Victory Results:
 71 %
Record a victory for BOTTOM ARMY  29 %
Total plays 7 - Last reported by LNAGary on 2016-02-21 06:40:02

Bussaco "La Grande Battle" - 27 September 1810

Historical Background
Retreating towards Torres Vedras, the Duke of Wellington’s army of 25,000 British and the same number of Portuguese halted at Bussaco to make a stand along the crest of Bussaco Ridge and check the advance of Marshal Massena and the French army of Portugal. As Massena’s army of 65,000 approached the British position, he was uncertain of the exact disposition and strength of the enemy, for Wellington had adopted his favorite tactic of hiding his true strength from the enemy by deploying his forces on the reverse slope of the ridge. Massana’s army was deployed on the 26th with Ney’s Corps on the right, Junot’s Corps in the centre and Reynier’s Corps on the left. Massena, rather than avoid battle, ordered Major-General Jean Reynier’s II Corps to attack the centre of the ridge, which he mistakenly believed was the British right flank. Once the II Corps attack showed some signs of success, Massena planned to launch Ney’s corps at the British left while Junot’s Corps stood in reserve, ready to exploit. Reynier’s troops moved forward in the early morning mist of the 27th. Heudelet’s Division was the first to come into contact. Before long, they were brought to a standstill from Anglo-Portuguese infantry fire, supported by artillery. Merle’s Division, veering away from Heudelet in the mist, had early success and occupied part of the ridge, but the French came under flanking fire, and were then thrown back by the shock of a British infantry charge. The fighting in this sector of the battlefield was effectively at an end. Hearing gunfire, Ney assumed Reynier’s men were enjoying success and ordered his attack.
The stage is set. The battle lines are drawn and you are in command. Can you change history?

Set-Up Order

Forest Hill River RiverBend River End Town
27 62 3 2 1 7

Battle Notes

British Army
• Commander: Wellington
• 5 Command Cards

British Corps Commanders
                          Right     Center     Left
Command             2            2            3
Tactician               2            2            3

Line Infantry Light Infantry Rifle Infantry Guard Grenadier Infantry Heavy Cavalry Foot Artillery Leader   Line Infantry Light Infantry Militia Infantry Foot Artillery Leader
10 3 2 1 2 2 2   10 1 2 1 3

French Army
• Commander: Massena
• 6 Command Cards
• Move First

French Corps Commanders
                           Left     Center     Right
Command             3           3            2
Tactician               3           3            2

Line Infantry Light Infantry Light Cavalry Heavy Cavalry Foot Artillery Leader
22 9 4 1 4 5

 

 

Victory
13 Banners

Special Rules
The stream is a fordable.

 

Log in to comment

LNAGary replied the topic:
8 years 1 month ago
Played at my gaming club, 13-7 for the French. The first two turns were crucial with a lot of good cards for the French, allowing them to crush the portuguese (right) flank with LGM and other powerful cards. One of the French field commander then skillfully used his cavalry to generate squares there, removing the initiative from the English players. The use of 3 tactician cards in one turn sealed the battle's fate.

As this battle is a British victory, I wonder if there is a need to make things easier for the British side? Or maybe 7 games isn't enough to see if the scenario is balanced/favors the winning side.
Mark-McG replied the topic:
8 years 9 months ago

Played Busacco EPIC today with 8 players, took about 4 hours (incl Lunch) and a fair deal of explanations as first game for 4 players, and other 3 had played 1-4 times each.

Generally there were enough blocks from 1 set with the following exceptions and replacements
French Light Infantry - used Young Guard blocks to supplement
Portuguese Line Infantry - used Spanish Line Infantry blocks to supplement

French Right smashed the Allied Left. French Left held and reinforced Centre. French Centre generally beaten back. French won 12-9
Hawkmoon replied the topic:
10 years 8 months ago
Natürlich !
In our club, we are 5 or 6 guys to have the whole game but it's a little boring to mix the games. :whistle:
We're gonna try one day.
Thanks
Bayernkini replied the topic:
10 years 8 months ago
I didn´t count the blocks so far, because my friend and me have 2 complete sets, to setup it :).
Hawkmoon replied the topic:
10 years 8 months ago
Hi
Is it possible to play this scenario with base game and the 2 expansions (I mean if there are enough wooden blocks to fill the map) ?
Thanks
Bayernkini replied the topic:
13 years 1 month ago
Ok, here 2 parts of our game today :)
Hope, Alessandro fixed the problems with the .vlog files :whistle: