We fought a Napoleonic brigade level game using the Shako rules. The game was a theoretical one with the French fighting an Anglo/Dutch force.

Anglo-Dutch forces

1st brigade
2 light cavalry, 5 regular Dutch-Belgian battalions, 1 light battalion and 1 skirmisher.

2nd brigade

KGL cavalry, Brunswick lancers, rocket battery, Brunswick infantry, Brunswick Avante Garde skirmishers.

French forces

2 Grenadier battalion, 3 regular Line battalions, 2 light cavalry, 1 heavy cavalry, 2 foot artillery.

The attack was to be made by the Anglo-Dutch from low terrain shielded by woods. The 2nd brigade was on the right the 1st in the centre and left, with the cavalry covering both flanks.

The French were strung out across a front, cavalry deployed to the flanks.

The Allied cavalry charged the French cavalry in the first turn but bad dice rolling saw 2 immediately eliminated and 1 sent reeling. The Brunswick lancers kept coming taking fire from cannon and infantry. The Dutch Belgian centre came forward in columns to attack the French line.

The French centre was made up of two grenadiers and a regular line infantry battalion and they were assaulted by the 5 Belgian battalions. Bad luck now on the part of the grenadiers saw them nearly annihilated and pushed back, but 'just' holding on.

The Dutch lancers struck a French canon in the flank sweeping it away and then swung in behind the French lines. They next faced one of the surviving grenadiers whose flanks were held by the church and terrain impassable to cavalry. The grenadiers fired failing to inflict damage, but to the surprise of all won the melee.

This cavalry unit was eventually taken down by French light cavalry which later bounced off a Brunswick square.

The Dutch continued to push forward as far as the church holding the centre of the line and then turned to face the last of the French infantry. One Grenadier battalion was run down another fired, but a surviving infantry battalion broke through the church. A turn later counter charging a Belgian attack coming round the church, were it was shot up.

A loss of a Dutch unit forced a moral check which changed attack orders into defend orders. At the same time the French went onto attack orders to recapture the centre.

Skirmish fire inflicted only slight damage on the remaining Brunswick unit which was forced to form square in front of both surviving allied cavalry units.

In the final turn the French and Belgian units both took damage loosing a unit a piece. Unfortunately for the Dutch this was enough to lose 3/4 of the brigade which made them break.

Final losses for the French

Both grenadier battalions, 1 skirmisher, 2 line battalions, 1 artillery battery. The light cavalry had taken losses in 2 and 3 and the heavy cavalry losses of 2, the remaining infantry had taken a loss of 1.

Final losses for Dutch-Belgians

KGL and Brunswick Lancers and the whole Dutch brigade which went when reduced to 2 battalions both which had only taken 1 damage.

Victory finally went to the French that had valiantly held their position with this successful rearguard action.