New Napoleonic Scenario Books

Announcing a couple of new scenario books that cover any Napoleonic rule set. These books are now available for preorder. If you have any of the previous scenario books from Michael Hopper, then you know the detail and quality of the material presented.

I have reviewed previous books on this blog http://thepeninsularwar.blogspot.com/2018/05/new-napoleonic-scenario-books.html and http://thepeninsularwar.blogspot.com/2017/12/review-eagles-over-bavaria-duel-of.html So if you want new material and wish to continue supporting the hobby, please take a moment and consider purchasing these books from Michael. You can contact Michael for a purchase at log1cal.mh@gmail.com.

As with previous books, when my copies arrive, I will do a full review of the books. If you know other gamers who would be interested, please share this information with them. Good scenario material that works with any rule set is not common enough. If you have ever wanted to put on a historical scenario and have found that the information available is sketchy or time consuming to put together, save yourself the trouble.
 

New Napoleonic Scenario Books

In the ongoing publishing of scenario books for the Napoleonic Wars, Michael Hopper's soon to be released scenario books 3 & 4 finish up the 1809 campaign. As long as demand remains, these scenario books will continue to be published. Other theaters and years are planned in the future and this is the time to show our support for the work put into constructing the information into a usable form for wargamers to use.

As with previous scenario books, Michael Hopper has made the information within the scenarios detailed enough to convert to any rule set you use. That flexibility makes these books useful for anyone in Napoleonic gaming. With the expected official announcement of release later this month, be ready to obtain your copy while supplies last. Spread the word and let's support the time and effort put into this creation for our benefit. You can contact Michael about ordering his books at his email address: log1cal.mh@gmail.com

You can see my review of the previous two books here.

Duel Of The Princes: San Daniele Scenario 1809

A couple of us decided to play the San Daniele scenario from the Italian theater of the 1809 campaign. Michael Hopper having done the research and the other player providing all the figures and terrain, all I had to do was show up and roll some dice. Having a day where I was consistently rolling low, I got the Austrian command and was charged with defending in a rearguard scenario. The baggage wagons were victory points if the French could manage to capture them and we had to protect our line of retreat. Fairly straight forward.

It had been a couple of years or so since I had played Shako II but my opponent was in the same boat. We managed to get through it and for the first few turns my Austrians had to remain on a defend order. The French appeared on the board over a few turns and fanned out to engage the entire Austrian line. The Austrian left flank appeared to be their primary interest and so the first real clashes came from there, following to the center.

The French were taking some time to cover the distance. It can be seen here some French cavalry are along the flank and were to be a major nuisance in the game. After finally reaching contact with some Ausrian hussars, the first clash went to the Austrians. The French cavalry then permitted the infantry to press home the attack. The 5th Austrian hussars managed to break two French battalions who were unprepared and not in square. The Austrian cavalry's victories were short lived as the numbers of the French overwhelmed the useless Austrian artillery and made short work of the infantry attempting to back it up. The command managed to break after being demoralized for a couple of turns.

An early picture in the game around turn 3 or 4. The advance took a bit of time and we probably could have started the French a bit closer without fear or messing with the scenario too much. The time limit was 14 turns, but rolling from turn 11 and beyond to see if it ended earlier. Rolling as I did, the "1" did end the game on turn 11.

The Austrian right didn't see much action until the final turns of the game. Although the right held, the center near the villages did manage to get broken up. The Austrian defense of the villages (which were not objectives for either side) did manage to inflict a lot of damage upon the French and keep them tied up. The French managed to take most of the village sectors but very much weakened for the effort.

Rolling the 1 effectively gave me a victory sort of by default. We agreed to push and see how playing all 14 turns would be. Although the French managed to inflict further damage, they did not manage to take all the wagons or break the Austrians in entirety. It was a fun scenario that didn't follow the historical outcome but showed another possible result. I would have liked to have taken more and better pictures but all I had with me was my phone. We plan to replay the same scenario in May and maybe some additional pictures will get posted along with a possible different outcome.

