Historicon 2021: Fuentes de Onoro

6 PM Saturday night at Historicon was the time for my large Peninsular War game, Fuentes de Onoro, using Field of Battle, 3rd edition. The scenario is included at the end of this post. 

We wound up effectively having 6 players, which is a little bit light for a game of this size. Only one of the participants had ever played Filed of Battle before, which made things a bit challenging to coordinate as well. Additionally, the players at the other three games in the room were having a great time, which was fantastic, but it made the noise level quite high... although nothing like Saturday night the first year in Fredericksburg, after which *everyone* had tinnitus!

I was very happy with the look of the game. I didn't get to take many pictures due to assisting players with learning the rules. 

FoB/Piquet veteran, Freddie Avner (green sweater) was a big help, teaching the rules to the players on his half of the field. 

Although I had "stacked" the sequence decks a bit, as I usually doe for a convention game, making sure that there was at least 1 MOVE card in the first few cards in both decks, on the second initiative roll of the game, after turning just 2 cards, a tie was rolled and the decks shuffled before the cards appeared. It took a long time for a French MOVE card to appear after that, resulting in a long range exchange of cannon fire of long duration.  

The French finally got on the move, and launched attacks along the line. For the most part, the British were up to the task of repulsing them. There were quite a lot of French reinforcements available; given the number of players and the unusually slow pace of the game, I opted to leave them in their boxes. It became clear that Massena would not be able to reverse history... this time!

This game lead to my having some thoughts on how I might modify Field of Battle, 3rd edition, for Convention Games/New Players. That will follow in a post immediately after this one. 

The Scenario:

S18:476 Battle of Fuentes de Onoro, May 5, 1811 Saturday, 6:00 PM, 5 hrs, Players: 8, Location: Maple/Juniper: MJ-5 

French Army of Portugal

Commander-in-Chief:  Marechal Andre Massena

Exceptional, LD D10

Sequence Deck: Average   Morale Points  54 units * 62 MP

II Corps, GD Jean Reynier 

Skilled, LD 12

1st Division, GD Pierre Hugues Victoire Merle

Average, LD 10

5 Leger  DD 6, CD 12

6# Foot Battery DD 6, CD 12

 

2nd Division, GD Etienne Heudelet de Bierre 

Average, LD 10

1 Legere  DD 6, CD12

4 Ligne  DD 6, CD 10

6# Foot Battery  DD 6, CD 12

 

VI Corps, GD Louis Henri Loison

Skilled, LD 12

1st Division, GD Jean Gabriel Marchand

Exceptional LD 12

1 Legere  DD 6, CD 12

5 Ligne  DD 6, CD 10

6# Foot Battery  DD 6, CD 12

 

3rd Division, GD Claude Francois Ferey

Skilled, LD 10

3 Ligne  DD 6,  CD 10

1 Legion  DD 4,  CD 10

6# Foot Battery  DD 6,  CD 12

 

 

VIII Corps, GD Jean-Andoche Junot

Skilled, LD 10

2nd Division, GD Jean-Baptiste Solignac

Average, LD 10

4 Ligne  DD 6,  CD 10

1  Legion  DD 4,  CD 10

12# Foot Battery  DD 6,  CD 12+1

 

IX Corps, GD Jean-Baptiste Drouet, Compte d’Erlon

Skilled, LD 10

1st Division, GD Michel Marie Claparede

Skilled, LD 10

4 Ligne  DD 6, CD 10

2 Converged Grenadiers  DD 8, CD 12+1

1 Legere  DD 6, CD 12

6# Foot Battery  DD 6, CD 12

 

 

2nd Division, GD Nicolas Francois Conroux

Average, LD 10

4 Ligne  DD 6,  CD 10

1 Legere  DD 6,  CD 12

6# Foot Battery  DD 6,  CD 12

 

Reserve Cavalry Division, GD Louis-Pierre Montbrun

Exceptional, LD 12

2 Dragoons  DD 6, CD 12

3 Chasseur a Cheval  DD 6,  CD 10

1 Hussar  DD 8,  CD 10

1 6# Horse Battery  DD 8, CD 12

 

Army of the North (cavalry), Marechal Jean-Baptiste Bessieres

Skilled, LD 10

Dutch Lancers  DD 10, CD 12+1

Grenadiers a Cheval  DD10, CD 12+1

1 6# GuardHorse battery  DD 10, CD 12+1

 

Anglo-Portuguese Army

Commander-in-Chief: Lt Gen Viscount Wellington

Exceptional, LD 12

Sequence Deck: Average     Morale Points  41 units * 47 MP

 

5th Division, Maj Gen Sir William Erskine

Average, LD 10

1 Portuguese Line (Brunswick)  DD 4,  CD 10

4 Line  DD 6,  CD 10

6# Foot Battery  DD 6,  CD 12

 

6th Division, Maj Gen Alexander Campbell 

Average, LD 10

3 Line  DD 6,  CD 10

2 Portuguese  DD 4,  CD 10

Portuguese 6# Foot Battery  DD 6,  CD 10

 

Light Division, Brig Gen Robert Crafurd

Exceptional, LD 12

1 95 Rifles  DD 8,  CD 12+1

2 Light  DD 8,  CD 12

1 Cacadore  DD 6,  CD 10

6# Foot Battery  DD 6,  CD 12

 

Portuguese (Brunswick) Brigade, Brig Gen Charles Ashworth

Average, LD 10

2 Portuguese (Brunswick)  Line  DD 4,  CD 10

6# (Brunswick) FA   DD 6,  CD 10

 

Cavalry, Maj Gen Stapleton Colton

Exceptional, LD 12

1 Portuguese Light Dragoon  DD 4,  CD 10

1 Dragoon  DD 6,  CD 12

1 Hussar  DD 8,  CD 10

1 Light Dragoon  DD 6,  CD 10

2 x 6# Horse Battery, RHA  DD 8, CD 12

 

 

Column Commander: Lt Gen Brent Spencer

Commanding 1st & 3rd Divisions; Skilled, LD 12

 

1st Division, Maj Gen Miles Nightingall

Average, LD 10

2 Guards/Fusiliers  DD 8,  CD 12+1

3 Highlanders  DD 6,  CD 12

1 Highland Lt Infantry  DD 8,  CD 12

1 KGL Line  DD 6,  CD 10

6# Foot Battery  DD 6, CD 12

 

3rd Division, Maj Gen Thomas Picton

Exceptional, LD 12

1 Fusilier  DD 8,  CD 12+1

2 Portuguese Line  DD 4,  CD 10

3 Line  DD 6,  CD 10

6# Foot Battery  DD 6,  CD 12

 

 

Spanish, Don Julio Sanchez  (NO MP costs for losses!)

Average, LD 10

1 Guerilla Infantry  DD 4,  CD 10

1 Lancer Cavalry  DD 4,  CD 10.

Map from my freind James Fisher's Avon Napoleonic Fellowship blog.