Catching Up On Past Games (2): Battle of Bailén, 19th July 1808

Spanish Arms Victorious Again

The Game


The Battle of Bailen, which resulted in the surrounding and surrender of General Dupont and 13 000 troops, is considered the first significant loss by the French army during the Napoleonic Wars. It “caused a sensation throughout Europe, and its repercussions, together with Junot’s defeat at Vimeiro persuaded Napoleon of the need for his personal intervention in the Peninsula’ (Chandler 1979).

I put together our scenario of the battle in September 2010, but we did not play it until May 2012. The forces present were determined based on a conversion of 600–800 soldiers present per battalion on the tabletop and 400–600 troopers per cavalry unit on the tabletop. The game lasts for fourteen, thirty-minute turns (07:30–14:00).

The game ends at the end of the 14:00 turn, or if the French army exits the table, or if all of the divisions of one side or the other are broken. Victory points are awarded to each side at the conclusion of the battle. The Spanish side receives two victory points for each broken French “division” and four points if the French baggage train is captured. The French side receives two victory points for each unbroken French “division” that exits the eastern edge of the table within 60 cm of Bailén and four points if the French baggage train exits in the same manner. Victory is determined by the differential in the number of victory points for each side.

There were Swiss units present on both sides during this battle. As with their historical counterparts, the ‘Spanish-Swiss’ troops of Schramm's brigade of Dupont’s army will surrender to the Spanish on a modified die roll of ‘0’ if within 22.5 cm (9”) of any Spanish infantry unit. The die roll is reduced by one for each kill suffered by the infantry units of Schramm’s brigade (only).

Map for our scenario of Bailén

We played the game twice, firstly using the Polemos General de Division rules and the second time using Shako_ANF. In both battles Julian and I took the French and Mark the Spanish.

First version using Polemos General de Division rules
(22nd ANF game, played 13th May 2012)

We randomly allocated the quality of generals by dice rolls. Spanish: Reding decisive, Coupigny and La Peña plodding. French: Schramm capable, Chabert decisive, Pannetier decisive, Dupré capable, Privé capable.

The eastern end of the table looking north along the Cerro Valentin with Coupigny's division in foreground and Reding's in the distance. Bailén is at right.

Looking west from the Spanish position, Bailén in the foreground, French army in the distance.

From the western end of the table, French baggage just visible at left-hand foreground, with Dupré's light cavalry ahead of it. Trees in centre (representing the olive grove!) with Pannetier moving through and Privé to the right. In the distance Schramm and Chabert are in position to attack the Spanish.

Turn 1 (07:30): Schramm's artillery bombarded Reding's Spanish, resulting in a ceasefire (good old GdD!). Chabert's division advanced towards Reding's position on the Cerro Valentin.

Reding's battery successfully bombarded one of the Swiss units of Schramm's brigade and forced it back 1 BD. Reding's infantry moved to threaten Chabert's flank.

Turn 2, 08:00: Chabert's units moved towards Reding's line and fired at no effect.

Reding's gun bombarded the 4th Swiss and got a cease fire result.

Reding's Walloon and Swiss charged a battalion of Chabert's 4th Reserve Infantry and the 4th Swiss respectively. The Swiss were pushed back and the 4th Reserve Infantry broken.

Another view of the successful attack by Reding's troops

Closer view

Chabert's brigade failed morale, spent and began to retreat!

Turn 3, 08:30: Dupré's light cavalry moved in support of Schramm's brigade. Reding's division attacked Schramm's lead units and pushed them back.

Turn 4, 09:00: Dupré's chasseurs charged and broke unit of Spanish line.

The Point of impact.

Schramm's Swiss charged the Walloon's and broke! The Walloon Guard, supported by artillery, then attacked next unit of Schramm's brigade and broke it. Schramm's brigade was spent.

Spanish hussars with nocturnal mascot!

Turn 5, 09:30: Tempo won by the Spaniards. Reding's infantry fired and caused a shaken level on chasseurs. The French removed the shaken level in their tempo and charged Reding's 'line' infantry who formed square. The chasseurs were forced back with two shaken levels (supporting unit were pushed back too).

Pannetier's and Privé's troops moved up but too late to become involved in the battle.

Result: Spanish victory.

Second version using Shako ANF rules
(23rd ANF game, played 2nd June 2012)

The set-up; as for version one.

Turn 1, 07:30: Reding's artillery fired at the attacking French with mixed results and Chabert's division began its attack on Cerro Valentino. Dupont sent orders to Dupré and Schramm to support the attack, the aide reaching the former (for turn 2).

Turn 2, 08:00: Chabert's infantry overran Reding's artillery. Meanwhile orders were received by Pannetier and Schramm to support the attack.

Turn 3 08:30: Chabert's brigade continued its attack on Reding's position on the Cerro Valentino.

Dupré's chasseurs charged the Walloons which had formed square...

allowing the 4th Swiss to attack and break one of the Walloon's squares. However, the 1/4th Reserve Infantry from Chabert's brigade failed against Spanish Reyna regiment.

