Battle of Salamanca at Historicon: The fight in the dying light

I ran my Salamanca Scenario (closely based upon that by James Roach) at Historicon on Saturday, starting at 6 PM

The table set up was completed by about 430 Pm with the help of Milton and Mike - thanks so much, guys!

Note the isolated French Division about to suffer a surprise attack by British Cavalry and infantry!

French and British main forces in the center (the troops on the tray are late arriving French reinforcements. 

North opf the village of Arapiles, are the two famous rises, the steep face lesser (near) and Greater (far) Arapiles. 

Another overview of the table an hour or so before the game. British players were Milton, Tim, Mathew, James, and Peter. French players were Mike, Nathan, Chris, and Craig. Of these, Milton, Tim, and Chris were veterans with Mike and Peter having paled Field of Battle, 3rd edition just once before. 

The Brirtish sprung their surprise attack and the involved infantry and cavalry commands were allowed to act on 4 cards before the rest of the game commenced; the French infantry was loaded, but the rearmost unit stared the game already disordered, having just barely manage to turn to face the onslaught of Perfidious Albion! The first British card was a MOVE card (see rules modifications below), but the rest of the cards they turned were pretty lousy. Nate, commanding the embattled French Division had hot dice for his shooting, etc., while the two British players.... did not! The anticipated decimation of the French simply failed to occur! The shot above is of the positions after the 4 cards were played and acted upon. 

The main battle commences. 

We used Jared's clever FoB3 variant  (which I have named FoB3-T):

 - The three MOVE cards are taken out of the decks of both sides and set aside. Each time a side has the initiative, they can choose to use one and only one of the MOVE cards in lieu of any of the other cards of that run - first, last, or anywhere in between. The MOVE ONE COMMAND cards are left in the main deck (in this scenario, the British had and extra Move One Command and an extra Leadership card, while the French had... two extra Lull cards). This worked great at our recent Aspern-Essling game at Jared's, and it worked great here as well. 

We also used my variant rule for the TACTICAL ADVANTAGE cards. Experienced FoB3 players will know this card as a slight one time advantage, that's marginally better than drawing a LULL card. Kinda boring. I now use them as a one time (for each card) re-roll of any ONE die roll (can be yours or your opponent's), EXCEPT those involved in an ARMY MORALE check. What a difference that makes (at least in my opinion). If you or your opponent makes an unusually good [like, say, 12!] or bad [like a 1!]) roll, you can force a re-roll. Much sexier and more exciting, eh?!

Much of the British "surprise" attack was routed by the malposition French. Tim, the British cavalry commander, and a famous beau-sabre, just couldn't get the cards or (Magic) move rolls he need, so these troops threatened the French without hardly moving (by choice). Sir Arthur was not amused!

The British (and Portuguese, etc.) advanced swiftly and aggressively... as they needed to! French players Mike, Craig, and Nate [Chris is just off the left of the picture]. 

Condor's eye view of the isolated French Divsion, which took losses and suffered many of it's units routed, but overall gave about as good as they took. 

French artillery fires at the advancing British. 

Craig asks Nate, "How ya doin' there, buddy? Would you like my Chasseurs to ride to your rescue?"

Two Spanish regiments (1812 Spanish trained by the British, so actually decent troops!) attack Nate's still isolated Division; one is routed, but the other peppers the French battery with musketry. 

The British advance is so rapid, the troops are just a blur!  :-). 

The British reach the Monte de Azan (no combat effects) , and come off decidedly the best in the exchange of Musketry. 

British and Portuguese are threatening to sweep the Monte de Azan South of the road - this is a British Victory condition - if they have more troops here than the French on their 4th MOVER card, it will cost the French the loss of a whopping 6  Army Morale Points (out of about 30). 

French use a MOVE to respond to the threat!

Overview of the table from the South. It is about 8 PM real time, and you will notice the table is seeming noticeably darker. 

British have eliminated Chris' Horse Battery, and are threatening to break through between the Monte de Azan and the Greater Arapiles!

Allied attack upon the Greater Arapiles is repulsed with heavy losses; however, it is a scenario condition that the British MUST attempt an attack on this position by their 4th MOVE card or lose 4 AMP's. They are now freed of the requirement to make any additional attacks upon this strong position. 

The center and Southern portions of the Battlefield are hotly contested; the French use a MOVE to counterattack, to good effect. The British Heavy cavalry waits for their opportunity - they haven't moved a yard (by choice) all game!!!

It now about 8:30 PM - sunset in Lancaster in mid July. (Sunset in Salamanca about the same date in July is about 80 minutes later, and this game was played within a few days of the actual date (July 22nd). The historical battle began late in the day - around 4 PM, and nightfall ended the battle after 9 PM.  Not so for our intrepid gamers!

British still threatening to control the Southern part of the Monte de Azan

The British have eliminated several of the French artillery batteries!

Craigs Chasseurs stare down some Cacadores.

Pictures are blurry due to low light conditions; situation in the North. 

By 9 PM, we literally had to use the lights from cell phones top see the troops and the die rolls - it was THAT dark. The table (FF-05), which is right outside the Flea Market-Tournament-dealer area, has high sealings and great natural light in he daytime, but.... there is absolutely ZERO overhead artificial lighting. None!

Battle by cell phone light!

The French make a very timely counterattack, and do serious damage!  The British start paying the French Morale Points! I believe Mike said the French were down to just 4 MP's themselves when this happened!

Charge of the Chasseurs!

(They were repulsed). 

Tardy French 4th  Division (Sarut) arrives on the 3rd French MOVE card... a bit better than historically, and just in time to stabilize the situation with fresh troops!

Fierce fighting continues to rage on the Southern half of the field. The British pass an ARMY MORALE test! The decks are shuffled, and the French win the initiative and go first!

French make excellent use of their cards, and the British are hemorrhaging Morale points. The British start their initiative run with... an ARMY MORALE card.  This time, they failed. The real battle was nearly ended by Darkness at this point (the game would have ended  after both sides 5th MOVE card regardless). It was 10 PM real time, and the table was in near total darkness. It is a tribute to the players (and their engagement in the action) that were able to finish the game in such extreme lighting conditions. The French pull of a rather dramatic upset, finishing the game with 20 Army Morale points. Madrid will not fall this summer! The guys helped clear everything off, and it was all packed away by 1 PM for the return trip home in the morning. 

Thanks, guys - you were the greatest group of players! Everyone seemed to have great time, and as I observed to them at the conclusion of the game, "That was the most fun I've had in the dark since I was young man!"