Scenario: Napoleonic (Peninsular War), Battle of Corunna, Spain. Rules: Column, Line and Square (CLS). Figure Scale: 30mm. Players: Dan Rakowski took Soult/Foy's command; John Duffy took Arnauds', Duane Warnecke had cavalry command of La Haussaye, while British were commanded by Dave Corbett who had Moore/Anstruther and Jim Sipple had Gen. Moore Disney. Eight turn game. Terrain: Streams: -3 for massed troops, +1 for skirmished troops; -3 for vehicles. Bridge: stone; Houses: used fro decoration only. British Victory Conditions: Maximum: keep French from exiting off board off road past bridge, or drive French from field. French Victory Conditions: Maximum: destroy British or exit at least 4 infantry battalions (of at least 50% strength) off board NW on road past bridge. Minimum: inflict 50% or more casualties on British. A draw is a British victory. Order of Battle: French: Marshal Nicholas Soult CIC: Foy's Brigade of 5 Inf. Bn's; Arnaud's Brigade of 4 Inf. Bn's.; La Haussaye's cavalry brigade of 1 reg. Hussars & one 4lb horse gun bty. British: Gen. Sir John Moore CIC: Anstruther: 1st Brigade: 2 bn's line inf., one bn rifles; one bn light inf. Disney 2nd Brigade: 2 line inf. bn's. Historical Background: When the fall of Madrid caused the end of organized Spanish resistance to Napoleon, the British army, under the command of Sir John Moore, whose reform of infantry and light infantry tactics raised the British army to the epitome of their profession, was stranded in Spain without effective allies and far from their base ports. Faced by overwhelming numbers of French under the command of the Emperor himself, Moore began a withdrawal to the seaport of Corunna in Alicia on Spain's northwest coast. Traveling over roads that could barely justify that description, and through ice and snow while fighting numerous rearguard actions, the British army all but disintegrated. Upon reaching Corunna, the artillery and cavalry still existed, along with those members of the army who were hors combat for whatever reason, were loaded aboard transports when the advance column of French under Marshall Soult caught up with them. Moore turned around t face his adversaries with those few units of the army whose courage and morale had not been destroyed by the withdrawal. The French attacked and were repulsed allowing the British to make good their escape but Sir John Moore perished of wounds from the battle. As a young officer, Moore had served in the British Army in the Am. War of Independence in the Penobscot Campaign. The Wargame: Turn One: The French advanced and the British 95th Rifles skirmished to the British left flank as the 71st Highland Light Infantry advanced in line. The 33rd Foot formed column left and the 20th Foot back up to align themselves with Disney's brigade who were advancing. The 71st let go a "sheet of flame" volley at the French 1/6th legere which caused that unit enough casualties to check and fail its morale causing it to withdraw from the field. Turn Two: Disney's fighting Micks of the two Irish regiments, the 87th (Prince of Wales Own Irish), and the 88th Foot (Connaught Rangers), advanced and volleyed against Foy's advancing ligne and legere while the 20th Foot aligned itself to their flank and the 71st H.L.I. fire fought the French again but this time sustaining heavy casualties. Turn Three: The French 3/6th Legere fired and charged into the 71st H.L.I. while the 87th and 88th exchanged volleys with Foy's brigade. On the British left (French right) flank, the 95th Rifles picked off the carabinier of the Irish Legion in Arnauds' Brigade but did not escape with impunity as the rapidly advancing French quickly closed the distance between them and their British adversaries. Turn Four: The 71st H.L.I. meleed by the gallant 6th Legere lost a morale check and fell back two inches. Turn Five: The 33rd Foot formed line south of the village of Oza and facing east while the 20th crossed its "t" facing south. The French hose artillery came into play and in a magnificent shot, sent a ball through the redcoated ranks, knocking out six figures. Turn Six: The opposing brigades of Foy and Disney continued to maul each other. The 95th Rifles fell back across the bridge in the face of Arnauds columns and the approaching 3rd Hussar Regiment. Combat effectiveness checks were taken by many units and the British were more fortunate in this area as the 95th, 20th, 87th, and 88th all passed C.E. with die rolls of 1 or 2. Turn Seven: Foy's brigade, once five battalions strong, was no longer on the field and hors combat for the rest of the battle. The 3rd Hussars charged across the streams and into the 33rd and 20th Foot but were repulsed. Arnauds battalions had poured volley after volley into the thinning British ranks and at the conclusion of the turn only a few companies of the 95th rifles were still combat effective to face Arnaud's and La Haussaye's commands. The game had been decided and the British could not meet their victory conditions. All the players played well, especially those who were relatively new to the rules. This game was played at the Hospital Game on October 11th, 1985. I bungled the use of the 95th Rifles by not keeping them far enough away from John Duffy's Irish Legion Legere who returned the Rifle's fire with accuracy. The game began approximately 7:00 PM and was completely finished by 9:30 PM. This allowed us all time to critique the game, pack the troops, etc., and converse with fellow players involved in Randy Giesy's WWI tank wargame. Editor's Note: Dave's group, The Bendidect Arnold Society, meets frequently for 30mm CLS games in Napoleonics, American Civil War, and American Rev. The last two are 25mm and the rules used are modified CLS rules. If interested, contact him at 17300 Holmes, Hazel Crest, Illinois, 60429 (312-335-2718). Back to MWAN #19 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 1986 Hal Thinglum This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com