Dupré's 1st Provisional Chasseurs broke against the square of the Walloon Guard, but his brigade passed the morale test at 50%—phew!

Comin' through the orchard

Turn 4: 09:00: The 4th Swiss broke the square of the Spanish Corona regiment. The 2nd Provisional Chasseurs tried their luck against the Walloon square; they retreated, but were not broken.

A close-up view of the action on the Cerro Valentin.

Another view of the combat on Cerro Valentin.

Meanwhile, Piré's heavy cavalry...

and the Garde de Paris and Garde Marins of Pannetier's brigade approach the ridge.

The 2/4th Reserve Infantry from Chabert's brigade attacked the second line of Reding's position and forced back the Spanish 3rd Swiss infantry in Reding's brigade. The 4th Swiss (French) were broken after taking further casualties... from skirmisher fire!

Turn 5 09:30: Chabert's 4th Reserve Infantry attacked the 1/Irlanda regiment...

and broke them. The 2nd Provisional Chasseurs overran Reding's horse gun, then rallied back into line.

Piré's cavalry and Pannetier's infantry come within striking distance. Piré's 1st Provisional Dragoons fought off the first combined unit of Spanish line cavalry from Reding's brigade, then attacked and routed the Spanish combined dragoons with its breakthrough move. 

Turn 6 10:00: The remaining battalions of the 4th Reserve Infantry of Chabert's brigade attacked Reding's Spanish 3rd Swiss infantry, one French battalion was broken by the defender's volley, while the other was stopped in its tracks.

Turn 7: 10:30: The last battalion of Chabert's 4th Reserve Infantry was broken by a volley from the Spanish 3rd Swiss infantry of Reding's brigade (no photo).

Turn 8 11:00: Reding's brigade counter-attacked towards Schramm's Swiss (seen out of focus in distance) as Pannetier's brigade attacked the Spanish position.

This attack by 1/Garde de Paris and 2/3rd reserve legion...

was pushed back by the square of the Walloon Guards.

Piré's cuirassiers broke the 3rd Swiss infantry in Reding's brigade.

Piré's dragoons charged Reding's combined Spanish dragoons and pushed them back.

Turn 9 11:30: The Jaen regiment from Reding's brigade (brown coats three photos above) was broken by artillery fire from Dupont's corps artillery (no photo).




Turn 10 12:00: The last Walloon battalion was broken by 2/Garde de Paris supported by the Garde Marins (no photo). Piré's 2nd Provisional Dragoons charged a square of Coupigny's division and retreated. From the west, La Peña's troops arrived in the command phase!

Turn 11 12:30: Piré's 2nd Provisional Dragoons were broken by artillery fire from Coupigny's horse artillery (not shown). Coupigny's Bourbon/Espana cavalry charged Piré's 1st Provisional Dragoons and were broken by the French horsemen (not shown). Reding's demoralised troops attacked Schramm's Swiss and one unit of each side was broken...

Reding's division was not yet at 75% losses, so was still able to fight on demoralised...

Schramm's Swiss changed sides...

Game over!

The Cerro Valentin at game's end.

Schramm's Swiss changed sides as the French baggage came up.

The Garde Marins; off to a prison hulk...

as are the 2/Garde de Paris...

and the 1/Garde de Paris and 2/3rd Reserve Legion.

La Peña's Pavia dragoons and Jerez lancers and infantry (in background) arriving to encircle Dupont's troops.

Another Spanish victory. Viva Espana!

Our impressions

As expected, this was a tough gig for the French player, irrespective of the rules used, but it was by no means a certainty for the Spanish player. The best hope for the French is to win it early. The second version enabled us to drive hard at Reding's defences and, as the closing photos show, thanks to Chabert's brigade and then the support of Pannetier and Piré's cavalry, his position on the Cerro Valentin had been driven through. This was not enough though as the 'net' of Coupigny's and La Peña's troops was closing around the French when the Schramm's Swiss decided not to continue the fight against their brothers.

It became evident in the second version of the game that it was impossible for the French baggage to make it off the table within the allotted time, even if it had been able to move at full rate every turn. The scenario designer had not done the calculations properly! Fortunately it did not make a difference to the outcome, but it does reinforce that, ya gotta check them scenarios carefully and it always to do a play-test! :)


Sources

Chandler DG (1979) Dictionary of the Napoleonic Wars. MacMillan Publishing Co., New York. p. 39.

Jackson AC (2001-2004) The Battle of Bailén, 19th July 1808. http://www.peninsularwar.org/bailen.htm

Tsao V (n.d.) Bailen scenario July 19, 1808. http://lefeusacre.co.uk/scenarios/Bailen.html

Wargames Society (2008) BailenAnniversary http://ilovewargameing.fr.yuku.com/topic/1880

Rules review: General de Division

We have used these rules twice now; the first was a game based on the Battle of Saalfeld, 10th October 1806 and the second on the Battle of Bailén, 19th July 1808. Both of these are moderate sized battles involving opposing armies equivalent to about a corps in strength. They are also both battles that 'developed' with the defending Prusso-Saxon and Spanish armies respectively pitched against a French 'army' arriving over the course of the battle. This was not done intentionally, but probably makes for a better test of a set of rules than does a set piece battle.

