Mustering quickly then, Major Laclos set out with a small combined arms force to impress his will upon the local population. Indeed, that was part of the Major's bold and ruthless strategy. The key to defeating the guerrillas is to terrorize the local population that aid them. It is from the peasantry that the truth of the bandits will be known. With Laclos would be two companies of the 83me Regiment du Ligne, a Company of the 1st Hussars, and a light artillery piece should the peasants entrench themselves in their views.

Catching up to Major Laclos, Henri Darlon was excited. This was going to be a great day. There were rumours aplenty about the vast wealth of the bandits hidden in their caves and this would be an opportunity to enrich everyone involved, so he was going to be involved. As soon as Captain Darlon overheard that this expedition was being planned, he contrived to have his Marshal send him along to 'supervise'. If it turned out that the small column ran into British regular troops, Henri was certain that they would require his services as a heroic and dashing example. Everyone always did. Such are the responsibilities that come with courage, intellect, martial bearing, and sharpness of wit.
 

 Terrain Notes

 The Battlefield should be 5' X 9' approximately. The village should not encroach more than 2 feet in. The green patches by the village should be light woods or orchards. The dark brown are hills such that artillery placed there might have shots at the cave entrances. The light brown patches by the fords should offer good cover for unformed infantry but be navigable precariously by cavalry. Cavalry and artillery cannot cross the rope bridge. Infantry crossing it must be unformed. In the village, 10 various civilians should be placed within 12" of buildings (and maybe inside them). They are placed by the Umpire with a good spread.

Fording

All troops fording become unformed. Infantry crossing must roll a D6 for each model. On a 1-2 the group gains a point of shock. This applies even if they rout across the river.
If a Big Man is with the group (and they are not routing), the Big Man can wade in first to prove that it isn't dangerous. If he succeeds at a Fair Chance Derring-Do roll (4-6) then the group only gets shock for each model rolling a 1. If he fails, the group can choose to not enter the water next turn, return the Big Man to the shore, and wait to try again on a later turn.

The game ends at either a designated time or two full turns after the second Guerrilla leader is captured or killed.

Forces and Objectives:

GUERRILLA FORCES

Don Julio and Fernando are level 3 Guerrilla leaders. They have poor quality 30 Guerrillas between them (deploy last). The Big Men cannot be killed by ranged fire and if defeated in fisticuffs (or surrenders in a duel) are captured. They share command of all the Guerrillas. Anytime that a unit that acts under the initiative of one of the leaders and kills an enemy troop, that leader gains 1 Glory Point. If at the end of the game there is a free Guerrilla leader with more Glory points than any captured Guerrilla Leaders, the Guerrilla leader with the most Glory points has won the game. There is a third, unplayed Guerrilla leader, Esmeralda (level 2). When her card is revealed, the Guerrilla leader with the most Glory points has control of her for that activation. If they are tied, she does nothing. Esmeralda has the silent but deadly ability and is deployed anywhere on the table after all other forces have been deployed. Esmeralda gains glory on her own and may command any guerrilla units.

The Guerrillas cannot adopt formations and wield muskets. Any Guerrilla groups that lose their Bottle retreat toward the caves. If a Guerrilla group is inside the caves and is not in line of sight to any enemies, they remove 2 shock on the Tiffin card.

Don Julio (level 3)
Francesco (Level 3)
Esmeralda (level 2) Silent but Deadly
30 poor quality Guerrillas

The Spanish add 3 Vamos! cards and 2 Ancient Relics to the Bonus deck.

FRENCH FORCES

French Forces deploy first. They must be within 6" of their table edge, no closer than 24" from Ford B. Their primary character is Major Laclos (level 3). They have 2 companies of infantry, a battery of guns, and a company of Hussars. Major Laclos wins by capturing the Guerrilla leader worth the most glory. One thing that can aid in this is the capture and interrogation of local villagers. Each time a French Big man interrogates a villager, he rolls a D6. On a 1-3 he hears wild tales of villainy done by the local guerrillas. On a 4-6, a secret random events table is consulted. The random events table (spoilers) can be found at the bottom of this document. Interrogated villagers must be put under the watchful eye of detached sentries because at the end of the game a D6 roll is made for each captured villager: Once captured, a villager follows the arresting French Big Man until they are passed off to a sentry (within 6")

After each interrogation, the primary French player may choose to kill the villager instead and disregard the evidence (and Glory) given by that villager.

If there is a second French player, he gets Henri Darlon, aide de camp to Marshal Marmont. He may command any French forces.  Henri is a Glory Fiend. He can win by doing any of three simple tasks: Find the rumoured treasure deep in the bandit caves, by personally capturing the Highlander colours  or by defeating an enemy artillery crew in fisticuffs.

Henri knows of the treasure of the bandits and suspects that it is hidden in the guerrilla's caves. If he is within the caves he may make a spotting roll. On a 5-6 he has found the treasure and it is placed on the table with him. Henri wins the game if, at the end of the game he is alive and found the treasure (even if does not have it in his possession "I told you it was there!"). Due to his charm and the force of his personality, it may come to pass that Henri may also command Guerrilla troops. This will only happen if either of the two primary Guerrilla leaders is in base -to-base contact with Henri and grants the permission. Any French or British killed by Guerrillas under Henri's orders count as Glory for the Guerrilla leader that granted Henri authority. The Guerrilla treasure is a bloomin' heavy thing. Also, if the British colour party is on the table, Henri wins if he personally captures it.

