peninsular war project part 2 combat in the hills

We finished part one with the French 70th infantry about to start their assault on the gully's and the village of Castra. Lisbon is only a few miles away and if they can brake thought the enemy the Portuguese capital is theirs. General Gomes Sepulvedain, has sent general Dbalous from Lisbon in an attempt to delay the French, Dbalous has chosen the high ground near the village of Castra were the French will have to make there way up the narrow gully's towards the village. He has placed his irregulars skirmishers above the gully's so they can shoot down on the French. His plan is to trap one of the company's in the hills if he can get men behind them, even if most of his irregulars are armed only with hand weapons he will have the advantage of numbers on his side. The Lisbon militia are formed up in the farm land just outside the village they are ordered to shoot down the hopefully weakened French infantry as they make it out of the tracks

TURN 1 to 3

The Lisbon militia move out of Castra to meet the French, being militia they will be better armed and trained than the irregulars but they can only fire one volley per turn. Trained/veteran regulars such as the French can fire in each of their phases.

The 1st company of the 70th deploys on the left. The outskirts of Castra can be seen in the distance.

The 2nd company of the 70th deploys on the right irregular partisans can be seen on the high ground.

with all of their skirmishers deployed, together with their NCO, the skirmishers can know act independently, and can move any distance from their parent company base.

TURN 4 to 6

On the right flank the skirmishers of the 2nd company start to move up the gully.

 Strait into a fire fight with the partisans on the high ground.

The floor of the gully is soon covered with gun smoke as the skirmishers and the irregulars trade shots. taking fire from both sides the French are easy targets for the irregulars, lucky for the French the irregulars are not very good shots.

Sporadic musket fire in the left gully, but the 1st companies skirmishers make good progress.

TURN 7 and 8

one of the groups of partisans waiting on the high ground 

More irregulars on the high ground on the left flank of the French make there move, and start to move around the unsuspecting French.

Having managed to get a party of irregulars around 1st company the trap is set.

TURN 9 and 10 

1st company is attacked from all sides as the irregulars move in for the kill. Their skirmisher run for the relative safety of their company.

1st company is forced to fight for its life, casualties are high on both sides

On the right flank 2nd companies skirmishers have almost made it to the top of their gully, all the skirmishers are still standing but only just, most have between 1 and 2 wounds.

TURN 11 to 13

Having finally reached the top of their gully 2nd companies skirmishers hold their breath, Their quick thinking NCO can see the fate of their comrades in the other gully, and orders his men to attack the irregulars from behind. 

Its the irregulars turn to be trapped, with casualties mounting and the 2nd companies skirmishers know in combat with them, the irregulars morale is broken and they start to run, just as 1st company also has to take a morale test , but they pass even though they have taken many casualties including all their skirmishers. 

Both companies of the 70th make it out of the gully's. The 3 remaining skirmishers of the 2nd company move out once more.

As the French companies make it onto the open ground the militia opens up with a volley at the already weakened 1st company men fall and they have to take another morale test, they pass yet again although they are shaken.

TURN 14 and 16

Being only allowed to fire one volley per turn the militia withdraw a little in there next phase. The two companies move forwards 2nd company fires a volley at the militia which bring down several men 1st company are shaken so they don't fire. (shaken units can only fire once per turn) The skirmishers push the irregular skirmishers through the vineyard.

Another volley from the militia and more French men fall this time in the 2nd company but they shrug this off and move to take over the final assault on the village from the shaken 1st company.

militia and shaken units have to target the nearest enemy so they could not fire at the shaken 1st company. 

With the 2nd company troops know moving on them and the last of the irregulars skirmishers being chased from the vineyard the militia have no choice but to withdraw towards the villages outskirts.

The militia have know withdraw into the village but with the 70th line are right behind them, moments later the militia brake and run.

A hard fight, harder than the French anticipated. Dbalous plane almost worked, if the 2nd companies skirmishers had not come to their aid then 1st company would have been destroyed for shore, and the 2nd company may have had to withdraw, if only Dbalous had some regulars with him. The iron discipline of the French veterans is what made the difference, 1st company had to take 2 morale tests and passed both all be it the second leaving them shaken, but still standing. despite being veterans the French skirmishers found it very difficult to hit the irregulars in the cover of the hills, just how it should have been. A good game and a great start to the campaign.

