Roliça In 3D - French Playthrough

THE second scenario in Mike Lmabo's Battles Of Napoleonic Europe is again the Battle of Roliça, but this time the human commands the French.

Map - the French have to deploy below the blue dashed line

Battlefield -  made from Kallistra's Hexon II grid system

Note that although the layout is more-or-less an inverted version of the layout in the first scenario, the objective hex - shaded dark grey on the map; marked with a green bead on my battlefield - is on the ridge rather than, from the Allied view, behind it.

The AI wins if any Allied unit occupies the objective hex at any point before the end of turn 10.

To defend it I receive, in addition to General Delaborde, three units of infantry, two of cavalry and one of artillery.

Note that I get three fewer infantry units than the AI received when it commanded the French in the first scenario (more on this later).

I have opted for a traditional setup, with cavalry on the flanks - very similar to the formation I adopted when first playing this scenario

My plan is to site my artillery on the high-ground hex to the left of the objective hex, from where trees and high ground will not obstruct its line-of-sight to advancing Allied units.

The AI receives, in addition to Sir Arthur Wellesley, six units of infantry, four of cavalry and one of artillery.

This large disparity in numbers reflects the historical fact of the 1808 battle, namely that Delaborde's heavily outnumbered French effectively fought a delaying action, while withdrawing in good order.

In the first scenario the forces were unhistorically equal, which Lambo explains as a way of setting the human a stiffer challenge.

This second scenario has much more relevance to the historic battle, and, to me, at any rate, makes it all the more interesting.

The initial placing of the Allied cavalry is fixed, but the other units are sited according to dice rolls.

The AI has favoured its left flank, including placing Wellesley there

It will be interesting to see if the Allied artillery ever gets to play much of a role in the battle.

I won this scenario when I first played it, but by the skin of my teeth.

At the end of turn nine I was down to a single unit of artillery, whereas the AI, which had divided its forces into a righthand and lefthand column, had eight units left.

But in the final turn my unit occupied the objective hex, and the AI's activation dice meant it could not possibly expel my men and get an Allied unit into the vital hex.

As usual, I will be writing up my refight turn by turn.