2l

PENINSUITRCAMPAIGNS
By TtmPice
The Peninsular Campaignsof the Napoleonic Era have an IIlC0rF i,lanhalSudet lsrDivision 3.mMer +6cnns
enduring fascination for wargamersand can provide a self- zndDivision 3,mMer+6Gms
containedenvironmentin whichsimplecampaigns canbe run l0,mMm lrdDivisioo 2,2mMm+4GnrN
without too muchtrouble. The fi$t one in which I took Dartwas l8Cuos Crvalry +?Gu$
l,8lI)Mer
run by PaddyGriffith, the authorandhistorian,involvingover IYC0TF Manhal
$basliani hDivisioi j,mMer+9Gur
30players.Thisarticleshows,however,howonesuchcampaign 2ndDivilion ?,mMer+9Gun
canbe run betweenasfew astwo playersand an Umpire,and 2,fiIM€n ldDivisioD 8,mMer+l2Cu|ls
providesa suitablebase map for you to design)our own
16Cuns Cavalry 2.mMrr+4Gunr
I havechosen,asmy startpoint, l0 July 1809,whenMarshal YCo$ Mar$alMonicr lsrDivision 5.5mMen+6Gm
Victor wasin retreatfrom the advanceofWellesleyandCuesta zndDivision 4,5mMen+6G|nN
alongthe banksof the Rio Tajo, headingtowardsthe town of 16,0fl]Mrn lrdDirision 4,00Men+4GurN
Talavera, ICuos &'ab 2.mMrr +4Cws
UCorF Mar$alNey lslDivision 4,5mMen+6cris
hdDivi\ioo 4.5mMn+6cuns
BACKGROUND li,frflMrn lrdDivision 4,2mMfl+6cun!
FrenchArrnieshavebeenmovingaroundSpainfor overa year IGuos &'ab 1.8mM€r+2cuns
now,but onlywith mixedsuccess. Theyhavecertainlymanaged (Si.CF) lsrDivision 4.5mMm+8cuns
UiCorF Ma6hrl
Gouvion
to establish their govemmentin Madrid,underKingJosephI, hdDivi\ioo 4.8fiMfl+6cuns
but theyhavebeenbadlydefeatedin theepicbauleofBaylenin lrdDivisioo 4.5mMrn+6cuns
16,mMcr
the south, leaving Madrid in rather an exposedposition. C?vilry 2.2mftr+4cuns
24Guns
Equallyth€yhavebeenevictedfrom Portugaltwiceovei first
by the Conventionof Cintra last year, and just recentlyby ildridR6eft KrrsJo6rph
I lslErigad€ 4.0mFftnch
Welledey'svictory at Oporto in May. On rhe other hand, l|ldBngade 4,mStsnisl
Mooret army was earlierdestroyedin Galicia,and rnuchof Cuadlnf!ry 2.0mspiisl
northemSDainis firmlv in Frenchhands. Culrd0valry
Bri&de
1,flnsFnsh
This is not to say that the Spanisharmies have been 11.00[{en I-ioecabBiSadel.mFrcmh
destrcyed, sincetherearestillfourofthemin thefield.Theyare lSGurr AnilleryBriga&18cuos
controlledby rheCenlralJunrain Seville.andarenowtryingto c"#".".
"''-- Mnnhalkssitfts
Srsebasdan 2.00Men+lCuns
marchon M;dridlromallpoinlsotrhe compar.Blakerra.iu'r PanDlo|]a 2.00lMen+lCuns
defeatedSuchetat Alcaniz, and the developingconvergent CenemlBorr€t vibna l.0mMer+iCuns
movementof Wilson, Welledey and Cuestaseemsto have t groo 2.0mMo+lCuns
persuadedVictor to run for cover towardsthe east- The vrlldolid
UarhalK€lknnann limMen+lGuns
Portuguese fuontieris also stronglyheld by Beresford'sand Bur-sos zjmMen+5Cuns
Silveira'sAnglo-Portuguese forces.
