Battle Of Talavera - French Playthrough: Setup & Turn One

THE French scenario for the Battle of Talavera has an interesting, and seemingly very tricky, winning condition.

The battle is lost if at any point in the 10 turns a British unit crosses the Portiña tributary of the River Tagus to the French-held east bank.

The French start below the blue dashed line

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

Clearly it will not be possible to concentrate my troops on one flank, but I am not sure it will be necessary to fight a defensive, react-to-the-enemy, battle.

Instead it might be desirable to cross the Portiña, if that can be done to advantage, for example by occupying the west half of Talavera and/or the high ground across the river on the other flank.

My artillery will head for the central high ground, while the rest of the units will have to spread out to a certain extent

I hope to hold my right flank, where the stream is not so far up the map, with fewer troops than the left flank, but a lot will depend on how the Allied army sets up.

The Al, in addition to Sir Arthur Wellesley, receives six units of infantry, three of cavalry and one of artillery, dice throws deciding where they start.

The AI has opted for a strengthened right wing

TURN ONE

My activation dice are 3 and two 2s. I reroll a 2, but get another 3.

In area two I advance the infantry directly forward a hex each, but send the cavalry into the trees behind Talavera.

In area 3 I advance the infantry into the trees behind the high ground, and I place the French commander behind the infantry. Naturally I could also advance the artillery, but I cannot resist firing at the Allied infantry opposite the guns, my three dice being increased for being next to the commander. I roll two 6s, 4 and 1, reducing the Allied unit to one-strength and forcing it back to the edge of the battlefield.

The AI's activation dice are 6, two 4s and 1. The 6 and a 4 are rerolled, becoming 3 and another 6.

In area 1 the infantry roll 4, meaning they advance a hex. The cavalry roll 2, which has no effect as there is no enemy within three hexes.

In area 3 the forward infantry roll 5, advancing a hex. The artillery roll 6, also advancing a hex. The rearward infantry roll 4 and likewise advance a hex.

In area 4 the infantry roll 6, advancing a hex, but the cavalry's roll of 1 has no effect as the enemy is not close enough.

The advanced Allied infantry are frighteningly close to the stream