Review: Eagles Over Bavaria & Duel Of The Princes

A while back I announced the upcoming release of two new scenario books from the talented historical researcher Michael Hopper. Having played many scenarios that he has written, I knew these books would be accurate and detailed to the level any fan would demand. Having now purchased and reviewed them, I can say they do not disappoint.

The old saying of not judging a book by its cover may be true, but in this situation the cover artwork is beautiful. Keith Rocco's works were used and offer a unique and meaningful presentation for these book covers. Classic paintings could have been used and might have well sufficed, but Michael Hopper chose to not cut any corners in this area. The glossy and eye catching cover was a great choice.

The beginning of the scenario book has some map keys and unit totals for the historical scenarios. These battles are quite manageable for 2-4 players with average sized collections. Larger battles like Eggmuhl, has a northern and southern scenario for fighting a portion of the battle. Abensburg has northern, center and southern scenarios for those portions of the battle. For rule sets like Lasalle where the general idea is that you're fighting a portion of a larger battle, this fits nicely. For Shako players, playing a large battle may be possible but be limited not by the rules, but by the game space available or number of players.

Of the two, Eagles Over Bavaria was the book I was looking forward to more so. Since I have a good number of Bavarian troops that sort of sit around in reserve status, it is nice to have some scenarios for me to structure an Austrian army around. Altdorf is one of those smaller battles that would be easier for player to recreate and offer some challenges for maneuvering. This particular scenario is one that I will work to get Austrians to be able to refight.

Duel Of The Princes has the same easy to follow lay out and scenario details. One detail that players may pick up on that weren't always available with other scenario books is that details of unit strength and artillery battery compositions. A 6lb gun might be rated differently depending on which rule set you're using. Knowing if a French foot battery was composed of 6lb or 8lb guns might impact whether the guns are deemed light or medium. Those details matter and Michael Hopper delivers. The morale and training ratings are listed for units in the order of battle. Different rule sets approach this information with varying levels of consideration, but having it will let you decide how to apply it.

Many scenario books are written to promote a particular set of rules and players are forced comply or spend time translating information into a different set of rules. These scenario books are specific on details for the scenarios but open enough to be applied to the rules of your choice. These scenario books are being printed in a limited run and so if you want to obtain your copy, you can contact Michael Hopper at log1cal.mh@gmail.com

New Napoleonic Scenario Books

Finding good scenario books is a challenge as most are rule set specific and often won't translate well into other rule sets. Sometimes scenarios that are available are all too common and frequently too large for many gamers to get involved in. Napoleonic gamers know of Wagram, but not many are aware of the smaller battles leading up to the climatic battle itself.

The first two volumes of the 1809 Danube campaign are now ready for you to reserve. Two more scenario books for the 1809 Danube campaign will follow shortly. These volumes, produced by the venerable Michael Hopper, author of Rise of Eagles, is producing a line of scenario books with many smaller unknown scenarios. The first two are fairly extensive and represent years of work and play testing to work out a finished product that any Napoleonic gamer would want to add to a collection.

These scenario books will only be produced in a limited run, so if you choose to wait you will miss out. If you want to own a finely produced scenario book to expand your game playing or inspire you to run a unique scenario with a chance of completing an entire campaign, this is your chance. You may contact Michael Hopper at: log1cal.mh@gmail.com

Battle of Valls - February 25, 1809

[Caption: Spanish on the left and French entering on the far right. Southern end looking north, with Castro's brigade on the left foreground.]

After the battles at Cardadeu and Molins Del Rey, the demoralized Spanish army withdrew to Tarragona to reorganize. The French went into cantonments as they too were weakened from the constant fighting. By February, the Spanish army had been drilled to the point where it could take the offensive. The Spanish moved north in two divisions, intending to catch the French and Italian forces in a dispersed manner.