PoliticallythePortuguese Govemmentisstable- andhasgood SPAMSH
relations *ith the British- but the aLtitude of the Spanirh
towardstheBritishis nore ambiguous. Untilrecenttyrheser*o Arntoltsmmrdnr vangu&'d
Crpkin{teneldcueia l?mMen
countrieshad been at war and Moore's "Maior Relief lstDi\ision s:mMen
Expedition"failedto makethe right impression. The Juntais 2ndDi$sion 5:mMe0
alsodividedon the vital constitutional question Republican/ 3rdDiti!0n {,4mMe0
Monarchist which in turn affectstheir conductof the war. ,fiiDivi\i0n s,lmMe0
After all, the ableandsuccessful Captain-Generalcuesta,who 5liDiviri0o {,imMe0
commands theJunta'slargestarmy,is knownto be an old-style hlQvdryDvisio0 l',mMe0
Royalistandout ofstepw;th the idealsofthe nervRepubli;n- 15.0i[Men 2ndcrvdryDirision
2,ruMeo
ism. 300un AnilleryDildor $Cuns
The French,on the otherha!1d,clearlylacka stronghandat Annr0fbmcbaTrmenk-0eneralve0eg|s
hlDiliiion 6,0mMen+5Guir
the helm.NapoleonBonaparteis awayin CentralEuropeand 2odDivilion {,0mMeo+5ouis
his brotherJoseph althoughundoubtedlya Bonaparre- is 3rdDnisron 5,000Men+5Cuns
certainlyno Napoleon. . . 26.mLen {hDi{sion 6,0mMen+5Guns
20Cnis Ci\dr]Dnisiol l,0mMen
FORCESINVOLVED
TdiedecenernlBhtelslDirision 5,01Men
+6cui!
FRENCH 2ndDivilion {,5m
Men
+6cur
lrdDivision {,mMer+
6cun
ICorts [{ashalVnror l!rDi\isimr +8Cuns
5.i)mMen ?l.mMen lrhDilirlol {$Men+4Gu
lndDilrsion .l.5mMen
+8Guo! 2lCur$ Ciuln Division 2,5mMen+2GuN
?0.0mMen lrdDiiion .ljmMo+8Guo!
J0Cui! C ?ln l.000trlen
+6Gun
Opposite: Two shotsol thefine 25mm Peninsularset up at The
lCo$ Mmhd
Soulr l$Diusion s.i)mMen
+8CuiJ Waryamet's Reneat(seetheirad inWI77, p.15).A Potluguese
:ndDi$ion l.0mMen
+6Gu|]s battaliondefendsa vi age;and a
li.fll0Men ldDnilio|] l.000Men
+6Gum pick off a Brcupof SeanBeanlook-alikes
few Frcnchnen.
l,lGuis Cr$h1 l.0mMen+{0un5
 eM NEF
sE*:lilN

d>
@

"t"
ffi"**^"

SPAIN C BMLTAF
I^RIF^\TUT
1809
,{rnyolcNliiN Teriee.CenemlRomana
lstDirision {jmMen +6cuns FRENCHDISPOSITIONS
zndDiYision {,{i Men+{cmt
lrdDiYision ,lflI Mer
+,lcuns
18,mM€n 4rhDirilior {,mMeo +,1Gu$
l8Cum Ca$lqDitior l,5iIMeo

BRITISH
Arnyof \{elleslel
dlPtliduhGenen] LthtDlrillon l0mMeo
lslDilisior 6,0mMeo
lodDiv$ion 4,0mMeD
3dDnisron 4,0mMeD
4rhDivision l.flnMen
I,mMen CavalryDilltior l.0mMen
30Gnn Dnilion $Guns
Anillery
CorFsilftin Bdgadi€r{e0cmlsilleira
hlDusiol) l.OmMen+2cuns
2ndDiusim 2.8mMen+2cuos
l0,mMen ldDirision +2Cu$
2,40lMen
C abDi\ision fl0Meo ALLIED DISPOSITIONS
6Gtx
l,SSMen
C0rplt'il50n Bri$ditr-0en€ralvil$n
tlbontd.ne ColonelE$kin€ 8,0mMen

PORTUGUESE
,{rm}olPorlugl
GftIalBercsfmd lsrDivision 4,frnM€n
2rdDivision 3.smMrr
lrdDiusion 3.0t[Mr|l
[,0mMeo CavabDivision
LjmMrr
12Cutrs AnilkryDiqsion
l2cuns
StartingDispositions
of all mobileforces,refer to the
For the startingdispositions
Frenchand Allied Dispositionsmaps.For the dispositions of
the Garrisonsandthe BritishResefle,seeabove.
 23
makea special€asefor specificscoutingmissions.When an
MOVEMENTRULES Army reachesa town it will alsoreceivereponsof anyenemy
Armiesor SupplyColunns = I Hex every 2 Days inde- movem€nts tharpassed throughthe townearlierinrhegame.
finitely.