The campaign continues 

The road to Lisbon is know clear and General Junot made it only to find he had missed his prise the royal family having left a few days earlier.   

French troops march through Portugal heading for Lisbon

With the Portuguese capital know under French control and Spanish troops heading into Portugal things could not have looked worse for the Portuguese, but for events elsewhere were about to change the war not only in Portugal but the rest of Europe.

Napoleon had moved fast on his plan to dominate the Iberian peninsular. By early 1808 he had moved large numbers of troops into both Portugal and Spain. and know he made his move. Forcing King and his son to renounce their throne and placing his brother Joseph Bonaparte on the Spanish throne, Napoleon had taken control of both Portugal and Spain or so he thought. on the 8th of May Madrid and shortly After Spain exploded in revolt, and civil unrest. Many French troops found themselves fighting large numbers of partisans.
By June news of the Spanish revolt had reached Portugal. The Spanish corps in Porto mutinied and joined the local patriots, and the Portuguese flay once again flown over Porto.
All over Portugal Spanish troops were leaving for home, and to make things worse thousands of Portuguese were joining the militia and the ordenanza.

Junot's army had shrunk to just the original 25'000 mainly French troops in a mater of weeks, as long as he kept the communication lines with Spain open and held the main cites and fortresses under French control he could hold the country.
To do this he had to strengthen the fortresses and take back Porto.

In part three of the project I'm going to take a closer look at the battles between the Porto partisans and General Loison.

This is going to be my last post for this year, thanks for all your comments till next time and next year.

Peninsular war project part 1

With the last game of our Waterloo project being played out hopefully soon, its been a long wait as most of the players have been away. I was thinking about doing a solo project next. Staying with the Napoleonic theme i looked at the campaigns of 1812 and 1809, but both were large affairs and i wanted to up the scale to 28mm for some if not the majority of the games so i settled on the Peninsular Campaign 1807 to 1814.

I want to cover the campaign around the Portuguese theatre of war, and include the early fighting that took place before the British landed in 1808. So i did a bit of research and have come up with a historically based campaign. For the first part of the campaign, I'm going to start with the invasion of Portugal  1807 and ends in the battle of Vimeiro 1808.
The campaign will follow the historical time line, and as its progress i will try to cover the small and larger actions, were and when they historically took place. Im also hoping to add the odd maybe/what if action. As this is a new scale for me (for Napoleonics at least) i will also be constructing the units that will take part in the actions as the campaign progresses, as well as putting together some terrain so i will include the unit painting, terrain construction and the research as i go, as well as the Battle reports.
I am hoping to also include a mini war diary of the campaign from the point of view of some of the British fictitious character's. It sounds a lot going on, and it is going to be a long term project.

Historical Background
With the French trade embargo against Britain pretty much sown up. Portugal, Britain's oldest Ally boldly refused to enforce the embargo and continued trading with Britain. This defiance could not go unpunished in the eyes of Napoleon. this meant that Portugal was on a collision course with France. Napoleon started to put in place his response.

By mid 1807  General Junot at the head of the army of the Gironde  some 25'000 men had assembled south of Bordeaux and would soon marched into Spain. By November  Junot had been joined by Spanish troops and was positioned on the Portuguese border. On the 19th of November French troops started to cross into Portugal. This as history would tell was only a stepping stone as Napoleon had bigger plans for both Portugal and later Spain.

The French main route into Portugal would take them first to Alcantara on the Portuguese's border and onto Lisbon some 200 km west from Alcantara. The route was difficult filled with narrow valleys and tracks winding through mountainous areas.
The Invasion force was made up of both French and Spanish.
With 3 Spanish corps holding the border areas.
6'500 Spanish at Vigo  under Taranco was to march on Porto.
9'500 Spanish at Badajos under Solano was to march on Elvas
9'500 Spanish at Cuidad Rodrigo and Alcantara  under Caraffas were to join Junot's advance.
25'000 French advancing towards Alcantara.

