The Battle of Southampton – The Game

One of the aims of this campaign was to produce small battle scenarios with unbalanced forces that would result in interesting games and also give the rules a good run out. This game did just that with the British fielding five cavalry units against two on the French side and two infantry units against four.

With so many cavalry on the table, and with the need to take and hold ground to win the battle, it’s no surprise that both commanders gave aggressive orders to their troops. The French horse were told “Let the order of the day be to charge, charge and charge!” whilst Wellington told Ponsonby to “Take all the heavy cavalry and crush their left wing”. The result was a most enjoyable game with some great twists and turns.

The battle gets off to a dramatic start as the cavalry on both sides gallop forward. The RHA has claimed its first success against the ranks of the Guard light cavalry.

The foot sloggers on both sides are advancing rapidly too although the French have the edge as they are formed in column.

The thin red line moves forward with the Duke on hand to personally supervise the movement.

On the extreme flank the Light Dragoons canter forward with orders to "delay the advance of the enemy's right wing".

The inevitable clash of sabres as the British heavies collide with the Guard. The Lancers received a nasty blast of cannister on the way in to contact with the Blues that has laid waste to almost an entire rank.

The Greys win their first round of melee and push the Guard heavies back in retreat. Routing them next turn looks like a forgone conclusion.

The 42nd Black Watch start to come under artillery fire but their morale is holding, so far so good for Wellington.

Poniatowski's Division keep pushing forward despite the threat from the Light Dragoons. The fire from the French skirmishers eventually forces the British cavalry to retire and reform allowing the Poles to gain the VP location on this flank.

In the centre however the Young Guard and Guard Marines have no option but to halt and form square in the face of the massed British cavalry.

But wait, what's this? The Greys lose the next round of melee (which is an almost impossible result) and Ponsonby himself is down with a mortal wound - this seems like a bad dream for Wellington!

The situation at the end of turn 4 - halfway through the game. Units with a yellow outline are disordered, those with a white outline are routing. The Guard Lancers have been reduced to 3 figures and the unit has been removed from play.

The Poles move to attack the Highlanders whilst they in turn wheel to their left and deliver a volley. Mainwaring is on hand to lend moral support with a wave of his hat and a cheer. Beside them the Foot Guards are now losing casualties to some unusually effective long-range artillery fire.

The Royal Dragoons seize the opportunity to avenge the Greys and successfully charge the disordered Guard heavies causing them to rout from the field. 

But in the time honoured tradition of British cavalry they carry things too far and attempt to ride down the Guard artillery with predictable results - ouch!

On the French right the steam is running out of the attack. Both the Poles and the Swiss have become disordered while the 42nd and the British foot artillery whittle away their ranks.

In the centre however the Foot Guards are under growing pressure from the French artillery and have become disordered. Wellington sends De Lancey forward to steady them but he goes down with a serious wound (I provided Wellington with his ADC so that he could lend a +1 to morale without any personal risk!).

Turn 8 and Uxbridge, seeing that the Swiss are wavering, orders the Light Dragoons to charge. Despite receiving more fire from the French skirmishers this move is enough to rout the Swiss and take possession of the VP location.

The situation at the end of play. A count of VP's confirmed a stunning victory for the Duke with 18 to 5 as the final score (if you're wondering what happen to the Poles they were reduced to 11 figures which meant the unit was destroyed and removed from play).

Following the game, I diced to recover casualties as before and much to my horror the Scots Greys were fully restored but luckily so also were the Guard heavy cavalry. However, the casualty restoration heavily favours the British and the attrition is having a real effect on the French OOB.

So, a bitter blow to Napoleon’s ambition to destroy Wellington that will force this wing of the Armée ď Angleterre to retire to Bournemouth. The action will now shift back to Andover where Murat is about to face Daddy Hill.