2 Hex in 2 Days,followedby
2 Daysrest. BATTLES
SiegeTrains l Hex every4 Days. Thereare a numberof waysyou canuseto resolvebattlesin
lndependentDivisionsless= 2 Hex every 2 Days inde- thesecampaigns, dependingonthe timeandresources thatyou
than5,000rnen, andCavalry finitely. haveavailable.I usedHowardwhitehouses exceuentandfun
unitsofany size. 4 Hex in 2 Days.followedby nles "Old Trousers"\NbenI playedthe campaignasa member
2Daysrest. of a clubwherewe couldmeetregularlyfor battleswitb metal
figures.Whentime waslimitedI usedoneof two alternatives:
Messengers : 6 Hex every 2 Days inde SCRUDGeewdlsaner /rartlaredNo. 64)or a systemI devised
finitely. speciallyfor thiscampaignthatI caII"BATTLESKETCH'.
Whateversystem youuse,eachcombattakesa2-Dayturn.so
Mountainsandriversmayonly becrossed at thecrossing points th€ playersmust make the next turn's decisionsbeforethe
shownon the nap, excepifor Messengers. who may move outcomeofthe battleis known.
fteely, and wilson's speciallytrainedmobileforce,who nay with SCRUD, combat is resolvedby representingeach
movefreelyin the mountainsbut havethe samerestrictions as Corpsby a numberof 6'sideddice(somewith modifications).
otherswhen trying to crossrivers.Movementby seais only Whenunitsareengaged, the diceare lhrownandrnodified(by
possible for theBritishandwilltakeat least2weekstoorganise,tumingthemoverto reflectthe modifiedscore-the maximum
2 daysto load,2'5dayssailing(depending on theweatherl)and being6andthe mininum being1). Thesearelinedup between
2 daysto unload. the opposingsides,highestscoreaSainsthighestscore.Each
dicethatbeatsanopponent's diceresultsin a l modifiertothe
beatendicein the next engagement. For every3 dicethat are
SUPPLYRULES beaten,the lowestscoringone is eliminated.and whena dice
The nain supplyproblemfacingthe armiesin Spainwasnot reaches a -3 modifieritis alsoeliminated.
amnunition.but foodfor the menandfodderfor theanimals.It Modiffersusedar€ asfollows:
is assumedthat armies€an alwaysfind a minimumof food. Defendinga town +l (foione diceonly)
providingthat they keep movingthrough"new" territory.If Defendinga rivercrossing +l
theyhaltfor anylengthoftime, or areforcedto movealongthe Out ofsupply i per"step"(4 days,I daysor
sameroute alreadyusedby anotherarmy, they will stan to 16days)
wasteaway.I usea systemwithstepreductions in effectivenessAIlied unitsdefending
at 4 Days,8 Daysand 16 Days(at which time the army will the Portuguese border +l
disperseto find food). The besrway of representing this is by Defendingfortifiedtown +1 (use"Town" abovewhen
drawinga line, recordingthe track of an army,on a separale wallshavebeenbreached)
"supplymap".In thiswayit servesasarecordoflhe pastmoves
of an army,aswell asmakingit easyio seeif it is passingover SCRUDnumbersofdiceandvaluesareasfollows:
groundthat hasalreadybeen'eatenouf .
Thereis, however,neveranyshorlageof foodon the coastal French Spani!h
plain(within 2 Hexesof the sea(not mountains)),anycity, or I Corps 4 3 (All at 1)
an'$'herein the Rio Ebro valley(within 2 Hexesof the Rio 1I Corps 3 Blake 4(Allat 1)
Ebro (not mountains)). lllCorps 2 Cuesta 7(AIlat 1)
In lhe eventof a siege,the besiegingplayerswill have 1o lV Corps 5 (Allat 1)
generatesupplycolumnsleavingevery4 daysfrom a suitabl€ VCorps 3
supplycentre. The besiegedplayerwill not run out of food.but VI Corps 3
the walls will reduced
be sraduallv until an attack isfeasible. VII Corps 3
Reserve 2
British & Ponugues€
INTELLIGENCE 5 (AIlar+1)
The time it took to sendand receivemessages madea great Silveira 2 (Bothal -l)
differenceto the amount and quality of the intelligence 1 ( a t+ 1 )
available.This is extremelydifficultto representrealisti€ally. Beresford 2
withouthavinga separate playerfor eachcommandandpassing 2
messages in a historically
realistic The
timeframe. compromise
thatI reachedwasto givethe playersan approximatupdateof For BATTLESKETCHthe system,whichwith practicetook
the enernypositionsroughlyoncea week.astheywerea week about10-15minutes.wasasfollows:
ago.The easyway to do thisis lo nake a noteon the '\upply Draw2 (reasonably) idenlicalsket€hmapsof the battlefield;
map"by makinga €irclearoundtheposilionsoflhe unitson the oneforeachside,basedon theirscouts'repons.You maywant
dayconcemedandbdefingthe playena weeklater.Ifyou use tohaveafew typicalterrainsketches pre-prepared.
turnsrepresenting2 days,youshouldmakethisupdateevery3 Cet eachCommander to skerchonlo hismapthedisposilions
or 4 turnsasthefancytakesyou. of his "front line" troops, leavingout reservesand forces
conceFled from theenemy'sscouts. Takethesemapsaside.
