Vimeiro (2nd Run)

On March 5, I had the opportunity to set up a game of SHAKO in a local mall.

I chose to do this as there was a teacher's strike on and there could be some foot traffic to take note of the game.

Sadly (for me) the weather was fine, cold yet sunny. This meant that not many would want to come indoors. At least I had a spot under the skylight and was in sunny comfort most of the day.

There were some dozen or so curious onlookers through the day, I was happy when a couple of 8-12 year old boys decided to look and ask many questions. Within 15 minutes they had taken over command of the Anglo-Allied command and we continued to a time limit conclusion.


I had set up the Anglo forces in historical pattern, with a small variation for the artillery and Beresford's 5th Brigade, that was spread across the Ventosa plateau.



Beresfords' divided Brigade can be seen atop the hill in the distance, with Brenier's 1st Brigade in the Foreground, looking from the French left into the Anglo left across the field.



Here can be seen the artillery supporting role that Beresford's men took on.




The Anglo right flank, Vimeiro in the center, and distant behind the lines are the Portuguese (yes I am using a mix of others to fill in the role) and on his white horse is Wellseley.



Immediately the Anglo weak left is seen as the place of critical need. The Portuguese are at once dispatched to cover that flank.

The fire exchanges on the French left were going very well for the British and the brigade was forced to test morale, they only just converted to defense mode and held their ground.



In the center, Beresford was forced to flee with his men as half of them were crushed in Ventosa, while the regiment covering the guns was overrun and the guns taken by two columns of French Line Infantry ... the Grenadier Division had not been activated yet, it can be seen on the French start line.



Still the French Cavalry had not yet arrived, so the Anglo forces had a chance to throw off the French...

The boys had come in during turn two and we did two turns while they were in command.

They took the situation well and we came up on the clock as time limited us from running more than the 4th turn. The French Cavalry had not yet arrived, though the French Grenadiers had not been employed yet either. We agreed that it would be a close game if the cavalry did not arrive, if it did come then the allied lines were doomed.