The French started there advance along the desolate route following the upper Tagus, the infantry made it through but the cavalry had lost up to half there horses and few guns made it that far. a few days later the French advance units made it to Abrantes, and by the 25th of November the rest of the army finaly made it to. The men were starving and some stragglers had been killed by Portuguese peasants lurking in the mountains. while at Abrantes Junot learnt the Portuguese Royal family were making preparations to leave for Brazil. Junot put together a flying column made up of some joint Grenadiers companies and the 70th line infantry and made a dash for Lisbon. The march was difficult and they were harassed, but meet no significant resistance.
On the 30th of November Junot entered Lisbon with his flying column, the rest of the army followed in the next few days and following weeks, but he had missed the Royal family, only just.
Lisbon was know under French control. The three Spanish corps moved into Portugal in December. On the 15th of December the French Flag was flown over Lisbon, were riots broke out but these were soon put down ruthlessly by the French with the bayonet and sword.

Portugal was now occupied by up to 50'000 troops, the Portuguese army was simply disbanded. ( some being reformed in early 1808, and marched into France to join the Grand Army ) but i get ahead of myself.

Going back to the Autumn of 1807 for the first game  Combat in the hills   I'm going to have Small units of Portuguese militia and partisans fighting against groups of French regulars of the 70th line as they make there dash for Lisbon.

Some accounts state that Lisbon fell without a shot. Other accounts say small skirmishes were fought between Junot's flying corps and Portuguese patriots as he made his dash for Lisbon. so our first battle will represent one of the possible skirmishes that were fought as the French moved in on Lisbon.

Combat in the hills 1807

Looking at the forces involved the French are going to be made up of 2 company bases and their single skirmish bases. 5 single bases per company base as they are to represent the 70th line. Light infantry companies can have 6 skirmishers. Each company base will have 12 miniature's ( for larger battles the same bases will be used as the command base of a battalion ) they will be able to volley fire in the game and will also act as the rally point and deployment point for their skirmishers. I  have used a mixture of miniatures ranging from Perry, Warlord and victrix.

A companies of the 70th line and their skirmishers  four Voltigeurs and a NCO advance thought a vineyard

The Portuguese forces for this action are a bit more of a challenge reading up on them, references give accounts of units of militia dressed in rags, or white uniforms, and of units of partisans roaming the hills dressed in civilian cloths armed mainly with hand weapons. so armed with a few pictures i started to put together some miniatures.

some of the pictures i found on the net

I  used parts from victrix French Napoleonic and Perry ACW and even Warlord ECW plastics. This helped to get that irregular look to the partisans as well as the unit of militia.

early stages of the Portuguese irregulars 

 I also went for the white uniformed militia with wide brimmed hats as described by several accounts of British officers during the early stages of the campaign.  For the first action I'm going to have 1 company of Portuguese militia, militia units can't form skirmishers so no single skirmishers for this unit. There are also going to be units of irregular partisans 20 single skirmishers armed with hand weapons and 6 single skirmishers armed with muskets. Irregular troops can't form units so are based individually and are classed  as skirmishers.

hand weapon armed irregulars

close up of some of the irregulars

The partisans made up of numerous plastic parts from ECW to ACW and everything in between

Portuguese militia ready for action

Back to the game, its mid November the French infantry of the 70th line move up yet another Valley only to find there progress blocked by some Portuguese irregulars lining the hills. Lisbon is only a few miles west, and General Junot is eager to reach Lisbon before the royal family escapes. your job is to force the pass and take the village.
The Portuguese will try to stop you but they are not well armed, although they do out number you.

sketch of the battle 

Notes
1. The routes through the Valley are very narrow 1/4 movement for the companies bases, skirmish miniatures can move as normal.
2. All French troops must use the narrow tracks.
3. The Portuguese partisans can move along the track and the heights, 1/2 movement when moving along the heights.
4. The Portuguese militia can only deploy in the village or surrounding farm/vineyards.
5. The 2 companies of the 70th start at the base of the valley and have not deployed any skirmishers.

In part 2 i will post the full battle report and the next chapter of the campaign.
till next time

Septembers review a bit late

A little late but i forgot to put this in my blog, but better late than never, in this review i show my finished French for my Peninsular project  

also a few pictures of my resent work as part of the Black Powder paint off challenge I'm painting up some 6mm Great Northern War armies and starting work on my British and allies for my Peninsular project. First up are the Portuguese's regulars with very little uniform other than the white jackets and civilian clothing , I'm also making up some Portuguese's irregulars.