Simultaneously, St. Cyr’s divisions marched south; driving Castro’s Spanish out of Igualada and capturing the Spanish magazines. Reding realized he had lost the opportunity to defeat the French in detail. Reding opted to join Castro and fall back on Tarragona. In a surprise move, the Spanish force marched through parts of the night, arriving northwest of Valls early on the morning of February 25th, where they were intercepted by St. Cyr with Souham’s 1st Division. Reding opted to cut through the opposing force.

[Caption: Spanish view from behind Saint Ellier's brigade across from Verge's brigade.]

Our game, using Shako II rules, began with historical OOB's, deployments and even outcome. The scenario was set for 12 turns and for the first 10 of the turns, the Spanish seemed to be in firm control of victory. The French were having problems getting close enough within the time allotted and to inflict enough losses to secure the Sierra Alta hill within the Spanish deployment zone. The French northern wing seemed to be completely inactive for the entire game and effectively did nothing and so a stand off occurred between the French and Spanish commander Saint Ellier's brigade.

[Caption: Spanish center showing portions of Irazano's brigade to the left and Castro's to the right. Fontane's brigade can be seen on the background on the left and Dumoulin's brigade on the right.]

By the 10th turn, the French finally managed some coordination to come up and attack. An aggressive chasseur a cheval cavalry unit made a rash attack on some second rate Spanish cavalry and wiped them out. The Spanish Maria Luisa Hussars charged the following phase and drove them back with some loss. The French infantry in the center under Mazzuchelli, managed to inflict heavy loss on Irazano's brigade, but were taking plenty of kills in the process. Castro's brigade was hit on the front and flank by Fontane and Dumoulin, respectively. Quite naturally with the Spanish flank unable to be anchored to any point, facing greater numbers and quality, it did not take long for this Spanish brigade to disintegrate and break.

The Spanish cavalry brigade under Casteldosorius, tried a rash attack on some French infantry crossing the stream and were bloodily repulsed and destroyed. With 2/3 of this brigade gone, they broke. By the end of turn 12, Irazano's brigade had suffered too many losses and became demoralized. The French managed to pull off a solid victory with troops on the Alta Sierra and the best wing of the Spanish army managed to walk away untouched, to fight another day.

I intended to have more pictures to document the turns, however my camera did not have its memory card and the internal memory only holds so much. With both sides having one artillery battery a piece, little action occurred until the last couple of turns when the French closed in. The scenario is under official development and perhaps one day will be released in a book with the other scenarios I have played and wrote about here.

Battle of Sepulveda November 28, 1808

The battle of Sepulveda was historically a Spanish victory in repulsing a Brigade of middle guard under direct command of General Savary and a brigade of cavalry under General Lasalle. General Savary's men found it hard to unseat the Spanish from this village as the forces on the low hills around the village withdrew to the safety of the village. The French after a minor scrap, withdrew. This did not happen in our historic refight.

In refighting this scenario, Lasalle took some time to make it on the board, but when he did, he quickly turned the Spanish cavalry around and routed one from the field during the first contact. The small Spanish artillery battery posted did cause some minor damage to the Imperial Guard sent to deal with them, but the guns were cleared and the gunners cut down. The Spanish infantry lead by Spanish General Sarden formed squares to ward off Lasalle's marauding cavalry. Two battalions of the Imperial Guard attacked the village, managing to inflict losses but being repulsed on the first attempt.

The Imperial Guard artillery finally moved into position and opened fire on the village, but their fire was completely ineffective. The supporting battalion of the assault on the village then lead the attack, inflicting severe losses on the garrison battalion occupying the first section and then occupying it. The following turn the French battalion attacked the other Spanish battalion in the remaining section of the village and managed to eject them and take the last sector. The supporting French battalion followed up in support to occupy the first sector of Sepulveda.

