There are a few reasons why I’ve gone for Volley & Bayonet to use for Peninsular War and specifically my Albuera Project.
Peninsular War
My interest in the Napoleonic Wars is largely restricted to Spain and Portugal, plus their Central and South American Colonies. The continental part of these conflicts (1808 – 1814) was known as the Peninsular War to the British and the War of Independence to the Spanish. The effects of the French annexation of Spain lasted long after Napoleon was removed from the European Stage for good (1815). During the period 1810 – 1824, the Spanish colonies were wracked by revolution in the South American Wars of Liberation.
How to Discourage Massed Attack Columns in Lasalle
Reading the Lasalle Forum it quickly becomes clear that a common game tactic is to mass Attack Columns against defending Lines. That in turn means that defenders abandon Line and commonly deploy in Attack Column themselves.
The problem with all of this is that is completely unhistorical. Historically Attack Columns were expected to deploy into Line when they got to musketry range so left enough room between units to allow this.
Personally I find the unhistorical sight of massed Attack Columns offensive and I want a game mechanism to prevent or discourage it. The Lasalle Forum has a bunch of suggestions which I thought I’d list here.
Brigade Bases for Volley and Bayonet
Volley & Bayonet has big bases. Pretty much all troops are based on 3″ x 3″ bases; you can have any number of figures you want of any scale. I recently rebased my Peninsular War figures on big bases. I wanted to leave myself options so I effectively went for half size V&B bases. Each of my bases is 80mm wide by 40mm deep and . gets six cavalry or 12 infantry. Two of these, one behind the other, is a V&B brigade stand.
Big Bases for the Peninsular War
I’ve decided to go for big bases for the Peninsular War. Couple of reasons for this.
Steven’s Peninsular French Army
A few snaps of my French army for the Peninsular War. Nominally they are for my Albuera Project although I’ve not much to show for them just yet.
Steven’s Peninsular British Army
A few snaps of my British army for the Peninsular War. Nominally they are for my Albuera Project although I’ve not much to show for them just yet.
Peninsular War Painting Guide: British Foot
This covers all the infantry that wore British uniform, including:
Albuera – A Shako Battle Report
James Falkus, Rich Wilcox, Chris Harrod and I wanted to try out Shako II. Because of my recent enthusiasm (Spanish Units at Albuera) I suggested the Albuera scenario from Fields of Glory (FOG). FOG is for Shako I and some aspects of the scenario bug me but nobody had the energy to make up a different scenario and we hoped it would be a good game anyway. It was!
Spanish Order of Battle during the Peninsular War
The Spanish order of battle changed considerably during the Peninsular War. This was primarily because of the massive losses they incurred and that that recruitment was often in the hands of local authorities. These two factors meant that many new formations were created to fill the gaps torn by the French.
British Orders of Battle During the Peninsular War
This covers all the British and their auxiliary troops serving in the Peninsular including:
Orders of Battle from the Peninsular War
Various orders of battle for the Peninsular War
Spanish Units at the Battle of Albuera
I thought I’d write up everything I could find about the Spanish units that fought at Albuera (16 May 1811). It started out as a “how do I paint them?” exercise for my Albuera Project then moved into a “where else could I use those figures?” exercise. Mainly I was just conscious that I’ve lots of material and this gives me an excuse to publish some of it in a way that adds something (i.e. the Albuera context).
Orders of Battle at the Battle of Albuera
The orders of battle were originally based on Smith (1998) – which I read first – and then the more detailed orders of battle in the specialist Albuera books by Oliver and Partridge (2007) and Dempsey (2008).
Battle of Castalla – A Shako Scenario
Setting: Castalla, Spain; 12-13 Apr 1813
Steven’s Peninsular Spanish Army
A few snaps of my Spanish army for the Peninsular War. Nominally they are for my Albuera Project and specifically the Spanish Units at Albuera.