Battle Of Corunna - British Playthrough: Setup & Turn One

THE Battle of Corunna* was fought in January 1809 after a British army under Sir John Moore fled from Napoleon and his Grande Armée veterans.

Britain's Spanish allies had suffered a series of defeats, following which Napoleon force-marched his men to try to cut off Moore's retreat.

But the British were too quick, so Napoleon left it to Marshal Jean-de-Dieu Soult and a smaller force to continue the pursuit.

Near the coast they caught up with Moore, who fought a successful delaying action, but at the cost of his own life.

In this scenario the human commands the British, whose general, artillery and five units of infantry start within the dashed red lines

To win, the human has to keep Sir John Moore alive.

My plan is to keep my forces compact, using the defensive possibilities of the village of Elviña and the high ground next to it

The AI, in addition to Marshal Soult, commands eight units of infantry, two of cavalry and one of artillery.

The French setup, which is largely pre-determined, rather than decided by dice throws, looks very intimidating

As usual I will write up the battle as it goes along.

TURN ONE

My activation dice land 5, 3 and 2. I reroll the 2, but get another 5.

My artillery fire at the infantry opposite them, the three dice being increased by two for firing at short range, and by one each for being on higher ground and being next to the commander. I roll two 6s, 4, 2 and three 1s, eliminating the French unit as it loses two strength points to the 6s and does not have a hex to which it can retreat.

My infantry in area 3 advance a hex and fire slightly to their left at the infantry on the high ground. The four dice are decreased for firing after moving, and I roll 5, 4 and 3, reducing the French unit to two-strength and forcing it back a hex.

Sir John Moore advances one square obliquely left.

My right-flank infantry advance a hex and fire slightly to their left at the infantry on the high ground. The four dice are decreased for firing after moving, and I roll 5 and two 1s, reducing the French unit to two-strength.

A reasonable start for the British

The AI gets 6, two 5s and 1. The 6 and a 5 are rerolled, landing 4 and another 6.

The infantry in area 1 roll 1, meaning they advance obliquely right. The cavalry in area 1 roll 4, meaning they advance obliquely left and then directly forwards.

The forward infantry in area 4 fire at my infantry beside Elviña, their three dice being increased for being on higher ground. The dice land two 4s, 3 and 2, forcing my unit back two hexes. The other infantry in area 4 roll 6, meaning they advance and fire at my artillery (their preferred target over infantry). Their three dice decrease because the unit is firing after moving (there is no increase for being on high ground because the target is also on high ground). The result is two 3s.

The infantry in area 5 roll 2, meaning they advance obliquely left. The French artillery roll 4, advancing a hex.

A steady first turn

*Coruña in Spanish.