Lasalle's cavalry attacked the remaining Spanish cavalry regiment and finished them off and made a breakthrough into a Spanish square, which also broke and was routed from the field. The other Spanish battalions on the hill next to the village remained in square and were being shot up by the guardsmen who were in lines. The Spanish thought of trying to reform into a line now that the cavalry were well behind them and finishing off their comrades. Unfortunately, the Spanish morale test to reform while they were disrupted failed and they were now in a state of confusion The last two battalions of the Imperial Guard charged in and easily whipped the dazed and confused Spanish troops in squares. The final Spanish infantry battalion that had been ejected from the village was hit by Lasalle's other cavalry regiment and because the Spanish battalion was already mauled, was slaughtered. This last move completed the French entrapment of the remaining Spanish skirmishers who now had no route of escape due to the river being impassible.

The complete route and capture of the Spanish forces and village was a French major victory despite the fact that this was a small level game. Hopefully my friend Tim and I will be able to do the other battle in November 1808 of Somosierra next month.

Battle of Gamonal November 10, 1808

The Battle of Gamonal was a small battle and amongst one of the opening battles during the outbreak of hostilities between the French and Spanish armies. Part of Marshal Soult's corps was sent to clear newly appointed General Belveder out of the area and occupy the village of Gamonal. Historically, the Spanish were pretty much cut down and beaten pretty decisively. This opened up the invasion of central Spain for the rest of Napoleon's armies to sweep over and occupy the country. We decided to refight the battle using Shako 2 in 15mm scale.

In this particular battle recreation, things didn't go well for the French. General Lasalle's cavalry made attempts to break lines of Spanish infantry, including many second rate units. The Spanish had the fortune of anchoring their right wing under Henestrosa between a small village and the forest in the center of the field. The cavalry were then forced to make frontal assaults. The Spanish chose not to form square and managed to repulse Lasalle's cavalrymen repeatedly and even breaking the brigade in the process. This left General Milhaud's heavier dragoons to deal with this flank.

The French infantry snaked down the river banks to attack the Spanish left flank under General Alos. The French found equal difficulty here in managing to be thrown back due to the inability to outflank the Spanish who had their left flank anchored to the river and their right into the same forest that General Henestrosa's men were anchored to. A spanish battery present here and half the division managed to be a Thermopylae of sorts in holding at bay the French for the entire 9 turns of the scenario. The Spanish light battalion here was pushed back, but rallied and continued on until the bitter end.

The French infantry columns moving down were managing to move up more in force but going to be unable to occupy the village by the conclusion of the 9th turn. General Milhaud's cavalry managed to break two Spanish infantry battalions and then the following turn, another. The Spanish cavalary tried to make a counter charge against some of these dragoons who broke through and were engaged with a Spanish infantry battalion. The dragoons with a much better rating and a better dice roll here, managed to beat destroy both units, forcing a moral check for General Henestrosa's division. The Spanish right wing fled after multiple glorious feat of arms, leaving Gamonal open unless General Alos could stop them.

General Alos' fully intact division did divert an infantry battalion and cavalry regiment that were held in reserve to stop General Milhaud's rampaging dragoons. Since the dragoons were unable to hold the village, at best they could hit the division of General Alos in the rear. The only cavalry regiment in this remaining division attacked General Milhaud's leading dragoon regiment and received a counter charge from the second regiment of French dragoons. The Spanish cavalry was routed off the field. The remaining French infantry General Rey, only two shot up battalions were going to be forced to take a moral test to see if they could stay because they were now less than 50% of their six battalion starting strength.

Being the end of the 9th turn, it didn't matter as the French could not take the village and the cavalry could do not much more than risk getting themselves routed since they did not have infantry support. In the end, we considered it a minor Spanish victory even though General Reynaud's brigade could come into action. The Spanish lasted the required 9 turns and managed to pull of a minor victory if for nothing more than routing so many French forces off the table. The refight of the historical battle may have gone different from the original battle, but it was still quite fun to relive a part of history using correct maps and an OOB.