Saturday, January 14, 2012

Plans de SIO AAR

A battle by Proxy for Defiant Principality.

I was to set up a battle between two evenly matched cavalry forces across mostly open ground. The time was October 14, 1715 in Spain.

While I did not have use of my tricornes, either having recently been sold or 'gone missing' I still have plenty of 25mm minis to do this job.

We settled on the "Warfare in the Age of Reason" rule set to play out the game.



The map I was given was thus.



Here is what the interpretation on the game table looked like.



The commanders then laid out their respective commands.



The first turn was one of minor maneuver, in order to get the two lines of cavalry facing one another ...



Full of jitters "La Fe" Dragoons and their untried Colonel Dalmau squared off against battle tested Numancia and wounded Torquemada of Spain.



Once the two lines of horsemen were lined up, the Spanish commander had decided the only way to achieve his orders and drive off the Catalans was to charge.



Command of the Catalan forces was Colonel Dalmau, likewise he had decided that the only way he could keep the ground today was to charge, he attached himself to one half of his force that would have an open flank and bellowed the order to charge just as his opposite the Spanish General Bracomonte did the same.



CHARGE!

Both sides barely made contact as only the flank supported half of Dalmau's Dragoons actually managed to advance.



Caught up in the fleeing horsemen Dalmau was very nearly run down by the 1st Squadron of the La Fe Dragoons as they fled the field.

Similarly General Bracomonte was obliged to fall back and rally the 1st of the Numancia Dragoons. While not swept away by the swirling horsemen, the General was unable to halt them from fleeing the area.



Neither of the remaining forces decided to engage as their respective commanders were gone. While only on very tired horses the 2nd La Fe Dragoons did not want to test the mettle of the battle tested mix of Numancia and wounded Torquemada Dragoons who were only in a bit of a disorganized state and ready to fight with fresh horses.

In only two turns, perhaps 20 minutes of time, with the charge taking only two or three minutes the battle was over, the Catalans had fled the field.

Spain did not hold the field, yet they could report back that the way was clear.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

This was a good re-engagement for me in the Age of Reason rules and reminded me of why I wanted 12 man cavalry units along with the design of my units with 2-man cavalry stands.

I may have to re-form some more tricornes to give the rules a good run.

12 comments:

Fitz-Badger said...

Nice-looking game! Almost too bad it went by so fast! ha ha

Izzak Grimnebulin said...

Excellent, once again proves that even the slightest of engagements can be fun to fight and read.

Ross Mac rmacfa@gmail.com said...

Nice for the cavalry to play by themselves now and then without all the noise and dirty smoke from all those vulgar muskets and cannons.

Rafael Pardo said...

I agree... it's is a pity but your adaptation looks nice
Regards
Rafa

MurdocK said...

I see the need for 'little encounters' like this on the flanks of the big battalions in order to determine who gets what information about the enemy movements ...

I have certainly liked the "Battles by Proxy" that the Emperor vs Elector blog has brought into the mix.

Soldadets said...

Hummm... I guess Colonel Dalmau's superiors won't be any happy with his regiment's behaviour on the field...

He's likely having a bad day tomorrow at Catalan HQ, where he has been ordered to report. Well, let's wait and see what happens at his meeting with General Marquis of Poal... :D

David, many thanks for your valuable help at proxy gaming this battle. Too bad it didn't last enough to be fully enjoyed by you!

Jordi said...

Delightful sir.

It's not the best end, but it's not the worst.

Just little thing: It was 1713, not 1715.

MurdocK said...

Oh I enjoyed it thoroughly!

It was a great reminder of how fickle cavalry can be, especially when place in solitary action against one another, no supports or combined arms.

It was also instructive to my younger opponent (eldest son) as we talked about why the encounter came out the way it did with each of our decisions ...

Most certainly the "men" behaved in a way totally consistent with "their" interests. Something that is often lost on the tabletop commander, there was no reason for either side to press on as there was no army coming out that way, this was the ultimate example of a flank cavalry 'skirmish'.

Soldadets said...

Worth to be held in mind, as you say. I do agree with you, this was a quite apart sideshow. Isolated as they were from their respective main columns, it's likely that men on both sides felt especially insecure in such situation --even plainly doubtful about the usefulness of risking their lives for who knows what!

Soldadets said...

BTW, lots of thanks for your help. About to post a scene on my own blog following battle consequences.

Gallia said...

Congratulations.
Small encounters like these are a lot of fun. Another advantage is brevity of time, plans and everything else.
Cheers to the two officers,
Bill

MurdocK said...

I shall look into the blog post on follow up after the battle.