Round 1

C&C Napoleonics
2025 Open Tournament
Round 1
Scenario: 001 Roliça (French First Position)...

Round 1

@Dawnreader - Check your email. I have emailed you a couple of times, so it may be in your Spam folder.

Game 1 Rolica (French First Position)
Viridovilas (Allies) 3
Craterus (French) 5

Game 2
Viridovilas (French) 5
Craterus (Allies) 0

Let’s put it in a simple way: in both battles the French army took advantage of its superiority against the Portuguese right wing, while British troops didn’t prove to be enough quick to make its art superiority a real factor



  

 

Round 1, Game 2
Steve T, Allies, 5 banners taken, 11 blocks lost
David I, French, 2 banners taken, 24 blocks lost
Dave will report Game 1. After strengthening my Portuguese, my Allies formed a line just out of musket range from the French ridge, and weakened the French with cannon fire while (very slowly) advancing my strong left flank. A skirmish by French light infantry here was defeated, a French cavalry charge was repulsed (assisted by cannister), and finally the Allied left was reaching the edge of the ridge while Dave’s French refused this flank. The French tried a strong attack against the Portuguese, but the Portuguese and British held firm for the victory.This was a similar battle to game 1, and in both games it was les miserables for the French as overwhelming Allied forces were brought to bear. Thanks to Dave again for yet another draw!

Rolica (French First Position) - Game 1
RiverWanderer (Allies) 5
Jarib (French) 3

The French raced to destroy the weak Allied right flank. Meanwhile the British progressed slowly against the opposite French flank. Eventually, the Allies managed to extricate themselves from the French attack in a fighting retreat towards the centre. This gave much needed breathing space for the British advance to start making progress against the French right and finally close in on victory with the taking of the hill.

A close game where a lull in French left flank orders gave the Allies a chance. 




Technical note: As Jarib was comfortable with 5.1 of the module , we agreed to use that version. You will need to use the same version to view the log file. If you are considering using v5.1 in your games, please make sure that your opponent is willing and familiar with it, per Mark McG's tournament guidelines  here . Especially note that v5.1 is more demanding of compute and memory resources than a typical Vassal module during actual game play.

Round 1
Game 1
TTC - France - 5 banners
Dawnreader - British/Allies - 4 banners 

The British started the battle by slowly approaching on both flanks while their artillery attempted to soften up the main French battle line. The first major blow was struck when Trant and some Portuguese light cavalry attacked Delaborde and his light cavalry, defending the key hill on the French left. Delaborde's First Strike drove Trent back.

An early British attack to take Rolica itself was also repulsed. Delaborde struck Trant, winning the first two banners for the French and pushing the remnants of the Portuguese right wing back. The British heavy cavalry, led by Ferguson, weakened but could not break the French right. Meanwhile, fierce but indecisive fighting continued as Delaborde's cavalry and some infantry continued to attack Trant and his weakened infantry square - but Trant and his men valiantly held on until another French light cavalry unit fell, for the second British banner (to France's trois banners). Once Trant's infantry square finally fell, though, it was 4-2 France. 

Sporadic fighting continued in the center as the French line was slowly weakened, the Franch artillery continually being pushed off the hill before regaining the ground.  

The loss of the French artillery and line infantry in the middle tied the battle at 4-4 with weakened French units all over the battlefield (7 blocks in 5 units), but Delaborde was able to find and eliminate a weakened Portuguese infantry for the decisive banner.  Vive la France!

 

Game 2
TTC - British/Allies - 5 banners
Dawnreader - France - 3 banners 

This battle was very different from the first one, being a short 14 turns after our 25-turn marathon in game 1. My opponent's French forces were very aggressive, moving forward to counter the early Portuguese advance, which was repulsed without any banners gained for either side. When the British main line approached, Delaborde led an infantry charge at Wellesley and his line, with the first banner going to the French. A series of Leadership cards (three in a row) for the British kept things interesting, but Wellesley's infantry fell about him even as he ordered the men to withdraw, leaving the balance 3-2 in favor of the French, then 3-3, as Trant and his Portuguese entered the fray in the middle of the field. 

