General d'Armee Peninsular Battle

This is less an AAR and more a brief summary of a recent game, but at least I remembered to take a few pictures for a change.

My Monday evening gaming friend Dale and I have been thoroughly enjoying General d'Armee and, after recently playing the Albuera scenario from the rulebook, had the taste for another Peninsular game with me playing the British with a brigade of Portuguese allies, and Dale the French.

The French objective was to capture either the redoubt or village, or both, and as the attacker was provided with two additional battalions to assist with the task. Each player could also choose two divisional supports from a list of options.

As the British player one of my options was exercised by default in the protection afforded by the redoubt, but on the assumption the French would be fielding only two cavalry regiments and artillery batteries I chose an additional Hussar regiment and RHA battery, to give a total of three cavalry regiments and three artillery batteries. 

Both forces were comprised of five brigades, with the French having four infantry and one cavalry brigade and the British three infantry and two cavalry brigades.

The next thing to do was to dice for the General's ability using 2D6. 

A 2 or 3 result means he is a 'Blusterer' which reduces the number of ADC actions available each turn among other penalties, while an 11 or 12 means they are 'Incomparable', which adds an ADC. To much amusement I threw a 3, meaning my commander was a Blusterer. 

Dale sportingly offered the chance of a reroll which I declined, only to be followed by him rolling a double 1. A pair of Blusterers facing off against each other.

The initial deployment was as follows:

The British were thin but in a strong position on the hill with two brigades flanking the artillery ensconced in the redoubt. As the Portuguese included a couple of militia units I thought the safest place for them would be to hold the village, while it was my plan to run the Hussar Regiment and RHA around the forest in an attempt to pressure the French and slow their advance:

Unfortunately this was to be proved short-lived, with the French deploying in the woods and inflicting casualties upon the British before they had a chance to get past. The British cavalry withdrew to the safety of the hill while the French pushed on through the woods, with the Portuguese Cacadores attempting to halt their advance:

Meanwhile, on the left flank the two British cavalry regiments there prepare to face off against two French cavalry regiments while the French push forward their attack on the British center:

The first photo of the two above outlines a particular annoyance as I managed to roll five out of five hesitant brigades, where anything but a 1 or a 2 on a D6 means they obey orders. This was even more galling as I remember I played a precious ADC on the cavalry which entitled them to a re-roll, and they still failed. 

Dale had the same level of luck at various times and, frustration aside, it is one of the elements of GDA which provides a lot of laughter.

Back on the right flank, the Cacadores suffered heavy casualties and withdrew from the woods, leaving the Portuguese artillery exposed. Similarly, the RHA artillery limbered up and withdrew to the safety of the hill and the protection of the Hussars:

The cavalry combat just out of sight on the left continued for several turns with the British finally prevailing, with two French and one British regiments dispersed leaving one British regiment standing and the master of the left flank. Meanwhile the main French attack in the center presses home under heavy canister fire:

One French battalion is dispersed, but the other three press on and force a British battalion to retire, leaving only a skirmish line to defend the right flank of the redoubt:

Things are very much in the balance when the British line rolls a double six, inflicting four casulties on the French column as it tries to close plus an additional loss with the casualty dice awarded to them for being British infantry in line, for a total of five casualties on the column and necessitating a compulsory discipline test:

The French fail the test and the battalion disperses, which in turn forces a discipline test on the brigade with the two remaining battalions also dispersing. With the Portuguese in the village also having repelled a French attack, the French decide to call it a day on turn 14 out of a possible 16.

The game was played over five Monday evenings with just over two hours per evening, so approximately twelve hours in total. For us, GDA provides a nice balance between unpredictability while rewarding the effective use of Napoleonic tactics. There is just enough in the national characteristics and force compositions to keep things interesting, and the rules are not overly pedantic in terms of unit movement and formation changes.

Perhaps one criticism is that with the use of D6s things can be a little too unpredictable at times. However these are often the events which provide the biggest laughs and at the end of the day, to my mind at least, it is as much (if not more) about the entertainment.

In retrospect it was probably a bit of a tough ask for the French. As is our wont, we have reversed the roles and I am in the middle of an attack with the French. 

Dale, as the British, has managed to roll another double 1 for his C-in-C. At least he will be getting used to being a Blusterer by now.