Peninsular War - Attack on a Prepared Position

Played the first scenario from the Grant & Asquith  Scenarios For All Ages book this afternoon:

The Anglo-Portuguese advancing from the South

French infantry and artillery defending the central hill, a regiment in reserve

The French forward position - a Light Infantry regiment deployed in the woods

The French about to collapse - they are holding off superior forces on the central hill, but the brigade on the left has succumbed and the French artillery has been taken

 

 

 

A close-up of the French defeat; the red counters show high shaken levels amongst the remaining French infantry

It was a really enjoyable game, with the usual characteristics of a Polemos game - lots of ebb-and-flow, and the difficulty of carrying off successful first assaults.  Two British units were broken, with another four suffering disorder.  The French lost rather more - two light infantry battalions in the fight in the wood, then two line battalions in the pivotal moment of the game: a French counterattack from the central hill on the British troops temporarily shaken by their own, which did not quite come off...