Major Laclos (level 3)
Captain Darlon (Level 4)
Captain Montfort (level 2)
Lieutenant Marat (level 1) with Infantry Drummer
Lieutenant Compton (level 1)
Captain Banville (level 2) with Cavalry trumpeter
24 good quality voltigeurs (may skirmish)
24 good quality fusiliers
1 light gun with 5 gunners
12 good quality Hussars

The French add 2 Pas de Charge and 2 Hop to It to the Bonus Deck

BRITISH FORCES

The primary British player is Major Hawkesworthe of the 95th Rifles. He has two companies of elite riflemen and a trusty Sergeant Corgi who is ace at knocking people out cold.  He deploys anywhere within 12" of his table edge between the orchard and the ford, no closer than 12" to Ford A. Hawkesworthe wins by capturing the Guerrilla leader worth the most glory.

There is also a section of Royal Horse artillery under Lieutenant 'Dodger' McFitzwilliamson. If there is only one British player, this fellow answers directly to Hawkesworthe.

The second British player, if enough players are available, is Major McGonagall of the Black Watch. He has 2 companies of Highlanders. Major McGonagall cares nothing for Guerrillas as they have nothing to do with proper warfare. Major McGonagall wins if no French Forces are within 12" of the village at the end of the game AND Major Laclos does not also win.

If McGonagall is in play then when McFitzwilliamson's card is revealed, whichever of Hawkesworthe or McGonagall is closest gets control of him for that turn. If they are equidistant, then whichever yells the most gets it. 

Major McGonagall (level 3) w piper and drummer
Captain Hawkesworthe (level 3) with Nigel (trumpeter)
Sergeant Corgi (level 1) - Bludger
Captain Conner 'Con' McConnell (level 2)
Lt McFitzwilliamson (level 2)
Lt Campbell (level 1)
Lt McLeod (level 1) with Colour Party
32 good quality Highland infantry
2 light guns w 10 gunners
19 elite quality riflemen (may skirmish)

The British add 3 Thin Red Line to the Bonus deck

BALANCE ISSUES

7 British Big Men with 13 initiatives to command 8-9 groups
6 French Big Men with 13 initiatives to command 6-7 groups
3 Guerrilla Big Men with 8 initiatives to command 3 groups

Guerrilla player 1 has 1 (possibly 2) cards in the deck. He may have 3+ units to play with.
Guerrilla player 2 has 1 (possibly 2) cards in the deck. He may have 3+ units to play with.
British Player 1 has 2 (possibly 3) cards in the deck. He might have 3-5 units to play with.
British Player 2 has 4 (possibly 5) cards in the deck. He might have 4-6 units to play with.
French Player 1 has 5 cards in the deck. He has 6-7 units to play with.
French player 2 has 1 card in the deck. He has potentially 6-7 units to play with.

I may need to come up with a way for Henri to gain control of other Big Men from the French side, if even only temporarily, to give him more chances to play in a  turn. Otherwise too many turns will go by with him being able to do nothing.

A turn only ends when both guerrilla cards and the Tiffin card are drawn. The Tiffin card effect takes place immediately after the action of the 2nd guerilla leader if it was drawn earlier.

The following activation notes only apply if we go with strict chain of command. ie, can the French Hussar captain order the infantry?

The three guerrilla groups will then have 3 possible cards that can activate them.
The 2-3 95th Rifles groups will have 2 possible cards that can activate them.
The 2 Royal Horse artillery units have 1(3?) possible cards that can activate them.
The 4 Highlander groups have 4 possible cards that can activate them.
The French infantry have 5 possible cards that can activate them.
The French cavalry have 3 possible cards that can activate them.
The French Artillery have 6 possible cards that can activate them.

HOUSE RULES

Highland Bagpipes

Bagpipes, like other musicians, attach to a Big Man. They can be activated using that Big Man's initiative. When activated, all Highland groups within 18" remove 1 shock. Also, all friendly blinds within 18" are removed.

Colour Parties

Colour parties are attached to a Big Man and the model for the Big Man could even be carrying the colours since by attaching, he is assumed to be wielding them. A colour party consists of 1-6 models of standard bearers, big man, and guards. The total size of the colour party (# of party figures plus level of Big Man) cannot exceed 6. The models might have Kings colours and Regimental colours both but for simplicity, only the regimental colours are 'the colours' and the other flag bearer is effectively just another guard.

Advantages of colour party: When a colour party is attached to a group of their parent unit, the size of the formation (in terms of groups) is halved (rounded up) so that a four group formation can be commanded by a Big Man with only 2 initiatives. As well, if a group must retire or rout and their colour party is behind them, they can choose to move toward the colour party instead of to the rear. Retiring troops that did not start with the colour party may stop retiring when they reach a colour party. Routing troops must continue routing to the rear.

Colour parties cannot shoot. When firing on a group with a colour party and obtaining a Big Man hit, do not roll for effect of hit. Instead, remove one colour party member if available. If there are no remaining colour party members then roll to hit the Big Man as normal.

If a colour party is in fisticuffs, it adds 1 die per figure in the colour party to the group's total. Characters with colour parties cannot issue duels but must accept all duels. When in a duel, they gain 1 die for each other remaining member of the colour party but each hit against them kills a colour guard. While a colour party is being duelled, it cannot otherwise contribute to the group's total in fisticuffs.

If a Big Man with a colour party is reduced to a physique of 1 he is defeated in the duel and the victor captures the colours (regardless of whether or not the Big Man surrenders). The victorious Big Man, as normal, gains a level for the rest of the game and he also is considered to have gained the colours. If he is ever reduced to 1 physique in a duel, he loses them again.

When a unit has its colour party captured, each group of that unit gains 2 shock. As well, if a Big Man who has captured their colours is attached to a group that they are in fisticuffs with, they gain Aggression (+2 dice per group).

If a Big Man carrying colours is killed by fire, the flag falls in the mud and is lost.

TROUBLING THE PEASANTS RANDOM EVENTS

*These are spoilers. If you intend to play the game, do not read this table*

If an event is rolled a second time then add 1 to the number and take the next event.