Sometimes we are able to tell immediately that a set of rules is not for us. Occasionally they do not seem ‘right’ upon reading. If a set has something to offer we’d generally aim for at least two test games to evaluate them fully. This was the case with GdD which gave us one impression after the first test-game and quite another after the second.

Brief overview and first impressions

As with all of the sets of rules in the Baccus/Polemos "stable", General de Division (GdD) are designed specifically for 6 mm figures, with, in this case, units representing around 500 to 1 000 combatants; i.e. a battalion or regiment of infantry or a regiment or brigade of cavalry. The book incorporates two related, complimentary, but subtly different sets of rules for corps/army (Marechal de l'Empire) and corps/division (General de Division) scale games. The rule book itself is nicely produced, well written with generally clear examples and, as a bonus, a couple of scenarios for games based on historical battles.

The concept of ‘tempo’ is at the heart of both sets of rules. Tempo is an innovative system which combines ideas of initiative and PIPs into a novel and workable system to manage command and control plus movement sequence on the tabletop. Each side gets a number of ‘tempo’ points based on a die roll and number of subordinates. They ‘bid’ with part of their allocation to win the initiative for the turn, the remainder being available to send to subordinates who then convert them to ‘orders’ to get higher level formations or individual units to perform actions.

On face value tempo is solely about command and control, but is actually the process by which GdD controls time. While stylised, it is reasonable as a means of managing the timing of events on the table, but there remains the need to ‘prompt’ a formation to move which we, particularly Mark, found frustrating. We could understand needing to get orders to a formation but, once on the way, it seemed somewhat ridiculous to have to ‘prompt’ everything each turn.

The measurement of ground scale in GdD (and MdE) is quite brilliant. Units are based on stands of base width (BW) x base depth (BD)—obviously! The brilliance is that a BD is 1/2 BW. All movement and ranges are given in terms of BW, meaning that a single measuring stick in increments of BW (including a half BW) is sufficient for everything, ranges and movement are easy to work out and, I daresay, to memorise after a few times using the rules.

Unit quality is covered simply by four levels of training; raw, trained, veteran and élite. Skirmishers are included simply as a skirmish factor for each unit. Tempo points are converted into ‘orders’ based on a commander's rank and capability (decisive, capable, plodding).

The combat system is a bit of a mixed bag. The artillery bombardment rules seemed bizarre as the most likely results were either a miss or causing the battery to cease firing. The firefight/mêlée combat system seemed somewhat cumbersome when you read it, due to the multiple steps, but appeared to play quite well. ‘Casualties’ are taken as ‘shaken’ levels, three ‘shaken’ levels causing a unit to break. Higher level morale is covered and brigades/divisions rapidly became ‘spent’ once a few units are ‘shaken’ or ‘broken’.

So, after the first use of GdD for our first Saalfeld game we were left with the impression that, while not the ideal ‘horse’ for our ‘course’, they played pretty well and were worth another go. Our impression of the rules diminished after our second play-test, which involved all three members of the ANF.

Second test

Our second play-test of GdD, for a game based on the Battle of Bailén, highlighted the fact that they are derived from Baccus’/Polemos’ original rules for the War of Spanish Succession and retain a strong C18th flavour (an aspect that Julian picked up straight away). The introduction to the Polemos Great Northern War rules (published 2005) says "it relies very heavily on the excellent work done so far in other rules in the series, in particular the War of Spanish Succession rules." Chris Grice, the author of the Polemos’ War of Spanish Succession rules also wrote GdD and MdE, which were published in 2006.

This ‘heritage’ of the rules is evident in several aspects; the ineffectual artillery bombardment, the ability of infantry in line to drive off cavalry (and this being the best tactic!), the fact that squares are not represented per se but as part of combat resolution, even, the constant ‘prompting’ aspect of the tempo system. In addition, the ‘fast play’ nature of the rules became evident as commands rapidly became ‘spent’ once a unit or two was shaken and/or broken resulting in no ebb and flow of combat in the game.

Further considering the ineffectual artillery bombardment rules Mark and I postulated that it is in part because the rules mechanism for casualties backs them into a corner. If bombardment was more effective and produced a single ‘shaken level’ result with a lower die roll, then the best die roll result would need to cause two, or even three shaken levels. If that happened, units would be destroyed by one artillery fire and so an entire command could be broken in a single bombardment—thus entering the realms of Grand Battery! Rules such as Shako get around this as (most often) only one casualty at a time (and/or a stagger) is inflicted in a single artillery fire, but you tend to inflict casualties more often, so you get a slow wearing down of battalions under fire over a few hours. This to us “makes sense" and certainly makes for a more enjoyable game, IMHO.

Our final assessment

We think that GdD are a reasonable set of rules, but not appropriate for Napoleonics. Admittedly we were taking them beyond their intended figure scale but our reasons are due to mechanisms rather than scale. We won’t be using GdD again but we are looking forward to using the Polemos Great Northern War rules when we do some games of that period—after 2015!