Foy’s road show

Unfortunately the battle of Raab has been delayed but as Tony and I were at a loose end on Saturday he kindly brought his battle-boards, terrain and some troops to my house for a fictional Peninsular war Commands & Colours game. Tony played a dashing marshal Marmont whilst I broke out my stiff upper lip to play the Duke of Wellington.

Tony allowed me to set up the terrain while he sorted out the troops. This was great as I’ve always wanted to play around with the magnificent terrain pieces that feature on his blog. As the British were slightly outnumbered I set up a defensive position for the Duke with a ridge (of course) and a river on one flank. In the centre of the table were two villages (East and West Suffolk – don’t ask) providing victory locations.

Initial set-up, French on the left and British on the right. The river is fordable (zoom in to take a good look).

The French right flank - I believe the cavalry in the foreground are Garrison, lovely slender little figures (the same cannot be said of me).

Wellington takes position under his tree. He remained with this artillery battery all day calmly chatting to his ADC and ignoring the enemy cannonballs bouncing around him.

Although supposedly on the defensive Wellington surprised Marmont by advancing and taking West Suffolk in the opening stages of the battle.

A view from the British left after the first few moves.

French Light infantry move up in preparation for an attack on the village. These are mostly Les Higgins figures.

The French take the village - there was a see-saw fight for the place that ran until the final turn of the game.

British heavy dragoons in reserve behind the ridge. These figures are beautifully painted but didn't get to take part in the action. Stapleton Cotton is out in front of them, one of Tony's Hinton Hunts.

To take the pressure off I ordered the KGL hussars to charge an enemy battery. To the amazement of both of us they succeeded in pushing the battery back and leaving it at reduced strength.

This is a wonderful Alberken rendering of general Picton. In this game Picton was shot at by the French no less than three times but he lived to tell the tale (at least until Waterloo that is).

The British have retaken West Suffolk but here come the French again.

More Les Higgins figures beating the pas-de-charge. This battalion was to eject the British for the final time and win the game.

The field at the end of play. There are very few French troops left in the centre but crucially those there are have taken the village victory location bringing Marmonts tally to 9 VP's - French victory.

The 79th Highlanders (Hinton Hunt) look on from the ridge while Wellington gives the order to retreat...

It was a thoroughly enjoyable game that saw me battling back from a poor start to bring us neck and neck until eventually Tony managed to rustle up a card that allowed his troops to punch through in the centre and win the day. There will be more rumblings at Horse Guards.

This was only my second stab at C&C and I have to say I really like the game system and speed of play. It is of course a board game but when used with miniatures you tend to forget this and it does have the advantage of having defined victory conditions. This isn’t to say that I will be abandoning Muskets & Marshals (perish the thought). M&M is a completely different type of game and will always be my Napoleonic rules of choice but C&C is now a firm second favourite.

Thanks to Tony for carefully transporting his road show over the bumps in the Forth Bridge to get here and for such a splendid afternoon’s gaming.