Battle Of Talavera - Allied Playthrough: Setup & Turn One

THE Battle of Talavera in July 1809 pitted an Allied army of Spanish, British and Germans under the overall command of Sir Arthur Wellesley against a French army blocking its march on Madrid.

King Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon's older brother, was in nominal charge of the French, but actual command was wielded by Marshal Jean-Baptiste Jourdan.*

The Allies will advance from behind the red dashed line

The human player, in addition to Sir Arthur,  receives five units of infantry, two of cavalry and one of artillery.

To win there must be more Allied than French units on the map above La Portiña, a tributary of the River Tagus, at the end of turn 10.

Since I start with nine units, and the Allied deployment only has 10 hexes, I have no choice but to spread my army across four activation areas

The AI, in addition to the French commander, receives seven units of infantry, two of cavalry and one of artillery.

Dice throws decided the placement of the French units

The AI has gone for a fairly standard setup with cavalry on the flanks. The French artillery may be hampered by having trees in their line-of-sight, but at least the high ground on the French right should not prove a a major problem.

My plan is to concentrate on crossing La Portiña, where it is nearest my troops, ie on the Allied right, with the cavalry defending the Allied left.

TURN ONE

My three activation dice give me two threes and 1. I reroll a 3 and 1, getting another 3 and 6.

I change the wildcard 6 into 5, and advance by one hex all my men in areas 3 and 5.

The AI's activation dice are 6, two 4s and 3. A 4 and 6 are rerolled, but land 3 and 6.

The infantry in area 3 roll 2, which means they take cover in the adjacent trees.

The forward infantry in area 4 roll 3, meaning they move straight down. The other infantry in area 4 roll 1, but there are are no adjacent trees for them to move into (except those just occupied by the infantry from area 3). The artillery roll 6 and so move straight down.

It seems fighting is likely to start around Talavera and the nearby extensive woodland

*Mistakenly called Marshal Soult in Mike Lambo's Battles Of Napoleonic Europe.