15mm Battle of Salamanca

The 22nd of our 2011 games
The Battle of Salamanca.

Photo by John Murdaugh
The village of Salamanca, empty at first, with only a few troops on the game table. Looking from the British side.

On October 1, 2011 the Jackson Gamers began an ambitious 15mm Napoleonic game based on the battle of Salamanca in Spain. The original battle was fought near the town of Salamanca in Spain on July 22nd in 1812. In the Original, the Duke of Wellington commanding the combined armies of Britain, Portugal and Spain, defeated the French army under Marshall Marmont. This battle cleared the way for Wellington to advance on and liberate Madrid, the capitol of Spain.

We played the game at Phil Young's home in Morton MS. We used Larry Reeves' If only we could all be Napoleon rules set. The very large 15mm armies were owned mainly by Phil Young with some additional forces from the armies of Larry Reeves. "Iron Man" Reeves painted all of the figures.

Photo by Phil Young

A view "shooting over" the town of Salamanca. Note how the French line is refusing it's left, already bent backwards at a right angle to the front. Lots of British and Portuguese battalions are advancing.

Photo by Phil Young

A view looking towards Salamanca from the French lines. The French bayonets show fuzzily in the forground. Rifles then British line are advancing towards the camera.

Some Thoughts on the game.

Phil Young (the Game-Master) writes about the game:

Here are the results from Salamanca, adjusted to "real" casualties:

French losses: 12,720 Infantry, 1080 Cavalry, 32 guns

British losses: 10,250 Infantry, 1,800 Cavalry, 12 guns

We're looking at a tactical tie, each side's left flank was in ruff shape. But with 15,000 French reinforcements coming up from Madrid in a week or so it represents a strategic failure for Wellington who would most likely retreat to some good defensive ground & wait for reinforcements to arrive as well.

I'll send some more pics. Don't know if they'll be of much use - so much stuff was on the table!!!

Unlike Wellington's quick and decisive action the Jackson Gamers' version of the battle bogged down and we were unable to complte the game. Fortunately we were able to leave the game set up and we continued the affair on October 22nd, 2011. After that session, the game-master, Phil Young declared the game a tactical draw and because of that, the Duke of Wellington would not be able to reach Madrid and would withdraw his army into Portugal.

John Murdaugh has many more photos of the October 1 battle session on his web site: Nomadic Old School Gamer .

Photo by John Murdaugh

The French extreme left flank. In the real battle this was smashed by Wellington's surprise attack. In our game, the French "smelled somthing bad" and immediately began to retreat. The British and Portuguese attack mauled these forces by fire but never could fix and destroy them.

Photo by John Murdaugh

This is a part of the forces of the British right flank (note the Spanish Lancers) trying to overcome "traffic control problems" to get at the Frogs.

Who were the players in this game?

The French Players for the October 1 session were Jim Pitts, Sean Pitts, and Larry Reeves. The British/Portuguese/Spanish players were Ed Sansing, Jay Stribling and John Murdaugh.

For the October 22nd gaming session, the French Players were Mark Gilbert and Larry Reeves. The British/Portuguese/Spanish players were Phil Young and Jay Stribling

Photo by John Murdaugh

Another view of part of the BritishPortuguese right. The attacking force was much more massive than you see here. This is perhaps 1/3 to 1/2 of the right flank.

The table was 12 feet long and 6 feet across. It was filled with troops, especially as French reinforcements flowed on from their left rear.

Photo by John Murdaugh

Another view of Salamanca, showing the British center and left. The "fingers" in the background are moving and adjusting the French right.

Photo by John Murdaugh

A photo without flash showing the actual level of illumination on the British Right/French Left. Jay Stribling (bald fellow on the left) is using a small flashlight to try to view the tiny unit names printed on the back of the 15mm infantry stands. There was a great deal of light outside Phil's home (note the window in rear) - but not too much inside parts of it!

Ed Sansing, in the center of the image, marshalls his British forces on the left and Sean Pitts moves troops on the French left.

And the winners are?

Again, there are many many more photos of the October 1 game on John Murdaugh's web site: Nomadic Old School Gamer .

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