The action then shifted to the area around Rolica. The British pushed forward on their left flank, eventually winning the last two banners. Long like the King!

 

Cheers to my patient and gracious opponent Dawnreader. These were my first two opposed C&C Napoleonics games (although I do have plenty of experience in other C&C games), and he was very helpful when I tripped over some of the more obscure rules.


 
 

 

Game 1

David I (Allies) 5
StephenT French) 2

An early bayonet charge from the French left was repulsed but manoeuvre allowed a retreat back to the ridge. Allied cavalry charges and a rally allowed the lone French artillery piece to be destroyed as a strong push from the Allied left flank finished the matter.

Game 1
EZPickins (Allies) 5 Banners
GomJabbar (French) 4 Banners

The battle started with tentative advances on both sides. Then the French pushed forward on the left vs the Portuguese with both sides taking losses. Then the British jumped into the left flank battle pushing back the French. A lone French LN with leader on the left hill managed to battle back the British who retired to the rear. The French then tried to shift some center units over to the left to finish off the reduced British but failed to get there in time. In the meantime the French cannon in the center took out both of the British cannons and was hoping to take out the 1-block British units on the left. But a late push by the British on the French right eventually took the hill objective and the game.
 
Game 2
GomJabbar (Allies) 5 Banners
EZPickins (French) 3 Banners

After 3 Le Grande Manoeuvres in the first 3 turns, it looked like this was going to be a quick game for the British. The British advanced aggressively on both flanks hoping to take both hill objectives early. But the French cavalry protected the hills and stalled the British. The British eventually took the right hill but the Portuguese never took the left hill in the end. The remaining battle was on the French right around the town of Rolica with the British HC getting involved and even attacking the town. In the end the British prevailed, again.
 
Thank you EZPickins for some exciting games.

rjvonline French 5
vs
scipio1zama Allies 1

The French played a waiting game and played at least 4 scout cards throughout the game to shore up their tactical card hand to generally good effect. For instance, a First Strike was played (not a great result, just 1 hit), and then recovered with a Tactical Command card. The Allies tried their luck on their left flank, and notably had their HC charge the French artillery (which is when the FS card was played), then they tried again with another HC charge, but failed again (and got hit with a battle back card). They then tried their luck with their massed artillery, but failed to kill the French artillery but for 1 hit. The French artillery retreated behind the crest after that. Having having shifted their right LC to the left, the French cavalry charged the Portuguese LC that had moved forward perhaps in attempt to nab the VP location. Although battlefield smoke blunted the first LC attack (and yielded 2 hits against it), the second LC charge was successful. The French left flank then settled in a lull, while the Allies used a Grand Maneuver to bring all their artillery against the French right anchored on Rolica. The French counter-attacked with their LT and LN (reduced to 3), and blunted the attack. Meanwhile, one French LC attacked a Portuguese LN, forcing into square, and then a French LT used Superb Infantry Training to inflict 3 final hits on that LN. A British LN had made it to the VP location on the right, but was subsequently forced to retreat by the LN supported by the 1-block artillery. Finally, the French launched a bayonet charged against the Anglo-Portuguese hinge and, just in case, against the remaining British FA on the right. Infantry Combat First somewhat blunted the attack, but the Portuguese LT nevertheless succumbed, and then the French LT eliminated the 2-block British FA for the 5th banner.

Overall, French luck in cards and dice was reasonably good, supporting a patient battle plan. Thanks for the game. Return match on 8/25.

Game 1
British (Jim) 5
French (Theo) 3

As the French in game 1, Theo launched a bayonet charge and it was a bloody mess in the center, with both sides losing 3 units including 2 one-shot kills on each of the British artillery. The British were more fortunate on the flanks and were able to close it out by threatening the French right then advancing on the left when his army shifted to meet the feint.

Game 2
British (Theo) 5
French (Jim) 4

Game 2 started slowly with both sides getting rid of junk cards, and Theo jumped out to an early lead as his British shot the bejesus out of the French infantry. French cavalry counterattacked on the left and a six die bombard killed his HC and leader to even things up at 4 but some accurate long-range musketry ended the French day.