Peninsular project part 10 The battle of Rolica

I've had a bit of a brake from the Peninsular what with work and life in general so its been a while since I posted anything. So following on from part 9 of the project, I thought  it would be good to have a quick look at the forces involved in the re-fight of the battle of Rolica. Then a bit of a recap of the set up.

The British

Commander General Nightingall

29th regiment of foot

5th regiment of foot

9th regiment of foot

95th rifles

British Field artillery

The French

Commander General Delaborde

commander of the infantry general Brenier

2nd light infantry battalion

4th light infantry battalion

1st battalion 70th line infantry

2nd battalion 70th line infantry

4th Swiss line infantry only 2 companies

French Field artillery

26th Chasseur a Cheval  

The battle starts with the British in column on the main road at point A. The French have withdrawn to their second position on the ridge line. The British have 15 turns to brake thought the French holding the ridge. On turn 15 the two flank columns make an appearance on at point E and F at which point the French must start to withdraw from their position even if the main assault from the centre columns has failed to drive them from their position. As you can see the British will win the battle its a question weather the French can cause the main assault to stall and clam a tactical if not a morel victory, and make the British pay a high price for the ridge line.

  

The battle sketch of the battle the main British can be seen in the valley, The 29th can be seen charging up one of the narrow ravines 

For the Battle i will be trying out the Sharpe practise 2 rules, I'm not going to give a blow by blow round by round account of the battle, but more of a narrative which the Sharpe Practise rules cover so well. 

so with colours blazing like the sun, onwards we go.

The British centre advances 

The French hold the ridge

main view of the battle 

 The British advancing on the French. The French open up with their artillery, luckily for the British the French gunners are not at their best.

The 29th reach the base of the ridge and roll to see if they charge head long up the ravine, or wait for the rest                                     of the British. With a wild cheer the 29th rush up the narrow track                                       ( brave or crazy ill let you decide )

The British artillery are in range and start to fire at the French, but the shots land short or fly over the heads of the French who are on the reverse slope of the ridge. " know there's an idea"

The 29th make slow work as they clamber up the narrow track, and the voltigeurs of the 4th light infantry are about to make things even more difficult for them.

The 4th light infantry skirmishers start to pepper the 29th as they struggle on up the hill.

lower down the slope the two units of the 95th move up on either flank of the 29th.

Grasshoppers and voltigeurs fight it out on the slopes.

Somehow the 29th are making progress up the hill despite being shot at by the 4th light's skirmishers .

The 70th line lead by general Brenier move up to hold the ridge line against the rapidly approaching 29th.

The 95th rifles are also making good progress and the 9th lead by general Nightingall and the 5th regiment of foot are behind the other group of 95th rifles.

general view of the battle the British are making slow progress the 9th regiment with the 95th are making their way up the track on the left. The 5th and another company of 95th are moving up on the right.

The British artillery continue to fire at the French missing each time.

The French artillery fire and inflict some casualties on the 9th regiment of foot but not enough to stop them.

The ridge line is a blaze of musket fire as the British stumble there way up the slopes.
The 29th come under increasing pressure from the 2 battalions of 70th line infantry and start to crumble.

Both the two units of the 95th start getting the upper hand and push forwards on the flanks of the 29th.

The Swiss take one look at the 95th and the 9th following them, and decided its time to leave and neatly file off the table. leaving the guns exposed and forced to withdraw.

The 26th  chasseur come to the rescue and charge the 95th and the 9th as they reach the ridge line, sending them falling back.

Its turn 10 and the British are on the ridge, but not all is going well. The 29th are hanging in there by a thread, the 9th and a unit of 95th are sheltering in a wood on the left, and the 5th and the other unit of 95th have reached the ridge line but are engaged in a musket duel with the 2nd light infantry on the far right.

As casualties start to mount on both sides the British have to brake through the French line.

 The 29th after fighting up the ravines and fighting two battalions of French, finely brake and fall back down the ridge.

The 5th foot decide that a musket fight will not win the day and charge the 2nd light, the 2nd fire a volley at the advancing red coats but they keep coming.

on the other flank the 9th and 95th advance again once the French cavalry withdraw, the 70th swing round to cover this flank.

The 95th rifles start to pepper the 70th as the 9th move up to join the fire fight.

A monumental fire fight blazes along the French right flank.

Slowly the 9th and 95th start to withdraw under pressure from the French, the 5th having broken the French light find themselves facing the French infantry with cavalry on there flank also start to withdraw before the are surrounded.

Well its turn 15 and the game ends with the two British flanking columns about to appear to a scene of total
 scene of chaos. The French still hold the ridge line, but they are shattered having held off the first British assault. general Delaborde gave the order to withdraw, and the French units retire with there heads held high.





Wow what a fight, the rules worked well, an interesting game with the French fighting off the British, and claiming a tactical victory. The British fought hard but in the end the French just held their ground.  Well that's it for the moment. Next time I'm going to have a go at a what if battle of Rolica. what will happen when general Loison, appears on the battle field stay tuned till next time thanks for reading .