Corunna AAR :: SHAKO 2 rules

 I love it when a plan comes together!

I was asked by an east coast group to support the virtual Huzzah convention with a tabletop game online.

I chose Corunna as a candidate as I had not done that one, and the event was happening over the anniversary of the battle.

the situation at Corunna

 A player from the convention list who had signed up for the game had a family emergency and ended up cancelling all his convention games.

It meant that I was going to have to fill in his spot for opponent as I had Chris ready to go.

I used a scenario from the Programmed War-gaming Scenario book that best 'fit' the general situation of Corunna.

Chris chose to be the British defenders, so he got this map for planning out his forces:

the 'left - center - right' of the table, with the top end being for
the defenders to set up - in this case British

This left the French, attackers, to me to plan out.  I have attempted flank attacks many times before and each time something did not go quite to 'plan' - still I know that the flank attack has worked out very well from history - so flank attack it would be again ...

the 'left - center - right' of the table, with the bottom end
for the defenders to set up - in this case French

overall table view and broadcast booth

troops deployed from French left view

troops deployed from British right view

right flank of British line

center and right of British line

French division on hill with HQ and artillery

marching French division on French right wing

only a little shift in turn 1 movement

the British horse was on the flank ...

view of the field at start of turn 3

British guns were firing consistently, hitting on the averages 30%

that British Light Dragoon force was intent on holding the flank

they had a view over the whole battlefield

British foot and guns lined the hill ...

French voltiguer were the first to get a clear view
of the horse on the flank ...

unknown at the time, yet suspected, turn 4 would be the pivotal moment
in this engagement

British horse would be hit hard ...

French at the center would start to move off

the French right flank ... scene of the action

British center, artillery continued to pound away ...

French Chasseur and Hussar engaged the British Light Dragoons
from front and rear!

surrounded in melee

The Light Dragoons did not survive

... and neither did General Paget!
(future Earl of Uxbridge)

We had some viewers in the twitch stream and one asked about the terrain pieces, so we took a moment to feature my 'weeble' trees:

overview at turn 5

the French right flank moved forward while the horse
'rested' to remove the 'blown' markers

British right flank realized the battle was all on the
left and was frantically maneuvering to get into the battle

by turn 6 it was almost too late as the French horse
now slammed into the flank - thankfully a 'hasty square' was formed

French horse guns press forward

placing the square at 'point blank' range for turn 7

the British square held ... for now

French columns were pressing forward ...

Turn 7 would be the final moment for this battle ...

a rush from the British right to left would not
make enough difference now ...

valiant though it was

French columns smash into the lines on the
British left

further on the left artillery pounded away

at point blank range!

while British artillery did do some damage, it was not enough

the French at the center held

firing back at the British center from in front of HQ
(Soult and staff in the foreground)

artillery fire (as seen online)

close range

cavalry charge into the flank of a line
which failed to make 'hasty square'

shattering the British line unit

pressing on into the first square - then failing in close combat
forced to retreat

British batteries were charged by French columns

both were hit

both were utterly destroyed

General Moore would not be able to hold the field this day ...

not boding well for the evacuation at the port either

French light horse reigned supreme on the field today

while the foot were doing the job of smashing artillery

leaving the British foot vulnerable ...

while not a rout, this was certainly a French victory

view online (see video at end of post)

thanking the viewers

our 'tech' section

my miniatures storage system
in mobile mode

All-in-all it was a great way to spend a day in study of Napoleonic tactics in a much more open field situation than I have used in a while.

Video of the final wrap up follows.

And a copy of the French 'planning map':