BATTLE OF ALBUERA 1811

One of the scenario’s we played this weekend was the French (under the command of Marshal Soult) attack on the Allied right flank, at the Battle of Albuera in 1811. The Allied Commander, General Beresford, tasked the Spanish, under the command of General Blake, to defend the area known as “Albuera Heights” and defeat any French threat in that area.

Zayas ‘s Brigade holding the Albuera Heights (Front rank Miniatures painted by myself)

Our game which was taken from the “General de Brigade,” scenario book one, starts with the French attack on this flank and the Spanish on the defence. Players involved were Andrew Parr (who flew up from Sydney for the weekend), myself and Geoff playing the Allied army and the French were commanded by a Terry Moran and John Maguire.

The Spanish Foot artillery come under attack from a French Line infantry of General Girards’ Brigade

Deployment was as per the scenario, the Spanish had one small brigade of three battalions and one battery on the heights and a further four battalions in reserve behind (all of which were on hold orders and were unable to support the forward battalions). The allied forces only had one unit of cavalry which happened to be a Spanish unit.

Girards’ Brigade makes contact along the whole Spanish line and pushes them off the hill

French deployment allowed the placement of six battalions of French line and two batteries of guns, which deployed directly in front of the lonely Spanish brigade and were able to charge home within two turns.

English Reserves move forward and try to retake the heights from the French

However the French reserves have also moved up

To cut a long story short the French managed to take the heights with ease and push the Spanish back of the hill. The remainder of the French reserve were thus able to swiftly move forward in support and stop and Allied attempt to retake the heights. The only Allied win for the day was the defeat of the French lancers by the Spanish dragoons.

The only allied cavalry on the field – Spanish Dragoons

Rules followed were the “Shako Advance Rules”, downloaded from the shako website, which allowed for a good fast game. Units were again built up to six bases – 24 figures for the infantry units, 12 for the cavalry and two guns per battery. This system seems to work well and allowed the removal of bases from units which had suffered casualties, thus eliminating the use of markers or causality sheets plus you could physically see your units getting smaller.

Elite Miniatures Chasseurs

All the figures shown, accept for the Spanish, are from John’s magnificent collection. Most the figures have been been painted by best painters in the world, plus collections which were painted by our own Leroy Simpson, Andrew Parr and Kym Pennell.

English Line battalion – Front Rank figures from Johns’ collection

One of the Spanish reserve battalions comes under attack from French (Spanish are Front Rank and French – Elite Miniatures)

Some beautifully painted Wargames Foundry figures from John’s collection

Two desperate Spanish battalions try to stop the French steam roller but both soon fail

Marshal Soult looks over the battlefield and across at the retreating Allied Army. He will now follow up his victory and relieve the siege of Badajoz

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