Battle Of Cacabelos In 3D

THE ninth scenario in Mike Lambo's Battles Of Napoleonic Europe is Cacabelos, fought from the Allied side.

A rearguard, commanded by General Edward Paget, younger brother of the Lord Henry Paget who commanded at Sahagún, has to prevent the French from pursuing Sir John Moore's main army, which is retreating towards the port of Coruña (Corunna).

Map

Battlefield in 3D, using Hexon II hexes from Nottinghamshire-based Kallistra, with added terrain features

In addition to General Paget, the human receives four units of infantry, one of cavalry and one of artillery

The AI receives General Auguste de Colbert-Chabanais, five units of infantry and four of cavalry 

To win I have to prevent any French unit exiting the bottom of the map during the 10 turns of the battle.

I set up first, with my units starting within the map's dashed red lines.

I have placed all units within areas 2-4, although this means two units start in river hexes

I chose a similar setup on my first playthrough, albeit with the cavalry on the right flank rather than the left

I won that playthrough with turns to spare, but I summed it up thus:

That may make it seem like the battle was rather one-sided, although it most definitely did not feel that way to as I played it.
My refight was not so dissimilar to the real battle in 1809, even down to the French commander, General Colbert-Chabanais, being killed by infantry fire.
I have to admit I was at least a tad fortunate with the way the dice landed, especially towards the end when the French attack faltered as they seemed to lose heart.

This refight of the scenario, which as usual I will write up as it goes along, may show whether I really was lucky.

But first the AI decides on its setup, using dice.

The AI has plumped for a strong centre and left, with General Colbert-Chabanais on the extreme left of the French setup

This contrasts markedly with the first playthrough, when the AI went for a strong right, which is where the general also chose to be