Copy the Commander\sketchonto his opponent'smap,
SCOUTING makinganyadditionsand deletionsasyou think fair, andpass
Armies will re€eiverepons of enemyactivitiesin the hexes eachonebackto the Commanders.
immediatelysurounding their current position,unlessthey EachCommander thenhas5 minutesro plot hisreserves (if
24
any), andsketchhisintentionsin diagrammaticform, with notes
if necessary.The Command€rmust decide which part of his BATTLESKETCH example:
planis hisMain Pointof Effort (MPE).
You shouldthen work out which Divisionsare attackins
whrchDrv'sionsof lhe enemyforce. and whicb unirsbrnefii
iiom the support of reserves.You should then work out the
CombatFactor for eachDivision.
The units with the highest combat factors win. Any ratios
greaterthan 2:1 are totally decisive,and the lower factoredunit ,",:u'lJl"u[*z
-'"^V-
wil break,losing2 grades.A ratio of 1.5:l will win, with the
lower factoredunit losingI grade-Ratioslessthan 1.5:1are ,i***;' rZ
;lT:'""."n.'S1
indecisiveandwill only resultin victory if 66% of all units on one
sideare higher factoredthan their opponents.
When 2 Divisionsare attackingone, you should*ork out ""\j'r
eachonein isoladonand, only after aniving at the final Combat
Factor,shouldyouaddthe resultstogether.

BAI'TLESKETCHFACTORS BATTLESKETCHGRADES

French
The following facton are calculatedfor eachDivision involved
I Corps lstDivision 4
in, whatyou asthe Umpire,decideis the decisivepoint of the
2ndDivision 4
Commander's sketchof theattack.With a little pra€ticeyoucan
3rd Division 4
see which attacks will be inconclusive (and th€refore are
Cavalry 4
irelevant) and you can then concentrateonly on the imponant
areasof the battle.If the Commander hasdoneanythingright, II Corps lst Division 4
this shouldcoincidewith his Main Point of Effort! 2nd Division 4
3rdDivision 4
You shouldtrot sho$ thes€faclors lo lbc players.
Cavalry 4
Factors: III Corps lst Division 3
GradeofDivision: +1-6 2ndDivision 3
Add 50%of thegradeof reserveunits(rcundup): +1-3 3rd Division 3
Reservescansupportup to 3 Units. Cavalry 3
A Unit canonlybesupported by I Reserveof eachtype,suchas IV Corps lstDivisioo 4
an InfantryDiv anda CavalryDiv;but by anynumberof guns. 2ndDivision 4
Add 50%of thenumberof reserve anillervDiec€s: +? 3rd Division 5
Additionally,addthe follo*ing: Cavalry 4
Unit has50%arillery superiority + 1 V Corps lstDivision 4
Unit has100%artillerysuperiority +2 2nd Division
Unithaslotsof artillery,andopponenthasnone 3rdDivision
Defending a stream,wall,hedgeline or copse +1 Cavalry
aslope,sunkenroador orchard
a hill, farm cornplex,or wood VI Corps 1stDivision 4
ariveror village 2ndDivision 4
afortified town or cliff +5 3rd Division 4
Cavalry 3
The\efacrorsare.of course.norshownon the CampaigD map. ...^
bul shouldbepresentto someextenton theskerchof rhebanle v ll (rrp! lstDivision 4
2ndDivision 4
3rd Division 4
Unitattacking downhill +1 Cavalry 4
ontheflankofthemainenemyline +2
behindtheenemymainline +4 MadridReserve lstBrigade 4
aspart of a combin€dforc€ (inf+ cav+arty) +1 2ndBrigade 3
'finished Guard Infantry 2
Commander hissketchfirst +1 Guard Cavalry 2
madetheleaslmistakesonskercl +t Line Cavalry 3
planinvolves2-3elements +l
planinvolves4 elements -1 Garisons StSebastian 2
planinvolv€s5 or moreelements -3 Pamplona 2
Vitoria 3
Elementsare:separate attacksorphases in a plan. Logrcno 2
The CommandFactorsshownaboveonly apply to the Divs Valladolid 2
involvedin the Commander'sMain Point of Effort. Burgos 2
Unit in whichtheCommander
is located: + 1 Spanish
RaDdomFactor
Army of Estremadura vanguard 2
Other factor decidedby the Umpire as best meetsthe 3
lst Division
2nd Division 3
 25
3rd Division 3 THE HAiiOSAIE WANGATENS CLUB
4th Division 3 PnESEIIITS
5th Division 3
lst CavDiv 3
2ndCavDiv 3
Army of La Mancha lst Division 4
2ndDivision 3
3rdDivision 3
4th Division 3
CavDivision 3
lst Division 3 AI
2ndDivision 3
3d Division 3
4th Division 3
CavDivision 3
Army of Galicia lst Division 3
2nd Divisio! 3
3rd Division 3
4th Division 2 IBADE STATDS COMPETITION
CavDivision 2 M E C H F O B CUEK
PAiIICIPAT|('II GAIEA
Bridsh
Army ofthe Peninsula Light Division 5
lst Division 6
2ndDivision 5
3rd Division 5 & B|'Y
4th Division 5
CavDivision 4
CorpsSilveira lstDivision 4
2ndDivision 3
3rd Division 3 take a we€k to implement; during which the Unit involved can
CavDivision 2 either continue with the previous orders or do nothing (which
CorpsWilson 5 canbe dangerousif food is scarce!).