Swedish infantry first of many

Portuguese's regulars under way

more Swedish

Portuguese's irregulars taking shape in the back ground the white coated regulars 

a full brigade of Swedish and a lonely Russian battalion

well that's it for know, for those interested in the Black powder challenge go to 

 http://mywargaminglife.com  and check out the website and the fantastic painting being done by the other gents in the challenge.

till next time  

28mm Napoleonic's for Grandeur Rules

Having been working on this project for some time, i can finely unveil the French army for my forthcoming peninsular war project.
The army is designed on the basic impetus system with between 10 to 12 bases/units with a separate command base, unlike basic and full impetus were the command/leaders are based within a unit.
The army represent a French force for 1804 to 1812, when the French armies were at there height. my intention is to put together a basic version of the Grandeur rules (nothing official ) and play a few games to See how things go. The French army.

French army 1804-1812
                                             M   VBU   I   VD   NOTES
3 veteran line infantry  (FP)     5     5/6    1    3      SK A VET
4             line infantry  (FP)     5     4/5    1    2      SK A
2                   hussars  (CL)    12    3/4    1    1      VET
1 artillery                                6      2      0    1      ART B
1 command

The army is made up of 10 bases/units plus command
OPTIONS
1 of the veteran bases/units and up to 2 of the line units can be swapped for allied troops as can 1 of the light cavalry bases/units. these do not change the stat's for the bases/units
options for the cavalry are: 2 hussar bases/units, 2 chassaur bases/units or 1 lancer and 1 chassaur bases/units
I'm working on the British and allies lists, I'm thinking maybe an early and late Peninsular list and a 100 days campaign list.
Once i have them sorted i will start painting up some bases and start play testing the lists, things will bound to change once play testing begins.  

The Veterans 

The 4 bases of Line infantry

French hussars the 1st and 5th

artillery and command base in the back ground

The full French army 

Hope you have enjoyed this first look at the Peninsular project hopefully more to follow soon.

Till next time.  

basic basing techniques

I thought i would put together a basic basing technique tutorial for this I'm going to base my French command base for my Grandeur Napoleonic rules for my Peninsular wars project.

Starting off with the base concept. I want the command base stand out, so I'm going to use a circular base i tend to use old Cd's for 28mm command bases. 

I use air drying clay for the construction of the base, this is ideal to build up any raised areas you can attach rocks and push the bases of any miniatures you want to use into the clay, this helps with the final look of the base.

For this base I'm going to use two mounted command miniatures both by Perry miniatures also a solider helping a fallen comrade from Victrix and Warlord games, with another unfortunate another Perry, near the two commanders also I'm going to put some battle debris on the base to. 

The air dry clay and rocks glued in place, after all has dried the dry river bed base is glued in i use PVA for this and sand 

Composition all the elements are in place as a test although things tend to change a bit

Sand it applied all over at this stage, make sure not to get any in the areas you are going to put the miniatures in

The base is given two coats of brown paint i use house wall paint for this as it gives a good coverage. You can also use small sample pots from your local DIY store. Dry brush the rocks you have added at this stage as this will help with the continuity of the base.

Highlight the earth paint, i use a light grey paint added to the earth tone paint you have used to paint the base this also helps with the continuity of the base i tend to give the base two coats of highlight adding more grey 

to the second coat. At this point i usually attach any main miniatures and sand and paint in the bases. I have also added the larger sand base to the dry river bed.

Adding larger sand to the base i use PVA for this. The sands i use come from a pet shops a great source of wargaming basing material.

Adding the flock, have a good look at your base first, you don't wan to add to much flock so keep it to a minimum you can always add more later.

Adding the tufts things work better if you use two or more colours of tufts as this will helps give the base a more natural look, some of the battle debris has been added .

The final finished base with the all the elements put together 

I try to make my command bases tell a little story as it adds a bit of fun to when putting the hole thing together.

Hope you have enjoyed this basing tutorial. 

Till next time