(Being based upon a true and accurate analysis of later versions of Sir John T Jones' 1813 Journal of Sieges in Spain; but designed for solo play within 5 minutes using x2 D10. But note that 0 scores LOW - ie `0' not '10'. My historical analysis of this first appeared in Empires, Eagles & Lions #97, Nov-Dec 1986)

i) You command a British army `Somewhere in Western Europe' between 1811 and 1814. You have just arrived outside a key fort held by the French. IT IS VERY URGENT that you take this fort as quickly as possible, since time presses and it is a vital position.

How big is the fort? Roll 39-99 and the fort is BIG (eg Badajoz, Ciudad Rodrigo, Burgos, Berg-op-Zoom) = Very Bad News! But for 0-38 the fort is medium or small = Much better news for you.

How big is your attacking army?

(a) Against a BIG fort: Roll 0-35 and your army is big enough to mount multiple attacks against a `BIG' fort = Excellent! But for 36-99 your army can mount only small attacks against a `Big' fort = Ominous!

(b) Against a smaller fort you do not need to roll at all, since your army will always have enough troops to mount a full range of attacks.

ii) You summon the fort to surrender, without any prior preparation on your part. Alas it does not surrender under any circumstances at this stage. Even if you throw between 0-99 on your x2 D10, you will never get a better result than that! Sorry.

iii) You now try to prepare the fort for your attack, using engineers, artillery and diplomacy (= Bang, Crash, Boom! A short, if indeterminate, period of nastiness ensues).

Will there be a storming?
(a) Against a medium or small fort attacked by any size of army:Roll 0-77 and the fort surrenders before that point. You capture all of it. Otherwise, the storming goes ahead. By definition this means the defender believes he has a good chance - ie the attacker's preparation has been inadequate - but the attacker himself believes that his own preparations have if fact been sufficient.

(b) Against a BIG fort attacked by an inadequate army:Roll 89-99 and the storming is cancelled because the fort is too strong. Sorry: you lost. But otherwise, the storming goes ahead.

(c) Against a BIG fort attacked by a big army: The storming goes ahead automatically.

iv) If there is to be a storming, you now prepare your storming parties. How many storming columns do you use?

(a) Against a medium or small fort, with any size of army: Roll 0-49 and there are three columns. Roll 50-99 and there is one column.

(b) Against a BIG fort with a small army: Roll 0-36 and there are two columns. Roll 37-99 and there is one column. 

(c) Against a BIG fort with a big army: Roll 0-39 and there are four columns. Roll 40-79 and there are three columns. Roll 80-99 and there is one column.

v) Your storming parties now make their assault! For each of your storming columns roll x2 D 10. Read off the results as follows:

• 0-26 = The attack by that column is `completely' successful. You have won this particuar attack, ie
  (a) In the case of a small army against a BIG fort this does not mean you have captured the fort unless you have also launched a second column that has been at least `partially' successful (Without such a second success, your assault counts as a'draw').

  (b) In the case of any army against a small fort, or a big army against a BIG fort, even one `completely' successful column means that the whole fort has been captured. Casualties: Lose 550 men against a BIG fort, otherwise 67 men.

• 27-45 = The attack by that column is only `partially' successful, and has had a long, costly fight. Any army captures a small fort after this, but a small army captures a BIG fort only if one of its other columns has been `completely' successful. A big army captures a BIG fort if at least one of its other columns has been at least `partially' successful. Failing these conditions, you are ultimately beaten off. Casualties: Lose 650 men against a BIG fort, otherwise 100 men.
• 46-99 = The attack by that column has totally failed. Sorry: you can capture this particular fort only if your other columns have captured it. Casualties: Lose 200 men against a BM fort, othenvise 50 men.

vi) Now read off your results (This bit is not based on Jones' statistics):

Lose 1 point for every casualty you suffered.

Lose 1,500 points for every storming column that has participated in an overall failed attempt to capture a BIG fort, but 0 points for a `draw'.

Lose 250 points for every storming column that has participated in an overall failed attempt to capture a small or medium fort. Win 3,000 points if you have captured a BIG fort, but win nothing for a 'draw'.

Win 350 points if you have captured a small or medium fort.

Enter your total scores (and preferably a hint of your combat histories) here:

Attempt: 1 2 3 4

Size of Fort:
Size of your Army:
Result of Attack:
Total Casualties Lost:
Other Points Lost:
Hence Total Points Lost:
Total Points Won:
Overall Total Points:
Comments:

(As a guide, the stormers in Jones' book scored a grand total of -90 points)

Storming Through the Peninsula

Siege Operations in the Napoleonic Wars
Table 1: Small Forts are Easy Prey and Big Forts Can Be Taken
Table 2: Number of Columns in Each Attack
Table 3: Success of Each Column Against a Big Fort
Peninsula Storming The Game