I would advisetaking the gamein 2 or 4 day tums, only
LisbonReserv€ 5 slowingdown to I day tums whenit is necessaryto plot the fine
detailof the moves.To this end,it is essential that you keepa
Portugu€s€ caretul €alendarso that intelligence updatesare given roughly
AJfmyof Po(ugal lst Division 4 on time (som€enors either way are perfectly realistic- after all
2ndDivision 3 intelligencegatheringin this period wasnot an exactscience
3rd Division 3 but too muchforgedulness makesthe Umpirelook stupidand
CavDivision 3 the playen will quickly loseconfidence).The reportsshould be
similar to: "The Army of Estemadumis rcported to the southof
TJMPIRENOTES tbe Rio Tajo, nearTalaveraon the23d, headingeast."
The bestway of running this campaignis to photocopyeachof When you are advisingthe playen as to the €stimated
the disposition maps and the backgound information and strengthof the enemyforcesfacingthem, it is essentialthat you
distribute them to the players. You should then make an rcmain consistent.It is realisticthat the figures given may w€ll
enlargementof the main campargnrnap.If you are feelingrich, be wrong,but if you dicerandomlyeachtim€ you givean update
you can do this at PmntaPrina, or some other High Street rcport, the playerswill soonwork out the correctaverage.What
photocopyshop,and they canenlargethe mapfrom A4 sizedto you shoulddo is work out what figure wi be reported, make a
A1 in a singleprocess.They will haveto sendit away,andit will note of it, and report the samefigure eachtime. The estimate
cost anything up to f10 for a single copy - but the result is shouldonly changeafter a majot event,such as a battle, a
fabulous, and will last forev€r if you cover it in fablon. ff you detachmentof a Division, or when an Army rcachesa town j usr
donl fancy.this method, then a simple A3 copy is quite after the other army haspassedthrough it.
adequate.In addition to thesefor eachplayer, the Umpire will I havea modemroad mapof SpainandPo(ugual, boughtfor
rcquire another copy to act as the "Supply and Int€lligence a few poundsfrom a garage.lt is most us€fu|whenyou needto
R€pon Map". An A4 copy is fine for this purpose. fill in the little details about locations, suchas when a battle is
The Umpirc shouldthen get generalorder frcm the Players about to take place in an area rhat is quite blank on the
as to th€ir intentions for the next few weeksof gametime; eg: campaignmap. Being able to find the name of rhe nearest
"Soult with II Corps is to advanceinto Portugalin order ro cut
village and where the streams and hills are males all the
off Welesley's supply lines from Lisbon, with assistanceftom difference whenyouareprcparingthelayouroI the battlefield.
Ney and VI Cnrps." Lastly, be prepared for the odd mistake. Point out to the
Having decided on a plan, the players are to advis€ the playen that what is shonn on the master Umpire map is
Umpire of the movesin eachtum in strict rotation, $aning with "reality" no matter what the play€N have
shownon their map,s.
the nearestunits to the player'slocation. Thesemovesareto be If thereareanydifferencesthat occur,thesewill bethe resultsof
in accordancewith the gen€ralorden issued.If thereis a major mistakenrcports, rumoursand false information spreadby the
changeof plan, new orderswill haveto be written andthesewill enemy!(asoppos€dto an Umpire cock-up . . .).