I need a scenario to play test Bolivar’s Very Bad Day, my Liberators variant of Tilly’s Very Bad Day. John Fletcher’s Alternative Chacabuco (13 Feb 1817) is my go to scenario for trying out rules for this period. This is my conversion of John’s scenario to Bolivar’s Very Bad Day.
1817 Chacabuco
At the Battle of Chacabuco (12 February 1817), the Army of the Andes of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, led by Captain–General José de San Martín, defeated a Spanish force led by Rafael Maroto. The battle was pivotal in the Chilean War of Independence.
Alternative Chacabuco – A Bolivar’s Very Bad Day Battle Report 2
Chris and Adam played my variant of John Fletcher’s Alternative Chacabuco scenario, my go to for testing out rules. We were play testing incredible rough draft of Bolivar’s Very Bad Day, a Liberators variant of Tilly’s Very Bad Day.
Summary: Really good fun game. Adam’s Patriots took the game but it was down to the wire. Adam lost Bernardo O’Higgins and his command stalled. Chris lost Field Marshal Del Pont and his command evaporated.
Alternative Chacabuco – A Bolivar’s Very Bad Day Battle Report 1
Jamie came over to play test my rather raw variant of Tilly’s Very Bad Day for the South American Wars of Liberation. We played John Fletcher’s Alternative Chacabuco scenario, my go to for testing out rules.
Alternative Chacabuco – A Live Free or Die Battle Report
Chris, Adam and I had a go at Live Free or Die. The scenario was Alternative Chacabuco so a Liberators game using my Live Free or Die house rules for Big Base Liberators. Chris was the Patriots, Adam the Royalists and I was rules interpreter.
Summary: The game system defeated us. After hours of play we were no where near a conclusion so we gave up.
Alternative Chacabuco – A Live Free or Die Scenario
I’m on a roll. A Liberators roll. Jamie got me started but this scenario is because of Andrés Ferrari. He suggested I look at Live Free or Die for Liberators. I needed a scenario to play test it on and John Fletcher’s Alternative Chacabuco (13 Feb 1817) is my go to scenario for trying out rules for this period. This is my conversion of John’s scenario to Live Free or Die.
Alternative Chacabuco – A Liberators HoTT Mass Battle Battle Report
Adam, Chris and I had a go at my Alternative Chacabuco Scenario for Liberators HOTT. The South American Wars of Liberation are becoming a bit of a theme in late 2021.
Summary: Good game. Infantry slog felt like an Napoleonic style infantry fight. Columns pushing through lines in a bloody and extended battle Cavalry fight was brutal and heroic, more Lord of the Rings than South America, and took too long.
Alternative Chacabuco – A Liberators HoTT Mass Battle Scenario
I already have a Alternative Chacabuco Scenario for Liberators HOTT, based on the Alternative Chacabuco scenario from the Liberators Supplement by John Fletcher (Fletcher, 2006). But that is for a typically small HoTT game and today I wanted to play a big game of Liberators HOTT. A “Mass Battle” in HoTT terms. More elements. More figures. More players. More fun.
Steven’s 1817 Royalist Army on Big Bases
I have rebased my 1817 Royalists on big bases. So I took the opportunity to do a photo shoot including some units I’d not featured before.
This is the army that got smashed at Battle of Chacabuco (12 Feb 1817). I’ve also included the units for the Alternative Chacabuco Scenario in Fletcher (2006).
Steven’s 1817-18 Argentine Army on Big Bases
I have rebased my Argentine Army of the South American Wars of Liberation on Big Bases. All infantry and cavalry on 80mm x 40mm bases. 12 figures per infantry base; two bases to a battalion. 6 figures per cavalry base/squadron. Guns stayed on 40mm x 40mm bases; one gun per base.
Alternative Chacabuco – A March Attack Battle Report
I quite like the Alternative Chacabuco scenario from Fletcher (2006). It isn’t historical but it is small and reasonably balanced so is a good choice to try out a new set of rules. As it happens I’ve been wanting to try out March Attack by Crusader Games for a while so once again Chris Harrod and I faced each other around Chacabuco Farm. Chris was the Royalists / Spanish. I was the Patriots / Argentineans. It was the first outing of my Liberators armies now they are all on Big Bases.
I’ll describe the battle and then make some observations on the game, March Attack and the scenario. The summary about March Attack is that the rules are optimised for Corps level actions and hence gloss over of details at the level of the manoeuvre unit (battalion, regiment). That speeds up the rules but at the cost of flavour that is significant for the small South American Wars.
Alternative Chacabuco – A March Attack Scenario
The Liberators supplement (Fletcher, 2006, p. 10-11) has an Alternative Chacabuco scenario. These are my notes for playing the scenario with the March Attack. See also the Battle Report.
Alternative Chacabuco – Liberators QPR Battle Report 2
Chris Harrod, Robin Doran and I played the Alternative Chacabuco scenario from Fletcher (2006) using Liberators QPR. This is the third time I’ve played the scenario; the first time was Liberators QPR, the second was Liberators HOTT. I was the Royalists / Spanish. Chris was San Martin with Soler’s Division. Robin was O’Higgins. This was Robin’s first historical wargame.
Summary: Another good game. Went faster this time. We got to a conclusion in 4.5 hours including set up. The direct tactics of the Patriots helped with that. These tactics also led to the rout of three squadrons of Elite Argentine Horse Grenadiers.
Alternative Chacabuco – A Liberators HOTT Battle Report
Andrew Coleby and I played an early version of the Liberators HOTT version of the Alternative Chacabuco Scenario which is based on that in Fletcher (2006). Andrew was the Royalists and I was the Patriots.
Alternative Chacabuco Scenario for Liberators HOTT
The Alternative Chacabuco scenario is from the Liberators Supplement by John Fletcher (Fletcher, 2006). These are my notes for playing the scenario with the Liberators HOTT rules.
Alternative Chacabuco – A Liberators QPR Battle Report
To celebrate the completion of my Liberators armies Andrew Coleby and I played the Alternative Chacabuco scenario from Fletcher (2006) using the Liberators QPR. Andrew was the Patriots / Argentineans. I was the Royalists / Spanish. Our biggest problem is that we only get to play in two hours sessions and this game was split over two sessions.